MANY SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FOREST HILLS PRINCIPAL IN NO CONFIDENCE RESOLUTION

The press and bloggers continue to cover the situation at Forest Hills High School with Principal Ben Sherman. The NY Post has an update detailing some of the allegations against Sherman that are in the No Confidence Resolution.

From Sue Edelman's article that she cowrote with Melissa Klein:

Maybe he’s the one who’s smoking something!

Forest Hills HS Principal Ben Sherman, whose stewardship of the once prestigious school has led to a teacher mutiny over issues such as rampant pot smoking by students, was accused last month of a litany of strange behavior in a faculty no-confidence vote.

Teachers presented a detailed list of concerns last week to Queens high school Superintendent Juan Mendez, asking that Sherman, who came to the school in 2017, be removed.

Now Sherman is under investigation, and Chancellor Richard Carranza has appointed a top official to come to the school every day to closely supervise Sherman, city Department of Education officials told The Post on Saturday.

Sherman’s alleged antics include leaving both the door to his office and to his bathroom “completely open” so his secretaries could see him urinating, according to the no-confidence document.

When confronted four months later and asked to shut the door, he replied, “Did they not like what they saw?” the document says.

The complaints accuse Sherman of making inappropriate comments to both teachers and students. He allegedly said to two girls wearing large earrings: “The bigger the hoop, the bigger the ho!”

He asked another female student, who was selling snacks and water for a fundraiser, “Are you selling handguns? I’d like to buy a Glock,” the document says.

He told a teacher “Hubba, hubba, I like what I see through the holes of that sweater,” it says.

On one occasion, the school’s crowded hallways became a virtual three-ring circus when Sherman juggled and rode a unicycle, it added.

“These actions and behaviors are ideal if you are hanging out with friends or … your children,” the complaint says.

“However, these hijinks should not transpire in a school hallway, especially one in an overcrowded building that is at 198 percent capacity.”

Sherman admitted in a letter to staff that he sometimes slept in his car overnight to see what time teachers arrived to snag parking spots in front of the school.

The teachers contend Sherman’s tenure has led to an increase in not only drug use but vandalism and larcenies, with student lockers regularly being burgled.

The school’s parents association also wrote to Mendez warning “the safety issues at FHHS have reached a point where they are beyond Principal Sherman’s ability to control and correct.”

 So what is the DOE response to all of these allegations?

They referred everything to the Special Commissioner of Investigations while keeping Sherman in place.

Could you imagine what would have happened had a teacher been accused of these wrongdoings, particularly the open door policy in the principal's restroom? He or she would have been removed from the school immediately. Blogger South Bronx School is all over the DOE double standard.

Let's play make believe. Regular guy teacher at Forest Hills High Aaron Rabinowitz is quoted in the Post saying the same exact words (on marijuana soon being legal) with the same flippant attitude .

Yep, you are right. Aaron would be exiled to the Rubber Room posthaste, have 20 stipulations in his 3020-a and risk his 23 year career go down the drain.

Ed Notes covers the UFT higherups' involvement at Forest Hills.

He quotes a Forest Hills insider:

"Why hasn't the UFT President commented or visited the school? Interesting, the lack of concern. He has been invited three times since April. He had promised to come last May, then cancelled. "

We do know from Norm (EdNotes) that Staff Director Leroy Barr, District Rep James Vasquez, Special Rep Washington Sanchez and Borough Rep Amy Arundel have all visited. 

From a Forest Hills staff member, ICEblog was sent Principal Sherman's apology.

"I know you have been reading a lot about me recently.  I recognize there are many concerns.  I am against students using drugs, vaping, or smoking in our school.  I am against students loitering in the hallways, staircases, or other places.  I am not a perfect person.  I have many faults, just ask my wife.  I apologize for statements which have offended you, including saying 'because I am the Principal.'   I need to listen better to you.  If I have given anyone the impression that I am soft on crime or that I am permissive about drug use I apologize." 

Our Forest Hills contact tells us that Superintendent Mendez and the DOE are trying to blame teachers for the safety issues.

From a Friday email:

Yesterday, the DOE sent inspectors to find at the school what they sent them to find.  This is namely anything that might pin the school's lack of discipline on the teachers.  One example is them asking students why they are sitting in the hallways while classes are going on.  Instead of actually finding out that the Administrators let them sit there, they look to pin it on the teachers by asking them "if any  teachers asked them to move."    You know things like that.  The students were really active while they were there,  so they got an eyeful of the Wild West Show.

 Last night Superintendent Mendez met with some select members of the Parent Association.  They demanded he come to answer questions that they had about how the building was being run.  From what I heard, he did his best to try to spin it into a teacher slamming session.

 Today, Mendez came in and did some surprise mini observations on a number of staff along with Sherman.

From the local Queens press QNS, we have Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz' statement defending the school and not rushing to judgment on the principal.

“Parents moved in to the neighborhood so their children could attend FHHS. I have been in the school countless times and I can tell you that what I read in the newspaper is nothing like the fine school that I experienced in those visits,” Koslowitz said, referring to the story’s first appearance in the Queens Chronicle.

She adds:

“I am asking that the DOE immediately intervene at FHHS to insure that all laws, rules, regulations and policies are being adhered to,” Koslowitz said, then referenced the New York Post article that put FHHS under the spotlight. “With respect to the principal, I am not rushing to a judgment based on a newspaper article. Those disciplinary matters will take their due course. But, the health and safety of the students must be guaranteed and guaranteed without delay.” 

I also saw the story covered on FOX 5 news on Thursday evening but I can't find it at their cite so if anyone can  locate a link, please help and we will add it on.

'WHEN WE STRIKE, WE WIN' OAKLAND EDITION

Oakland, California teachers have had a successful weeklong strike.

This is from SFGATE via the AP:

The Oakland Education Association, which represents the city's 3,000 teachers, said that union leaders reached a four-year agreement that calls for teachers to receive an 11 percent salary increase and one-time 3 percent bonus. The deal also requires the district to reduce class sizes and hire more student support staff, including special education teachers and counselors, the union said in a statement.

Further down in the SFGATE piece:

Among their demands was a 12 percent retroactive raise covering 2017 to 2020 to compensate for what they say are among the lowest salaries for public school teachers in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area.

A starting salary for teachers at Oakland schools is $46,500 a year and the average salary in the district is $63,000 a year.

The union also called for the district to scrap plans to close as many as 24 schools that serve primarily African-American and Latino students. It fears more students will be lost to charter schools that drain more than $57 million a year from the district.

As part of the deal, there will be a five-month pause on any school closures, the union said.

The union rejected two earlier salary proposals from the district, which initially offered a 5 percent raise covering 2017 to 2020.

The talks did not center on pension or health care benefits, which are free for full-time workers and their beneficiaries.

Let me see if I have this correct? The district offered 5% while the teachers asked for 12%. They ended up after the strike getting 11% and a 3% onetime bonus. In addition, there are lower class sizes and a closing school moratorium. Not bad if you ask me.

From the Superintendent:
Oakland Unified Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell says: "Today marks a sea change for OUSD as we take a major step in support of our teachers and students. Our teachers are the core of everything we do as a school district, and we are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that shows them how valuable they are. The contract will help ensure more teachers stay in Oakland and that more come to teach in our classrooms and support our students."

Militancy works folks. I know, I know, we have the Taylor Law in NYS that penalizes striking public employees two days pay for every day out on strike so we can't even contemplate thinking about striking. We also make more money here in NYC. Granted, the Oakland strike was legal but some of the recent nationwide teacher strikes were illegal. We could beat the Taylor Law if we were to fight over our working conditions instead of just salary.

When it comes to working conditions (class sizes, safety, etc.) we have plenty to be militant about in NYC. The DOE has been violating state law on class sizes for over a decade and need I even say anything about unsafe schools and the quality of certain administrators?

However, does the UFT fight or do the teachers demand it?

UPDATE: We have the class size reduction numbers in Oakland from Class Size Matters Director Leonie Haimson via Ed Notes. Oakland class size limits will be significantly lower than in NYC.

leonie haimson‏ @leoniehaimson

New @OaklandEA agreement: district will lower class sizes caps in K to 23 students; 1st-3rd grade to 26 ; 4th-5th gr to 29 & HS core subjects to 31; & by 2021 by another student. (All these caps lower than current @UFT contract hasn't changed in 50 yrs https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZGmLziSdPO0J5OsWMaDFO0uIpxK9M5HO …

For those interested in an Oakland teacher's viewpoint, click here.

NEW CITY LABOR COMMISSIONER TALKS CONTRACTS AND HEALTHCARE GIVEBACKS

Renee Campion is the first woman to lead the NYC Office of Labor Relations. We congratulate her on her selection as the city's Labor Commissioner. She was First Deputy Labor Commissioner previously. Campion worked at OLR through the Michael Bloomberg years and stayed on under Mayor Bill de Blasio. She was appointed Labor Commissioner effective February 19, 2019 after Robert Linn retired.

Campion did an extensive interview with the Chief Leader civil service newspaper that every city employee should read.

Here is what the Chief and Campion said about the UFT pattern setting contract in 2014:

When Mr. de Blasio took office at the beginning of 2014 and tapped Mr. Linn to return as his chief negotiator—a job he had last held in 1989 under Mayor Ed Koch—the dynamic changed. But where being unable to have meaningful contract talks with the unions had a numbing effect, the backlog that built up as a result had an intimidating one. As Ms. Campion put it, “The idea of negotiating everything was sort of crushing.”

UFT Deal Opened Gates

But she said Mr. Linn assured his top aides at OLR that they would be able to work through the mass of long-expired contracts and the daunting back-pay obligations that had piled up. “And when we came out on the other side of that and had a nine-year deal with the UFT, it felt good,” she said. Deals quickly followed with two of the other unions that hadn’t been included under the pay pattern set back in 2007—NYSNA and Local 1199, the giant health-care workers union within the Service Employees International Union that had a small public-sector division.

That cleared the decks for deals with other unions pegged to the longer agreement with the UFT that over its final seven years granted raises below the inflation rate to cushion the impact of the huge amounts of back pay that had accumulated for Teachers.

“We are all sort of on the same side: we have to balance the needs of the taxpayers with the needs of the workers,” Ms. Campion said.

I'm glad our union is on the same side as the city. The taxpayers did just fine as this analysis from the Independent Budget Office shows that the UFT backpay obligation through 2020 (we're still waiting for half of the back pay for work we did in 2009-11) is going to end up costing the city around $500 million in total which isn't much considering the city budget now is over $92 billion and the DOE alone spent $773 million on the failed Renewal Schools program since 2014.

Looking back, it is pretty obvious the city could have afforded to pay us the money we worked for from 2009-2011 back when de Blasio took office in 2014 and still had enough to pay us salary increases that kept up with inflation. It didn't happen in either case but I shouldn't be critical of UFT President Michael Mulgrew because of Janus (sarcasm alert all over the last statement).

As for healthcare, our warnings about the unspecified givebacks that were voted on in the current contract are still a concern.

From The Chief:

It was during Mr. de Blasio’s first year in office that Mr. Linn also reached the health-benefits deal that would save the city $3.4 billion over his first term. She is now looking for $1.1 billion in recurring annual savings in new health-benefit talks with the unions. While a less-ambitious target, it might be harder to reach because the two sides have already used many of the more-obvious ideas available, from encouraging city employees to use primary-care physicians and clinics rather than relying on emergency-room visits to wellness programs aimed at promoting healthier eating and lifestyle practices.

“The bar is higher and higher; it does get more complicated,” Ms. Campion said. Martin Scheinman, a veteran arbitrator and mediator who initially was deployed five years ago to settle differences on the extent of the savings being offered to the city under union proposals, is now part of a tripartite panel designed to jointly develop new areas of savings.

 We'll see what the savings are. Most of the municipal unions, especially ours, are certainly on the same side as the city.

REST IN PEACE RAY FRANKEL

I have been super busy the past couple of days but I am just catching up on the news and was  saddened to hear that one of the UFT's founders Ray Frankel passed away. Ray ran UFT elections for many years. We did not always agree but Ray deserves a great deal of credit for her trade union commitment throughout her life.

Norm is all over the story at Ed Notes.

There was a resolution at the UFT Executive Board last night to honor Ray's life.

From Arthur Goldstein via Norm:

Resolution honoring UFT founder Ray Frankel—

George Altomari—There are a lot of things you see in people. Some people do that and more. You hardly even see them. But Ray Frankel was a person who did as much as anyone in the union. When you devote a lifetime to a cause, you have something special. Lots of people saw her in different roles. Ran elections for years. Without her work, you wonder where we would be. She was meticulous about her work. Everyone believed in her honesty. She was there at the very beginning. She always gave more than she received. You could always rely on her. Represented the best of us.

Schoor—She was CL of Art and Design. My mom was secretary. Always asked after her. Always concerned about people after they left, every union member.

LeRoy Barr—I had opportunity to work with her closely. One of first on our wall downstairs. Was always there behind scenes making sure things were running. Dedicated her entire life. Working up until last 2 or three months. Was voice that said you can’t do it this way, you have to do it that way. She added to me, making sure we didn’t just get it done, but got it done right. We are the beneficiaries of her life. Bur for her, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here today.

Approved unanimously.

HOW FAR WILL DOE GO TO BACK A PRINCIPAL EXPOSED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NY POST?

The Ben Sherman Forest Hills High School story grows larger every day. This is today's cover of the NY Post:

Here is an excerpt from Sue Edelman's front page article:

This school is going to pot!

Students at highly-regarded Forest Hills HS openly smoke and vape marijuana throughout a building that has spun out of control with a principal who’d rather befriend kids than enforce rules, furious teachers say.

“Never in my 15 years of teaching have I been bombarded with the strong scent of pot in the school hallways — and even in my classroom,” a teacher told The Post.

Principal Ben Sherman, who joined Forest Hills in 2017, shrugs off the pot-puffing — saying “it’s going to be legal” anyway, teachers complain.

“With the decisions he’s made, our school is definitely spiraling downhill,” said English teacher Adam Bergstein, the United Federation of Teachers chapter leader.

With some 3,800 students, Forest Hills is popular and overcrowded. While neighborhood kids are guaranteed seats, the school has several prestigious programs that admit only high-achievers.

In 2000, the school received a “National Blue Ribbon” award for excellence, and then-First Lady Hillary Clinton gave the commencement address.

Last year, the school boasted a 91 percent graduation rate, with 81 percent college ready — well above the citywide average.

But unrest reached a peak on Valentine’s Day, when faculty — in a staff mutiny rarely seen in the city’s Department of Education — slapped Sherman with a vote of no confidence, 195 to 21.

The vote becomes an official UFT document, which the union will present Monday, with a list of staff concerns and demands, to Queens high school Superintendent Juan Mendez. If Mendez does not resolve the issues, the documents would then be shared with deputy chancellors and local politicians in hopes of spurring DOE action.

This blog wrote about Ben Sherman back in 2011 when he was principal at East West International High School and he forced out two successive chapter leaders and a former delegate.

We concluded back then that Sherman is a union buster. In the New York City Department of Education, a principal is rewarded by being sent to a larger, prestigious school like Forest Hills after getting rid of union activists.

Now that Sherman is front page news in the NY Post, let's see how much support the DOE gives him.

Will they reign him in?

Will they remove him after 90% of the staff votes no confidence in him?

This is what the DOE's Doug Cohen told the Post in a statement:

“Principal Sherman has been an effective leader for Forest Hills High School, and the superintendent is continuing to support the school. We take these complaints seriously and will continue to ensure a supportive environment for all students and staff.”

Maybe under Chancellor Richard Carranza the "My Principals, Right or Wrong" philosophy will change at the DOE. We shall see.

It will be interesting to note how the staff feels tomorrow upon returning to work. I'm betting the staff morale will be a little higher after the vaction at Forest Hills compared to before the break.

FOREST HILLS HS UNITY CHAPTER LEADER ADAM BERGSTEIN QUOTED EXTENSIVELY IN QUEENS CHRONICLE ARTICLE ON NO CONFIDENCE VOTE

I was pleasantly surprised to see a strong article in the Queens Chronicle where Unity Chapter Leader Adam Bergstein has many strong quotes critical of Forest Hills Principal Ben Sherman and Superintendent Juan Mendez.

It has been many years since I have seen a chapter leader from Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus speak this forcefully against a principal. The staff voted 195-21 no confidence in Principal Sherman last week.

From the Chronicle:

Adam Bergstein, United Federation of Teachers chapter president of Forest Hills High School, said he heard from many different people in the school.

“The concerns were brought to me from every different constituency in the building and I mean, administration ... teachers were fed up and overwhelmed and disgusted, the aides in the building, students,” he said.

Bergstein added, “Ninety percent of the staff feel as though the principal is incapable of managing Forest Hills High School and, or maintaining the building at the level it’s been at for decades.”

A history teacher is also quoted who adds to what the Chapter Leader says:

“There’s pot almost every day,” a history teacher said. “And usually it’s the students smoking in the bathrooms or the stairwells. He doesn’t have a policy anymore for getting kids to class and not being late like the previous principal did.”

One teacher said Sherman indicated marijuana is legal in many states and would soon be in New York.I think he’s just incapable of making decisions from representatives within the building,” Bergstein said. “I think because he’s had a small building for over a decade and he doesn’t know how to run or operate a large high school, he’s just a fish out of water and he lacks that skill set and ability.”

Back to Adam:

Bergstein said there were complaints during the 2017-18 school year but the hopes that things would improve this year quickly disappeared.

“We were hoping that the principal would take suggestions, advice, recommendations from unions, from deans, from administration and implement some of these changes to alleviate the concerns and we picked up in September where we left off last school year and things just deteriorated from bad to worse,” he said.

And even more:

Bergstein said the no confidence vote was a result of safety concerns, noting there wouldn’t be a vote just because teachers and administrators don’t like Sherman’s style or philosophy.

“He’s a graduate of the Leadership Academy and those people are just some of the most horrendous principals to walk the Earth,” Bergstein said.

He added that he believes Sherman would be helped by taking the advice of others into account.

“He makes unilateral decisions,” Bergstein said. “Instead of taking into account what people have been doing in the building or recommend doing in the building for years, he just goes ahead with what I guess he deems his gut or what he believes will work. And he is clearly incapable of handling that kind of situation.”

Saul Gootnick retired as principal in December 2016 and Anthony Cromer served as acting principal until Sherman was brought in a few months later.

Bergstein believes Sherman was the pick of Queens High Schools Superintendent Juan Mendez.

“I honestly believe it was with the intent to shake things up and disrupt the school environment for some reason,” Bergstein said.

He added, “It’s sad that the DOE seems to have gone out of their way to disrupt a high school with a sterling reputation.”

Great work Adam and History Teacher.

Here is my question after reading this piece:

Why isn't it in the UFT's NY Teacher?

WEST VIRGINIA TEACHERS END STRIKE

West Virginia teachers went back to work today, ending a two day strike over a state bill that would have started charter schools in that state as well as creating educational savings accounts (government money to attend private schools). That same bill would have also given the teachers a 5% raise just as they achieved by going on strike last year.

Teachers in West Virgina stood on principle by walking off the job rather than accepting a decent raise in exchange for provisions that were totally unacceptable. We can learn something here in New York. Salary isn't everything.

From WVAMetroNews.com:

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The statewide education strike will end after two days following the House of Delegates opting not to act Wednesday on the omnibus legislation that angered teachers unions.

Leaders of the state’s three leading education unions and legislators announced the decision to end the strike after the House adjourned for the day.

The House moved Tuesday to indefinitely postpone action on the omnibus education bill, which included a 5-percent pay raise in addition to provisions establishing education savings accounts and charter schools.

“This is about the members who made the most difficult decision that you can make, and that’s to step out of the classroom. But they did it for their kids,” said Dale Lee, president of the West Virginia Education Association. “They said they weren’t interested in the pay raise if it was going to hurt their kids.”

These teachers in West Virginia aren't exactly rich and they went on strike rather than accept charter schools and educational savings accounts. They are returning to work without another dime in their pockets.

I gather that by the end of the legislative session those 5% raises for the teachers will be passed into law but there won't be any educational savings accounts or other provisions teachers won't be able to live with. Militancy works.

I  often hear that teachers in New York City make too much money to think about militancy. That is an important point but I believe working conditions that are abominable in many NYC schools (high class size, unsafe schools, administrative harassment and intimidation, students being pushed along who cannot do acceptable work, an invalid, unreliable evaluation system and more) give teachers here ample reason to be angry and want to do something collectively.
.
When teachers fight, we are winning all over the place. By the way, public employees cannot legally strike in West Virginia.

FOREST HILLS HIGH SCHOOL STAFF OVERWHELMINGLY VOTES NO CONFIDENCE IN PRINCIPAL BEN SHERMAN (Updated with Chapter Leader Comment)

This is part of an email that came to me tonight from a UFT member at Forest Hills High School in Queens.

The faculty voted 195-21 that Ben Sherman is the wrong individual to lead our school.  A No Confidence vote was held Thursday and over 90% of faculty rejected his leadership.


90% no confidence vote against Principal Ben Sherman under 2019 working conditions is pretty impressive.

I have one unanswered question:

What has the leadership of the UFT, which has known about problems the staff at Forest Hills has had with Principal Sherman since at least last school year, done to reign him in?

UPDATE: Forest Hills HS Chapter Leader defends UFT response.

Adam C Bergstein said...

Listen, I know everybody wants to point fingers and accuse & blame the UFT for not being proactive. However, the UFT has totally backed and supported this vote of no confidence since I brought it to them. Also, the union is bringing all of this information and the vote results to the DOE. There are already meetings in place for next week. So I know it’s easy just to say that the union doesn’t do anything for its members but they are fighting for the staff. However, there’s a process and they just can’t barnstorm the DOE with pitchforks and tell them that the principal is inept and incompetent. And yes, I know a lot of staff members want to the union to be more aggressive, But we are in the midst of a bureaucratic process. This is a formal vote that now gets presented to politicians and the Department of Education. The doe will always circle the wagons and protect their own, no matter how bad or inept these individuals that run schools are. At this point we need to go through the process, however, frustrating that might be for members.

Adam C Bergstein
Chapter Chair
Forest Hills HS

WHERE IS THE UFT TO STOP PREDATORY PRINCIPALS?

Here's the latest from Sue Edelman in the NY Post on yet another awful NYC principal. This won't be in the UFT's NY Teacher you can bet.

A Brooklyn federal jury has awarded $523,000 to a public-school teacher who charged that her principal took revenge when she rebuffed his sexual demands — and that the city Department of Education turned a blind eye.

The hefty verdict for special-ed teacher Shaunte Penniston includes $98,000 in back pay, $275,000 for pain and suffering, and $150,000 in punitive damages against principal Antonio K’tori and the DOE.

“I was vindicated,” said Penniston, who cried in relief at the jury award. “I got to tell my story to eight strangers who believed me.”

Her ordeal shows how the DOE — which last year tallied 186 sex-harassment complaints — has swept some cases under the rug.

Rather than investigate her complaint, the DOE let K’tori retaliate and District 29 Superintendent Lenon Murray — himself later convicted of forcible touching — terminate Penniston on bogus charges of poor performance, she alleged.

“The DOE allows predators to remain in schools,” Penniston said. “He was given a platform to do this.”

I don't know what else to add other than to say when something similar happened in the 1990s at Jamaica (nobody was fired for rebuffing the principal but they certainly had their lives made miserable), the UFT was at least somewhat on it. When a DOE Superintendent who is now a NYS Regent tried to reassign the principal to another school in the early Joel Klein era, we helped to publicize it almost immediately so the DOE had to rescind their decision.

MAYOR'S PRELIMINARY 2020 BUDGET SHOWS CITY STILL IN DECENT FINANCIAL SHAPE

I'm no financial expert but I have been reading Mayor Bill de Blasio's February 2019 Financial Plan today and my conclusion is the city still has plenty of money even if the city is making dire warnings about the future. We have been hearing the financial sky is falling for years but the money is still there.

From the press release on the Mayor's Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Summary, we see what the city is holding in reserves:

• $1.25 billion each year of the financial plan 

— General Reserve: $1.0 billion 

— Capital Stabilization Reserve: $250 million

• This reserve was created by this Administration

• Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund: $4.5 billion

One does not have to be a math genius to add $1.25 billion and $4.5 billion to come up with a total of $5.75 billion in city reserves. Nobody wants to call that a surplus but that's what it is in reality.

Headlines talk about income taxes coming in short of projections this year.
From the NY Times:

Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the city projects that it will receive $935 million less in income tax revenue than the previous year — echoing an even larger shortfall in New York State’s budget.

What about overall city tax collections?

From the detailed Financial Plan on page 5:

Tax Forecast Summary New York City is expected to collect $60.7 billion in tax revenue in fiscal year 2019. This represents growth of 2.7 percent over the previous year. Property taxes are forecast to increase 6.3 percent, while non-property taxes are forecast to increase 0.6 percent. Economic growth is expected to continue into the year 2020 as tax revenue is expected to grow 3.7 percent, resulting in a total revenue of $62.9 billion. Property tax revenue in 2020 is forecast to increase 6.0 percent while non-property tax increases 2.0 percent.

Not bad.

Let's now take a look at NYC wage increases for workers cited in the Mayor's Financial Plan.

This data is from page 14:

Due to increased competition for workers, compensation has been improving. Average hourly earnings, grew at solid rates of 3.1 percent in 2018 and 3.6 percent in 2017 — the strongest two consecutive years on record in data going back to 2008.

Aren't you glad you have a union that just negotiated raises of 2% for this year for its members?

No guts, no glory. I understand that in Los Angeles and Denver where teachers recently went on strike they make less than NYC teachers and don't have the Taylor Law to deal with but they are making real gains by striking.

Here in NYC, any kind of threat of possibly thinking about showing some militancy is unheard of.

AROUND THE BLOGS WE GO

From time to time we go around town to see what some of the local city education blogs have published. Not much earth shattering to report but there is news.

Over at South Bronx School, Peter Zucker is covering Brooklyn physical education teacher Brett Belsky who was fired because he played Fortnite online with two students. SBS said that if Belsky was a principal, it would be different.

If only the gym teacher were a principal. If herwas then he could be incompetent, a sexual harasser, insert his tallywhacker into copy machines, put relatives on payroll, steal, commit perjury, force people to attend their own church, recruit teachers for bible study in the library, and do whatever and not lose their jobs. Better, nine times out of ten they get removed to a cushy desk job at Tweed.

Where did Belsky go to have his case exposed in public? The NY Teacher, right? That's the official publication of the United Federation of Teachers so isn't it logical that the NY Teacher would publicize this wrong done to one of its members? No, the piece SBS is citing is from the NY Post.

We agree with the conclusion from South Bronx School:

The arbitrator, in this case was arbitrary and capricious. Brett Belsky deserves a fair hearing and his job back.

Next up if anyone wants to see an in depth piece on conditions in the high schools in New York City, go to Chaz's School Daze. Chaz prints a lengthy piece from former NYC high school teacher Mary Hudson describing in detail her experiences in three New York City High Schools in the 2000's. Hudson started pre Joel Klein and made it through most of the Klein years. We can see the deterioration in the schools and the lack of respect for teachers growing as she moves to three schools. Her theory on the cause of the problem I don't really buy but it's a very realistic portrayal of three high schools in this city.

This part from Ms. Hudson's story from Washington Irving High School stands out for me:

Once, on two consecutive days, enormous Snapple dispensers on a mezzanine were pushed to the floor below. Vending machines had to be removed for the students’ safety. On another occasion, two chairs were chucked out of the building, injuring a woman below. Bad press and silly excuses ensued. Another time, word spread that a gang of girls was going to beat up a Mexican girl. There was a huge crush of students who preferred to skip the next class to go see the brawl. The hallway was packed, there was pushing and shoving, causing a stampede. I was caught in it and fell to the ground; kids stepped over me elbowing each other in the crush of bodies. Eventually, a student helped me to my feet. Badly shaken, I was taken to the nurse’s office. My blood pressure was dangerously high; I was encouraged to see a doctor, but declined. My husband came and brought me home.

Shortly thereafter, the teachers union (United Federation of Teachers, or UFT) fought the Department of Education, which had recently loosened the already lax disciplinary rulings. They organized a press conference and asked me to speak at it about the worsening security situation. The principal refused me permission to leave even though my supportive assistant principal found a fellow language teacher to take over my classes. As soon as school was out, though, a union rep implored me to rush downtown with him as the press conference was still going on. Questioned by reporters in front of the cameras, I spoke about the stampede. There was a brief segment on the local evening news.  The principal was furious, and the next morning screamed at me in the lobby that I was a publicity seeker who just wanted to give the school a bad name. However, the UFT was successful in this case, as the former, less inadequate disciplinary measures were restored, and things went back to their usual level of simmering chaos.

Although it was clear that my generally robust mental state was deteriorating, I did not want to quit. The UFT encouraged me to go into counseling; I didn’t see the point but acquiesced and agreed to see one of their social workers for therapy. Her stance seemed to be, “What is a nice girl like you doing in a place like that?” I started to write about the situation to people in authority. The UFT president Randi Weingarten and the DoE head Joel Klein were among the recipients of my letters detailing the problems we faced. I visited my local city councilman, who listened politely. I did not receive a single response.

No reply is no surprise in fact it has only gotten worse since the early Klein years in my opinion when teachers reach out for help. (see any piece on the giveback laden 2005 contract for more information)

For those who want the depressing details on the upcoming UFT election, they are chronicled by Norm Scott over at Ed Notes. Considering stories like Mary Hudson's are most assuredly not unique, working in many New York City public schools is extremely difficult with teachers getting treated poorly by students and administrators and having really no place to turn to for help. Under these conditions, it would be logical to guess that many people would come together to challenge the leadership of the UFT in this spring's election. The truth is there are challengers but no real challenge of any kind. There are three caucuses running in the election against Mulgrew-Unity. They are Solidarity, New Action and MORE. Unfortunately, all are running limited slates so there will be a more bogus UFT election than usual. Even in the high schools, the high school opposition vote will be split so there is virtually no chance of any opposition group winning. Only Lydia Howrilka's Solidarity caucus tried to unite the opposition. I am backing Lydia for president but the election is not something I am looking forward to. Lydia has asked me to run with her but I  think the limited opposition slates are a huge disappointment.

For those interested in the day-to-day nuts and bolts at the UFT, NYC Educator has a report from the February Delegate Assembly. It seems President Michael Mulgrew has made the startling discovery that plenty of money earmarked for education doesn't actually get to the classrooms. 

From the summary of Mulgrew's Report:

NY put more money than any state into schools. Do you see it? Where does it go? Lawyers, consultants, management, executives… becoming more of a problem.

It's becoming more of a problem? Where has the President been?  If there were a  Rip van Winkle award for union presidents, Mulgrew just might win. I'm glad he woke up and realized there is a problem with education funding not finding its way into the schools and the classrooms.

Please note that there were no motions to the agenda and only "mom and apple pie" resolutions that all carried unanimously at the DA. It is hard to fathom a UFT democracy that is even deader than it was in previous years but that's where we appear to be today. There are two possible explanations:

1-NYC teachers have decent pay with good benefits so teachers and other UFT members are basically content with the UFT meaning there is no need to dissent or complain about much of anything with the union.

OR

2-People working in the schools have in large part given up on using the union to improve working conditions.

RETIRING CITY LABOR COMMISSONER BOB LINN LEAVES UNDEFEATED AGAINST UFT IN BARGAINING

Bob Linn is retiring as the city's Labor Commissioner. He is three for three for the city in wins over the UFT in collective bargaining as the city's chief negotiator working for both Mayor Ed Koch and Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Chief Leader has a lengthy feature on the retiring Commissioner. It is very revealing.

The focus here is going to be on Linn's dealing with the UFT, first for Koch in 1985 and then under de Blasio in 2014.

From The Chief article:

Thirty-four years ago, five months after his bitter disagreement with Mr. Gotbaum (DC 37) over a minor contract detail that he concedes could’ve been resolved without the agita, Mr. Linn cemented his credentials as a smart, resourceful tactician in a bigger battle with the UFT.

For much of the previous decade, the union had allowed the starting salary for Teachers to lag, focusing its contract gains on members higher up on the pay scale while sometimes agreeing to freeze the rate for new instructors. When then-UFT President Al Shanker was accused of structuring his deals to secure the voting support of his senior members, union officials would respond that, whatever political edge he derived from this posture, it also made practical sense given the years of the fiscal crisis and its aftermath in which no new Teachers were being hired.

Teacher Shortage Resulted

Whatever his motivation, by 1985 the city was having serious problems in recruiting and retaining quality Teachers. By early spring, Mr. Shanker withdrew from a civilian bargaining coalition that included DC 37 and Teamsters Local 237 and declared his intention to pursue arbitration if the Koch administration did not do something significant to address the Teacher shortage.

Mr. Linn reacted by swiftly reaching terms first with DC 37 and then with Local 237 that established a pattern he could use in arbitration, rather than risk allowing the UFT to go before a third party and focus the discussions on how far behind his members’ salaries were those paid in neighboring suburbs. While the UFT typically opted for a nonbinding form of arbitration known as fact-finding, in this case it chose a process known as Last Offer Binding Arbitration, under which each side submits demands and a panel chooses between them, without the latitude to split the difference.

Mr. Shanker insisted problems attracting and retaining Teachers touched every step of the pay scale, and therefore hikes significantly exceeding the DC 37 pattern providing 16 percent in raises over three years were warranted. Mr. Linn countered that while a big raise in starting salary was justified and so was doing something extra for Teachers with at least 15 years’ service, those in between should be limited to the DC 37 raises to preserve bargaining stability.

The three arbitrators chose the city’s last offer, boosting starting pay more than 37 percent, from $14,527 to $20,000, within a year and giving those with at least 15 years on the job significantly more longevity pay, along with raises slightly exceeding `17 percent. All other Teachers, however, were limited to the pattern raises, with the arbitrators stating that “we are persuaded that the relationship or linkage between the major municipal unions is an important factor which cannot be ignored or minimized.”

You only had to note the sour look on Mr. Shanker’s face at a UFT press conference following the award, and the absence of Sandy Feldman, who was about to succeed him as the union’s president, to know the New York Times got it wrong in declaring the award to be a victory for the union. It was a high-stakes triumph for Mr. Linn, who afterward touted the virtues of that kind of arbitration, while Ms. Feldman and the labor lawyer who helped prepare the union case, future UFT President Randi Weingarten, never again tried LOBA.

2014 Deal More Satisfying

Yet Mr. Linn expressed greater satisfaction with the deal he reached with the UFT in the spring of 2014 in which, again, major media outlets misread it as a bonanza for the union when in fact its most significant aspect was the return to the bargaining stability that Mr. Bloomberg had disrupted. (One other link to the 1985 UFT contract was that Marty Scheinman, one of the arbitrators who decided against the UFT’s demands, played a key role as a mediator in narrowing the differences between Mr. Linn and UFT President Mike Mulgrew.)

“There are a number of things I’m really proud of,” Mr. Linn said, sitting in his Rector St. office winding down his work as he prepared to turn over the job to his First Deputy, Renee Campion. “The first is, all of the unsettled contracts and health-care [provisions] that had not been modified in any serious way” being worked out barely four months after Mr. de Blasio took office five years ago. “We did it for the most part in contracts that were ratified by large majorities and were generally regarded as responsible settlements in the public’s interest.”

The back-pay obligation, which Mr. de Blasio’s opponent in the mayoral election, Joe Lhota, a former First Deputy for Mayor Rudy Giuliani, had predicted could total $10 billion if the UFT got the two 4-percent raises Mr. Bloomberg previously agreed to with nearly 60 percent of his workforce, was finessed without putting real pressure on the city’s finances. The key was Mr. Mulgrew’s willingness, while also accepting raises totaling just 10 percent over the final seven years of a record nine-year contract, to stretch out the back-pay disbursement beyond the contract’s duration.

Traditionally, the first employee paychecks after a contract is ratified are used to implement whichever raises have already taken effect, and the second check is when the back pay shows up. Mr. Mulgrew agreed to defer a large amount of the money—which for senior UFT members approached $55,000 apiece—so that the final 75 percent would be paid in three equal chunks in October 2018, 2019 and 2020.

 Let us repeat the main line on 2014:

The key was Mr. Mulgrew’s willingness, while also accepting raises totaling just 10 percent over the final seven years of a record nine-year contract, to stretch out the back-pay disbursement beyond the contract’s duration.

Double defeat for UFT members. A very low salary increase and the payments for retro that we were owed stretched out way beyond the contract's duration. For how little this is costing the city, we go back to this estimate from the Independent Budget Office that ICEblog printed in 2017.

While IBO does not have an exact cost for how large these retroactive lump sums will be, because they are directly linked to the number of union members who will be employed on the days the payments are scheduled to be made, we can estimate the maximum cost of these lump sums based upon the total PS costs for pedagogical employees in 2009-2011.  Based upon the total PS costs from those years we estimate that the entire lump sum payment would be a maximum of $560 million if every member were to remain employed by the DOE through 10/1/20. 

 This total would translate to a maximum of $70 million paid out in 2017 and $140 million paid out in 2018 – 2020.  These funds, if not already accounted for in DOE’s financial plan, would increase the city-funds portion of DOE’s budget by less than one percent in 2017 and around one percent in each subsequent year.   

 IBO has not made any estimates about what the final cost of this portion of UFT’s collective bargaining agreement would be although we assume, as a result of attrition and other separations, that it will somewhat less than the $560 million.   

 While I can’t say for certain, and I am looking into it further, I do believe that these costs are included in DOE’s financial plan.  As you surmised there likely is no breakdown of PS funding which would allow you to see the budget for regular salary segregated from these lump sums.  

The 2019 contract with its less than stellar raises adds to Linn's winning streak against the UFT. Linn truly saved the taxpayers money that should have gone to us.

When it comes to contract negotiations, I think we can say for sure it was: 

City Bob Linn 3 

UFT Shanker- Feldman-Weingarten 0.

Enjoy that enormous 2% you are getting as the new contract takes effect.

WORKERS ATTEMPTING TO TAKE OVER CABLE TV BUSINESS IN NYC

We have been following the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 3 strike against Charter Spectrum for almost two years now. The company is attempting to decertify the union and some workers have been forced back to work under not so wonderful terms.

There is a National Labor Relations Board Election taking place this month. Obviously, we urge a yes vote to stay with Local 3.

Here is a part of the letter that was sent to workers from the NYC CableTruth blog.

My favorite part:

Local 3 continues to fight to maintain health benefits for all its members as well as security in retirement. Ask yourself this very simple question - If the union is gone and Charter decreases my wages, benefits, treats me unfairly and disciplines or terminates me - am I better off without a union?

Something all working people should think about.

The answer from some of the workers is to say yes to union and then have the workers take over the company here in NYC. Go to unplug spectrum and support a takeover of NYC cable and internet by workers. Public owned cable and internet is a fascinating idea. I signed and urge you to do the same.

https://www.coworker.org/petitions/new-york-cable-system-worker-cooperative

MEET LYDIA HOWRILKA THIS AFTERNOON IN QUEENS (Updated with photos of the day and evening with family)

For those not convinced by my Wednesday endorsement (not ICEUFT as a caucus) of Lydia Howrilka for UFT President, come meet her yourself. I'll be there as will my wife.

Meet the Candidates Happy Hour: Queens

· Hosted by UFT Solidarity

Lydia Howrilka invited you

Today at 4 PM –

Maggie Mae's Bar 41-15 Queens Boulevard, New York, New York 11104 Join UFT Solidarity in our fourth borough happy hour to build community, build a stronger union, and get some amazing individuals on the ballot in March 2019! Bring a few colleagues and a pen! UPDATE SATURDAY: My wife, a friend and I were all there yesterday signing petitions and showing Lydia support. Not the greatest light in bar but I am in the middle, Lydia is to my left and Camille is in back of me. On Friday night after meeting Lydia and friends, Camille, our son Matthew, our daughter Kara along with her friend Gurleen all went to the PS 191 Winter Wonderland Festival. A fun evening capping a  busy day. Gurleen and Kara Matthew with his prize Norm is probably going to complain that I am making the blog too personal for his tastes but I am showing the pictures at PS191 to make a point that there are plenty of positive activities going on in NYC public schools. Maybe that's just an excuse, I'm really showing off the kids but also their school.

LYDIA A (SOLIDARITY) FOR UFT PRESIDENT

UFT election season is here. I originally planned on sitting this one out as I was very disappointed that the groups in opposition to Unity Caucus (Michael Mulgrew's political party) could not get our acts together and we were divided for this election. However, there is one candidate for UFT President who has tried to unite all of us and stands head and shoulders above the others and that is Lydia Howrilka from the Solidarity caucus.

Lydia is the only one running for UFT President who has tried to work with the various opposition groups. She has met with members of each opposition caucus and is willing to work with anyone who wants to build a stronger union. She doesn't have a political litmus test about who she will work with.

Lydia is a successful fighter. Look at her own story. Today she is a high school teacher but she had to battle to regain her teaching position. From the Solidarity site:

In 2012, Lydia was hired to teach at a high school in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. Like most teachers, Lydia dedicated countless hours before and after school working to provide an equitable and culturally relevant education for her students. It was only when Lydia asked her principal for a mentor and resources for her classroom that she began to be the victim of workplace bullying and gas lighting. The UFT did little to protect her from a vindictive administrator sending her to the rubber room in June 2013.

Because she was untenured, Lydia was discontinued from probationary service and blocked from accepting another teaching position because of a false OSI investigation. She only discovered the trumped-up charges that led to her reassignment through the use of the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) months later. Lydia successfully sued the NYC Department of Education in New York State Court via an Article 78 and through the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB).

Lydia is not afraid to stand up for herself nor is she reluctant to fight for other UFT members as she is one of the co-founders of Don't Tread on Educators and UFT Solidarity Caucus. Unlike current President Mulgrew, Lydia won't be too weak to take on the Department of Education or the city. She won't think of herself as a co-manager of the school system like Mulgrew has become. Let's just call him Deputy Chancellor in charge of the teachers.

Take a look at the platform that Lydia and Solidarity are running on if you are wondering what life will be like if their long-shot bid for power is successful. Solidarity planks include having campaigns for lower class sizes, removing test scores and the Danielson Framework from teacher evaluations, bringing back teacher autonomy in the classroom, and much more including making the UFT a more democratic union that actually does involve its members.

Another opposition caucus calls itself the Movement of Rank and File Educators. They will be running a slate in the 2019 election. I ran with MORE in 2013 and 2016. MORE talks about member involvement and making the UFT more democratic. Unfortunately for MORE, the caucus in the last year has not practiced what it preaches. An organization that calls itself a rank and file group must provide rudimentary due process and MORE badly fails the due process test.

MORE suspends people from their steering committee and caucus without ever giving them a chance to defend themselves. They practice totalitarian style steering committee show trials where people are convicted without ever being allowed to confront their accusers at a trial. The caucus does not respect basic rights. MORE Steering suspends members without even first interviewing or charging them.

MORE in their bylaws say they use Robert's Rules of Order. Here is what Robert's Rules says about disciplining members on page 656:

"A member or officer has the right that allegations against his good name shall not be made except by charges brought on reasonable ground. If thus accused, he has the right to due process--that is, to be informed of the charge and given time to prepare his defense, to appear and defend himself and to be fairly treated." Is it due process if someone gets an email saying they have already been sentenced before they have even had a trial? This is no way to run a caucus, let alone a union.

MORE voted against working with any other opposition group in 2019. It appears they are more interested in pushing their political views than in changing the UFT. It is impossible to defend MORE's indefensible lack of fairness. While I can still work with members of MORE on individual issues like opposing the contract, it is very difficult to support their candidates for union office under these circumstances. I don't want my union to be run like this caucus.

The oldest opposition caucus, New Action, is also running in 2019. NAC will not work with Lydia or Solidarity for reasons they will not disclose. NAC would only align themselves with MORE but MORE turned them down. Like MORE, it seems as though NAC wants to push a political agenda and exclude people who don't share their political philosophy.

Lydia/Solidarity is the only caucus that is not interested in member politics. Solidarity reflects the politics of UFT members: left, center, right and probably apolitical too. Solidarity members have come to ICEUFT meetings and are willing to work with all groups who oppose Mulgrew/Unity. That is called being inclusive.

The last group that is running is Mulgrew/Unity Caucus. Unity controls the Union and has for over half a century. They control a giant patronage machine so they have every advantage in the election. However, Mulgrew pushed through yet another inferior contract in 2018 that includes paltry raises and few, if any, improvements to working conditions. Teachers in many schools in NYC and other UFT members are treated terribly by our employer. When members object to their working conditions, it is like climbing a mountain to get Unity to help. Lydia Howrilka does not practice this kind of unionism. She has no problem calling out Administrators in Need of Improvement. She is a real fighter and not someone who just pretends.

The ICE-UFT blog endorses Lydia Howrilka for UFT President. I am speaking only for myself here and not ICE-UFT caucus. As a first step, I urge people to sign Lydia's nominating petitions as my wife, a couple of friends and I will be doing at her Queens event on Friday. Here is an electronic petition.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION RATE "UP" IN NYC

Teachers who work in New York City high schools are amused and simultaneously disturbed when NYC graduation rates are released to great fanfare.

We know the rates are bogus as in too many schools some, not all, of the diplomas are not worth the paper they are printed on. While a large number of the students are good kids who have earned a high school diploma, unfortunately, however, as the pressure to increase the graduation rates has reigned down on teachers, many students pass who do not deserve to.

On the same day as we received the graduation rate news, this email came in from a NYC high school teacher.

I just wanted you to know about the latest ridiculous trend that I've seen the last year as an ATR.  In my current school, kids are only allowed to get the following grades: 55, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 91-100.  The principal has declared that grades must be rounded up to the next grade increment.  The lowest grade you can give a student is a 55.  (I even specifically asked her if a student averaged a 55.01 does that mean they get a 65?  She said yes.)  There are 3 marking periods and if a student hypothetically received a 55, 55, 65 then that student must receive a 65 as a final grade for the marking period since the average is above a 55 and that grade gets rounded up to the next cutoff mark.  What's even worse is that if a student doesn't show for 2 out of 3 of the marking periods, and gets a 65 in just the sole marking period he/she attends, that student has 1 grade to average in so he/she gets a 65 also.  Teachers that don't abide by this are told to resubmit their grades and explain why they deviated from the grading policy to the principal.

I worked in a different school last year that was mastery-based that was even more brash about it.  You were only allowed to give 4 grades to students- 1, 2, 3, 4.  You give a 1 if a student writes their name on their paper.  A 1 correlates to a 60% which means no mastery.  A 2 is a 74.  If a student is able to write a single cohesive statement related to your subject on an assessment, we were required to give that student a 2.  Over the course of a marking period, that meant that a student would just have to get a 2 once on an assessment to guarantee a passing grade under the exams portion of their grade.  (If they were able to be respectful and stay seated in the class, they would get a decent grade for the other categories and therefore easily pass the class).

Sue Edelman in the NY Post dug deep into the numbers this weekend and discovered problems such as falling scores on Math and English Regents Exams, low ELL graduation rates and more.

CUNY Professor David Bloomfield is quoted:

 “The lack of transparency and outright duplicity on levels of student achievement has led to a crisis of public confidence in graduation data,” said Brooklyn College and CUNY Grad Center education professor David Bloomfield.

Chaz is on the story for Queens High Schools. His metric comparing the graduation rate to the college readiness rate gives a generally accurate measure of the problem. 

Does anyone here have any graduation stories?