FARINA AND MULGREW CREATE YET ANOTHER NEW CLASS OF DISPLACED TEACHERS FOR AUTOMOTIVE AND BOYS AND GIRLS

It looks like a version of the Turnaround model has been agreed to by the UFT and DOE for Automotive High School and Boys and Girls High School for next year.  According to a Memorandum of Agreement dated November 6, 2014, staff will have to reapply for their jobs to a personnel committee and get rehired or they will be sent elsewhere. 

The ridiculous notion that replacing the teaching staff in certain schools will lead to real educational improvement has been agreed to again by our union's leaders. Teachers are not the problem but we are treated as if we are.

My guess is most UFT staff won't be rehired.  According to paragraph 14 of the MOA, which was sent to me earlier today, those who are not rehired will not become Absent Teacher Reserves but they won't be permanently placed either. 

Instead, the agreement is creating a new middle-ground with annual rotation and undefined duties if there aren't vacancies in license in schools where the displaced teachers are assigned.

Here is the actual language from the MOA:

If a released UFT represented employee does not secure a position through the Open Market, the DOE shall assign him/her as follows: Starting with the 2015-16 school year and continuing through the 2020-2021 school year {unless the employee is permanently staffed to a school}, the employee shall be assigned annually to a high school with a vacancy in his/her license area on the first day of the school year in the same borough as the School.  If there is no vacancy in his/her license area in a high school in the same borough as the School on the first day of school, then the pedagogical employee shall be placed in the same borough and High School Superintendency as the School.  Once assigned to a high school in accordance with this paragraph, the employee shall remain in the high school for the entire school year except as follows:

           {i}The first time in a school year that a principal requests that the employee be given a different assignment, the employee shall be moved to a different high school assignment in the borough if, and only if, the Superintendent and the UFT district representative agree both that the employee should be moved and to which high school in the borough he/she shall be assigned:

          {ii}The second time in a school year that a principal requests that the employee be given a different assignment, the employee shall be moved to a different high school assignment in the borough, if and only if, both the Superintendent and the UFT district representative agree that the employee should be moved and to which high school in the borough he/she shall be assigned.  However, no employee shall be moved a second time in a school year unless the principal of the high school to which the employee would be assigned, agrees, except that, if no high school principal in the borough agrees to accept an employee who the Superintendent and the UFT district representative agree should be moved a second time, the high school in the borough to which the employee shall be assigned shall be jointly agreed to by the President of the UFT and the Chancellor.  Should the President of the UFT and the Chancellor be unable to agree, the high school in the borough to which the employee will be assigned to shall be determined by a neutral arbitrator jointly selected by the parties.

         {iii}If, in extraordinary circumstances, a third principal in a school year requests that an employee be given a different assignment, the UFT President and the Chancellor shall review the request and jointly determine the best course of action.

UFT represented employees assigned pursuant to this paragraph 11 shall not be subject to rotation, field supervision, or the expedited discipline process set forth in section 16 of  2014 Memorandum of Agreement....

The rest of this line didn't show up on the version that was sent to me but I think you get the idea.

This new class of teachers will not be entitled to program preferences.  Clearly, this latest agreement is creating a new group of displaced teachers who are not permanently assigned but are not rotating ATRs.  In that sense it is not a bad precedent but I believe our case as ATRs to end our third class status is even stronger.

ATRS will be meeting on Tuesday, November 11, 2014 in Elmhurst.  I will post more about this meeting later.

ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES: CUOMO LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE AGAINST TEACHERS

The other day I stated that we lost badly in Tuesday's election and now our governor is looking to finish us off as this article shows.

Here is a quote from the newly reelected Andrew Cuomo:

“I want to focus on the performance,” Cuomo said today. “Does that upset the teachers union? Yes, it does. By the way, the first time I ran they didn’t endorse me, they didn’t endorse me.”

Can you see a push to lift the charter school cap or do away with it and also to make the teacher evaluation system even crazier than it already is?

Aren't you glad we have Michael Mulgrew (UFT), Karen Magee (NYSUT) and Randi Weingarten (AFT) defending our interests? Watch them appeal for a united front.

NO SUGAR-COATING ELECTION RESULTS

There is little doubt that public school teachers and our unions suffered major losses in yesterday's midterm elections from coast to coast. The reelection of anti-union Scott Walker in Wisconsin and other anti-union governors truly stings.

Pennsylvania's Governor's race and California's state Superintendent of Education election look like exceptions. Also, putting Value Added Assessments for teachers into the Missouri state constitution went down easily. Other than these and some other little wins, the election looks like a complete disaster for labor and public educators.

Read this Politico story from Stephanie Simon for the ugly details on education.

Will the new majority Republican US Senate pass a new No Child Left Behind law?  What will it look like? Maybe Race to the Top ends. Perhaps Republicans try to leave education to the states but it is hard to see either party turning their backs on their big money charter school friends. Look for school choice to be pushed.

What happens to Common Core?  Maybe there is a silver lining in Republican opposition to Common Core but don't bet on anything improving.

Here in New York Andrew Cuomo was reelected Governor and will have a majority Republican State Senate to work with. Sheldon Silver and the Democratic majority in the New York State Assembly are right now all that is separating us from oblivion.

Howie Hawkins from the Green Party made a bit of a dent in Cuomo's victory margin. Hawkins received 5% of the vote which is much better than in 2010 when he garnered just 1.3% against Cuomo. Even without any scientific exit polling, I think we can safely say some of that Green boost came from angry teachers voting against Cuomo.

I am not looking forward to the news coming out of the next legislative session.

SUPPORT HAWKINS FOR GOVERNOR

Educators are condemning Governor Andrew Cuomo for the teacher bashing comments he made to the Daily News. Even State union President Karen Magee responded positively to a letter Republican candidate for governor Rob Astorino wrote to teachers. 

Astorino appears to be better than Cuomo on education but he is not with us on way too many issues including the expansion of charter schools and public money going to private schools.  This is from his education plan:

-"Provide more school choices for parents of children in schools determined to be failing, including more charter school availability and vouchers for private or religious school." This is not our friend.

There is no doubt in this election who has the best education plan and that is the Green Party's Howie Hawkins.

ICE-UFT has unanimously endorsed Hawkins, so did MORE, as have a group of NYSUT locals including the Buffalo Federation of Teachers and our friends at the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association.

Hawkins and his Lt. Governor running mate Brian Jones pledge to support public education and worker rights.  You can read their letter to teachers here.

MORE lays out the positions of the candidates rather well in this chart.

As for how to respond to Cuomo labeling public schools a monopoly, we need to call him out on it.  Cuomo would replace that so called monopoly with a rigged game where families can choose a charter school but the charter can counsel students out if they don't fit in and guess who has to educate everyone the charters don't want: the public schools. His plan, if implemented, would probably end up leading to the re-segregation of the schools. Public education is a constitutional right in this state.  We cannot let Andrew Cuomo dismantle one of the bedrocks of our republic.

Cuomo's sole defender in the education union world right about now is the one and only AFT President Randi Weingarten, as reported in Capital NY.  No surprise there.

I'm voting for Howie Hawkins for Governor and Brian Jones for Lt. Governor and ICE urges our supporters to do the same. I don't agree with everything they have ever said or done but clearly in this election they are easily the best option for those who care about public schools.

CHIEF CITY LABOR NEGOTIATOR SAYS NO EXTRA MONEY FOR RETRO FOR UFT RETIREES

Capital NY covered remarks made by the city's Chief Labor Negotiator Robert Linn who said the city would not be increasing the fund which set aside money to pay retroactive increases owed to UFT retirees.

Our contract has been reopened on this issue and UFT President Michael Mulgrew said he expects it to be resolved by Thanksgiving.

The city and UFT agreed that only $180 million would be needed to pay retroactive increases under our new contract in one lump sum payment for those who retired up through June 30, 2014. However, neither the city or the UFT expected so many UFT members to retire in an astounding bungle.  They were caught off guard that so many teachers chose to retire in June instead of waiting until 2020 to get the new contract's full back pay.

Here are Linn's exact words:

"The limit of the fund is $180 million.  The fund is a fund certain.  The issue then is how to make payments, but the fund is $180 million," he said.  "I'm not saying how it's going to be resolved.  I'm saying the fund is $180 million.  The fund will not change."

It is estimated they are about $50 million short.

Anyone want to guess how this gets resolved?

FAREWELL TO JOHN MURNANE

Jamaica High School lost part of our family as John Murnane, a social studies teacher, passed away. I knew him for over twenty years.  The first words that come to mind when John Murnane's name is mentioned are eminently likable.

John was excessed from Jamaica in 2013. He was an Absent Teacher Reserve for a couple of weeks before retiring last fall. In that short span of time he made such a positive impression on the people in the new school he was temporarily assigned to that they held a retirement party for him.

This man was so pleasant that I never heard anyone say they did not like John Murnane. Students were glad he was their teacher; colleagues enjoyed working with him and administrators as well as support staff held him in high regard.

He was the ideal person to run Jamaica's Peer Mediation and Negotiation program which he did successfully for many years.  When outsiders came into the school, they almost always wanted to view the work of the Mediation and Negotiation team led by Mr. Murnane. He could calm down just about any situation.

John was also one of my earliest supporters when it came to encouraging me to do union work.  He was one of the first people to sign the first petition I ever wrote back in 1995 and he persuaded others to help me out.

John didn't let the problems of the school system get him down. I think the main reason he could do this was because he knew he had the most loving and caring family to go home to at the end of the day. His love and loyalty to his wife Theresa and daughter Jennifer and their love for him were so clear for all to see and admire.

Many of us from the Jamaica family came together the last couple of days to celebrate John's life with his family and their multitude of friends. It was a sad occasion as we were saying goodbye to someone who touched our lives who was taken away from us too soon. However, while standing in the back of the funeral home on Thursday with so many Jamaica colleagues, I was thinking about how close the Jamaica High School family still is. We are there for each other no matter what. That is the essence of what family, and dare I say since this is a union blog, unionism are all about.

Rest in peace John. You will be missed but not forgotten.

ANOTHER MANDATORY INTERVIEW WHERE THERE IS NO OPENING

Yesterday I was sent yet again for a mandated interview for a job that has already been filled. This one was particularly awkward as the person in the position is a colleague from Jamaica and a longtime friend.

While I would not at all mind working at this particular school (Hillcrest HS) and the assistant principal who interviewed me was very professional,  the thought of replacing a friend was unsettling. Also, classes that I was scheduled to cover at the school I am assigned to now had to be filled by others. What a waste of time, energy and money.

Some people would react by saying thank you to the Department of Education for giving me a chance to see old friends instead of working for some of the day. I am having a difficult time transforming my thinking this way.

Has anybody else been sent on interviews for jobs that are already being covered or is it just me?

WHEN WILL CITY GIVE TRS NEW SALARY SCHEDULES?

I just heard from a friend who recently retired from the NYC school system. It is October 25th and our contract was ratified in early June. The Teachers Retirement System should be able to calculate pensions at new rates but here is what my friend texted this morning:

"Got letter from TRS that October payment will be full amount due without retro. City has not given them new salary schedules yet."

Anybody want to guess when all of this gets worked out?

ATR RESOLUTION FOR A UFT CHAPTER THAT UNITY VOTED DOWN AT DA

Copied below is the full text of the resolution I wrote, at the urging of MORE's Mike Shirtzer, calling for an Absent Teacher Reserve Functional UFT Chapter so ATRs can vote for representatives of our own choosing like all other UFT members can do. MORE fully backed it.

Gloria Brandman from MORE-ICE presented the resolution at yesterday's Delegate Assembly. She made arguments in favor of democracy. UFT Staff Director Leroy Barr spoke against ATRs getting our own Chapter.

Leroy used King George the Third era conservative reasoning to make his case.  He said that Chapter Leaders, District Representatives and Officers fully represent ATRS. He neglected to mention anything about voting. He did not say that many ATRs cannot vote for their Chapter representatives, and none of us can serve as representatives, unlike everyone else in this union. ATRs who can vote are just lucky enough to be passing through a school on a week when there is a Chapter Election. In reality we have no business voting at a school where we are not  Chapter members.

In 1776 it was argued that Members of Parliament represented all of Britain so the colonists in North America were fully represented in Parliament even if they couldn't vote for Parliament or serve in it.

The UFT non-elected modern equivalent of the colonial era appointed Royal Governors would be the appointed District Representatives. Leroy basically told us union leaders represent all of their subjects. ATRS don't need to vote for those leaders or have any hope of serving as a leader. (Yes we can vote for officers but the undemocratic nature of those "elections" is for another post.)

Of course the loyalty oath taking, ruling majority Unity Caucus DA voted with the George the Third style leadership against democracy. However, people who do not believe there should be taxation (union dues) without representation did receive significant support.

Why is Unity fighting so hard against starting an ATR Chapter? Remember when Norm Scott used to talk about "Unity's prime directive." The UFT leadership's main concern is to keep power. They see a citywide ATR Chapter with over a thousand members who might not vote for a Unity Chapter Leader and Delegates as a big threat.

Read the resolution for yourself.

Resolution  for  Full  Union  Representation  for  ATRs     

 Whereas,  the  Delegate  Assembly  is  the  highest  policy  making  body  in  the  United  Federation  of   Teachers,  and

 Whereas,  federal  labor  law  requires  that  policy  making  bodies  within  a  union  be  democratically   elected  with  each  member  entitled  to  a  vote,  and

Whereas,  Absent  Teacher  Reserves  (ATRs)  are  not  entitled  to  vote  in  Chapter  Elections unless  they   happen  to  be  working  in  a  school  that  has  a  Chapter  Election  during  a particular  week  that  the  ATR  is   working  in  a  school,  and

Whereas,  unions  can  set  up  reasonable  rules  as  to  who  can  run  for  office,  but  it  is  not reasonable  that   ATRs  including  Leave  Replacement  Teachers  and  Provisional  Teachers  cannot run  or  serve  as   Delegates  or  Chapter  Leaders  simply  because  they  belong  to  no  Chapter, and

Whereas,  the  ATR  position  has  now  been  embedded  in  the  UFT  contract  in  Section  16  of the  2014   Memorandum  of  Agreement,  therefore  be  it

Resolved,  that  the  UFT  will  immediately  create  a  Functional  Chapter  to  represent  the
interests  of   ATRs,  Leave  Replacement  Teachers  and  Provisional  Teachers.

LIVE BLOGGING FROM UFT DELEGATE ASSEMBLY (UPDATED TWICE)

I am no longer a Chapter Leader so I will not be serving as a member of the UFT Delegate Assembly this year. My school closed so now I am an Absent Teacher Reserve. As an ATR, I belong to no UFT Chapter so I am not eligible to serve as a Delegate. This is totally unfair and I believe it is illegal. Many of us are out there pushing to get an ATR UFT Chapter. (See Motion Period section below to see how we didn't have any success convincing our union's leadership to do right by us.)

No points of order from me but I spent the afternoon in the visitors' room at the Delegate Assembly and blogged from there live.  I came a little late.

President's Report:

Mulgrew was talking about federal and state elections. It is us v Eva Moskowitz for control of the NY State Senate. Races in contention are north of city. We will be up there with busses to Hudson Valley. We want Democratic control so we have friends with two of three people controlling state government.

Referendum # 3 on ballot is for 2 billion dollar bond act for technology in education. This is not about replacing teachers with computers. 703 districts in state. Many don't have tech infrastructure. Hoping to use technology correctly. We are pushing a yes vote on #3.

Regents will make CTE industry certified exams as part of a pathway to graduation. They can replace certain Regents exams but not Math and ELA.

City
Very good response rate on school surveys.

88% of schools had professional development committees. Most are favorable.

Majority (52%) have curriculum for all 5 subjects.

We worked on social studies curriculum which many like.

Our challenge is to build a great school system. Joint letter from Chancellor and Mulgrew about judging lesson plans along with lesson. Paperwork committee working.

62 PROSE schools. It is working.

Guidance Counselors getting hired.

Secretaries: We created criteria to hire new secretaries. DC 37 people doing secretarial work should stop. We won this in grievance.

Mulgrew thanked Delegates who had 100% attendance.

Superintendents:
Networks have no authority. Many Superintendents have been replaced. Chancellor giving Superintendents authority they have under the law.

Need education experience to be Superintendent.

DOE and UFT must work collaboratively at central, district and school level. Need to have consultation committee meetings. Chancellor told Superintendents teachers are not the enemy. She expects Principals and Chapter Leaders to work together to resolve issues. Borough based Chapter Leader training. Priority is to make schools places where we can have a great school system. Trying to get to where we want to be after surviving Bloomberg. We must uphold contractual rights.

Staff Director's Report:

Staff Director Leroy Barr announced many dates including DA for Nov 18, a Tuesday, at 5:00 pm. Sabbatical deadline is Friday as is the ineffective appeal deadline.

Question Period:
Question: Concern about students taking cellphone pictures
Answer: Our policy is not to have a citywide ban on cellphones.  Ban cannot be enforced. Schools should set policy. School Leadership Teams should decide cellphone policy. DA final authority and our position is leave it up to schools.

Question on parent engagement.
Answer: Struggling with professional development and parent engagement. Principals having difficulty with parent engagement and PD. We have a voice now. We are trying to make it work.

Question: Is Tuesday only day for parent engagement?
Answer: We have to be professional. Some teachers are coming in Saturday (SBO Vote) to do parent engagement. We should be flexible.

Question: Why meet on PD committee if principal has final say?
Answer: We need to document if principals are not listening.

Question: MOSL  Some kids can't grow. Scores are too high to start with (kids in Advanced Placement classes for example). What to do?
Answer: We want MOSL based on growth. We are an effective school system. MOSL moved some people up and down. How can someone score 5 of 60 on observations but get 40 out of 40 on MOSL?

Motion Period:
Gloria Brandman from ICE - MORE: Resolution to place on next month's agenda for full representation for ATRs. The motion is asking for an ATR Functional Chapter. Gloria motivated it by saying the ATRs have no elected representation.  ATRs are not going away. ATRs are not part of her school. ATRs cannot build relationships. ATRs cannot be Delegates in highest policy-making body in UFT. ATRs cannot vote unless they are in a school during a week Chapter Elections are taking place.

Leroy Barr opposed it. ATRS have full representation. We do everything to make sure ATRS have full rights of teachers in school. They have full voice and have support of chapter leaders, DRs, etc...

It was voted down clearly from our limited view on the 19th floor. (Funny how Leroy didn't mention any of the democracy issues.)

Update from the Floor
As a non-Delegate, I was forced to sit on the 19th floor and watch the DA on a TV screen.  When the vote on the ATR resolution was taken, the camera only showed the center rows of the DA where Unity is strong.  Mike Shirtzer of MORE made the following observation: "Leroy Barr stood and spoke against the ATRs having a Chapter. He carried the entire center of the room (strangely that's where the unity caucus sits). We carried the wings and back very strong." Mike estimated that we achieved maybe around a third of the vote.  Not bad when we have no patronage to give out; we can't count on people obeying a loyalty oath like the majority Unity Caucus requires of its members.  We are just rank and file teachers.

No time for any more motions.

Update 1- Resolutions
Resolution on 1960 strike passed unanimously.

Resolution to support Philadelphia teachers who had their contract voided passed unanimously. Busload will go down there to rally.

Lowest number of ATRs in years according to Mulgrew. Also, before I arrived Mulgrew reported on tenure struggle and pointed out how we are much better shape than some other locals because of our parent outreach.

Nothing much has changed in UFT land.

MIDDLE COLLEGE ASSIGNMENT MAKES ME 2 FOR 2 AS ATR

I was a bit concerned yesterday as I was sent to a new school as a rotating Absent Teacher Reserve. I am pleased to report I have hit the jackpot for a second time in a row by being sent to Middle College High School.

This school operates nothing like Aviation, the fine school I was assigned to for seven weeks but it is a great place to work.

If Aviation produced culture shock for me due to all the kids coming back to the building after a period 9 fire drill, at Middle College the culture is so friendly so it almost doesn't feel like a high school. At times I think I am in a college because the students basically act so grown up.

I'm also having the pleasure of working again with two colleagues from Jamaica who teach here and rolled out the red carpet welcome as well as a former Jamaica Safety Agent who is here. The administration is professional as is the Chapter Leader who is an old friend.

I hope I don't jinx myself by writing about my luck in my first two ATR assignments but based on what I have seen, I would stay at Middle College in a second if this school wanted to hire me.

ADIOS AVIATION HS; ATR ROTATION BEGINS

(This post is dedicated to the students and staff of Aviation HS.)

I began my Absent Teacher Reserve journey in September after working for twenty-eight years at Jamaica High School, a school that phased out in June.  I was somewhat apprehensive as a new ATR as so many people who had been previously excessed from Jamaica cautioned me how the life of an ATR is so different from that of a regular classroom teacher.

For the first seven weeks of the school year, I was assigned to Aviation HS. I had a positive experience at this excellent school working with wonderful kids and caring adults but thanks to the Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers, I am now forced to move on to a different school.

When I arrived at Aviation on September 2, I was somewhat surprised to discover a few people knew me through my UFT work so I felt somewhat at ease.  During the first few days, the staff - including the Chapter Leader, teachers, support staff and the administration - was very welcoming and then the students were kind too when classes began.

I told the administration that I ran the College Office at Jamaica so they immediately gave me a professional assignment to assist in that office. I felt useful being able to develop trusting relationships with students and adults. Helping students with SAT applications, the Common Application, the SUNY, CUNY online process, Aviation's College Night and more was very fulfilling. I was told pupils started asking for me when I was out of the office because I had classes to cover or was sent by the DOE on one of those useless mandated interviews in other schools.

Covering classes at Aviation was not bad either. The kids usually behaved appropriately and would give me a chance to actually teach them something. The Principal noted how he saw me working diligently in his travels around the building. Unfortunately, I was also informed how the school budget is tight so they wouldn't be able to keep me there.

I have heard from several other ATRs in various schools since yesterday that they were given a similar message about how school administrators liked their work but they currently don't have a position. It does not matter how well an ATR is doing in a school, we are going to be rotated to different schools starting on Monday.

In addition, thanks to the always efficient operation of the Department of Education (sarcasm alert), ATRs received emails saying our next assignment was only for the following week while on the Excess Staff Selection System it says we will be at our next school for three weeks! Go figure. You can forward my mail to Middle College HS as that is where I am headed on Monday.

The ATR rotation system - whether for a week, three weeks or a month- is insane. How are we supposed to develop relationships with students and staff in such a short period of time? Why establish bonds when we know we will be gone in a week or a month?

The most ridiculously absurd part of this entire debacle is when people talk about school budgets as opposed to the overall DOE budget. Money to pay for a teacher is not going to magically appear on a school's budget because a school likes an ATR. Aviation cannot afford to keep me on their school budget so they have to tell me to move on.  However, the taxpayers of New York City will still be paying my salary whether I am at Aviation, Middle College or some other school.

Questions for the DOE and Chancellor Farina:

1-Why can't a school keep an ATR if that person is a good fit for a particular school?

2- Is your goal to find us schools or just to frustrate us?

GET WELL CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION LEADER KAREN LEWIS

This is from the AFT.  Please sign and spread it far and wide.  Karen is one of the truly great people fighting to save public education and unions.



James,

Our union's strength is our members—your passion, dedication, commitment and courage.
No one understands that more than Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, who has made a career of harnessing that passion to support learning and growth—from her days as a national board-certified chemistry teacher to her masterful leadership of the CTU strike in 2012 and so much more.
Today, we're asking you to help us support Karen. Earlier this week, Karen underwent emergency surgery for a serious illness. The surgery was a success. Now we want to help Karen recuperate by showing her how much she means to us.

Will you sign our get-well card to CTU President Karen Lewis and show her how much she means to all of us?

Karen is a remarkable leader. She understands how to bring together a community around a vision, and how to inspire people to be their best, every day. Even her detractors and opponents respect Karen's leadership. Today, the Chicago Tribune—which has not always spoken favorably of Karen or our union—wrote, "We look forward to tussling again, on your side of an issue or some other. You've brightened Chicago."

While Karen recuperates, let's come together with one voice and brighten her days with an overwhelming show of love and support.

Sign the get-well card for Karen, and let her know we stand behind her.

Karen has shown us all how to be a leader in the 21st century. Her courage, compassion and dedication have inspired a city—and supporters of public education across the country—to dream big dreams for the future.

And for those of us who know her, Karen has shown us what it means to be a friend. She pushes us to be our best, to challenge our preconceptions, to give everything we can to each other and our cause.

Let's show her that we stand with her now.

In unity,

Randi Weingarten, AFT president
Lorretta Johnson, AFT secretary-treasurer
Mary Cathryn Ricker, AFT executive vice president

AFT-UFT DEFENDER OF THE FAITH LEO CASEY HAS NEW FORUM TO SPREAD REVISIONIST HISTORY

In the past I read Bridging Differences.  I found the back-and-forth between two respected educators Diane Ravitch and Deborah Meier to be enlightening at times.

I guess Ravitch doesn't have enough time these days to keep this dialogue going so she has been replaced by AFT Vice President and one time UFT Vice President Leo Casey. 

Casey has been dubbed by this blog as the Defender of the Faith as he would defend any union policy, no matter how much it hurt the membership and he would do it in a way that would convince most members that being robbed of their rights and dignity was actually positive for us.  Leo's defense of the indefensible 2005 contract giveaways that he helped to negotiate is propagandist legend.

One 2005 contractual giveback the Union spun as no big deal was the Seniority Transfer System and School Based Option Transfer system being replaced by the Open Market Hiring System, which now leaves all teacher hiring up to principals.

Under the old seniority system, half of the teacher openings in a school were made available for transfer and the transfers were based exclusively on the seniority of the teacher who applied. The remaining vacancies were left to the discretion of the principal. This system pretty much assured schools would have a balance of veteran and newer teachers.  It also gave teachers a safety valve to get out of schools where there were administrators who were difficult to work with. 

Under the SBO system, hiring committees made up of a majority of teachers worked with the principal to decide who would transfer to or be hired in a school.  Criteria had to be fair; teachers could grieve if they were not selected by the hiring committee and they often won.

It was up to each school to decide whether to use the seniority or SBO system for transfers and other hiring.

In the 2005 contract, the UFT inexplicably agreed to replace these two pro-union member staffing systems that covered the whole city. The new Open Market system based on principal choice turned schools into fiefdoms and led to the huge proliferation in school closings because management in New York City knew they no longer had to place the displaced teachers when a school closed.  Instead, they could turn them into Absent Teacher Reserves who have no permanent position but are highly paid substitute teachers.

Leo's spin was the Open Market system would provide many more opportunities for members to transfer.  He saw it as a gain on balance. Here are his exact words from 2005:

"The loss here is that the principal will have final authority but we were able to win language which specifically prohibited a principal from rejecting a transfer on the basis of 'age race, color, gender, sexual orientation and union activities.' The principal will also be required to list all vacancies in his school [only one half of the vacancies are listed under the seniority transfer plan], all caps and limits on the number of teachers who can transfer have been removed and a teacher will hot have to obtain a release from their current principal to transfer, provided that she does so before August 7."

According to Leo, the UFT was able to "ameliorate" what Joel Klein and the fact finders wanted. Note how he says we were able to win language on transfers.  It was a negotiation that the UFT agreed to, not something imposed on the UFT.

In subsequent years, Leo and then UFT President Randi Weingarten would tell us how the number of people moving around the system increased substantially in the new Open Market system compared to the old seniority system. (They never compared the numbers with the SBO system included.) Critics like this blog were dismissed by Leo and others as whiners and complainers who spread myths and disinformation.

Keeping in mind that it takes two sides to make a contract, I was looking at Bridging Differences the other day and much to my surprise here is what I saw: Leo Casey is now blaming the 2005 change in hiring in New York City on then Chancellor Joel Klein and the fact-finders who created the framework for that horrific contract and not the UFT who agreed to it and sold it to the membership.  Here are Leo's exact words from 2014:

"Sadly, in the 2005 contract, this democratic process (SBO Transfer and Staffing) for making hiring and staffing decision was lost.  Then-Chancellor Joel Klein insisted that all power over hiring and staffing be given to the principal alone, and ill-informed fact finders agreed."

The UFT leadership agreed to it too Leo and pushed the change on the members. 

Leo Casey complaining about a loss of democratic rights for teachers as if he had nothing to do with it is quite misleading.  He is leaving out some crucial information. 

The fact finding arbitration process the UFT went to in 2005 was voluntary and non-binding. The UFT agreed to submit the contract impasse to this process. The opposition ICE caucus was on the UFT Executive Board at the time and we strongly urged Leo, then UFT President Randi Weingarten and the rest of the majority Unity Caucus not to go near fact finding with Joel Klein.  We knew we would lose because Klein was insisting that the contract be gutted and the arbitrators, who are trained to give both sides something, would give Klein much of what he asked for. 

Then, when the inevitable negative fact finding report came out, we pleaded with Randi, Leo and the rest of the UFT leadership to reject it as it was non-binding. We were rebuffed. We then led the fight against the giveback laden contract that was negotiated by Leo, Randi and company and not imposed on us as Leo now implies.  

As is just about always the case, Leo and Unity accept no responsibility for the loss of rights members have suffered because of their actions. The UFT Unity leaders agreed to end democratic teacher hiring and transfers in 2005; they urged the membership to vote for principal patronage hiring as a greater opportunity to transfer and promoted better results for years.  Only now, to show he is all for democracy in schools, does Leo Casey bemoan the lack of democratic hiring in schools as if he had nothing to do with giving it away. It was those ill-informed fact finders.

Trust AFT-NYSUT-UFT leadership at your own peril ladies and gentlemen.

PHILLY KIDS SHOW THEY'RE ALRIGHT BY GOING ON STRIKE FOR THEIR TEACHERS

Pennsylvania is having their Wisconsin Scott Walker moment as the School Reform Commission in Philadelphia has unilaterally rescinded the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers' contract to slash benefits.  If the teachers strike, they lose their teaching licenses so the students have stepped forward to support the teachers.

We salute you Philly kids!







The Reform Commission's move to negate the contract is very scary stuff that is expanding across this nation. 

For those who think this can't happen in New York because the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law keeps our contract in full force after it expires until we have a new one, all it would take to change that is an act of the State Legislature to change the law.  Hanging all of our hopes on our New York State Legislature and Governor with their questionable ethics is a bit of a risky strategy for the long term.

CARROL BURRIS WEIGHS IN ON THE COMMON CORE LEMON, WHILE PHILLY CANCELS TEACHERS CONTRACT & MERCDES SCHNEIDER TURNS UP THE HEAT ON WEINGARTEN

Reading Valerie Strauss on education in her Washington Post Blog called "The Answer Sheet" is usually enlightening.  Yesterday, Strauss ran two pieces that caught my eye.

In the first she gives space to the wonderful Long Island Principal Carol Burris to propose ways to fix Common Core.  This is the best part of what Burris said:

No matter what investments in time or materials have been made, here is the bottom line. The Common Core is a lemon and no amount of professional development will make it run right.

That pretty much sums it up.

Strauss also covers some very depressing news out of Philadelphia where the district has just cancelled the union contract with the teachers. We of course stand in solidarity with the Philly teachers.

Finally, Mercedes Schneider, one of our favorite critics of AFT President Randi Weingarten, is out there again exposing our leader's ties to the people who want to privatize public education.  Here is how Merecedes closes her October 4 blog post:

Weingarten wants to *collaborate* with the declared enemies of traditional public education. Sure, she’ll reluctantly step back every now and then, but only so far as her faithful ties to privatization allow her feign dissent.

Mercedes is well worth looking for.

DIANE RAVITCH CALLS FOR FIRING OF JOEL KLEIN'S TEACHER "GOTCHA" SQUAD

I like to read Diane Ravitch's blog but usually have a very difficult time keeping up with all she posts.

This morning I found she has a piece calling for Chancellor Carmen Farina to clean house in the legal department down at the New York City Department of Education. Here is part of her post:

Mayor Bill de Blasio was elected as a progressive candidate. Much of his support came from critics of the Bloomberg-Klein regime and its hostility to teachers and even to public schools. The Bloomberg regime never stopped berating the system that it totally controlled for nearly a dozen years.

De Blasio selected veteran educator Carmen Farina as his chancellor, who promised to bring back “the joy of learning.” Unfortunately, the de Blasio administration has been slow to clean house. The Klein regime still controls large sectors of the education bureaucracy, including the infamous “gotcha” squad that is always on the alert for teacher misbehavior. True, the “gotcha” squad completely missed a high school teacher arrested for having sexual relations with several students at selective Brooklyn Technical High School, who is currently suspended with pay.

But the “gotcha” squad bagged a teacher who helped run a Kickstarter campaign for a student with cerebral palsy. This teacher was suspended without pay for 30 days for “theft of services,” having helped the campaign during school hours.

Ravitch then copies a large part of the Times article (linked above) by Jim Dwyer on the suspended teacher. She then concludes her piece this way:

Chancellor Farina, it is time to fire the “gotcha” squad. It is time to replace Joel Klein’s legal team. It is time to clean house and install officials who share Mayor de Blasio’s vision and values.

We here at the ICE blog are usually careful about calling for masses of people to lose their jobs but we also believe that what goes around should come around. Look at how badly Department of Education lawyers have treated teachers.  We certainly question the need for so many lawyers at the DOE and would not be at all upset if there were significant reductions, particularly since the schools are operating on austerity budgets in spite of an influx of state money. 

At the very least, the DOE Office of Labor Relations, Office of Special Investigations and Commissioner of Special Investigations, with their anti-teacher biases, all need to be reigned in and the people at the top should go.

Having seen little, if any, change under the Farina-de Blasio regime, I will not hold my breath waiting for the "gotcha" squad to be replaced but it is positive that someone like Diane Ravitch is catching on how the DOE under de Blasio-Farina is not much different than the Bloomberg-Klein, Black, Walcott regime. If only our union's leadership would choose to figure that out.

UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORTS NUMBERS ON INEFFECTIVE TEACHERS, ATRs & MORE

The following statistics are taken from UFT Executive Board Minutes from a recent meeting.

• We are waiting for the final number of discontinued teachers.  Of the number of teachers who were on probation and had it extended 261 have reached out to us. 
• The numbers of teachers rated ineffective are between 650-700. 
• Teachers rated developing are between 5500-6000. 
• ATR’s are approximately 1600 which are 200 less than last year at this same time.                 (bullets were added by me)

The first questions I have on these figures: 

-What, if anything, did the UFT do for the teachers who had their probation extended? 

As only261 reached out to the UFT, it is clear the rest - many more than 261 had probation extended - are resigned to their fate and know the UFT will do little or nothing to help them.

-Are teachers covering temporary vacancies and leave replacements counted as ATRs?

-Why can't teachers rated developing appeal?  

As the UFT neglected to negotiate a procedure in the law to appeal developing ratings, the Union should now consider grieving as the basis for the ratings is junk science test scores and an observation process that both management and labor admitted was flawed and have hanged.

-How many of the ineffective ratings came from so called troubled schools?  

We complained to UFT High School Vice President Janella Hinds about the unfairness of the rating system for teachers in Jamaica HS, a closing school.  Hinds was able to convince the DOE to change the two ineffective ratings from Jamaica.  Both ineffective ratings were totally unjustified

Since 91 is 13 % of 700, 91 teachers can appeal their ineffective rating to a neutral three person arbitration panel.  The rest will appeal to the Chancellor (and lose) and then hope for the best with validators in what is now called year two status for someone rated ineffective. Another ineffective will lead to the burden of proof shifting from the DOE to the teacher in a tenured teacher dismissal hearing and more than likely the end result will be termination.

BOGUS ATR INTERVIEWS

I am new to the Absent Teacher Reserve pool.  I have been playing it very straight in the application and interview process. 

I wrote a brand new resume after attending a hiring workshop in June at Jamaica HS before we closed. I have applied for numerous positions through the Open Market Transfer System and now on the Excess Staff Selection System.  I dress professionally in a suit for most interviews and take them very seriously. However, the process is getting a little ridiculous as long time ATRs warned me  it would.

On Tuesday morning, I was sent for a mandatory interview for a position that had been filled over a week ago.  The assistant principal informed me that the Department of Education still wanted them to interview teachers in case they had a vacancy in the future. Who are they kidding?  Another school previously interviewed me but they also didn't have a position.

The DOE is forcing ATRs to travel around our boroughs for interviews under threat of automatic resignation if we miss two. When we go on interviews for jobs that don't exist, we are wasting time, energy and money as we are not available in the schools we are assigned to for class coverage which another teacher has to do for pay.

Veteran ATRs have told me the system is designed to discourage ATRs so we will become demoralized and want to quit.  As I live through this, I am seeing this point more clearly every day.

It's off to Far Rockaway for today's interview. 

NY TEACHER SAYS ALL IS WELL IN SCHOOLS EXCEPT OVERSIZE CLASSES

I just arrived home from work and right there in the mail was my brand new copy of The NY Teacher newspaper. The cover stories are on a school that has remarkable professional development and a DOE - UFT agreement on reducing teacher paperwork.

I actually read the articles. It seems as though the schools the NY Teacher is covering and the buildings where I have gone to for ATR interviews are in two different school systems. Teachers I talk to do not like the endless Mondays and Tuesdays with marathon professional development on Monday that almost everyone agrees is basically a waste of time, while Tuesday afternoons are spent reaching out to parents when most aren't home because they work.

Teachers and other UFT members I talk to are not seeing any relief in micromanagement style mandates for stuff like paperwork, bulletin boards, etc.... in spite of a new reduction in paperwork agreement touted in the NY Teacher.

The newspaper also neglects to mention this year's very tight school budgets. The only negative piece is on oversize classes. Funny how that did not make the cover.

What we can infer from the way the UFT leaders are handling the news is they are determined to show Mayor Bill De Basio and Chancellor Carmen Farina in a positive way, even if the reality in most of the schools shows little, if any, improvement under the new regime compared to the last one.

NEW CHANCELLOR BUT SAME OLD OVERSIZE CLASS PROBLEM

The story of oversize classes in New York City schools this fall seems to have escaped the mainstream media. The following report is taken directly from last Friday's UFT's weekly Chapter Leader Update.

Thanks to the timely reporting of our chapter leaders, the union filed grievances on Sept. 18 on more than 3,500 oversize classes. The filing of grievances is the first step in the expedited arbitration process in our contract to get class-size violations addressed quickly. Although this year’s Day 10 count on Sept. 17 reflected 210 fewer oversize classes than last year, the classes were dispersed over more schools than in the past. Elementary and middle schools in Queens had a substantial uptick, with 119 more oversize classes than last year. A news story with the details will be coming next week. You can still file a class-size grievance, but only for new violations, and the regular time limits for all grievances will apply. Class size limitations are in Article 7M of the contract.

An updated story is at UFT.org with Chapter Leader quotes.

There are over 3,500 reported oversize classes this year but:

• We have a new Chancellor who is supposedly education oriented. 

• We have many-many Absent Teacher Reserves available to teach classes who instead are substituting. 

• We had an infusion of extra state aid this year. (Much of the funding is in addition to the universal Pre-K money.) Where did the money go?  Not to the schools as budgets have been frozen.

The oversize class problem not going away provides more evidence that not much has changed in the classroom since Bloomberg/Walcott left and de Blasio/Farina took over.

.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER TONIGHT AT YOUR EXPENSE

The UFT is inviting Chancellor Carmen Farina over for dinner at tonight's Executive Board meeting.

It is an executive session so rank and file UFT members are not permitted in.

Your union dues at work

MULGREW-FARINA CLARIFY LESSON PLAN POLICY

The email below concerning lesson plans was sent to us from the Chancellor and UFT President.

It attempts to clarify issues concerning lesson plans after an arbitrator ruled in May that the elements of a lesson plan cannot usually be dictated by supervisors.  On the issue of collection of lesson plans by supervisors, the arbitrator allowed supervisors to collect lesson plans but not in a mechanical and ritualized way.  Here is the language from Arbitrator Deborah Gaines:

"The Department, however, cannot institute policies to serve as a smokescreen for the mechanical, ritualized collection of lesson plans or other type of impermissible activity under Article 8E or Special Circular 28."

If a principal mandates something like a review everyone's lesson plans for the week, that would seem to me to be a mechanical, ritualized collection.

This is a link to the entire ruling.

For those who don't want to read through the whole opinion, what follows is the arbitrator's official award.

AWARD

1-The grievance is, as it relates to the issue of collection is arbitrable.

 

2-The Department violated Article 8E and 20 (Special Circular 28) by allowing principals to mandate the specific elements of lesson plans.

 

3-The Department shall cease and desist from allowing principals to issue such mandates to teachers who have not received U ratings or official warnings.

 

4-The Department did not violate Article 8E and/or Article 20 of the parties' Agreement by allowing lessons to be collected for reasons other than formal or informal observations.

 

5-The undersigned shall retain jurisdiction for purposes of implementation of this award for four months from the date of its execution.

 

May 16, 2014

Deborah M. Gaines

The email from Chancellor Carmen Farina and UFT President Michael Mulgrew was sent on Friday, September 19, 2014:

Dear James,

The Department of Education and the United Federation of Teachers recognize that lesson plans are a professional responsibility.

Everything about our evaluation and development system is based upon the understanding that a constructive, professional process is the best way for colleagues to collaborate to help children learn.

We all know that effective teaching requires authentic and thoughtful planning.  The development of lesson plans by and for the use of the teacher is a professional responsibility.  A teacher’s lesson plan is not the lesson itself. A lesson unfolds in the classroom as a teacher works with his or her students.

Planning may be evaluated through observation of a lesson being taught, by the professional discussions that take place between teacher and supervisor and, of course, through discussion and review of the plan used to teach an observed lesson. The lesson plan cannot be evaluated in isolation but as a part of the planning cycle of the observed lesson.

Lesson plans are but one part of the process of creating and delivering quality instruction that engenders learning. How well students learn is what is most important.

Although a supervisor may suggest elements to include in a lesson, lesson plans are by and for the use of the teacher. Their format and organization, including which elements are to be included, and whether to write the plans on paper or digitally are appropriately left to the discretion of the teacher. 

If the teacher was Ineffective, the supervisor and teacher will collaborate about different strategies.

Lessons should be taught in a manner consistent with the school’s educational philosophy.

Lesson plans are part of the instructional planning process. As has long been the case, supervisors may continue to request and collect lesson plans; however, they may not be collected in a mechanical or routinized manner.

We know this clarification will help us work together to provide the best education for our students.

We will continue to work toward our shared goal of making New York City’s public schools the best in the country.

Sincerely,

UFT President Michael Mulgrew and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña

ATR PANIC STRIKES ON SUBWAY

I am on my way to my mandated interview the other day but the subway stops between stations. I left nice and early because I don't want to miss a mandatory interview.

If an ATR misses two mandated interviews, the new contract says we have resigned our employment. We get no tenure hearing, nothing.

I am sitting on the train and thinking if I get stuck underground and the school won't document that I was there for the interview, I could be halfway to the unemployment line.

The train started to move and I made it in plenty of time to a positive interview but who knows if I will always be so lucky.

The moral of the story is expert navigation and planning for the unexpected are part of ATR life.

Don't miss those interviews fellow ATRs!

HOW TO HANDLE TEACHER IMPROVEMENT PLAN CONFERENCE FOR TEACHER NEAR RETIREMENT

The new evaluation system mandates teachers who receive a rating of developing or ineffective will get a Teacher Improvement Plan. Part of the T.I.P. is a conference with an administrator to discuss the plan.

Our colleague John Elfrank sat through a conference recently.

WARNING: Don't try this if you still have years in the system and/or you are looking to win friends and influence people among administration.




TIP Responses:

AP: Mr. Elfrank-Dana, What are your areas of strength?

Me: Why don’t you tell me? This is your meeting?

AP: Oh, no this is a collaboration.
Me: So, I can leave and it won’t be considered insubordination?
AP: uh…

Me: Look, YOU gave me this Developing rating. It’s not mine. So, you need to answer the question.

AP: What are your areas for improvement?

Me: You tell me. You tell me what I have to do to be an Effective rated teacher, You tell me what you are going to do for me to get me there.

AP: What were your strengths?
Me: This process is a fraud. It’s a product of Bloomberg and my union president who has the IQ of a tree stump. It’s an illusion of due diligence. This process is a part of a larger war on public education.  I will answer as a prisoner of war.

AP: What are your MOTP and MOSL goals for this year and your timeline to meet these goals?
Me: John Elfrank Dana, Teacher/Chapter Leader, File no. XXXXXX

AP: When would you like your summative meeting to take place?

Me: John Elfrank Dana, Teacher/Chapter Leader, File no. XXXXXX

And so on…



AP: The evaluator chooses if video will be used. (She points our rightly that the UFT gave the discretion of video to the evaluator instead of the evaluated. Way to go Mulgrew!)

Me: Why would  you not want to use video? (background, I had formals videoed last year and they had to give me Effective, as they couldn’t make stuff up. But, they refused to look at them as I argued I should have gotten Highly Effective and the proof of 100 percent engagement for both formals was in the video).
AP: I am not saying I won’t.
Me: So, what do you say?
AP: I won’t say now.

Me: This is symptomatic of what I am talking about.

This whole process is a fraud.



I said staff should request no more than one unannounced observation (as is the minimum stated in Advance p.9) The principal said no. I argued, in other TIP meetings,  that this is supposed to be collaborative and not dictatorial. The minimum of one informal unannounced is there. Why would they put it in if it’s not an option? We will file APPR complaints if they don’t concede. Janella Hinds shared with me that she thinks unannounced observations are a good thing. I said, it sounds like I’m talking to the Gates Foundation. And that the UFT can ignore our complaints but a judge down the road may not.



In solidarity,



John Elfrank-Dana
UFT Chapter Leader

CLASS SIZES NEED TO BE ADJUSTED TO LEGAL MAXIMUMS BY WEDNESDAY

The tenth school day this fall will be Wednesday, September 17th. That is the day set by the UFT contract for class sizes to be lowered to legal limits.

As a high school Chapter Leader, day nine and ten usually meant multiple trips to the Program Office to see if the school was in compliance.

If there are still oversize classes by the end of the day Wednesday, your Chapter Leader can easily grieve all of them. Teachers have no papers to file. Check with your CL if you still have an issue with any large classes.

UFT TELLS US PARAMETERS FOR ENDLESS MONDAYS & TUESDAYS

Call me a crazy idealist but I took a teaching job to spend time working with the kids, not for useless nonsense.  However, since the UFT and Department of Education negotiated a contract that includes added time away from the students for single session schools, they had to figure out what could be done in that time.

Our union sent us Frequently Asked Questions covering the extended time Mondays and Tuesdays.

For those who have great professional development and are working collaboratively with administration to make positive use of the extended time on Monday and Tuesday, please tell us how you are doing it.  For everyone else, may Monday and Tuesday afternoons pass very quickly.

We have advice for anyone in the latter group: figure out how to become a multi-session school so you don't have to bother with any of this.


The UFT's Frequently Asked Questions:

Repurposed Workday FAQ

In response to the many questions about the repurposed time in the workday, we’ve assembled the following FAQ to provide answers. For more information about the repurposed time, you can check the Contract 2014 section of the UFT website.

Who does the repurposed workday apply to?
It applies only to all classroom teachers (including speech teachers and Hearing Education Services teachers) and paraprofessionals in single-session schools unless a school has adopted a school-based option on the reconfiguration of time. Teachers and paras are the only staff required to do Professional Development, Parent Engagement and Other Professional Work during the repurposed time.

Does the repurposed workday apply to guidance counselors, school psychologists and social workers, OTs and PTs, school secretaries, lab specialists, school nurses and supervisors of nurses/therapists?
No, it does not apply. People in those titles work the same number of hours and minutes each day and they do the same work during that time as they always have.

Title	Length of Workday
Guidance Counselors	6 hours, 30 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
Lab Specialists	6 hours, 30 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
OTs/PTs	6 hours, 25 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
School Psychologists	6 hours, 50 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
School Nurses	6 hours, 25 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
School Secretaries	7 hours, 20 minutes (including lunch period same length as teachers)
Social Workers	6 hours, 50 minutes (exclusive of lunch)
Supervisors of Nurses/Therapists	7 hours, 10 minutes (exclusive of lunch)

---

What is the schedule for the Professional Development, Parent Engagement and Other Professional Work time?
All single-session schools, except those that have adopted a school-based option to change their schedules, will have the following schedule:
Monday: There is an 80-minute block of time immediately following the school day that will be used for Professional Development. If less than the entire 80 minutes is used for Professional Development on a given day, the remaining time will be used for Other Professional Work. This period of time ends exactly 80 minutes after the end of the school day.
Tuesday: There is a 75-minute block of time immediately following the school day, 40 minutes of which is for parent engagement and 35 minutes for Other Professional Work. This period of time ends 75 minutes after the end of the school day. Paraprofessionals are only required to work the first 70 of the 75 minutes of this block.

For single-session schools that have not adopted an SBO on the reconfiguration of time, the school day plus the repurposed time must be between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and between 8 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

---

 Can IEP conferences be scheduled during Parent Engagement time?
Yes, but only if all staff required to be at the IEP conferences are present. No one in job titles other than teachers can be required to attend IEP meetings during this time.
Can IEP conferences be scheduled during Other Professional Work time?
No.

---

Who has to attend the four evening parent-teacher conferences (the back-to-school night in September plus regular conferences in November, March and May)?
All school-based teachers in single-session schools plus all guidance counselors, school social workers and psychologists in single-session schools must attend these four evening conferences. Paraprofessionals are among those who are not required to attend.

How long are these four evening parent-teacher conferences?
For teachers, they are three hours each. Guidance counselors, school social workers and psychologists attend for three hours in September and March and for the first two hours and 10 minutes of the conferences in November and May.

Do all schools have the two additional evening parent-teacher conferences in September and May?
No, only single-session schools hold them.

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION; ATRS NEED OUR OWN UFT CHAPTER AND DELEGATES

Yesterday there was a UFT meeting for Absent Teacher Reserves in Queens.  The UFT is having these meetings throughout the boroughs this week. 

Several ATRs asked some very thoughtful questions about the plight of the ATR.  Mike Sill was the UFT representative who gave us information and handled our questions.

I was given the floor to speak at this meeting.  I took advantage of the opportunity to address the ATRs by saying the time is now for the ATRs to have our own UFT Chapter. We have been disenfranchised as we do not have representatives at the school level of our own choosing.  Our Chapter should include ATRs who rotate in schools from week-to-week as well as teachers who are hired provisionally for a year and people who cover for leave replacements.

We are ATRs until we are put in a permanent position.  We are subject to particular contractual provisions.  We need our own elected representatives who can understand what we are going through.  It is a very different experience than being a regular teacher or counselor in a school. Being an ATR can be extremely isolating.

We are the only group in the Union that has no representation at the UFT's highest policy making body: the Delegate Assembly.  Delegates and Chapter Leaders are not accountable to us and we cannot get elected as Delegates or Chapter Leaders after becoming ATRs.  As some ATRs have been stuck in the ATR pool for years, we are clearly being treated as second class or third class union members by our own Union.

The rationale the UFT leadership has given in the past for not starting an ATR Chapter is we don't want to institutionalize the ATR position.  This argument no longer holds any water as the UFT embedded the ATR position into the contract in May.  The entire Section 16 of the new contract is about ATRs, including leave replacements and members hired provisionally.

It has to be noted that although Sill and Amy Arundell are hard working people who represent ATRs for the UFT, not one ATR voted to have them advocate for us.  This flies in the face of union democracy and I believe it violates our rights to be treated equally under state and federal law.

If there are 1,800 UFT members combined in all three categories (weekly rotation, leave replacement and provisional vacancy), at a ratio of 60 members =1 Delegate, we would be entitled to 30 UFT Delegates at the Delegate Assembly.

I did not ask the question to Mike Sill by wondering if we would get a Chapter; I asked when we would have our own Chapter.  Besides protecting our jobs this year, I anticipate starting a Union Chapter will be the most important union goal for ATRs. 

I think we even have our slogan:

No Taxation (union dues) Without Representation! 

Sorry, it isn't exactly original but I think it fits.

My question was greeted with enthusiastic applause by the ATRs assembled.  Mike Sill answered that this would have to be taken up by people higher up in the UFT than he is.

As for the rest of the information session, we basically were informed that ATRs will start going on mandatory interviews in our own boroughs during the school day next week for leftover vacancies and rotation of ATRs to different schools within a district from week-to-week (or the UFT might negotiate for month-to-month rotations) will commence in the middle of October. 

Nobody can yet define what "problematic behavior" means in terms of the new contract's expedited 3020A dismissal procedure for ATRs, but we do know that people in rotation will not be subject to the new process, only those who fill vacancies and are removed by two principals will be subject to the rapid dismissal hearings.  We also had it confirmed that anyone missing two mandatory interviews will have resigned. 

Sound advice from ICE blog: Make sure your GPS is working so you don't miss any interviews.  If you are driving, check the parking regulations in advance for a school if you are able to.  Some places are really difficult to park around while other schools are not easily accessible by public transportation.

CONTRACT REOPENED BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE RETIRED

This one borders on the bizarre.

The United Federation of Teachers and the Department of Education when they negotiated our recent contract didn't think so many UFT members would retire.  They under-funded the pool of money needed for full retroactive cash payments for people who retired by June 2014.

Apparently, both sides are surprised that so many people who were eligible to retire this June decided to actually leave. 

According to Capital NY:

The two sides need to agree on how to pay union members who retired before June 30, 2014, because more teachers left than the contract had accounted for, both sides confirmed.

City Hall had set aside $180 million to pay lump sum retroactive wages to retiring teachers—a figure the union agreed to in June when it signed off on the nine-year deal that runs from 2009-2018. But the higher-than-anticipated retirement rate means the city may need to increase that total and negotiate how retroactive payments will be made to the additional retirees.

Capital adds:

Capital previously reported 2,263 U.F.T. members applied for retirement in June, up from 1,484 applications in June of last year, according to figures provided by the New York City Teachers' Retirement System. (The figure includes CUNY instructors who are not covered by this contract.)

We here at ICE are shocked, just astonished (sarcasm alert) that so many people decided to leave and take the money up front now.

Here is the possible thinking of a teacher eligible to retire:

"Let's see I can retire now and get over $30,000 in back pay right away or I can retire and get it piecemeal without interest up through 2020 or I can stay in the system and be abused for a little longer and wait until 2020 to get all the money they owe me."  After about five seconds of contemplation, the teacher concludes: "How do I get to 55 Waters Street to file my retirement papers and when will the total payment be put in my bank account?"

Yes, for some people the tax implications made them want to wait to get the payments they are owed but that was only a few.

What is truly scary is these people in the UFT and city government have a real say over so many aspects of our lives. They can't even figure out that if they throw money in front of beleaguered teachers who can retire and have often been abused in this system, most of them are going to take the money and run. 

Now it will be interesting to see if the city tries to weasel out of paying the money now as Perdido Street School speculated they might do and then how will the UFT respond at that point?  Another giveback?

WEEK ONE AS AN ATR

I spent my first week in the Absent Teacher Reserve pool and I must say I am a pretty fortunate ATR to have been assigned to Aviation High School.

The teachers, support staff, administration and students at Aviation have been fully welcoming. There were no problems covering classes with these amazing kids.

I might have terrible experiences later on in the year but for my first assignment, which is supposed to last until mid October, I feel quite lucky.

As for the so called Open Market and the Excess Staff Selection System, I did my best on the Open Market this summer but the only replies I had were to say a school has received the application and/or that I didn't get the position.  I did manage to secure three interviews for leave replacements but nobody took me. 

Our wonderful union is inviting ATRs to informational Q&A sessions next week.  They will be conducted by union staffers.  We can't choose who will represent us because we have no elected Chapter Leader or Delegates. Did our union ever hear about no taxation (dues) without representation?

The invitation is printed in full below.

Dear James,

As a member currently in excess, you are invited to attend an informational Q&A session on issues pertaining to employees in the ATR pool. UFT representatives will be on hand to answer questions.

Refreshments will be provided.

All meetings will take place from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Please attend at the site that is most convenient for you:

• Monday, Sept. 8
  UFT Brooklyn office
  335 Adams St., 25th floor
• Tuesday, Sept. 9
  UFT Manhattan office
  52 Broadway, 10th floor
• Tuesday, Sept. 9
  UFT Queens office
  97-77 Queens Blvd.
• Thursday, Sept. 11
  UFT Staten Island office
  4456 Amboy Rd.
• Friday, Sept. 12
  UFT Bronx office
  2500 Halsey St.

Sincerely,

Amy Arundell
UFT Director of Personnel and Special Projects

MY OPEN EMAIL TO JANELLA HINDS ON ALL THE ADVERSE RATINGS DURING THE FINAL YEAR OF JAMAICA HS

(Janella Hinds is UFT Vice President for Academic High Schools)

Good Day Janella-

We knew teachers at a phasing out school would be at a huge disadvantage in terms of the ratings in Advance and informed you of our concerns when you visited Jamaica last May.   As we move ahead, our issues need to be addressed as most of the teachers from Jamaica's final year have received adverse ratings. The ratings make no sense.
 

How is it possible for one Jamaica HS teacher to have 73 points and still get rated ineffective (0- 64 points is ineffective according to Advance) when other teachers who had fewer points still received developing ratings? Two teachers who had that exact same 73 points as the teacher rated ineffective and were ineffective in both the state and local portion of the rating still received overall developing ratings. Something does not add up right.

The ratings based on testing are very discriminatory against teachers who work with a very small sample size of pupils who have greater needs than average students as we have alleged all along.  But for the luck of the student draw and fighting for every last Danielson point last year, I too would have received an adverse rating. 

As an ATR (I told you I would be an ATR when you visited Jamaica and yes I sent my resume out, including to Jamaica Gateway, and went on interviews to no avail), I am extremely concerned for all of us.  We could very well be force placed into a school where we will be at a huge disadvantage in terms of being rated because of the nature of the challenges students face that might be beyond our control. 

At the school I have been assigned to for this month (Aviation HS), the Principal informed the staff they were all rated effective or highly effective.  Could this be because they are teaching students who are mainly better prepared than the small group of only 34 students who made up Jamaica's final cohort.  Those 34 were to a large degree English language learners, Instructional Support Services Students and/or over-age.  We worked diligently with those young people.  Is it fair we are being penalized for some students who were non-readers in their home language as well as English? We informed administration of pupils who were programmed improperly during UFT Consultation meetings.  Why should teachers be penalized for who they teach?

I also find it troubling that you negotiated this evaluation system and exempted yourselves from it even though some UFT staff teach and have at least six students so should be covered by Advance according to the law. How can 34 students in an entire school  be a sufficient sample size for our total of eight teachers but a class of 34 for a UFT District Representative is not adequate to be rated by Advance?  We certainly don't have much leading by example from our union's leadership.  One of our teachers emphasized repeatedly to you how we should be rated either satisfactory or unsatisfactory because of our circumstances and we are prepared to take action to achieve this goal.

In addition, I have not been informed about the Queens informational sessions on filing appeals. I guess it should be no surprise as it looks as though UFT leadership shed me from Queens Chapter Leader lists as fast as you could even though there is unfinished Chapter business that still needs to be taken care of.

I am not just complaining here.  I am attempting to move forward more than backwards.  We should come up with a plan about what we can do together as a union to resolve this situation with our adverse ratings.  While we appreciate your attempts to persuade DOE officials to do what is fair by UFT members in closing schools, it does not seem to be working.  The teachers at Jamaica and any other closing school should be among the 13% of teachers who are selected for independent arbitration for their appeals under the new contract.  We are prepared in whatever way possible to work with you toward our goal of erasing these unfair ratings.

In struggle,

James Eterno

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ICE RECOMMENDS TEACHOUT/HAWKINS FOR GOVERNOR AND OFFERS FULL SUPPORT FOR STRONGER TOGETHER NYSUT CAUCUS

It was a very productive ICE meeting on Friday, August 29, 2014.  It was much more than chatting and chewing as full discussion and analysis of issues and ideas was followed by decision making and then more in depth discussion.

The meeting lasted for five hours and could have gone on longer.

Specifically, three decisions were made by a consensus of the group that attended:

1-ICE urges its supporters to vote for Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic primary for Governor on September 9 if they are registered NY State Democrats.
If Teachout doesn't win the primary against the anti-teacher Andrew Cuomo, we will advocate for Howie Hawkins of the Green Party in the general election.  (If Teachout pulls off a major upset in the primary, we will have an interesting dilemma of having two candidates who support public education to choose from.)  Teachout has an education plan that is superior to Cuomo's abysmal pro-charter school, pro-high stakes testing, anti-worker, anti-union, anti-public education record.

2-ICE fully supports the nascent Statewide NYSUT Caucus called Stronger Together.
Stronger Together is challenging Unity in NYSUT.  ICE members worked with Stronger Together during the recent NYSUT election and the bond has continued after the votes were tallied.  There is a great feeling about the potential the caucus has and we are happy to be part of it.

3-ICE will start a book club to meet and discuss important education books.

DID FARINA REALLY JUST DECLARE WAR ON ATRs?

Multiple people have sent me copies of the Daily News piece from Sunday where Chancellor Carmen Farina said she is looking to make it easier to fire ATRs after earlier saying teacher retention is a problem.

Here is how Perdido Street School covers the contradiction.

Fariña pledged to announce in the next two weeks a big reduction in the number of teachers getting paid despite not having steady classroom jobs. Earlier this month 114 of the roughly 1,100 teachers — known as the Absent Teacher Reserve — accepted $16,000 buyouts.

Fariña said the numbers would dwindle further as principals are taught best practices for writing up teachers and beginning the arduous termination process.

 This threat comes just one paragraph after Farina talks about the importance of teacher retention:

She also expressed confidence she could improve teacher retention by restoring the dignity of the job. But it won’t be easy. A recent teachers union survey found that 32,000 teachers walked away from city classrooms in the last 11 years, with about 4,600 going to jobs elsewhere in the state — mainly to city suburbs that offer higher pay and less challenging teaching conditions.

Okay, so let me get this straight.

Farina says she wants to restore "the dignity of the job" in order to improve teacher retention but she intends to have her NYCDOE minions go around the city making sure principals "are taught best practices for writing up teachers and beginning the arduous termination process."

Anybody else see the contradictions here?

How do you restore "the dignity of the job" while having principals schooled in the ways to write up teachers in order to terminate them?

Seems to me that's the same kind of teacher-targeting that we got during the Klein and Walcott Years.

Thanks Perdido.  More to come on this as we receive more information. I know I am feeling very apprehensive about returning to work on Tuesday.

As for ATR assignments, I received this email from an ATR named Lisa about people being selected for persecution.  I'm new at this ATR business but I kind of agree with this piece.

When it comes to the mystery shrouded assignment process, perhaps some of you might do well to remember the old adage, "Never attribute to malice what can equally be attributed to by stupidity."

 

Two years ago, I was assigned to a school 12 minutes from my home.  Last year, the school was 20 minutes away.  This year I'm 12 minutes away.   Do I think I'm being singled out for "special" treatment?  Hardly.  During the last two years I have been assigned multiple times to schools on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Brooklyn/Manhattan where it took me an hour to commute in rush hour traffic.  Do I then think I've been singled out for special punishment?  Not at all  --  I just think of the selection process as a lottery and this week, I had crappy luck.

I could be totally wrong about this, however.  Two years ago a friend of mine was assigned to Washington Heights for the three week startup.  She lives in Brighton Beach and her commute was an hour and 45 minutes each way.  Is it possible the DoE targeted her for extreme annoyance and was trying to force her to retire?  Who knows?  Only the HR Connect can say, and they do not tell, either way.  

 

So, in terms of the paranoia and vitriol -- ladies and gentlemen --  pace yourself.  I know the startup is mentally and emotionally painful, traumatic and depressing, but we have a long school year ahead of us to deal with.  Try not to let your negative past experience cloud your perceptions of the new and as yet "undiscovered country".   

Here's wishing everyone a successful startup.

Lisa