Parity for Music Teachers: The Time Has Come

by Julie Woodward, UFT Delegate

Anyone who’s read our contracts for a decade or two will know that the UFT continues to throw high school music teachers under a bus.

By agreeing to 50 kids in each class, the union has tacitly accepted the notion that music teachers can achieve the same kind of results with 50 students that other city HS teachers can get with 34 and teachers in the suburbs can get with give or take 25. They have also tacitly agreed to allow abusive principals — or even nice ones just following abusive chancellor directives — to find fault with us when we cannot achieve their notion of classroom management, data input, differentiation, home contact, personal interaction and the like.

General music teachers do the same kinds of things all other subject teachers do.

A chancellor’s directive in 2003 or earlier told all teachers to focus on math and literacy. Music teachers can, of course, do this in spades. What are quarter-notes and eighth-notes but simple math, and what are lyrics if not poems set to music. If Klein had told everyone to teach social studies or science, we could have done that as well: plantation songs speak the history of the heart and human cruelty, and the study of sound at its most basic level is nothing but the study of acoustics.

Why, then, do we continue to get 50 kids per class?

Maybe it was thought “general” music is the same as “performance” music. It’s not though, and everyone knows it. Most music teachers actually want a nice big orchestra, band or chorus — the larger the group, the grander the sound. The numbers don’t matter if the kids want to be there and are willing to practice.

More likely, the DoE is trying to get state graduation mandates on the cheap, and 50 per class is certainly cheaper than 34 (or even less for more specialized arts classes like photography).

I repeat: the union has complied: “Yes, we’ll agree to stick it to the GM teachers. They're lucky to have a job anyway.”

I have brought this up on more than occasion with Ms Weingarten, notably at the Delegate Assembly two years ago when the crowd groaned at what music teachers have to put up with. Her response was something like: “Hmmmm. Maybe we could get some non-contractual relief for music teachers.” That “non-contractual relief” bit was her words, which I thought might mean they'd arrange for us do the extra marking and paperwork as a Circ. 6-R duty, one that principals could not override. But, even if you got those extra 5 periods a week to handle the workload, it wouldn’t be enough. Multiply 147% (50 ÷ 34) times 25 periods/week and you get 36.75 periods a week, 6.75 periods more than the 5 you'd get by letting us do the extra work during 6-R.

Here is what I wrote Michael Mendel just after Labor Day, to which he responded recently: “I am going to push this.”

As always in more than 20 years of teaching music, I have my doubts they even care.

PS: I know that phys ed teachers also get 50 per class and would like a reduction as well. But mostly they're not doing written work or having to worry about behavior when teaching sound or silence.

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I meant to write you earlier, but the overload is enormous.

HS Music teachers can be given 50 kids per class. Of course they all do not show up each and every period, but some things are constant:

1. You have to take attendance on a weekly bubble sheet IN ADDITION to keeping your own attendance records. This usually involves Delaney cards because you can't memorize so many kids (250) without a seating plan.

2. If one of these classes is your "homeroom," which requires a daily attendance sheet, that's a third attendance effort.

3. These lists are complicated because (a) they have to be accurate, and you can't do it quickly. Let's say you turn over the Delaney cards to save time. You still have to do the bubbling in your lunch or prep for 250 names per day. And they're not just absent or present. They can be late. They can also be late halfway through the period, which means you have to go back and annotate those too.

4. Talking about differentiation: you get in the same class: grades 9 - 12, spec. ed (learning disabled plus behaviorally challenged), regular ed, self-contained class members (their IEPs allow them to be mainstreamed for the electives), hearing impaired, and ELLs.

5. Absenteeism is erratic. There is little consistency, so some kids are up to date with the work, and lots and lots of others are missing a day here or there each week.

6. Grading: if you care about your job, you give classwork, and it needs to be graded. Grading so many kids is a nightmare.

7. Report cards are another nightmare, because even if they don't show, they all have to get a grade and a comment. This can only be done on a PC, not a Mac, and many music teachers use Macs at home because it was traditionally the best computer for music and art.

8. When they ask us to CALL HOME for every single person absent, try doing that kind of volume. It's only possible to do this on your lunch hour and in your prep. You should not have to do this kind of work at home or on your own time, but one is forced to under these conditions.

9. Now they're asking for PROGRESS REPORTS: they have to be done on a computer for each and every one of the 250 students, even if they aren't coming to school.

10. This leaves no time whatsoever for lesson planning, collaborating with other teachers, fixing your room, making your music tapes and/or class materials. It all has to be done on your own time — which is normal for teachers, but so very much more for us.

11. On top of this you get a Circular 6 duty taking up a period.

Please can you to do something about this terrible disparity. A spec. ed teacher or a RR teacher has 14 kids max each period, gen ed has 34, and we have 50 — that's half again the reg ed class. But admin makes no exceptions in the obligations we must fulfill as subject teachers.

Failing a contractual class size change, please can you get someone to say that Music teachers with these numbers should be given NO other circ. 6R duty than to finish up the attendance, calling home, grading, and school marks.

The remarks above are for GENERAL MUSIC and small music classes like Keyboard. They are not for CHORUS, BAND or ORCHESTRA, which are "performance" groups and many music teachers want as large a group as they can get for better sound. I was most happy in MS with a performance group of 80 or 90 (though I rehearsed them in groups of 32 or so, as well as some lunchtime kids 3 times a week, then combined them all for concerts).

I brought this up two or three years ago at a DA. RW's response was to see if there could be some "non-contractual relief." That never happened.

Best regards,

ICE Statement on the Nov. 3, 2009 Vote for Mayor

by John Lawhead

The election on November 3rd will have lasting consequences for public education and the city. It deserves the attention and involvement of all New Yorkers. The UFT has a long history of candidate endorsements made without any regular process of consultation with the membership and often contrary to members' interests. The decision to sit out the contest between Michael Bloomberg and his opponents speeds us to the brink of more disasters. If appearances are real and the UFT leadership's passive support for the mayor's reelection is a deal for a new UFT contract by deadline, our union is deeply complicit in another landmark defeat for the teaching profession.

Nearly eight years of direct control over the schools have provided Bloomberg with an unchecked opportunity to implement numerous policies premised on distrust and contempt for teachers, students and school communities. Early on with his rush to implement grade retention policy he put the blame on 8-year olds for low reading scores and further worked to make standardized testing a year-round concern. “Weekend, vacations, summer -- time off is a luxury earned, not a right,” he told a radio audience in 2002. Chancellor Klein went to work making testing an obsession for all schools by hanging their fate on it.

His administration accelerated the wholesale closing of neighborhood high schools. Together with a successful assault on teachers' contractual rights this led to the creation of an excess teacher reserve force in the thousands. The result of dozens of school phase-outs deepened the gulf between the two worlds children in New York encounter at the high school level. One consists mostly of large neighborhood or selective schools and is increasingly filled with white and Asian students An entirely different realm awaits black and Latino students consisting mostly of new small schools, stripped of both enrichment programs, IEP services and bilingual programs and plagued with teacher turnover.

The new schools have been staffed with discriminatory hiring through privately-run programs. Just as tens of millions in funding by Bill Gates went to school reorganizations, Eli Broad's millions were used to train principals to see teachers as antagonists. In recent years Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein have extended the agenda of privatized education by embracing charter schools, displaying a marked preference for the chain operators. Their favoritism towards the charters has allowed them to invade neighborhood schools and shrink them.

For educational activists the past eight years have meant not only palpable damage but also lost opportunity for positive and progressive change. The Bloomberg monopoly of power has excluded local participation in decision making, eliminating a common entry into politics by Black and Latino New Yorkers. It has also preempted meaningful discussion around educational goals and policy. What should be the goals of a public education? How can schools do more just provide an exit from the poorest communities? How could schools be part of a collective effort to improve neighborhoods and increase democracy?

Bill Thompson has played an important role as city comptroller in exposing Bloomberg-era fraud and mismanagement. His supporters are waging a spirited fight against a billionaire mayor with lopsidedly less resources. It is difficult to offer Thompson unqualified support when he has thrown support to mayoral control and supports much of the underlying corporate agenda for education. The mayoral race this year also attracted Tony Avella (who Thompson defeated) and Billy Palen who is running as the Green Party candidate. Both advocated a more grassroots response to the current mess and it's a shame Thompson didn't adopt some of their policies in his campaign against the mayor.

Despite these differences anything other than energetic rejection of the Bloomberg monopoly is the wrong choice for our union. We urge all readers to vote against Bloomberg!

DA REPORT: UFT POSTPONES INDEFINITELY A MAYORAL ENDORSEMENT

The Wednesday, October 14 Delegate Assembly meeting was highlighted by chapter leader Jonathan Halabi introducing a resolution calling for the UFT to endorse William Thompson for mayor.

Halabi motivated his resolution by telling the assembly how bad Mayor Bloomberg has been for education. The Union brought out the big guns to oppose Halabi. Political director Paul Egan said that we shouldn't throw ourselves on our swords because Bloomberg was basically a shoe in to win with his money, his endorsements and with labor split. He added that Contract negotiations would end immediately if we supported Thompson.

The debate on this motion continued with staff director Leroy Barr proposing that we postpone the vote indefinitely on this motion. He said this would give us the option of raising it again within the next couple of weeks if we were to decide to endorse. After some further discussion and some parliamentary procedural questions about whether or not the president was trying to alternate between speakers for and against the resolution to support Thompson, Barr's motion carried so the UFT has postponed the decision indefinitely.

In other news we heard a report from President Michael Mulgrew on the sad state of the budget, the flat NAEP testing results, and how principals can get points on their Quality Reviews.

He also talked about the new school governance law that gives more power to School Leadership Teams to make their school's Comprehensive Education Plans. He said that having a functioning SLT in most of our schools was an important UFT goal for this year. He added that he had talked to the new State Education Commissioner, David Steiner, about the state having a quick review process.

There was a question about ATR's and Mulgrew answered by saying the DOE has to manage the schools better and our ATR's would remain on the job.

The only other news to come out of the meeting was that visitors were not allowed in the auditorium but instead were relegated to watching the proceedings on television on the 19th floor. Anyone who comes to a DA to watch it on TV is truly dedicated. Why not just make the proceedings available as webcasts to UFT members so any member could watch them?

ELFRANK QUESTIONS MULGREW ON VOTER APATHY

Our friend John Elfrank got to ask President Mulgrew a question about low turnout in UFT elections at a recent "Meet the President" gathering in Manhattan. Read all about the president's response here.

ICE PLATFORM ON THE WEB

For those interested in a well thought out political platform, go to UFT Elections 2010 where you can read the ICE-UFT platform in its complete form.

Thanks to the many ICERS who donated their time to see this effort through.

ICE BLOG SUPPORTS LEONIE HAIMSON, ROBERT JACKSON LETTER TO STATE

The DOE could care less about most laws and now they are being taken to task by Councilman Robert Jackson and parent activist Leonie Haimson in this brilliant letter to the new state education commissioner. We urge everyone to go to the New York City Parent blog and sign on quickly as Oct 8 is the deadline for comments on the city Contract for Excellence plan.


To Commissioner Steiner:

We urge you to require the city to start reducing class size now, according to the terms of its Contracts for Excellence (C4E). Smaller classes remain the top priority of NYC parents, according to the Department of Education’s own surveys, and the state’s highest court said that our children were deprived of their constitutional right to an adequate education in large part because of excessive class sizes.

In return for receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in additional state funds, the city promised that class sizes would be lowered each year until the citywide average would be no more than 20 students per class in grades K-3 and 23 in all other grades by the fall of 2011. Class size reduction is now a state mandate, and yet last year class sizes increased last year by the largest amount in ten years; and there are widespread reports of further increases this year.

In addition, the C4E process for public participation has been deeply flawed, as the city failed to hold any public hearings this past June, as recommended by the state, and has refused to hold any borough hearings, as required by law. Instead, a power point is being presented to Community Education Councils which omits any mention of the city’s five year class size reduction plan, as well as the DOE’s failure to meet its class size targets for two years in a row.

In its official C4E submission, the city pledged to the state that the “the Department continues to be committed to reducing class size in early grades via the Early Grade Class Size Reduction program." Yet when an audit was released in September, revealing the misuse of millions of dollars of these funds, the DOE claimed that the program “no longer exists.” Please see attached fact sheet for more information on these findings. Clearly, the city has reneged on its promise to reduce class size.

It is time that the state utilizes its full oversight authority, and requires that the city comply with the law. We recommend that a corrective action plan be imposed with the following provisions:

1-The city’s plan should be revised to include specific class size reduction goals by school, district, and citywide -- sufficient to achieve its annual and five year goals.

2-The city should be obligated to assign whatever teachers remain on absent teacher reserve (ATR) to regular classrooms in their respective districts, so that class sizes can be reduced from current levels.

3-The city should be forbidden from further pursuing any20policies that conflict with its class size goals, including placing new schools in buildings before smaller classes have been achieved in the existing schools. DOE continues to insert new schools into buildings where the existing school is “underutilized” according to a formula which assumes near maximum class sizes.

4. The state should require that the city revise its capital plan so that it can provide enough space necessary for its class size goals to be achieved, as the C4E regulations require.

5. The state should hold back all C4E funds before the city has reported to the state in detail what reductions have been achieved by school, district and citywide, reporting that is now mandated by the state to occur by November 17.

This year will be the mid-point in the city’s five year class size reduction plan, instituted by the Legislature so that our children could eventually be assured of an adequate education. There is no time to waste.

If the State Education Department does not require these basic steps to demand accountability and credibility on the part of the city, it will have failed in its responsibilities to our children, to the Legislature, and to New York taxpayers.

Yours,




Leonie Haimson, Executive Director, Class Size Matters and public school parent

City Council Member Robert Jackson, chair, Education Committee and plaintiff, Campaign for Fiscal Equity

A Quick note to Support de Blasio and Liu Tomorrow

Maybe they won't help us at all if they win but if Bill deBlasio and John Liu lose tomorrow's runoff Democratic primary for public advocate and comptroller, then the UFT will be in an even weaker position than we are already in since we have pushed so strongly for these two candidates.

Ever since 2001 when the UFT endorsed three losing Mayoral candidates, the UFT endorsement has been a little tainted. Tomorrow's run-off could turn the tide a little back in our favor.

ICE has not endorsed any candidate in these races; I am writing this post as strictly my own opinion and I also placed it in my Chapter newsletter.

DID RANDI GET IT RIGHT?

I read the Washington Post piece on education last Friday with a little surprise. AFT President Randi Weingarten is finally sounding negative on Obama's education plan.

" 'It looks like the only strategies they have are charter schools and measurement,' said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. 'That's Bush III.' Weingarten, who praises Obama for massive federal aid to help schools through the recession, said her 1.4 million-member union is engaged in 'a constructive but tart dialogue' with the administration about reform."

Is this just talk or is it real?

31 NY Teacher Mulgrew Pictures

Our friend Merry Tucker sent this to ICE mail.


I decided to count the photos of Mulgrew in the latest issue of the NY Teacher:
Total: 27. + 4 (all on one page) in the state edition.
One page had 5 of him!
3 pages had 3
2 pages had 3.
In the competition of ego-mania, I think Mulgrew wins. and he's just started his reign.

Eterno Family

It is no state secret that my wife Camille gave birth to our baby daughter, Kara Teresa Eterno, this past summer on July 17th. People have been asking for a picture so here we are. Having a child puts everything into perspective.

A Tale of Two Spins: Did the UFT Win or Lose the Budget Grievance?

Same grievance with two entirely different interpretations. The first is from the DOE and the second from the UFT Chapter Leader update. We'll leave it to you to decide who's right.


A Tale of Two Spins
From the Principal’s Weekly: Sept 16
Sharing Budget Information with Your UFT Chapter Leader
All schools
An arbitrator recently determined that, under Article 8(C) of the Teachers’ Contract, chapter leaders and other union representatives are not entitled to the full view of a school’s budget on the Galaxy Table of Organization. The arbitrator determined that principals in all schools must provide their chapter leader and chapter committee with a copy of the School Leadership Team view of the Galaxy Table of Organization at the opening of the school year in September and before the end of the school year in June. Principals should continue to consult with their chapter committees regarding use of school allocations and any budget modifications. If you have any questions regarding this issue, contact Kellie Walker.


From the UFT Chapter Leader Update: Sept 18 ___________________________________________________________________________
Chapter leaders have right to view budget at beginning of school year:

An arbitrator has ruled in favor of our union-initiated grievance demanding a fuller view of school budgets. Some principals have been denying chapter leaders a detailed Galaxy view of their school budgets, also referred to as the School Leadership Team view. The School Leadership Team view allows chapter leaders to see important details about the budget, such as how positions are funded, and categories of per diem, per session and OTPS spending. The arbitrator ordered the DOE to require principals to give chapter leaders access to the School Leadership Team/Galaxy view twice a year – before the end of June and again at the beginning of the next school year. In addition, principals must give chapter leaders a copy of budget modifications they make during the school year. You can read the decision here

CONE OF SILENCE COMES TO DA

The blackout on contract negotiations news continues as the UFT leadersip requested at the special Delegate Assembly today that we not talk to the press or post information on the internet about negotiating committee matters. We will respect the wishes of the UFT president but some of the stuff is already out there in public so we feel ok to comment on information already in the public domain.

The press has been reporting for a while now that Chancellor Joel Klein wants to fire the Absent Teacher Reserves after 12 months if they cannot find a position. If we agreed to this, it would effectively mean the end of tenure and seniority rights as closing schools has become rampant across the city. Obviously, Klein is on the attack. How should the UFT respond? Please tell us as we would like to know what our readers think.

In other DA news, John Liu, the UFT endorsed candidate for comptroller and another politician, addressed the Delegates. There will be a runoff primary election on September 29 for comptroller and public advocate. Although ICE didn't make any formal endorsement, I will be supprting the UFT endorsed candidates and urging members to vote for Liu for comptroller and also for Bill DeBlasio for Public Advocate. If our endorsed people win, it should make us stronger.

Should the UFT also endorse Bill Thompson for Mayor? Tell us what you think.

Also, the Stella D'Oro workers who won their strike and are now having their plant moved to Ohio were at the DA to talk about their protest at Goldman Sachs. Goldman will be financing the union busting move.

That's about it except for a report from new President Michael Mulgrew on how horrible state and city budgets are. Same old stuff there.

Mike and Mikey on the Contract: Mikey Keeps Quiet

New York Times education reporter Jennifer Medina reports today that the mayor views union contract negotiation as "give and take" democracy. We always thought democracy had something to do with voting and representation but I guess in the Mayor's world everything boils down to business.

While not divulging what exactly will be traded the Mayor made it clear he is seeking to buy teachers who are flexible and try new things. Our anointed president had no reported response. Can the UFT be marginalized any further?

How Should Teachers be Evaluated?

There is a new experiment going on that the UFT is involved with the DOE and the Gates Foundation on how to evaluate teachers (see NY Times piece). Did you get the letter from UFT President Mulgrew and Chancellor Klein asking to be involved in this experiment?

We know where President Mulgrew stands on collaboration. We want your opinion.

Is this experiment a good idea for us to be involved with or are we setting ourselves up for our eventual destruction?

ICE Called it Right as 4%+4% Pattern Raises for Next UFT Contract are in the City Budget

Our Contract expires on October 31, 2009. Negotiations are about to start for a new one but in reality there might not be much to discuss unless the UFT is willing to push to get back the seniority and other rights we gave away in 2005. (highly unlikely)

The NY Post, of all places, has exposed that the city has budgeted 4% raises for UFT members into its budget for the next two years because of pattern bargaining.

Pattern bargaining is when one city labor union settles with the city on a financial package for a round of collective bargaining and that sets a pattern so other city unions can go in and say, "Me too."

It's the way muncipal labor contracts have been negotiated for decades. New UFT President Michael Mulgrew will claim a great victory if we get the 4%+4% pattern that every other union has already received. ICE-TJC can go in and get the pattern too, as could a Kindergarten kid.

This blog talked about the pattern for our next Contract already being set as far back as 2007 and last year we emphasized how events have not changed in terms of the pattern even with the financial crisis.

NEW PATTERN FOR OUR NEXT CONTRACT POSSIBLE ALREADY

DESPITE THE TIMES, CIVILIAN PATTERN PROBABLY SET. PARAMETERS FOR NEXT CONTRACT MOST LIKELY IN PLACE

DELEGATE ASSEMBLY REPORT; CONTRACT GOALS DISCUSSION ON GRIEVANCE PROCESS SHOWS JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED

The UFT was unable to beat pattern bargaining in the nineties and earlier this decade when our salaries fell way behind what teachers in surrounding districts earn. We were able to bridge the gap with the suburbs a little only by agreeing to major contractual concessions such as the longer day and other givebacks that robbed us of much of our professional dignity in 2005.

In Monday's Post the Mayor provided some clarification about our probable 8% increases: "It would be irresponsible when all of the other unions have gotten [similar raises] for us not to put the pattern into the budget," he said.

"Things are going to be different down the road as we continue to talk to the UFT."

What that means is anyone's guess but I would surmise that since other unions aren't conceding givebacks now, then the UFT won't either. That is unless we want something other than the pattern.

However, the next Contract will expire in 2011 and Bloomberg could be reelected by then and Mulgrew could be established as well. At that time, look out folks. The city's financial situation might not be much better than it is today.

2011 has the potential to be a repeat of the 2005 givebacks. All the more reason why we need to be able to stand up as a real labor union.

Now is the time to go back to union basics and organize for the inevitable difficult battle that lies ahead.

2010 Campaign Kickoff: We need YOU to Help Us Form a Real Union

According to the UFT Constitution, one of the main objectives of the UFT is “To protect members whenever necessary.” Unfortunately, that goal has been abandoned by our leadership which comes from Unity Caucus, the “invitation only” group that has controlled the UFT for almost half a century.

We have posted numerous articles on this blog showing how members (who are required to pay hefty dues) and Chapters have been left hung out to dry by the UFT. Many of us who gallantly try to uphold our professional dignity are left on our own to fight the Department of Education. This must stop at once. However, turning the UFT from its current weak state into a real union won’t be easy. It’s up to YOU to make it happen.

To understand what we are up against, look closely at the August 13, 2009 edition of NY Teacher newspaper for the debut of the latest union style “cult of personality” dedicated to UFT President Michael Mulgrew. We counted no less than eight pictures of the newly appointed leader on the first four pages and multiple articles too.

One such story is a laughable piece on how the Executive Board elected him unanimously. There is no mention that opposition caucuses were not permitted to speak at the meeting where Mulgrew was nominated or about the political make up of the Executive Board. There was nothing about how Unity Caucus obligations require their members to support caucus candidates.

We are not, however, writing this piece to slam Mulgrew or criticize his selection as UFT President. The less than democratic rules for succession of UFT officers have been in place for a long time. In fact, we wish the president well.

We are posting this so we can start to emphasize to the readers of this blog how difficult it will be to unseat Mulgrew and Unity Caucus.

The NY Teacher is a house organ and as such it is a very efficient propaganda newspaper, spinning a positive message about the state of our union and its leaders. In addition, Unity has money as people who accept their invitation to join have to pay a fee.

Since being in Unity has guaranteed victory in UFT elections, Unity has a very deep treasury; they will use it to smear us in the general election in 2010. They are extremely adept in one area: keeping themselves in power. They count on member apathy. Sadly, the vast majority of teachers do not vote.

Unity even has a loyal subsidiary group called New Action. The traditional opposition party has not run a candidate for UFT President since 2001 and yet they remain on the ballot in UFT elections. Their purpose appears to be to confuse people who want to vote for something different. Their reward has been union jobs.

If we want to see real change in the UFT, ICE-TJC can lead the movement. We have union passion. Many in our group are experienced chapter leaders, delegates and activists. Some of us have even sat on the UFT Executive Board. We have served on the inside so we can clearly see how to repair the Union.

If elected, we will protect every member and Chapter as fully as possible. No UFT member should ever feel that the UFT doesn’t completely have their back.

We will also mobilize the sleeping giant: the UFT rank and file. It’s time for us to stop being afraid of the DOE and for the DOE and city to worry about our collective strength. Teaching and learning conditions will only improve if we mobilize to make it happen.

However, we are not yet a large group and we are up against the Unity machine which controls all Union patronage and enjoys the status quo. Loyalty to Unity caucus has been a necessary prerequisite if someone wants free trips to conventions or a union job. They will do what it takes to keep their positions. It will take more than just reading the blogs to create a real union in our schools.

ICE is under no illusions that unseating Mulgrew/Unity in 2010 will be simple. It will be a monumental task. ICE-TJC winning a UFT election would be the political equivalent of David slaying Goliath.

Here are some ways you can become a part of a movement to start a rank and file controlled UFT.

We need members to become active in the union in their schools to show how the UFT can work to benefit all of its members.

We need people to help distribute our literature in their schools. You have a right to use mailboxes for this purpose and we will defend it. (Baizerman grievance decision)

We need people to spread the word about ICE-TJC to other schools throughout NYC.

We need people to get on line and spread the word virally about ICE-TJC.

We need more members to become actively involved by joining ICE. We would love to hear everyone's ideas to make this a truly bottom-up campaign for UFT offices in 2010.

To expose Unity, we need money to run a campaign. The ICE website can tell you how to donate.

The U in union stands for YOU becoming an activist so all of us can win.

Terminated Probationary Teacher Wins First Step Getting Job Back

When Principal Diane Gordin and District 31 (Staten Island) Superintendent Margaret Schultz terminated Lisa Capece from her fifth grade probationary teaching position at P.S. 1 they knew they had a fighter on their hands. They also knew that having the Court order a probationer reinstated is very rare. They must have been surprised to learn that Justice Philip G. Minardo, on August 3rd, would order a hearing to determine if Capece's termination was proper.

Probationers, under our law, can be dismissed for any or no reason. In the DOE probationers are entitled, theoretically with an internal administrative method to challenge the termination. The first step, after a principal decides to terminate the probationer, is an "appeal" (more like a plea) to the Superintendent, who has the legal authority to terminate the probationer. Once the termination is accomplished the probationer has the right to an appeal where a three member panel hears the basis of the termination and issues a recommendation to the Chancellor for or against termination. This hearing is fairly informal and, in my experience, our Union does not take seriously.

Once the Chancellor has decided to affirm the termination there is little the terminated employee can do. In order to challenge the termination in Court the terminated employee must bring an Article 78 court proceeding within 120 days of the termination; not the Chancellor's decision. If he waits until the Chancellor's decision it will generally be beyond the 120 days so reinstatement is out of the question. (You can challenge the termination of the license but even if you win, which is unlikely, the Court cannot reinstate you). No one in the Union advises this and many terminated probationers lose their rights right out of the gate.

Now, getting back to Capece's case, it appears that she was scheduled to end her probation on January 28, 2008, but she agreed to an extension of probation in November 2007. Capece alleged that Superintendant Schultz coerced her into agreeing to the one year extension under the threat of immediate termination. The purported reason for this act of largesse apparently orchestrated by Principal Diane Gordin was to allow Capece to demonstrate improvement in her alleged areas of "difficulty", i.e., time management, differentiation in her manner of instruction, adapting her teaching lessons based upon the students' needs, and effectively assessing her students' level of comprehension and individual abilities.

During the extension Capece received two "U" observations, three LIF's and a "U" rating. She was terminated by Schultz and in a split decision, 2-1, the termination was upheld after a hearing by the Office of Appeals and Review.

Capece alleged that she was subjected to harassment and discriminatory treatment due, in part, to her union activities. She was the co-Chapter Leader and claims that she was targeted because she would not give up the position. Additionally she alleged that she was discriminated against due to her religious beliefs when she refused to go to a workshop on a Catholic holiday. She detailed her exemplary two year record prior to her being targeted in her last year of probation.

Justice Minardo, while mindful that the DOE can terminate a petitioner for almost any reason, observed that there were restrictions on the DOE's power to terminate. These include discrimination and union activity which, he wrote, were protected by the 1^st Amendment and statutes.

Justice Minardo ordered that the allegations raised the need for a hearing which he scheduled for September 15^th.

Capece was represented by private counsel. NYSUT lawyers will generally not take probation termination cases.

The decision is reported here.

UFT JUSTICE DELAYED FOR SECRETARIES IS JUSTICE DENIED

I recently received the following email from the excessed pupil accounting secretary at Jamaica High School, Juliana Cody. Over a year ago, the UFT won an arbitration saying school aides should not be doing secretarial work. We provided numerous documents showing that aides were doing secretarial duties at Jamaica High School and nothing has changed since then except more of our members are being placed in excess. What follows is the email secretary Cody sent to the UFT grievance department and their reply. As the DOE just continues to laugh at the grievance process and our Contract, our members suffer.

How would an ICE/TJC union run differently? If the DOE did not comply with an arbitration award, we would have every school that was not abiding by the decision publicly exposed repeatedly in any way we could. We would not tell people to just wait.


From: Cody Julianna
To: Michelle Daniels

As of this date, myself and two other secretaries at Jamaica High School have been in excess at our jobs and illegally replaced with school aides. For more than a year now we and our union representative have been emailing, telephoning, and faxing pages and pages of required and requested documentation to the UFT to uphold the legal decision that prohibits school aides from doing secretarial work. After all of this, the only answer now given is that the decision is in court waiting to be upheld - a second time.

While I prepare for a new job in a new school, I can't help thinking how ridiculously unsatisfactory this answer is. For the life of me I don't know how you can stand by and let jobs be given away because a school administrator lied about being in compliance with a legal decision. I am being forced out of my job, but not before I say how disgusted I am in how this is being handled.

I have no faith in you as UFT representatives. You all talk the talk but you can't walk the walk, as the saying goes. You should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing this to get so out of hand. I know my UFT representative, James Eterno, has worked tirelessly to get this decision applied to Jamaica High School. We have complied with every request yet your only response is that we must wait it out in court. We won the arbitration over a year ago! Administration is lying about being in compliance and no one cares to follow through on what has already been determined to be illegal.

So, thanks for nothing and for wasting my time and that of many others as well. I now know how much I can not count on your support in the future.

Juliann Cody no longer Pupil Accounting Secretary at Jamaica High School


Reply
To: Julianna Cody Pupil Accounting Secretary Jamaica High School
From: Michelle Daniels
Cc: Howard Solomon
Subject: RE: Secretaries Arbitration

Ms. Cody,

I understand your frustration, and in fact, share it. However, the matter IS in the courts, specifically because the Union sought to have the Arbitration Award confirmed by the courts so that the DoE is ordered into compliance in the matter. As such, I do not believe that the Union is just standing by and doing nothing.

My colleagues and I have worked very hard in order to effectively argue this case and be successful at winning this case at arbitration. I do not believe we have any reason to be ashamed of ourselves.

I will notify you as soon as a court decision is rendered. Hopefully it will positively affect your current reassignment.

Fraternally yours,

Michelle Daniels Michelle Daniels
UFT Special Representative Grievance/Arbitration Department

DOE Uses Immigration Law to Fire Tenured Teacher Who Won Disciplinary Hearing

O.K., say you're an immigrant from Jamaica attracted by a teaching opportunity in New York City where you are promised DOE sponsorship for a visa and ultimate legal residency. Now you teach for several years, acquire tenure, and you are brought up on disciplinary charges. You have your hearing and the arbitrator suspends you for three months and orders that you get some sensitivity training before you go back to teaching. Just when you are getting your life back together the DOE terminates you because they withdrew the immigration sponsorship application and claim you are now an undocumented alien, no longer entitled to be in the United States much less teach.

That is exactly what happened to Nurchett Brown.

Brown had no recourse with immigration since the DOE withdrew its petition but she believed that her dismissal was in violation of Education Law which clearly states that tenured teachers cannot be dismissed without a full hearing. So she appealed to New York County Supreme Court.

The matter was referred to Justice Eileen Rakower who affirmed the dismissal. Brown v. Board of Education, New York County Supreme Court, Index No. 102678/2009, decision dated July 22, 2009.

Rakower was unmoved by Brown's situation and found that the DOE did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in dismissing her since, while suspended, technically she did not meet the requirements of the immigration law and that DOE "had no choice" but to withdraw its sponsorship.

FIRED PARA IS TOTALLY ABANDONED BY UFT

When Pedro Payano, a para assigned to P.S. 205 in the Bronx was fired from his position by Principal Maria Pietrosanti he must have thought that at least the Union would be there to protect his rights.
Boy, was he wrong. Payano's case illustrates just how our Union treats paraprofessionals as second-class citizens.

In order to terminate a tenured teacher most of us know that the Board must serve written charges and, if the teacher so requests, an arbitration is held pursuant to Education Law 3020-a. The hearing offers the teacher an opportunity to cross-examine witness against him and while difficult to appeal, due process is afforded.

Paraprofessionals do not come under the provisions of 3020-a. As non-competitive civil servants the rights against unjust termination are contained in their contract. The para contract provides "the discharge of an employee should be based on good and sufficient reason and that such action should be taken by the supervisor having such authority only after he/she has given due consideration to the matter." Article 23.

Any challenge to a firing must go through the grievance procedure…, step 1, principal; step 2, chancellor; step 3 arbitration. Article 22.

Payano was charged with abandoning a special needs child. He challenged the termination at step 1 and step 2, which was denied. He sought to appeal to step 3, arbitration but the Union denied taking the matter further. Payano was left without any real remedy.

Para terminations are not treated properly by our Union. Unlike 3020-a's when a teacher is represented by a lawyer paras get a teacher. The teachers selected to represent paras at these hearings have little formal training (a couple of weekends at a hotel) and no formal legal background. For the most part they read from scripts prepared by "more experienced" teachers. The hearings can take place long after the para has been fired. In short, totally inadequate representation is provided for these dues paying members.

Payano didn't even get this sham representation which would have cost the Union next to nothing and would have demonstrated that we stand by our members.

We can assure you this would not happen under an Eterno lead UFT.

MULGREW CORONATION: MEET THE NEW BOSS SAME AS THE OLD BOSS

Yesterday's UFT events show how little will change with a different person in the presidency. Falling back on over twenty years of undemocratic tradition, the UFT Executive Board nominated only one person, Vocational Vice President Michael Mulgrew, to succeed Randi Weingarten. Friends at ICE considered nominating yours truly for the position as I have declared that I will run in 2010, but were not allowed to speak.

This is how this process works. UFT presidents plan their exit. Going back to Al Shanker, the UFT President at some point takes both the presidency of the UFT and the national union, American Federation of Teachers, at the same time. The UFT is by far the largest AFT local. The last three UFT presidents, Al Shanker, Sandy Feldman and Randi Weingarten, have simultaneously held the AFT and UFT presidencies. When they are ready to go full time to the AFT, they resign the UFT presidency in the middle of their term. The UFT Constitution allows the Executive Board, not the membership, to pick a successor.

It says in Article V, Section 17: "A vacancy occurring in the Executive Board or in an elective office shall be filled by the Executive Board. Nominations shall be made at one meeting and elections held at the subsequent meeting." The Executive Board is elected mostly at large so even though a group like ICE-TJC received 36% of the high school teacher vote in the last UFT election, we get no representation on the Board. Therefore, the group of ICERs who went to yesterday's Executive Board meeting was muzzled. They could not even nominate a presidential candidate even if they wanted to.

This is not that big a deal as caucus obligations require Unity Caucus people to vote as their caucus tells them so we are under no illusions that we could have won an Executive Board election for president. The point is that the UFT runs like a corporation and not as a democratic labor union. Do you think the membership knows how the process for picking a new president is rigged?

This procedure allows each new president of the UFT to go around to schools for a year as president, promoted by the union's propaganda newspaper, New York Teacher, and then run as an incumbent with a huge advantage over any opposition candidate in the ensuing general UFT election. This is completely undemocratic but it was used when Shanker left in the eighties, Feldman in the nineties and now with Weingarten. UFT leaders are so predictable.

What has changed is the nature of the opposition. New Action (NAC), the long time opposition party which made deals to not oppose Weingarten in 2004 and 2007, now has eight Executive Board seats even though they received fewer votes than ICE TJC in the last UFT Election. In the eighties and nineties NAC opposed Feldman and Weingarten with their own candidate. Now, they support Weingarten's replacement: Mulgrew.

The ultimate irony here is how the Constitution is twisted by Unity. Ed Notes reported that NAC's Michael Shulman said that there was no need for an election as Mulgrew was the only candidate, but UFT Secretary Michael Mendel called for a second special Executive Board meeting and an actual election for later in the month. He wanted to do it by the book.

If he really wants to go by the letter of the Constitution, then Mulgrew cannot be a candidate for President at this time, nor can any other UFT officer. Article IV, Section 9 of the UFT Constitution states, "No person in any elective position may be a candidate for any other elective position during the term of office, unless a resignation is submitted effective as of July 1 of that year." I very much doubt Mulgrew has resigned his Vice Presidential position as of July 1 because if he did, there would have had to have been nominations for that position too.

The reality is the Constitution to UFT officials is just like the Contract. It is selectively enforced by the UFT Unity leadership. Since the Executive Board is the body in charge of UFT elections, it makes very little sense to spend any energy appealing. After all, they all come from the Unity Caucus where they signed what we call the Unity loyalty oath and the rest are from New Action which is no longer a real opposition group.

The only way to change any of this is for people in the schools to become educated educators and realize that no matter who the UFT President is, as long as he/she comes from Unity Caucus, his/her main responsibility will be to protect the caucus.

Our first promise as a presidential candidate is that if elected, nobody will ever have to sign a piece of paper saying that they will support decisions that ICE-TJC come up with. We take the word independent in Independent Community of Educators very seriously.

More on yesterday's proceedings later.

Interesting Piece on Obama and Education

Lisa North sent this article to us. It's very good reading.

The Chicago model goes national.

MAYORAL CONTROL LIVES ON

While this space is no fan of the mayor, you have to hand it to Mayor Bloomberg on school governance. He was ready to put the Borough Presidents in line immediately when the law giving him control of the schools expired after June 30. Therefore, mayoral control continues unabated.

As for the BP's, once they were empowered to appoint a majority of the Board of Education, they caved in to the mayor so fast that one has to wonder if they received anything in return for their acquiescence. Queens BP Helen Marshall, went so far as to appoint Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott as the Queens representative. Only Bronx BP Reuben Diaz showed any hint of independence in his actions.

The biggest surprise is Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer who had appointed Patrick Sullivan to the now defunct Panel for Educational Policy where the mayor had a majority of the appointments. Patrick was a sane voice of reason who earned accolades for his integrity. Why was Patrick not appointed to the revived Board of Education?

We can only speculate as to what is going on behind the scenes. We can predict that no matter what happens in terms of school governance in Albany or New York City, there will not be much improvement in conditions in the schools.

We need to organize more now than ever.

JUNE DA REPORT: FAREWELL RANDI, TIER V AND POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS

The last Delegate Assembly basically had just three items. The first was the new pension deal where we get two days added to our summer vacation in exchange for billions in givebacks. The second was endorsing politicians as well as a contingency endorsement and then there was UFT President Randi Weingarten’s farewell speech and election as President Emeritus.

The first hour of the final Delegate Assembly of the school year was spent hearing about the deal between the UFT and the city. In the agreement which we have previously written about in this space, the two weekdays before Labor Day will be returned to our summer vacation in exchange for lowering the interest rate on the fixed TDA from 8.25% to 7% and other givebacks that will cost us $2 billion according to the Mayor’s office.

Randi motivated the deal by saying that the two days before Labor Day were something that many members asked for and she continued by noting that state revenues are dropping fast and our pension funds lost between 30-40% in assets. She added that the current situation would end up like the seventies with things done to us but instead we kept control of our destiny by agreeing to a deal that preserved the age 55 retirement for most members and also having the city agree with us to lobby jointly for more funding for the schools. She didn’t mention the TDA interest rate being reduced from 8.25% to 7% until it came up in discussion and she also didn’t see fit to refer to the fact that we are paying for the other half of our two recovered days of vacation by using funds set aside our next Contract.

The discussion that followed her report, as usual, was dominated by seven Unity people praising the deal and only two speakers were allowed to voice dissent.

The first speaker against talked about how it was fundamentally wrong to set up a new pension tier for yet to be hired teachers. The other opposition voice, Peter Lamphere from Bronx HS of Science, said that this pension deal should be voted on by the entire membership, not merely the DA, as it is a fundamental change in our Contract . Randi replied that there wasn’t time but we would have a say on it as part of the next Contract ratification. The pension deal overwhelmingly was approved by the DA but if people knew the true cost to all of us, not just yet to be hired teachers, I wonder if they would be so enthusiastic.

Political endorsements followed and the best speaker here was Marilyn Beckford from Hillcrest High School who pointed out that by endorsing city council members who voted to extend term limits for themselves and the mayor, we were giving a tacit endorsement of the mayor.

Randi cut short this segment to invite the press in to announce her resignation as UFT president effective July 31, 2009. She then gave a farewell speech about her accomplishments that included much higher salaries for teachers and getting more resources to the schools. She also listed the Chancellor’s District, adding tens of thousands of new UFT members, the 300 person negotiating committee and more. (You can read about how a delegate elect took Randi to task at Ed Notes.) Then, Leo Casey pulled out a resolution to make her President Emeritus of the UFT. The Unity faithful stood and cheered and Randi left the chair to Secretary Michael Mendel. The resolution carried unanimously.

Mendel continued the endorsement segment and most of the DA voted for the endorsements. Finally, there was a contingency resolution to let the Executive Board endorse candidates over the summer when the DA would not be in session.

I noticed that the office of Mayor was on this list of positions that the Executive Board could approve without getting back to the Delegates. Michael quickly asked if anyone wanted to speak and I raised my card but apparently he didn’t see it and he closed discussion. I then raised a point of order as I have every right to speak and he recognized me. I noted that to leave a Mayoral endorsement to the Executive Board was insulting to the Delegates. He and future President Michael Mulgrew both assured me that they would not endorse a mayoral candidate without first bringing in the Delegate Assembly but they did not change the resolution to reflect what they said. The contingency endorsement resolution passed but I think I made the point.

Have a great summer everyone.

If mayoral control sunsets tonight, this blog will not be shedding any tears.

DAY WE RETURN TO SCHOOL WILL NOT BE A TEACHING DAY BUT JUNE 28, 2010 WILL BE FOR INSTRUCTION

In part 2 of the deal where we get two days added to summer in exchange for over two billion dollars in givebacks, the city has agreed to change the school calendar for next year so that the day we return to work, September 8, 2009, will be a day when the students will not be in attendance. However, Monday, June 28, 2010 will be an instructional half day, instead of the originally scheduled professional development day.

Part of the agreement between City Labor Commissioner James Hanley and Randi Weingarten states that our first day will be “first and foremost for preparation of the classroom and for the arrival of students.”

BILLION DOLLAR DAYS OFF

Close analysis of the agreement between the city and the UFT creating a new pension tier shows that the city has once again taken the UFT to the cleaners. While this is nothing new, it is still depressing when it happens over and over again.

The sad details show that we are giving the city back $2 billion over twenty years. My source for this is the Mayor's office. On top of this, add the health care savings that the Municipal Labor Committee just gave back that amounted to $550 million over the next few years. What do we win in exchange for billions in savings for the city? The two weekdays before Labor Day will be added to summer vacation.

These professional development days were useless and it's fine to get them added back to our summer break. The agreement also says we may return to work in September the same day that the kids come back which is ridiculous. By working it in this way, the city can correctly say we haven't shortened the school year. However, this potentially absurd situation is not the worst part of this deal.

The two added vacation days won't cost the city a dime as they are not giving us any additional money. However, in yet another indignity, we will be forced to pay for our two days off at a rate of 1.08% in additional funding according to the agreement. .5% will come from lowering the interest rate on the fixed TDA from 8.25% to 7% and raising the amount of years future teachers must work before they can retire with health benefits from ten to fifteen. The other .58%, according to the agreement, will "be addressed in the upcoming round of collective bargaining for the successor agreement to the current agreement which expires October 31, 2009." Translation, our raise will be lowered. What about the new pension tier savings? Won't that money be applied to pay for the added vacation days? The answer is no.

The new Tier V, where yet to be hired teachers will have to pay 4.85% in pension contributions for 27 years, is a free gift to the city from the UFT that we get nothing back for accepting.

When you are enjoying those extra days off on September 3 and 4, just call them the billion dollar days. That's roughly the amount that each day will end up costing us in the long run. For that kind of gift, couldn't we get back just a little bit more of our professional dignity?

FLIP-FLOP: RANDI OPPOSED TIER V ON JUNE 5th & NOW SHE WANTS IT

We just heard about the new agreement that the city and UFT negotiated which calls for state legislation to start a new Tier V pension for people yet to be hired. It is interesting to note that on June 5th, only seventeen days ago, Randi Weingarten signed onto a press release which said in part: "The municipal unions of New York City (the MLC), including the UFT, and our state union NYSUT, are firmly opposed to a Tier V for our members." Randi couldn't even stand her ground for a month.

The press release goes on to say, "New York City's municipal unions have already taken steps to address the city's budgetary issues. Just this week, the MLC concluded an agreement with the mayor to save the City $200 million this year, $400 million over two years and an additional $150 million in the following years." In their letter to legislative leaders, MLC co-chairs Harry Nespoli and Weingarten said that the health benefit savings "provides substantially more savings than Tier V during this fiscal crisis."

That was then and this is now. Seventeen days later we have added to the health care givebacks by starting a new pension tier that two weeks back we opposed vehemently. It must be a good time to sell out teachers who have not yet been hired.

The details include teachers having to work five more years (ten total) to vest, a lower rate of return (7%) for all of us on the fixed TDA, 4.85% pension contributions for 27 years for new hires instead of 3% for ten years that most of us pay now, fifteen years on the job before someone can qualify for retiree health benefits. In exchange, we get two days back before Labor Day added to our summer vacation.

Those two useless professional development days, while important to get back, cost the city nothing basically. We have now made this unbearable job even more onerous for new people in exchange for next to nothing.

What Else Did She Give Away?

We have just heard that the Executive Board has approved a significant pension giveback in exchange for doing away with the early return before Labor Day. The pension giveback ensures that new hires will be placed in a new tier with significantly less benefits; reductions in TDA interest rates, mandatory lifetime contributions, reduced retiree health benefits and a significant reduction in vesting for retirement benefits.

What did we get for selling out our young? It appears we got back two days of non-instruction...generally used as two days of preparing for classes or nonsensical professional development. There are, however, hints of the settlement of our contract.

What has become abundantly clear over the last few days is that our fearless leader and super-negotiator has already agreed in principle to much of the financial provisions of our next contract in anticipation of her departure to Washington leaving the heir apparent to claim victory over a wonderful contract.

Was it that important that the upcoming two days be erased to give away all of these benefits to future colleagues? It is clear that had she waited until "negotiations" after contract expiration we would have had to start the 2009-10 year on September 3rd. Now we can start on September 8th with no time to set up our classrooms or prepare for classes on DOE time.

And remember we are scheduled to end next year on an non-instrutional Monday, June 28th!

Shame on you. Are our future colleagues that worthless that they can be sold for these two days?

One Last Chance to Have a Voice on Mayoral Control

The Assembly has passed a less than adequate school governance bill that essentially keeps the Mayor in charge of the schools. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he is open to negotiations on some aspects of mayoral control since his bill still has not cleared the deadlocked state Senate. This could be our opening to have one final opportunity to kill the six year abomination that is mayoral control. Below is a letter we could use to email to senators to demonstrate that teachers are not happy with the current system. Feel free to edit.

Here is a link to the state senators.

Say NO to Mayoral Dictatorship of the Schools

Mayoral control has been a disaster for working NYC teachers. Most of our schools are overcrowded beyond capacity; class sizes are rising and made their biggest leap in ten years, despite a state mandate to lower them. Scores of schools have been closed, renamed, walled up, and converted into academies or charter schools.

A 2008 UFT survey revealed that 85% of NYC public school teachers believe that Chancellor Klein and the DOE have failed to provide them with resources and support they needed to succeed. Similarly 85% said that the chancellor’s emphasis on testing had failed to improve education in their schools.

The overemphasis of test scores has led to our schools becoming test prep factories, instead of places where real teaching and learning predominates. The test scores themselves are increasingly meaningless – the result, in many cases, of excessive preparation, rote learning, and even cheating.

Mayor Bloomberg has reneged on his promise to rid the city of its ubiquitous trailers by 2012, depriving acceptable facilities to yet another generation of children. Instead of honestly admitting pervasive school overcrowding, the mayor pretends it does not exist – cutting the budget for new school construction by 60%.

Hundreds of teachers sit in the absent teacher reserve, hoping that this reorganization, unlike the last one or the one before that, might finally give them a chance to go back to work. Hundreds more teachers sit in the rubber room, accused of some unnamed crime but never brought to trial.

Perhaps none of this is surprising – given the fact that there are only two educators out of the top twenty executives at
Tweed. They simply do not understand what teachers – and their students – need to succeed.

We are convinced that the current system of dictatorial one-man control has deprived us of adequate teaching conditions, and NYC children of the equitable conditions they need to learn.

Our legislators should take note and replace this governance system with a better one, in which no one person, however rich and powerful, can decide on his own how more than one million children should be educated, especially one who has never sent his own children to a public school.

ANYONE INTERESTED IN LEAFLETING IN SILVER'S DISTRICT?

As ICE. and very likely most UFT members, are opposed to the continuation of Mayoral dictatorship over our schools, now is our last chance to do something about it. The law giving the mayor control over NYC schools expires June 30 and must be renewed by the Legislature.

While most believe the fix is in to renew the current system with some minor tweaks, ICER Sean Ahearn sent the following letter to the ICE list. Is anyone interested in leafleting? Everyone should be calling and/or emailing their assembly person or state senator expressing their opposition to mayoral control.

Sheldon Silver's 64 Assembly District on the lower east side encompasses most of District 1 and parts of District 2. Is there anyone interested in some leafleting or setting up of tables in his district urging folks to pressure him to change his support for Mayoral Control? There are a number of teachers who live here myself included. Though most were historically supportive of the Shanker faction, some senior and newer teachers may be straying from the usual party line given the closings and constant reorganizations under mayoral control. There is also a history of community activism around education going back to the 1960's that continues.

Peace,

Sean Ahern

Diane Ravitch Calls for Killing Bush Era No Child Left Behind

Here's a very good piece from the Huffington Post by Professor Diane Ravitch on ending the Bush era No Child Left Behind Law. On education, we have learned that George W Bush and Barack Obama have basically identical positions.

NORM ON THE RADIO

If you haven't yet done so, take a listen to Norm Scott on the radio. He was on WBAI on a program called Education at the Crossroads from June 11. http://archive.wbai.org/

Norm and two other teacher activists discuss teaching today, the Rubber Rooms, the UFT, abusive administration, democratic administration, Mayoral Control and more. It's an enoyable and informative program.

City Unions Reach Tentative Deal to Stop Layoffs for Three Months; Once Again Members Have No Say

City labor leaders announced today that they were willing to have their members receive less medical benefits in order to prevent Mayor Mike’s threatened layoffs for three months. While the reductions appear to be permanent the layoff threat is not and will undoubtedly resurface after the “three month” agreement.

ICE has repeatedly asked why members are not consulted about their health benefits and since these benefits are part of the compensation package members rely upon why we are excluded from a vote.

We are certain that our members would not want any city employees laid off but where will it end? Is there any other way we could avoid layoffs without reducing medical benefits?

High School Numbers Exposed

My colleague, Marc Epstein, exposes the suspect promotion and graduation numbers in New York City high schools in today's Daily News.

There's credit recovery so students need not pass a test or do homework all year and they can still get course credit. There's watered down summer school. There are annualized courses so if a pupil fails in the fall, don't worry, he/she just passes in June and receives credit for the whole year. In addition, part of a Chancellors' Regulation that requires 90% attendance to graduate is apparently being ignored. The high school diploma is being rendered meaningless.

At Jamaica High School, we often joke that each school is soon going to have a "drive through window" so anyone who drives by will get a diploma. From what we have heard, Jamaica is playing catch up with other schools that are ahead of us in the credit recovery and annualization games.

Since school grades and principal as well as teacher bonuses are now based on student standardized test scores, promotion and graduation rates, it has ironically led to a new era of social promotion.

Is this the system the state legislature really wants to continue?

We are not saying that there are never extenuating circumstances when a student needs some extra assistance to get through. Unfortunately, with high stakes decisions about a school being made based upon student statistics, it looks as though adults are doing what they have to do with the numbers to protect and advance their positions. We're given a scary choice to either push students through or push them out so school statistics look good. How about offering lower class sizes in every class and reasonable guidance caseloads as an alternative?

If something isn't done, we will be causing incalculable damage to a generation of young people by calling them high school graduates and handing them meaningless pieces of paper. We also risk devaluing the hard earned diplomas of the many pupils who actually attend class and work hard to graduate from high school without being pushed through.

There has to be a better way than this to educate our next generation.

Guidance Counselor Wins Major Victory; Where is Our Union?

We read with great interest the recent New York Times story about Glenn Storman, a guidance counselor at P.S.212 who won a major victory in New York County Supreme Court when a judge ordered his "U"- rating reversed. While Javier Hernandez did an excellent job describing the frustration that Storman has endured we were left with more questions about the story than we had answers.

In the article Storman is quoted that the ordeal has been very costly to him. In his petition to the court to overrule his "u"-rating he asked for $100,000 in damages due to the DOE's denial of per session activities, including summer school and its affect on his pension benefits. This was denied by the court.

Additionally, where was the UFT in all of this? The reporter describes the appeals and two court actions, including a trip to the Appellate Division, in this tragedy but no where does he describe any involvement by our union.

Storman, according to his lawsuit, was not represented in court by union lawyers. It appears that he had to go to personal expense and hire his own lawyer, no doubt adding to his unreimbursed damages.

We applaud Storman in his fight but we are left wondering….what about the rest of us?