INDIANA TEACHERS CLOSE HALF THE SCHOOLS IN STATE TO RALLY WHILE IN NYC IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL AT UNITY BUT CLASS SIZE MATTERS KEEPS FIGHTING

Indiana is no progressive liberal state. Even there we see the teachers in revolt.

From the Indianapolis Star:
Thousands of teachers and their supporters, clad in red, flooded the area outside the Indiana Statehouse on Tuesday for Red for Ed Action Day.

According to the Indiana State Police, 5,000 people went inside the Statehouse later in the afternoon, but the police didn't have an overall crowd estimate. Roughly 15,000 people were registered to attend the event, which would make it one of the largest statehouse rallies in recent memory.

For reference, state police estimated that 4,500 to 5,000 people attended the Women's March in 2017. And in 2011, they said over 8,000 attended a Right to Work rally.

Chanting “Red for Ed” and carrying signs, crowds formed around each side of the building starting early in the morning. Before 10 a.m. the crowd was shoulder to shoulder on the south lawn, waving signs as a band played and union leaders made remarks.

Organized by Indiana State Teachers Association and other labor groups, speakers called on lawmakers to make changes in public education, especially when it comes to teacher pay, holding districts harmless from poor performances on a new statewide test and for new professional development requirements to be repealed.

More than half of the school districts in the state closed their doors Tuesday for Red for Ed, with some converting the day into either an e-learning day or an employee workday. And teachers attended from all ends of the state, some leaving as early as 5 a.m. to drive to Indianapolis.

Meanwhile back in NYC, instead of demanding proper working conditions for teachers and better learning conditions for students with actions to back these demands up, the UFT's ruling Unity Caucus has volunteered to do the job of educating the kids by ourselves if the DOE can't support us to get it done.

From the latest Unity leaflet:
The Instructional Leadership Framework, or ILF, is a DOE initiative that integrates NYS Standards (“Next Gen”), Culturally Responsive Education, and Advanced Literacy. While we agree with this initiative in concept, we do not agree with the implementation. Our teachers should be exposed to these new standards, as next year our students and our school system will be judged on them.  Writing curriculum, bypassing the PD Committee and creating paperwork for the sake of creating paper and work are our new but old fights. How does this help our members, our students, and our schools?

UNITY/UFT President Mulgrew has made it clear that if the DOE can’t or won’t help our students prepare for the Next Generation Standards, then we must do it alone; if the DOE will allow it to fall on the backs of our members, then we must stand firm and demand the support our schools and teachers need. As ridiculous as it sounds, if our employer cannot do this work, then we must lead the charge to help our school system succeed. We have too many enemies waiting and hoping for us to fail in the ever important role of educating our students.

Same old, same old. It's just like when Mulgrew said the only problem with Common Core was how it was implemented. The UFT is now going to demand the support our schools need but if the DOE messes it up, as the DOE usually does, the teachers and other UFT members will do it alone. I guess the Unity position is educating children in spite of the incompetence and corruption of our employer is fine.*

The UFT can do something. It is nice that we have a new and improved class size reduction process to attempt to get the DOE to keep within our way too large limits but Mulgrew might want to help the parents who have filed an appeal on a lawsuit claiming that the city has violated the law by not lowering class size as the law said they have to since 2007.

From Class Size Matters:
This year’s class size data was released and shows that average class sizes actually increased in Kindergarten and 7th grade this year.

In other  grades, the class size held steady or declined by only insignificant amounts.

We are providing a detailed analysis of class size trends and what should be done to counteract  the sharp increases that have occurred since 2007 at three CEC meetings this week. We will also discuss school overcrowding and the findings of our charter facilities report, including how millions are missing from the matching funds the DOE was supposed to provide public schools co-located with charter schools for facility upgrades, and the $100 million a year the city spends on renting private space for charter schools, including in some cases, where the charter management organization owns the building.




*Please no comments on why this is just another excuse to stop paying union dues. Direct your fire at Mr. Mulgrew, not this dissident but pro-union blog please. I don't need to write the same reasoning on how the problems are the union's leadership, the need for a more activist membership and the UFT's undemocratic structure, not the fact that we are unionized teachers.

PETITION TO IMPROVE TIER VI

The Tier VI pension system is woefully inadequate for anyone hired since 2012. New Action/UFT has started a petition at Change.org to persuade the city and UFT to lobby to equalize the tiers. Please sign this petition. I signed.

Petition for Tier 6 Pension Improvement

Whereas, new UFT members who join the Teachers’ Retirement System after March 31, 2012 are entered in Tier 6,

Whereas, members in Tier 6 contribute from 3% to 6% to their pensions as long as they work,

Whereas, members in Tier 6 cannot retire without very reduced benefits until reaching age 63 while making a higher contribution,

Whereas, many other city agencies such as police, fire, sanitation can retire with full pension after 22 years of service,

Whereas, the UFT, in the past, lobbied successfully for a 25-55 pension plan for Tier 4 members,

Whereas, the UFT, in the past, won other significant pension improvements in the NY State Legislature.

Resolved, that the UFT lobby the City and State to equalize and improve the Tier 6 pension and include all UFT members in this campaign.

PARENTS WRITE TO SUPERINTENDENT SUPPORTING TEACHER REMOVED FROM CLASSROOM

A friend sent me a letter parents wrote to the District 10 Superintendent expressing their concerns about second grade teacher Walter Rendon's removal from the classroom to the rubber room.

Here is an excerpt:
The parents of 2-138 at PS 24 are writing to request a meeting with you to discuss our concerns about the handling of the removal of our children’s teacher, Walter Rendon.

On October 7th, Mr. Rendon was abruptly removed from the classroom.  Parents received a call that day from PS 24 administration stating that Mr. Rendon was being removed from the classroom effective immediately by the TPU.  After parents requested a sit-down meeting with Principal Schwartz, we were told that he had no prior knowledge of Mr. Rendon’s removal, that it was not the decision of the school and that he had no control over the matter, and that a permanent teacher for the class would be in place by October 28th.  After further research, we understand that the TPU does not unilaterally reassign a teacher without the express request and participation of the school’s principal.

This decision to remove Mr. Rendon has resulted in the upheaval of our children’s education.  Since Mr. Rendon’s removal, class 2-138 has been without structure and our children are suffering both educationally and emotionally.  

Not caring about the emotional or educational well being of children is unfortunately a common occurrence at the NYC Department of Education. Not telling parents accurate information about the principal being involved in the decision to remove a teacher is also not unusual. Passing the buck is something certain administrators are very adept at.

Further down in the letter:
Promises were made and then laid by the wayside by our administration.  And the clear and open communication that we had once received from Mr. Rendon on what was happening in the classroom has stopped.  There has been absolutely no communication  regarding testing dates, vocabulary words or the posting of homework.

Conversely, in the month that our children had Mr. Rendon as their teacher, we had happy and engaged learners.  The parents found him to be exceptional.  He was by no means ill prepared or sub par. He was attentive and had created a superior environment of learning and trust.   He understood our children well and had been responsive to their educational and emotional needs.  In the month that he taught our children, he gained their trust and in return they strived to achieve.  As parents who have been at the school for a number of years, we know that Mr. Rendon has an outstanding professional record, teaching 3rd grade G&T and science curriculum to over 800 students.  He was also given the task of administering and grading the ELA and math state exams.  One would think that such assignments are only given to someone who is fully capable of achieving results and working with integrity.

The conclusion:

Since the removal of our teacher, the children have paid a dear price educationally and personally.  Our children deserve a quality education in a stable environment.   This unfortunate event, and ensuing confusion, has been an utter debacle.

Ms. Hulla - we implore you to look deeply into this matter and decide if our kids well-being was worth this removal.  We would also like to sit down with you, and any member of the DOE who has been copied on  the cc list below to be able to express our concerns in person.  As parents of these children, we think we more than deserve that courtesy. 

Respectfully,

Parents of 2-138

It is great to see parents supporting a teacher. My understanding is this is not the first teacher removed from the school by this principal. I wish we had a union that defended teachers with the same passion as these parents show. 

AFT PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT PRESS RELEASE

The following AFT press release came out on Friday. It is nice to see UTLA beat the AFT to the endorsement punch when they backed Bernie Sanders for President. The odds of the UFT following suit in the primaries are about ten billion to one.

WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the United Teachers Los Angeles House of Representatives voted to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination for president:

“The AFT fundamentally revamped our presidential endorsement process (link is external) this cycle, and in our first phase we have seen unprecedented engagement and empowerment of our 1.7 million members across 3,500 locals and 40 state federations. Our members have engaged with campaigns and candidates, asking questions about the issues that matter most to them, during our 10 candidate town halls and numerous other events and actions. This first phase of the process will culminate in a national candidate forum on public education, which we will host with our allies on Dec. 14 in Pittsburgh.

“As part of this AFT Votes endorsement process, we have enabled locals and state federations, if they choose, prior to any national endorsement, to endorse a candidate for the purpose of their state primary or caucus. Last night, UTLA voted to endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders using its own iteration of that process, based on its long history with the senator and his long-standing support for a pro-public school agenda.

“We anticipate that other AFT affiliates may endorse other candidates prior to their states’ primary or caucus. Our recent member polling indicates that Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have healthy double-digit support, followed by Sanders and several other Democratic candidates.

“Educators, healthcare professionals and public employees across this country are engaging in the 2020 election with unprecedented enthusiasm, and we are thrilled that our members are already so involved in this campaign; when our democracy is at stake, no one can afford to sit on the sidelines. We look forward to continuing our engagement with the campaigns as our national endorsement process plays out, and to uniting around an eventual nominee as we work together to beat Donald Trump next November.”

UNITED TEACHERS OF LOS ANGELES ENDORSES BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT

Teacher union news from Los Angeles, California:

LOS ANGELES — United Teachers Los Angeles, the second-largest teachers’ local in the country, is proud to endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for US President in the 2020 Primary Election, making UTLA the first teachers’ union in the country to endorse a presidential candidate.

Tonight, the UTLA House of Representatives – the elected leadership body of the 34,000-member union — voted 80% in favor of endorsing Sen. Sanders, capping the most comprehensive member engagement process that UTLA has ever conducted for a political candidate.

Thursday’s House vote followed a six-week discussion at school sites. Following that member engagement, on Wednesday at nine regional meetings, more than 500 elected site representatives voted 72.5% yes to the presidential endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders. Wednesday’s vote was opened up to allow any member who attended to vote alongside elected chapter leaders.

UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl said: “Why now, and why Bernie? Because we want him to win in the primary election and because we need an unapologetic, longstanding ally of progressive policies to make public education a priority in the White House. Sanders is the first viable major candidate in 25 years in the Democratic Party to stand up against privatization, the charter billionaires, and high-stakes testing and to stand up for a massive redistribution of wealth to schools and social services. Critically, like UTLA, Sen. Sanders believes in building a national movement for real, lasting change.”

Alex led a successful strike in LA earlier this year.  I take this union out in LA seriously. We can only dream that our Union will follow.

Do you see a process like UTLA had before endorsing Sanders going on in the UFT?

For anyone who has not seen Bernie's education and labor plans, please read them. They are worth your time.

Diane Ravitch covered the story and there are some interesting comments there.

The largest nurse's  union also endorsed Bernie this week. We will see where labor goes.

LITTLE ROCK TEACHERS WAGE ONE DAY STRIKE OVER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING WHILE CHICAGO TEACHERS VOTE ON THEIR CONTRACT (Update Saturday: CTU Members Ratify Contract)

Teacher strike fever across the USA shows no sign of letting up. Today, it spread to Little Rock, Arkansas.

From the Associated Press via the Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

Little Rock teachers are striking for the first time in more than three decades over the state’s control of the local school system and a panel’s decision to strip their union’s collective bargaining rights.

Members of the Little Rock Education Association are picketing across the 23,000-school district on Thursday in what’s being billed as a one-day strike to protest Arkansas’ takeover of the local system. Arkansas has run the school district since 2015, when it was taken over because of low scores at several schools.

Union leaders have left open the possibility of the strike stretching beyond Thursday if full local control isn’t restored. The district has said schools will remain open Thursday.

The strike follows the state Board of Education’s decision to strip the union of its bargaining power. The strike is the first in Little Rock since 1987.

We of course support our Little Rock colleagues.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, they are voting on their proposed new contract that contains salary increases that are not too shabby. The Chicago Sun-Times printed the new proposed salary schedules today. It looks like they are trying to get a yes vote by telling the public the teachers are well paid. Here is an excerpt of the salary schedule for teachers with a BA degree:

Even with the substantial increases, I am betting that the contract in Chicago will receive a higher percentage of no votes than the 14% no vote from NYC teachers in the 2018 early UFT contract referendum. In case you are wondering, when the UFT contract ends in 2022, the starting salary for a NYC teacher with a BA will be $61,070 and with ten years it will be $86,280. I know salaries improve in NYC as you work more years and gain more education credits and degrees but my point is Chicago is competitive on salaries while the cost of living is much lower there. In the final analysis, they have a higher standard of living with an activist union. 
Do NYC teachers need to organize a real union? 
Update Saturday: My prediction was right but not by much. I just saw on Twitter that the CTU contract was ratified by an 81% to 19% margin with 80% counted. After the 2012 strike, 78% approved. If NYC ever got a 16% raise over 5 years, it would receive a 99% yes vote. 
We have a quote from CTU President Jesse Sharkey from the Chicago Tribune:
"Do I feel like we got everything we deserved in schools? No. And I hope our members aren’t satisfied, either. We live in one of the richest cities in the wealthiest nation in the world, and it’s time Chicago officials start investing in the future of our city — our children,” he said.
I just totally respect that fighting spirit they have  out in Illinois!
P.S. Please no comments on dropping out of the UFT as a protest response. I have answered the same comment over and over. Nobody has refuted my argument that there are no examples in history of workers dropping union representation en masse and then achieving better working conditions. I do not want to spend another minute of time arguing the same old issue. 
Scabs are welcome to start their own blog. Union dissidents are welcome here as are any and all union supporters.

YOU CAN FIGHT GRADE INFLATION/FRAUD BY USING THE UFT CONTRACT

I have been attempting for a long time to get the UFT members who read this blog to step up to the plate to take action in defense of teacher rights.  I haven't been overly successful for sure except for inducing comments. Unfortunately, anonymous comments here or comments on Facebook aren't going to do anything more than allow people to vent about horrible working conditions in many schools. For anyone who has a spine or wants to grow one, please don't comment but rather take action. The Contract is generally on our side when it comes to student grades. Let us now examine how to use it.

Article 8D. Students’ Grades
The teacher’s judgment in grading students is to be respected; therefore if the principal changes a student’s grade in any subject for a grading period, the principal shall notify the teacher of the reason for the change in writing.

We as the professionals are contractually entitled to judge students as we see fit (within guidelines) and a principal must inform a teacher of a grade change and put the reason for the change in writing. Administration must go on the written record to challenge a grade a teacher gives. If teachers have a school or departmental grading policy that they are adhering to, those teachers are on very solid ground contractually. It is important to document why any particular student received a certain grade. If someone is worried about being cited for not doing interventions, documenting contacts to guidance or home should be sufficient to have grades respected and it does not have to be multiple home contacts, especially if there are 34 students on a register.

I can already read the anonymous comments. I will save you the trouble.

"Anonymous said: If I assert my rights and give the students the grades they deserve, the principal and the assistant principal and maybe the superintendent will be in my room the next morning and I will be given all 1's on a setup Danielson observation."

Or

"Anonymous said: Are you crazy James? The day I grade honestly is the day I will have corporal punishment or some other charge thrown at me. No, I am going to play the game to survive."

Or

"Anonymous said: The kids don't do any work and don't show up and still pass. They feel entitled to freebies from the liberal government. I can't stop it so I'm opting out of the union instead of fighting for my rights. At least I'll have some extra money that I can put it in my TDA that only gets 7% (not 8.25%) interest because of the UFT."

Or

"Anonymous said: My principal requires us to contact parents every other day if we want to fail a student. It's easier to just pass them all.

Or

"Anonymous said: My chapter leader goes out for drinks every Friday with the principal. He won't do anything if I ask him to. My colleagues won't listen to me so I'm not doing anything."

Please spare me the above nobody will support me comments, thank you. I won't print them!

I agree with you that doing this alone might not be the smartest action if you do not have tenure, your principal is crazy, your chapter leader loves your insane principal, or you are devoid of even the slightest hint of a backbone. On the other hand, if a teacher asserted his/her rights over grades being respected and then received a negative observation, I would advise that teacher to file an APPR Complaint immediately in which I would counsel them to scream retaliation from the highest mountain peak to the chapter leader, the district representative, or if that doesn't get a response to Sue Edelman at the NY Post, to Councilman Robert Holden, and finally to ICEUFT where if you provide us with evidence, we would publish the name of the school and the principal if you are so inclined. I bet Norm (EdNotes) and Chaz would support you too.

I understand this is not easy. If you are reluctant to stand up for yourself by going at it alone as it might just be next to impossible, would you consider collective action? Workers should fight collectively.

If teachers want to fight grade inflation-fraud as a chapter, the Article 19 mandated UFT Consultation Committee meetings with the principal are a great place to raise grade inflation/fraud at the chapter level. Then, there is the often ignored Article 24 process. Again, from the Contract:

ARTICLE TWENTY-FOUR

PROFESSIONAL CONCILIATION

The Board and the Union agree that professional involvement of teachers in
educational issues should be encouraged. However, it is recognized that there may be
differences in professional judgment.
A. School Level

1. Where differences related to school-based decisions in one of the following areas
cannot be resolved, a conciliation process will be available to facilitate the resolution of
these differences:
a. Curriculum mandates
b. Textbook selection
c. Program offerings and scheduling
d. Student testing procedures and appraisal methodology
e. Pedagogical and instructional strategy, technique and methodology.

In order to utilize the conciliation process, the 
UFT chapter may request, through the
Union, the service of (a) person(s) identified as expert in conciliation. Selections of such
person(s) will be made by the Board and the Union from a list of conciliators mutually
agreed upon by the Board and the Union.

2. Within five school days, the Board Coordinator will contact the appropriate
superintendent who will promptly advise the Board Coordinator as to whether he/she will
directly address the issue.
a. If the issue is addressed by the superintendent, he/she should resolve it within ten
school days. If not resolved, the Board Coordinator will assign a conciliator at the end of
that period.
b. If the superintendent does not respond to the Board Coordinator or advises that
he/she is not addressing the issue, the Board Coordinator will assign a Conciliator within
five school days.

Notice that one of the issues that has to be addressed if a chapter asks for it is "Student testing procedures and appraisal methodology." Teachers are contractually entitled to a voice on testing and appraisal. If the standards at a school are nonexistent, as people here are constantly writing anonymously, then use the Article 24 process. Get it to the superintendent as fast as possible. Publicize it. I think chapters could very well be successful. Please no comments about the chapter leader sleeping with the principal. Get a group together and light a figurative spark under the chapter leader.

The Contract is there for members to utilize. The UFT should get ahead of the grade inflation/fraud issue instead of making nice-nice with management, particularly if the grade inflation/fraud is as widespread as readers here are leading us to believe.

For those who would rather hide in the corner and just play the game, this issue is not going away. Please read today's NY Post editorial.

The conclusion:
Bottom line: Most city kids aren’t getting the “sound, basic education” that courts have ruled the state Constitution requires. But it’s not, as past lawsuits have suggested, about the money: It’s about the DOE’s top-to-bottom complicity in hiding its failure.

Rather than face the truth, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently suggested, “There’s something wrong” with the National Assessment of Education Progress tests (the gold standard of US exams!) because they show no progress in city schools. In other words, he’d rather the fraud continue, so he can claim success.

Federal prosecutors spent years getting the goods on the city Housing Authority’s systematic coverup of its failures. Holden’s entirely right to ask for a similar exposé of the school system.

The forces that hate public schools like the NY Post Editorial Board are going to use grade inflation-fraud as another excuse to privatize the schools. We can and should get ahead of them by blaming the city and central Department of Education for the lack of integrity in certain schools as this is a top-down dictatorial type school system. We should be demanding that grade inflation is stopped and that integrity is restored to the schools. Empowering teachers is the way to accomplish this as it was done before former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Chancellor Joel Klein basically destroyed teacher voice at the school level. UFT chapters were a very good check on the system before Bloomberg-Klein. 

There is one major caveat here. I am asking for reasonable standards and responsible grading. I was often considered a rather easy grader but now my standards would be considered rigorous. I am definitely not condoning teachers who demand graduate school level work in a high school course and find every student lacking. We can start to restore some sanity by pushing for an easily enforceable seat time requirement for a student to receive credit. Joel Klein took the 90% attendance requirement to be promoted out of the Chancellor's Regulations. Let's insist that it be placed back in.

For those who think this can't be done legally, I submit a part of State Education Regulation 104.1:

Purpose:

(3) ensure sufficient pupil attendance at all scheduled periods of actual instruction or supervised study activities to permit such pupils to succeed at meeting the State learning standards.

And further down:

(v) a description of the school district, BOCES, charter school, county vocational education and extension board or nonpublic school policy regarding pupil attendance and a pupil's ability to receive course credit. Any board of education, board of cooperative educational services, charter school board or county vocational education and extension board that adopts a policy establishing a minimum standard of attendance in order for a pupil to be eligible for course credit shall have the authority to determine that a properly excused pupil absence, for which the pupil has performed any assigned make up work, shall not be counted as an absence for the purpose of determining the pupil's eligibility for course credit under such policy. In the event a board of education, board of cooperative educational services, charter school board or county vocational education and extension board adopts a minimum attendance standard as a component of its policy, such policy shall include a description of the notice to a pupil's parent(s) or person(s) in parental relation as well as the specific intervention strategies to be employed prior to the denial of course credit to the pupil for insufficient attendance.

Positive change can occur but more people have to step up and demand it. 

COUNCIL MEMBER HOLDEN WRITES TO U.S. ATTORNEYS SEEKING RACKETEERING INVESTIGATION AGAINST DOE

The latest from Sue Edelman in the NY Post  informs the public that Council Member Robert Holden has taken the case against NYC DOE grade fraud to U.S. Attorneys.

A Queens lawmaker has asked the US Department of Justice to investigate “deep-rooted fraud” in the city Department of Education, The Post has learned.

Citing a “widespread problem” in the DOE, Councilman Robert Holden is calling for a federal probe of grade-fixing — possibly under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) — which covers wrongdoing conducted as part of a criminal enterprise, such as Mafia families.

“Due to the apparent pattern of conspiracy to cover up such deep-rooted fraud within the DOE that has likely been going on for many years now, I have been advised that this could constitute a federal RICO investigation,” Holden’s wrote in a Oct. 25 letter to US Attorneys Geoffrey Berman in Manhattan and Richard Donoghue in Brooklyn. Both did not comment.

Further down:

Holden contends the DOE does not tackle academic fraud aggressively because it inflates the graduation rate and other data.

“They’re doing it to make their bottom line look good. That’s the definition of organized crime. That’s what the DOE has turned into,” he said.

David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center education professor, found the “conspiracy” charge too strong.

But he said, “It does appear that the central DOE is happily complacent in its oversight. They’re complacent because they can enjoy the fruits of the corrupt data.”

This piece is not shocking to anyone who reads this blog and/or works in many New York City schools. Is it organized crime? Will the UFT get caught in this? Will teachers and administrators be in legal trouble?

The likelihood of teachers who comment here being arrested who admit they pass undeserving students is not that great unless a RICO investigation truly catches fire. However, a little integrity and backbone can really help teachers and now you have a City Councilman supporting you. You might want to give your principal and chapter leader Holden's letter (see below) and stand up for yourself. When you are pressured to pass a student with 20 absences in a 25 day marking period who has done no work, show them the letter and tell them you refuse to be a part of a possible racketeering fraud that the Feds are being asked to investigate by an elected official. If your next evaluation is developing or ineffective, blow the retaliation whistle. If you continue to be complicit in the fraud, there is a chance that this might not end well.

Back to the Post article:

Applauding Holden’s request is Max Eden, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank who specializes in education.

“There should be a RICO probe,” Eden said. “School and district officials face essentially no accountability or consequences for fraud. When it comes to making sure that school officials follow the law, the prospect of a bad news article is nowhere near as strong as the specter of handcuffs.”

ACT SCORES SHOW RECORD LOW COLLEGE READINESS RATE

From the Washington Post:
ACT scores for the high school Class of 2019 show that rates of college readiness in English and math have sunk to record lows, testing officials reported Wednesday.

Among nearly 1.8 million in the class who took the college admission test at least once, ACT — the nonprofit group that administers it — reported that 59 percent reached a score indicating readiness in English and 39 percent did so in math. Those results continued a several-year slide. The English readiness rate was the lowest since the readiness measure debuted in 2002, and the math readiness rate equaled a record low set in 2002.

ACT defines its readiness benchmark as a score indicating a student has at least a 50 percent chance of getting a B or higher in a corresponding first-year college course. For English, the ACT benchmark is 18 out of a maximum 36. For math, it is 22.

It's not just New York. It's a national trend downward.

School choice, closing schools, firing/demeaning/pressuring teacher to pass everyone and common core lead to lower test results. Any teacher could have told you this would happen.

Once students know they pass no matter what because teachers and principals fear for their jobs, this is the inevitable result.

SOME REACTION TO THIS YEAR'S LOW NAEP SCORES

I have read some responses to this year's release of National Assessment of Educational Progress scores. The NAEP is a national test given every two years with low stakes for the students who don't even see the results.We go as usual to Diane Ravitch for some guidance.

After a generation of disruptive reforms—No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, VAM and Common Core—after a decade or more of disinvestment in education, after years of bashing and demoralizing teachers, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for 2019 shows the results:

Over the past decade, there has been no progress in either mathematics or reading performance, and the lowest-performing students are doing worse,” said Peggy Carr, the associate commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the NAEP. “In fact, over the long term in reading, the lowest-performing students—those readers who struggle the most—have made no progress from the first NAEP administration almost 30 years ago.”

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos predictably used the results to call for more privatization of schools in the form of private school vouchers and charter schools. 

Ravitch answers back:

Addendum to DeVos remarks:

The lowest performing urban districts—Detroit and Milwaukee—have had school choice for 25 years.

How did New York City do on the NAEP?

From Chalkbeat:

The city’s scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress, or NAEP — given to a random sampling of fourth and eighth graders every two years in math and English — have essentially remained stagnant for the past several years, according to 2019 data released Wednesday. (One notable exception was a five-point drop in fourth-grade math scores from 2013, when de Blasio was elected.)

New York City scores on 2019’s tests were below the national average as well as the state average. The city’s scores were roughly in the middle of the pack of the 27 urban districts that participate in a city-level comparison.

New York City was not unique in posting flat scores. In fact, national scores have essentially remained flat for a decade, the data show.

My favorite reaction is from Louisiana where former Deputy NYC Chancellor John White, who twice came to Jamaica High School to push for closing our school, who is now the State Education Commissioner in Louisiana. White is the ed deformer's deformer. 

Here is a little of Mercedes Schneider's analysis of the latest fall in NAEP and ACT scores in Louisiana:

After seven years of John White as Louisiana’s state superintendent, the results were so unsavory to White and his Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) that his Louisiana 2019 NAEP Results Summary does not include a single actual NAEP scaled score.

Mercedes then shows the numbers to prove that there is no great Louisiana miracle and then she cites falling ACT scores to hammer home the point. Her conclusion:

John White and LDOE have no control over the reporting of NAEP scores and state-level ACT results– which means that these test scores are not susceptible to LDOE manipulation, and the results cannot be concealed from public view.

Therefore, NAEP and state-level ACT results provide the most objective measure of the test-score-centered ed reformers themselves– reformers like John White.

He is the head reformer in charge; for his reformer-success image, it all comes down to the test scores.

Louisiana’s 2019 NAEP and ACT results are a highly-visible, undeniable John White failure, and he knows it.

Sometimes I must admit I am a little disappointed that cooler heads prevailed so my friend did not take Mr. White out to the parking lot at Jamaica High School to settle our differences as he threatened to do him directly back in 2010. Just kidding, I'm against violence.

RANDI AND NYSUT ARE PRAISING CHICAGO STRIKE WHILE CTU MEMBERS DEBATE THE SETTLEMENT TERMS

When Randi Weingarten sends an email to AFT activists saluting the gains the Chicago Teachers Union made from striking and NYSUT puts the strike in their weekly Leader Briefing as the lead story, you know the world could be changing. Randi, who never met a giveback she didn't like (see 2005-2006, UFT Contracts for evidence), and the ever cautious NYSUT (let's keep student assessments in teacher evaluations)  are not usually big advocates of strikes. On the other hand, many of the rank and file in Chicago aren't so sure their strike won enough to be worth it.

This is a major portion of Randi's email to e-activists highlighting the wins of the strike:
In 1995, Chicago educators were stripped of their bargaining rights and their voice to affect learning and teaching conditions. The city's students, especially minority and special needs students, lost resources and even some neighborhood schools as a result. Fighting to make up those losses, the Chicago Teachers Union, AFT Local 1, went on strike last month.

Last night, the CTU ended that strike after the last issue—making up instructional days—was resolved. The CTU’s House of Delegates voted to recommend the tentative agreement negotiated with Mayor Lori Lightfoot, which secured historic victories for Chicago students and educators. The new contract includes:

• A nurse assigned to every school.
• A social worker assigned to every school.
• A staffing pipeline: $2.5 million in recruitment and training programs for clinicians, $2 million in tuition and licensure for nurses, increased investments in “grow your own” teacher pipeline programs, and 50 percent tuition reimbursement for English learner and bilingual endorsement programs.
• $35 million annually to reduce overcrowded K-12 classrooms across the district, prioritizing schools serving the most vulnerable students.
• Unprecedented enforcement mechanisms for class size relief.
• A Sports Committee with an annual budget of $5 million (33 percent increase in annual funding) for increases to coaching stipends and new equipment/resources.
• Rescinding (as of July 1, 2019) the January 2019 0.8 percent increase in the healthcare contribution rate; no plan changes to health insurance benefits and reductions in co-pays for mental health services and physical therapy.
• Bank of sick days earned after July 1, 2012, increased from 40 to 244 days.
• Special education individualized education plans will be developed solely by the IEP team; principals will be required to use substitutes or release time to provide adequate time for special education duties to the extent possible; special ed teachers will get common preparation periods with general education teachers where possible; special ed teachers will be the last to be called to cover classes; and a $2.5 million annual fund will be provided to reduce workload for counselors, case managers and clinicians.
• Salaries will increase 16 percent over the life of the contract (17 percent compounded).
• Average PSRP pay will increase nearly 40 percent during the contract term.
• Starting PSRP salaries will increase 5-9 percent depending on grade.
• Veteran teachers (step 14 and above) will receive an additional aggregate $5 million in salary increases ($25 million over five years).

On top of these contract victories, the CTU secured commitments from the governor and legislative leaders to move bills that would restore full bargaining rights to Chicago educators and school support staff. They also committed to an elected school board. One reporter called it a “virtual guarantee.”

Randi traditionally touted concession after concession as victory. I don't recall seeing an email like this after the 2012 Chicago strike or after many others nationally since 2018. This seems different. She is even bragging about the likely end of Mayoral Control of schools in Chicago and probable return to an elected school board.

Onward to New York State United Teachers. I have not seen NYSUT say that much about the waves of teacher strikes spreading across the country. My guess is they fear we would wake up in New York and demand more activist unions. That is why I was pleasantly surprised to see this is the lead story in the weekly NYSUT Leader Briefing:

Nov. 1

Chicago union wins big for educational justice

NYSUT congratulates the Chicago Teachers Union on reaching a successor agreement this week after 15 days on strike. CTU members went back to school today after negotiating a settlement that provides more nurses and counselors and a salary increase. The city and the union agreed to make up five days of student instruction.

The country is changing when it comes to teachers and labor.  The public will support us. It is obviously easier to win that public backing if we are fighting to improve student learning conditions as well as for better wages and benefits. That public support includes cities like Chicago where teachers are already paid a decent middle class salary.

Let's go to Randi again from the AFT News article on the Chicago settlement.
“This historic fight for what students deserve represents a paradigm shift: It wasn’t simply a fight to mitigate the damage of austerity, it was a fight to create the conditions that both students and educators need,” AFT President Randi Weingarten says. “This strike, like so many other fights to fund our future, is about building the political will to strengthen our public schools so all kids have their shot at success.”

In case you are thinking this is too good to be true, among the teachers in Chicago there was real controversy over the deal as covered in Substance and in New York at EdNotes. Here are the minutes of the contract debate in the Chicago House of Delegates from Substance:

Below are brief comments from delegates either supporting or opposing the strike suspension. Note that I do not always hear the names or schools of delegates but I include them when I can.

-Craig Cleave – opposes the resolution as the amount of money allocated for veteran teachers pay is “unacceptable”. Note: veteran teachers are at the top of the pay scale after 14 years and get no annual increase in pay. The proposed TA would allow them to get some extra money, but one delegate computed it to be about $250 per year.

-Fulton School delegate – opposes it as there is not enough in the TA for elementary schools.

-Alison Eichorn from Lindbloom – opposes it. She is the programmer at her school and she knows she will be told to program regular high school classes for 31 students. This is under the trigger and remediation of class size can only come at the request of the teacher AND can only take place if there is enough money left in the pot after the most needy schools are taken care of first.

-An elementary delegate opposes the TA because the class size caps are not real caps and she was concerned over teacher assistants being shared between different teachers.

-Another elementary teacher opposed it due to the lack of guaranteed prep time in the grammar schools

-Ed Hershey from Lindbloom opposes it because the elementary schools didn’t get needed prep time

-The Prosser High delegate said all of his members voted “No” on the TA because there was no definite printed salary schedule, the vet teachers pay was inadequate, and the $35 million for class size remediation was not nearly enough.

-Carlson School opposed it as its 67 members need the prep time

-Frank McDonald from Washington High opposes it because of the vagueness in the information provided about getting the 4.5 law repealed and in getting an elected school board law passed.

-Chris Burns, a high school teacher, supports elementary prep time.

-Delegate Roberts from Brentano School and a BBT member supports the proposal. She feels “…we have some historic wins here…”. She feels Lightfoot will cancel members’ health insurance if the strike goes to Friday. Jesse responded that if insurance is cut off, then COBRA will kick in. He admitted that it is very expensive but that one doesn’t have to pay for it immediately unless one needs to use it right away. When he said that I glanced at the delegate sitting next to me who was 8-9 months pregnant!

-The Brighton Park delegate said her school is about 50/50

-John Pardo from Phillips said his school is split 50/50 over the class size provision.

-Jim Vail from Hammond School opposes having a 5-year contract.

-Karen Soto of Waters School, a BBT member, supports the proposal. She said “we are creating handholds that will take us closer to the next level”.

-The Ray School delegate said her co-workers were 60% against the proposal and wanted more time to look over it.

-Sarah Chambers, a BBT member, pointed to some of the pluses in the contract; the sick day bank extended from 40 to 244 days, the ending of the Khronos system for punching in and out of school, and that there were 23 improvements affecting Special ed.

-A delegate lauded that we didn’t lose anything and philosophized that we shouldn’t expect to get everything.

-The Hawthorne Academy delegate favored the resolution saying “We can be righteous or we can be effective”. She also was concerned that we would lose public support if we stayed out too long.

-Oscar Ortiz was totally in favor of it.

-The Kennedy High delegate said that 80% of the faculty wants to stay out over veteran teachers’ pay, elementary prep time, and no restrictions on the CPS from closing schools.

-LaShawn Wallace, a Para, and BBT member, supported the resolution as it got very good salary increases for PSRPs.

--Roxanne Gonzalez, one of the 9 CTU members arrested the day before, wanted more time to look over the TA.

-A high school delegate said her faculty was 90% opposed to the TA because of the lack of prep time for elementary teachers, and concerns over weaknesses in the CTE programs that have not been addressed.

-The delegate from Back of the Yards College Prep was concerned that we would not be able to sustain our picketing and our strike much longer.

--The Ravenswood School delegate was strongly opposed to the resolution at the start but admitted she was more open to acceptance although she was unclear over the issue of class size remediation.

At this point, Emily Paine, a social worker delegate, called the question, i.e., end debate and then vote on the matter. I voted against her as I always believe that people should have a chance to have there say. My brother, Retiree Delegate Larry Milkowski, voted to support Paine’s motion. He didn’t feel that anything new would be added to the discussion. The motion carried.

As a Retiree delegate I am not allowed to vote on a strike matter but I would have voted to continue the strike. However, the House voted to accept the resolution, 364-242, with 4 abstentions.

A real debate! I am so envious.

It is only a matter of time before a union in NY catches labor militancy fever.  Human rights violating Taylor law fines be damned. I would like it to be teachers in NYC but I don't expect the UFT leadership will lead any real militant struggle. Demand for change needs to come from the rank and file.

For UFT members here, please stop wasting everyone's time complaining anonymously online about the UFT and organize a better union yourselves.  Chicago is different from us in that the CTU is a democratic union while the ruling Unity Caucus (Randi and Mulgrew's party) has an iron grip on our UFT and is more interested in control than any genuine discussion. Our job as dissidents is to spread the word to others that so many teachers around the country are standing up for themselves and achieving real gains for teachers and public schools. I hope I have not yet gone to the great beyond when NYC joins that movement.

RETIREE LUMP SUM PAYMENT FOUR WEEKS LATE FOR ME

This is from Gene Mann's The Organizer:

Retiree Lump Sum Payments

The Lump Sums for Retirees went out at 2 P.M. on October 25.

Retirees can get their stubs by calling 212. 291.2649

They will also available online at

https://www.finance360.org/pp/doeretireeretroportal/

The Contract says we should get our portion of the money we are owed for work we did from 2009-2011 on October 1. The UFT allows the DOE to pay active people on October 15. Retirees have to wait until October 25 for money contractually obligated to be paid on October 1. When October 25 came around, there was no lump sum payment put in my bank account. There was nothing I could do about it.

I was angry even though I did not need the money to pay immediate bills. I was lied to again by DOE and UFT. UFT did say not to worry the money would be there Monday, October 28 and it was. I waited ten years and an extra four weeks for money without a dime of interest.

My wife, thank goodness, told me to relax on the  25th as this was only a minor indignity. She was right but I am tired of DOE-UFT indignities that never seem to end. October 1 should mean October 1, not October 28. Oh, and  we will wait even longer for the per session and coverage lump sums.

I want a real union.

On the other hand, I was surprised to see no double dipping on union dues this year from my lump sum. Go figure.

SUSPENSIONS DOWN IN NYC SCHOOLS

This is from Chalkbeat:

The total number of suspensions decreased 10.5% in the 2018-19 school year to 32,801, according to data released Friday by the education department.

Principal suspensions, which are handed out for less serious offenses, and are typically under six days, decreased by nearly 10%. Meanwhile, more serious superintendent suspensions — which can range from a few days to an entire school year — decreased by roughly 12%. Still, big disparities remain in terms of which students are punished. Black students and students with disabilities continue to be disproportionately suspended, while white and Asian students are underrepresented. 


Back as recently as 2012 over 68,000 suspensions were documented. Are schools safer today?

I would argue that many principals' office carpets now look like camel humps due to all of the incidents that are swept under the rugs.

CHICAGO TEACHERS HAVE TENTATIVE AGREEMENT AND A COMPROMISE TO MAKE UP 5 OF 11 LOST DAYS; NYC TRANSIT WORKERS PATIENCE IS RUNNING OUT AFTER GOING FIVE MONTHS WITHOUT A CONTRACT

The news out of Chicago is that there is a Tentative Agreement on a contract but the Chicago Teachers Union wants the days lost to the strike to be made up. The Mayor is saying no makeup days. The students have missed 11 school days so far.

Update: The two sides have reached a compromise. Students will make up five days. The strike is over.

The Tentative Agreement passed the House of Delegates by a vote of 362 to 242. That means there was a 40% no vote so it isn't overwhelmingly popular. Now it goes to the membership for a ratification vote. Here are some details right from CTU:

Tentative Agreement Highlights
Some major elements of the Tentative Agreement include:

A nurse in every school community every day.

A social worker in every school community every day.

Staffing Pipeline: $2.5 million in recruitment and training programs for clinicians, $2 million in tuition and licensure for nurses, increased investments in "grow your own" teacher pipeline programs and 50 percent tuition reimbursement for English Language and bilingual endorsement programs.

$35 million annually to reduce oversized K-12 classrooms across the district, prioritizing schools serving the most vulnerable students.

Unprecedented enforcement mechanisms for class size relief.

Sports Committee with an annual budget of $5 million (33 percent increase in annual funding) for increases to coaching stipends and new equipment/resources.

January 2019 0.8 percent increase in health care contribution rate rescinded as of 7/1/19; no plan changes to health insurance benefits and reductions in co-pays for mental health services and physical therapy.

Bank of sick days earned after July 1, 2012, increased from 40 to 244 days.

Development of special education Individual Education Plans (IEP) made solely by the IEP team; principals required to use substitutes or release time to provide adequate time for special education duties to the extent possible; common preparation periods with general education teachers where possible; special ed teachers last to be called to cover classes; $2.5 million annual fund to reduce workload.

Clarification on class size language
Many members have read the new language in Article 28 on Class Size and found the table and language confusing. We want to clarify how the new language improves on the class size language in our recently expired 2015-19 contract.

In that last contract, there were advisory class size limits for different grade levels. However, to relieve oversized classes only $6 million per year was allotted for the entire district. When a class was over the limit, the teacher would have to file for relief, a weak joint committee came and investigated. If there was money, and if there was will, the class might get a remedy.

In the tentative agreement, that protection still remains, but is strengthened. The same class size guidelines are maintained and the pool of money to remedy oversized classes is increased more than five times, from $6 million to $35 million. The committee also has more power to award remedies.

The truly new part, however, is the automatically triggered hard cap on class sizes. Those classes that are over the limit by a set amount (differing based on grade level) will be immediately and automatically referred to the committee and relief for the those classes is mandated in the contract. There will be no need for a teacher to report their class and ask for help, the committee will automatically come out to relieve the problem.

Some have mistakenly read the higher numbers as eliminating the previous class size guidelines and raising them to allow even larger classes. That isn’t so. This language keeps the previous numbers and improves the enforcement mechanism quite a bit. Once the automatically triggered classes have been relieved, there is still a larger pool of money to relieve classes that may be over the existing guideline, but under the automatic trigger mark. Those classes will need to request relief, but will still have the stronger committee come to their aid and there will be more money available to solve their problems.

For those who want to know what the hard cap class size numbers are, from the Chicago Sun Times:
On class size, a new joint council will be created to address overcrowding. The council will get weekly updated data and will have $35 million per year to address situations on a case-by-case basis.

Overcrowded classrooms will only get relief, however, when they hit certain hard caps. Those limits are: 32 students in a K-3 class, 35 kids in grades 4-8 and 32 students in core high school classes. The district’s guidelines for normal-sized classes — ones it says it “shall aspire to stay within” — are 32 for K-3, 31 for grades 4-8 and 25 for core high school classes.

So remedies for overcrowding will only kick in when there are 4 or 7 students above what a normal class should have, according to the agreement.

For other details, again we go to the Sun Times piece:
The deal approved by the governing board had a five-year term, the length the city had offered from the start of talks. The union had wanted a three-year deal.

It includes 16% raises over the life of the deal, and virtually no increase in healthcare costs.

The teachers had pushed hard for additional preparation time for elementary school teachers, but it appeared the only new prep time in the contract was for kindergarten teachers.

The union received a guarantee that there will be a full-time dedicated nurse and social worker in every school by July 2023 with staffing ramping up from now until then.

The deal included a “net zero” increase in the amount of board-authorized charter schools over the contract’s lifespan.

You can read the entire Tentative Agreement at this Sun Times link if you scroll down. It is amusing that the back of each page says " FOR CTU MEMBERS ONLY" but was leaked so we have it.

Meanwhile back in NYC, what looks like one of the only militant unions left, Transport Workers Union Local 100, held a massive rally yesterday. They have gone five months without a contract, not almost five years like us, and they are angry. They are also threatening action. TWU International leader John Samuelson is quoted in the Daily News article on the rally.
“This is the biggest rally Local 100 has ever had in my time here,” TWU International president John Samuelsen told The News.

Samuelsen said the union’s members are at their wit’s end with the MTA. While the union is not legally allowed to go on strike, the workers could take things into their own hands if they don’t get a new contract soon, he noted.

“I don’t think transit workers are going to wait months for their fair shake,” said Samuelsen. “I think this situation will organically spin out of control, and the workers will say they’re done.”

As for TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and other TWU leaders talking strike:

Local 100′s leaders said they are not officially planning a strike, but several of them shouted to the crowd that they will “shut it down” if the MTA does not meet their demands. They counted the crowd at roughly 5,000 members but said a late swell might have taken it up to 8,000 attendees.

A union has to at least be able to threaten a strike that everyone believes is real to have some real leverage. TWU Local 100 has that leverage.

While labor militancy is all around us, the UFT remains virtually silent on how its members are treated. Stop complaining and start organizing.

FINES FOR STRIKING ILLEGALLY WON'T BE IMPOSED ON DEDHAM TEACHERS, UPDATE FROM CHICAGO STRIKE; COMMENTARY ON BOTH COMPARING NYC TO BOTH PLACES

This is from the Massachusetts Teachers Association's online news update on the Dedham illegal strike that was settled on Sunday.

While the strike — the first by educators in Massachusetts since 2007 — was against the law, the agreement waives further court proceedings by the parties in exchange for the payment of costs incurred as a result of the action, such as the expense of police details.

The contract contains strong non-retaliation language protecting all DEA members — including those in other bargaining units who honored the picket lines.

Massachusetts is a liberal state that is quite similar to New York in that it outlaws government worker strikes. The Dedham teachers set a great modern day precedent by getting the Board of Education to waive further court proceedings in their agreement. This is what we need to do in New York if labor militancy finally comes to our state. Workers must stay out on strike until the employer agrees to waive the draconian fines of the Taylor Law.

As for more of the details of the new contract which passed the rank and file unanimously on Monday, the Dedham teachers did fairly well.
 The agreement also bolsters sexual harassment policies and addresses student use of personal technology in the classroom. The financial package covers four years, including retroactivity for a year missed during protracted negotiations that began nearly two years ago.

“I don’t think there is better evidence that collective action and solidarity work,” said [Union President Tim] Dwyer.

I totally agree but with our union leadership in NYC, we see none of that nor do we see many members demanding it.

Speaking of action, the Chicago Teacher strike continues. For readers interested in how a real union operates, I am posting the Bargaining Update section of the daily email I have received from the Chicago Teachers Union since the strike started.

Note they are going for more longevity increments for senior teachers. Chicago teachers reach maximum salary in 14 years. Many in NYC want to make it fewer years to reach maximum salary. Also notice that CTU does not want a five year contract. They see it as too lengthy. UFT's clueless leaders accepted a nine year contract and then extended it twice in 2018. They followed that up with an early contract where they didn't even bother to pressure the city or DOE for much of anything. That is a surefire way to disengage the membership.

Bargaining Update
The CTU’s bargaining team will return to the table first thing Wednesday morning in search of a just settlement to this strike. On Monday, there was further progress on a number of issues, including additional pay for paraprofessionals, who have for too long been forced to accept poverty wages; new increases for veteran teachers whose pay in prior contracts stagnated during the last 20 years of their career; and additional resources to alleviate oversized classes, short staffing, and inadequate funding for sports.

But significant issues are still unresolved, including the union’s demand for a three-year contract; increases in prep time, especially for elementary teachers; and the district’s push for more standardized testing.

CTU members were disappointed on Tuesday that CPS and the mayor refused to close the gap separating the two sides by providing an additional one half of one percent of CPS’ annual budget to land a tentative agreement with the CTU.

The Union held a Special House of Delegates meeting Tuesday evening. CPS shamelessly sent robocalls with misleading messages saying the meeting would vote on proposals. However, the purpose of the House meeting was to give a detailed presentation of where bargaining stands on both resolved and outstanding issues. In the MemberLink Portal, CTU leadership posted a detailed report on the history and status of the most prominent issues. The document is there for all members to read and discuss.

Our Union has been on strike for nine days, now, without resolution. It‘s important that our members measure what we have gained and what we are still determined to gain. With those things in mind, CTU members should discuss seriously the probabilities, risks and rewards to be gained by staying out. It will be up to our members to decide when we have won enough for our schools to accept an agreement and come off the picket lines. As President Sharkey noted the other night, we don’t want to be out on strike, but we are less concerned with a fast resolution than with a just resolution.

YOUR RIGHTS ON LETTERS IN THE FILE

Gene Mann in the Organizer has a piece on our rights for letters in the file. We are printing it below in its entirety.

Letter for file: Your rights, with an important addendum

Before any letter is placed in your file, you must be given an opportunity to read it and acknowledge its receipt by signing it. If the letter is negative, you should consider writing a response, detailing why you disagree with its contents. There is no time frame by which your response must be written. You should speak with your chapter leader, who can help you write an appropriate response and advise you on any other possible course of action, including procedural matters that may be grievable. The response should be attached to the original letter in your file; your supervisor cannot respond to your response.

If a letter is written for your file outside the contractual time limits, you have a right to grieve to have that letter removed. In addition, an arbitrator has ruled that you have the right to grieve “if material is placed in a teacher or employee file under circumstances that are alleged to constitute a violation of substantive Collective Bargaining Provisions.” In other words, if the letter violates a substantive part of the contract, you can grieve the letter under that contractual article.

If the letter is not used as the basis for disciplinary charges within three years, you can and should have it removed from your file. Talk to your chapter leader about how to do this.

Important addendum!  If you are presented with a letter to file-whatever it says-sign it, date it, and return it, maintaining a copy for yourself.  Do NOT write on the document!  Not only will that impair the grievance process, if you enter into it, but we have even heard of  disciplinary charges being brought for “defacing a disciplinary letter!”

For many years as a chapter leader, I was able to get most file letters into the grievance process because the administration in writing the letter violated some other clause of the Contract. This includes Chancellor's Regulations as per Contract Article 20, Matters not Covered. 

DEDHAM MASS. TEACHERS HAVE CONTRACT SO END STRIKE; CHICAGO TEACHERS CONTINUE THEIR STRIKE

From WCVB in Boston:
DEDHAM, Mass. —
Dedham teachers and school officials have agreed to a tentative deal to end the teacher strike that began Friday.

School officials said the new four-year collective bargaining agreement, one year of which is retroactive, ends a one-day strike and ensures that Dedham schools will be open Monday.

The deal comes at the end of a 15-hour bargaining session that spanned Saturday night and lasted into Sunday, officials said. The CBA is subject to ratification by the Dedham Education Association and an approval vote by the Dedham School Committee.

DEA President Tim Dwyer said he fully expects the teachers union to ratify the contract during a meeting at 4 p.m. Monday. Superintendent Michael Welch expects the deal will then be approved by the school committee.

The details of Sunday's agreement will be made public after the ratification and approval votes.

“This agreement is a major victory for Dedham educators and their students,” Dwyer said.

“As we have been saying, educators’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. DEA members stood up for their profession and for their students,” said Rachel Dudley, chair of the DEA's bargaining team.

The Chicago Teachers Union strike continues for an eighth day. From WGN:

CTU and city officials are still millions of dollars apart as they seek to reach a deal to end what is now longest strike in more than 30 years.

The major sticking points are staffing and class size.

The teachers union wants counselors, nurses and librarians in every school. They are also calling for a reduction in class size.

CTU officials said students deserve better.

Mayor Lightfoot said she agrees, but says the city doesn't have enough money to meet all of the union's demands.

The mayor of Chicago did settle with SEIU Local 73 to end their strike. They are special education assistants, security guards, bus drivers and custodians.

TEACHERS IN DEDHAM MASSACHUSETTS WAGE "ILLEGAL" STRIKE TODAY

Whenever I mention striking, I am told we can't in New York because government worker strikes are illegal in this state. Well, in Massachusetts, a neighboring Northeastern liberal state where public sector strikes are prohibited by law, teachers in the town of Dedham voted yesterday to strike. That strike began today.

This is from NBC Boston:
Schools in Dedham, Massachusetts, will be canceled on Friday as the school board anticipated a strike, which the teachers union overwhelmingly authorized in a vote Thursday afternoon.

The dispute is over the teachers' new contract, which the Dedham School Committee said has been under negotiation for nearly two years. An alert on the schools' page said all grades should not report on Friday.

"It's not what we want to do," said Tim Dwyer, the union's president. "We really want to focus on what we do, which is teaching kid. The idea that we now have to stand out in front and close the schools is sad."

"It has been very frustrating," said Rachel Dudley, the union's bargaining chair. "To feel like our voices aren't being heard by the other side."

The issues:
The two sides have been arguing over several issues, including salaries and health care. There is also disagreement over the sexual harassment policy, student cellphone use in class and unpaid hours for professional development.

The vote on the strike was 275-2. (No truth to the rumor that the two who voted no are the same two who comment on this blog that we should stop paying union dues. We need a real union now in NYC!)

The unlawfulness of the job action from CBS Boston:
It’s against the law for teachers to strike in Massachusetts. Before the Dedham teachers walked out, the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations issued an order not to strike.

“We know that it’s disruptive, and they know that it’s disruptive, but they know that it’s important and that our work environment is their learning environment,” said Dedham Education Association President Tim Dwyer.

The last teacher strike in Massachusetts was back in 2007 in Quincy. Teachers were on the picket line for five days. At one point, a judge ordered them back to work because they were breaking the law. When the Quincy teachers refused, the union was fined daily.

“It is illegal, it’s not criminal, and we spend a lot of time teaching our students to stand up for ourselves and stand up for what’s right, and our members decided that it was time for us to stand up for what we feel is right,” Dedham Educators Association member Rachel Dudley told WBZ-TV.

Support from Senator Bernie Sanders (not a surprise) on Twitter:

Right now there is a movement of workers across the country who are taking back their power at a scale we have not seen in recent memory. I stand with educators in Dedham, Massachusetts. This takes courage. https://twitter.com/_ericblanc/status/1187494958011428865 …

Eric Blanc@_ericblanc

This is a very big deal: Dedham educators just voted to strike 275-2 even though *public sector strikes are illegal* in Massachusetts. The strike starts tomorrow, solidarity! #nostrikeisillegalwhenwewin h/t @bmadeloni