Just Say No

Then, if it gets that far, vote no as well.

The New York Times reports that PERB's fact-finding panel recommended an 11%increase for NYC teachers over a three year period. In return for that, teachers would work an extra 10 minutes a day, and certain seniority transfer rules would be curtailed.

The ten minutes would be added to the twenty they snookered us into taking on the last contract, and we'd do"small group instruction" daily for thirty minutes. It doesn't take any wild stretch of imagination to envision another 10 minutes in the next contract, and a sixth class for high school teachers. In fact, the thirty minute "small group instruction" already sounds like one.

In case that's not enough, Bloomberg gets 3 days extra for "development", and 12 unpaid coverages from high school teachers, along with the right to send you to do "administrative duties." It is pure crap, produced by cynics who neither give a damn who teaches NYC's children, nor value those who do.

Bear in mind, this increase is still not a raise. It's a terrible deal, and a worse precedent.

The extra 10 minutes is about 2.5% of the day. The extra 3 days is another 1.5%. If you subtract that, as you should, it comes to 7% over three years. Then, subtract all of Bloomberg's additional goodies, like your sixth "small group" class, your 10 extra free coverages, and your curtailed rights,and you're left with even less than he gave the idiots at DC37.

Remember, if you work at Burger King, you get paid 10% more if your hours increase 10%. So it's not a raise.

Here's one teacher's response to PERB, left on this blog as a comment:

God help me, I'm going to polish up the old resume now. I just started my 5th year and if this is how they're going to treat teachers in NYC, I may as well make the move to the suburbs now. It's a shame too. I really like the kids I teach in my high school. I like working with an urban population in particular. But I refuse to be treated like a schmuck on wheels, which is how Bloomberg and the PERB panel is treating the teachers of NYC.