Toby, Music Therapy, and Break Assignments

In college, I took a course in music therapy. I've always been interested in music, and if we could use it to help people, so much the better. I never really followed up on it. I'm now more keen on therapy dogs, which I think I first heard about in a NYSESLAT exam (before the NYSESLAT exam devolved into an exercise on Common Coriness). I believe in therapy dogs, because my dog Toby wants to say hello to absolutely everyone when we're walking. Sometimes people pet him for a while, turn to me and say, "Thanks. I needed that."

One of the very first assignments I got in Music Therapy 101 was to write instructions on how to use a kazoo. I found that to be an absurd assignment. I failed to see how teaching someone something so obvious would be therapeutic. Perhaps there was something I was missing. Perhaps there still is. My friend wrote something like, "Place it in your mouth and hum." That pretty much nailed it. I don't like to copy, though. I wasn't sure how to differentiate my work from that of my friend, and I didn't see a better approach. I'm a big fan of simplicity.

Since simplicity was off the table, I decided to go in another direction. I wrote a five-page paper on one of those old-fashioned things they called typewriters, in the form of a Q and A. I don't recall everything I wrote, but I remember this:

Q: Can I use my kazoo as a weapon?

A: Kazoos are made for only peaceful purposes, and should never be used to do intentional harm. However, it's certainly justifiable to pull out your kazoo if it's a matter of self-defense.

The teacher was not amused. She handed it back to me and wrote, "This is all very interesting, but please go back and do the "real" assignment."

I remember being offended by the quotation marks around the word real. Did that mean it was just so-called real? What was real and not real to this teacher? I spent a lot of real time doing real work to complete a real assignment. Of course I found the assignment ridiculous, and I don't suppose the teacher liked that. I dropped the course rather than pursue whatever it was she deemed real.

Years later, my daughter was in high school reading The Catcher in the Rye. I remember when I was in high school. I read it and wondered what the big deal was. I did not find the book shocking, I read an awful lot of books back then. Some were really eye-opening. I remember a whole lot of books that contained a whole lot of material that was way beyond Holden and his teenage angst.

I read the book again, along with my daughter, and found it to be worse than I recalled. Holden was a detestable little person with whom I did not wish to spend one extra moment. I did not care at all what happened to him. I don't recall whether it made such a negative impression on my daughter, but her teacher gave a spring break assignment that pissed off both of us.

She had to make some kind of display with artifacts. I remember running around with her to 99-cent stores to pick up crap to make the display. She also had a menu of other crap to do, one option of which was to write a blog in Holden's voice. I did that for her. It came easily to me. Unless the goal of this assignment was to make us hate the book even more, I saw no value whatsoever to it. However, it had the added advantage of ruining our week off.

I never give assignments for breaks. I figure a break should be just that. I know some of my colleagues disagree, and I'm absolutely sure there are assignments that are not crap. But I don't feel bad about cutting my kid's time spent on crap. I figure it's one of my jobs, as a parent and a teacher, to reduce the amount of time spent on crap in any way I can.

Now you could argue that I was being dishonest helping her. I'd argue that one of our jobs as teachers is to identify stuff that is not crap and get our students involved with it. Hopefully, then, we'll be raising a generation that will both take and dole out less crap than we did.

The Janus People Are Really Saying "Give Yourself a Handicap"

They'll use the words give yourself a raise, but that's far from what they want for you. They want you to cut your legs out from under yourself so you're at their mercy. If you buy their line, you are not well-enough informed to teach children. By hobbling yourself, you place their future at risk as well.

Teachers are underpaid in 39 states, and we aren't one of them, being among the highest paid teachers in the country. With all the nonsense we endure, we're in a better place than many or most of our brothers and sisters all over America. There are powerful forces that want to move us backward.

Janus didn't happen because workers were being abused by greedy union leaders. It happened because right-wing ideologues don't wish to have the uber-wealthy inconvenienced by having public funds pay decent salaries or provide reasonable benefits to working people. Janus himself was rewarded with a ticket to the gravy train, working for the thugs who used his name to hobble public service unions.

Imperfect though union is, it's a bulwark against those that would have us begging for scraps. There has been a systemic degradation of the teaching profession, for years now, in the United States. Whenever more money is required for tax breaks for those who least need them, teachers are an easy target in most of the country.

The ongoing red state teacher rebellion is far from over, and a direct outgrowth of the right's contempt for working people. While it behooves us to support the efforts of our brother and sister teachers, we also need to make sure we don't fall as far back as they have. You'd think that couldn't happen in New York, but I was pretty shocked to see it happen in Wisconsin. If Donald Trump can be President of the United States, just about anything is possible. 

People are going to come to your door and say give yourself a raise. Don't pay union dues. They'll make it appear noble. Save your money and buy school supplies for your students, they'll say. Before I even get into their true motivation, why the hell should you be buying school supplies for your students at all? That's a separate issue, but how are we going to fight it if we give in to the cynical demagogues who want you to give up your power for a bag of silver?

In places where union has been degraded in the way our opponents wish to see us, teachers need to choose between taking their children to the doctor and having their teeth fixed. They need to hold second and third jobs to make ends meet. Make no mistake, this is precisely what these people who come to your door have in mind for you.

This year we've won parental leave, a less odious evaluation system, and some better ways to deal with complaints. We are on an upward spiral. Of course that can be reversed rather quickly if we weaken ourselves. I don't know what I'll say when the Janus people come to my door, but I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

No English for You!

The cynical, morally bankrupt thugs in NYSED face issues far differently than you or I might. For example, there's been a perennial shortage of ESL teachers as far back as I can recall. In fact, one of the reasons I'm an ESL teacher is that I could never get a job as an English teacher. Someone told me, "Go teach ESL," and though I didn't know what it was at the time, I grew to love it.

There are few things more satisfying than observing the rapid progress of beginners, or noticing that your students are suddenly fluent in the language. I remember one girl who struggled for two years and then caught it. I said, "You see? I told you you could do it." She said, "Yeah. I was surprised." Another milestone is the first time a student reads a book in English. "You forced me to do that, and I hated you for it. But now I'm glad you did it."

There's another thing you'll see if you teach beginners. You'll have kids thank you for teaching the one class that they can understand. Imagine what torture it is to go through five or six that they don't understand.

Of course that's changed now. How do you deal with a teacher shortage? In some states, you just lower the standards and hire anybody. Sure, that's a terrible approach, but it keeps bodies in the teacher chairs. In NY State, they've got a different approach. They take a regulation called CR Part 154, and rig it so you barely require direct English instruction at all. Then, they take the test that ostensibly measures English ability and make the standard so low that my dog could pass. Finally, when everyone advances, they say, "You see that? Our plan worked."

I'm fortunate enough to be in a building in which the principal thinks learning English is important for newcomers. Our principal, in fact, thinks it's so important that he holds classes of multiple levels in which students are explicitly taught English. This, of course, is old school. Official NY State policy is that direct English instruction exists only to support advancement in core courses. Who cares if you can introduce yourself, ask where the bathroom is, order a pizza, or make friends? As long as you can pass a bunch of rigged tests, that's good enough for the geniuses up in Albany.

So all over the state, only rank beginners are required to have only one period of direct English instruction per day. Once they advance, via that NYSESLAT exam that my dog can pass (and granted, he's a smart dog), you plant an ESL teacher in a classroom twice a week and you meet the standard. According to NY State, the kids are being served. What exactly is that teacher supposed to do? Who knows?

One thing the teacher is likely not supposed to do is plan. I know that because co-planning is a serious endeavor. If you're with more than one co-teacher, it becomes nigh impossible. I know teachers with eight co-teachers. The only time they can possibly see them is in the classroom.

I had a hole in my program this semester, so I'm co-teaching in a special education English class. There are two former ELLs in the room, and that's who I'm there for. In my judgment, the issues these kids have (or don't) are not related to their knowledge of English. But hey, the regulations say I'm supposed to be there, and my boss says so too, so I'm there.

The teacher with whom I work has another section of the same class directly after this one. I would not presume to tell him how to plan. Also, if I'm walking around I will help any kid, not just the two to whom I'm assigned. For me, this is not a bad assignment. My co-teacher, like me, was assigned to teach the English Regents exam. He's given it some serious consideration, so I steal and use almost all his handouts. My class complains that another teacher's name is on the paper, but I don't care.

I'm okay with this, even though I'm absolutely certain my presence in that room is far from necessary. If I had to do this five times a day, though, and had no classes of my own, I'd be pretty upset. I know teachers who do this five times a day. One of the groovy things about Part 154 is that you don't need to even be there all week. Instead of one teacher pushing in each day, you could push in two days here, two there, and one somewhere else. Now here's the beauty part--In that third class, you're there once a week, and then some other teacher is there once a week. Even though there's no continuity, Part 154 says this is good enough. And for principals, teachers who used to teach one class are now teaching 2.5 classes.

Now imagine you do this five times a day. ESL teachers who used to plan and cover five classes are now covering 12.5 classes. They have no input whatsoever in these classes and cannot possibly plan anything. A big bonus is that you can now fire over half of your ESL staff and save big time. It's a WIN-WIN!!!

Unless, of course, you actually care whether your students get support. NYSED and the NY State Regents don't give a crap one way or the other. They sit in fancy offices and go to gala luncheons while ELLs sit through incomprehensible classes. And hey, because the English Regents exam doesn't entail real writing or real reading, they can pass that and graduate.

God help them when they get into college, because no one else will. Our total failure to teach them English means they'll be bounced to some community college, where they'll pay thousands of dollars to take zero credit remedial English courses, and lose a year or more of their young lives. I know what these courses are, because I've taught them at Queens College and Nassau Community College. I taught these classes for twenty years.

And guess what? I can teach these same skills in high school. I would, too, except NY State says I can't. Instead, I'm test-prepping for the NY State Regents exam, without which my kids will not graduate.

The Pass

This is my pass. I don't actually love letting students have it. I'm protective of it. The pattern is this--the same students ask for it all the time, and that leads me to believe they just feel like walking the halls. Sometimes I feel like walking the halls too, but I usually wait until the class is over.

I have one student in my class who's a little talkative. That in itself isn't really an issue, except she's a little talkative fairly frequently. By that I mean she never stops talking, not for one moment, and is constantly seeking my attention. With 30 other students, I'm unable to provide it all the time.

Now sometimes, with students like this, it's good to keep them occupied. Give them something to do in the classroom, and perhaps they'll stop talking for one minute. Then you'll be able to give attention to one or more of your thirty other students. So the other day I asked her to pass out some papers. That would make for a few quiet minutes.

She didn't want to do it. She said her leg hurt. I got someone else to pass out the papers. A minute later, my loquacious student needed to go get some water.

"What about your leg?" I asked.

"It's better now," she said.

"I don't think you should go," I told her. "I want to make sure your leg doesn't get hurt again."

What followed was ten minutes of shouted requests to leave the room for water, occasionally punctuated by responses in the negative. Actually I tried pretty hard to ignore it, but it was quite difficult.

Later someone else asked to use the pass. It was nowhere to be found. I knew where I had left it--it was right on my desk, directly in front of my dissatisfied student. I had to write a pass for the student who really had to go.

Later, my talkative student's friend ratted her out. She had the pass under her sweater. So I asked her if she had taken it.

"Did you see me take it?" she asked.

I had not. But I did call her dad and tell him what happened that day, and how hard it was to teach the class with this constant monologue.

The next day I moved my talkative student away from my desk. I moved about five other students too, just to make it look like I wasn't doing what I was actually doing. My talkative student was pretty quiet. I paid way less attention to her than I usually do. We had this unspoken detente, based on my obvious suspicion and total inability to prove anything. I was still upset about the missing pass.

Yesterday I paid a little more attention to her. She turned into her usual noisy self. I kind of turned into myself too, and vainly tried to curb her enthusiasm, as per usual. Then she presented me with a field trip form.  I saw an opportunity.

"I'll tell you what. If you're quiet for three days, I'll sign the form."

"But I need it TODAY!"

"Sorry. Those are my terms."

"Okay, fine," she said. "I don't care."

We went on with the class. The next time I looked in my bag, the pass had mysteriously returned.

Who knows what lurks in the hearts of noisy students?

Not me, that's for sure.

UFT Executive Board April 8. 2019--Tragedy in SI and Adult Ed. Speaks

6 PM—Secretary Howard Schoor calls us to order.

Speaker—Roberta Pikser—Reads a letter from working group of Adult Education. Rosemarie Mills removed as supe—but DOE simply moved her. Oversees Adult Ed. about which she knows nothing. Testing issues still abound. ESL students get math packets, but not instruction in English.

Paperwork increasing. Mills appointees answer to her and harassment continues. Constant observations and U ratings. Newer teacher feel unprotected, afraid to push back. Our licenses and benefits and knowledge in danger. Some places have few tenured teachers, almost no full time day positions. Teachers work 12-13 hour days.

CL falsely accused, brought up on 3020a charges, reassigned. Attack not on her, but on our chapter, likely at behest of Mills. Want union to stop harassment, file grievance for large number of experienced teacher getting bad ratings, not permitted to sub. Asks union to defend jobs and use of adult ed. as part time program. Wants vigorous defense of CL.

Agitating for six years. Things change but remain the same. We need answers.

Minutes—approved

Staff Director’s Report—LeRoy Barr—Much activity last two weeks—Functional weekend last week, and Herstory event. CL training last weekend. Friday Academic HS Awards. Middle of election season, please get out the vote, remind people not to let ballots sit. Due April 16, count April 17. Next EB April 29.

President’s Report—Michael Mulgrew—Horrendous tragedy in SI. Two schools involved. Difficult situation. We will do something and say something on violence against women. This is horrendous and senseless. EB should make a statement. Thanks to SI people dealing with very difficult situation.

Albany—Budget done. Two more days right now. APPR bill needs to be signed by Wednesday or Thursday. NJ is closing schools due to budget cuts. Federal tax package has not been good. CT, NY and others trending down in terms of revenue.

Billion dollar increase sounds like a lot, but into next year it doesn’t look good. Pushing bill, you will get electronic communication for patient protection act. We need to be allowed to question bill. Hospitals are billing at ridiculous rates. Hundreds of dollars for band aid, Bill will stop this practice. 2012 law said insurance companies could appeal charges. Hospitals not covered fighting this bill. Our goal is to fix problem right now. Hospital CEOs are doing just fine.

Increase in online consultation reporting, want everyone using it. Need notes. I use it to put my agenda together. Last month we fixed LODI issue because of notes. Make sure that members vote, no matter who you support.

Questions—

Arthur Goldstein—It’s testing season again. I’m personally involved with two tests. The first is the NYSESLAT. I’m not sure what this test is designed to measure, but what it does, more and more, is place ELLs way too high. I’ve seen many students who’ve tested out of ESL who are incapable of doing sustained reading, and who simply cannot write comprehensibly in English.

This leads me to the other test I’m involved with, which is the English Regents exam. I have students who cannot write comprehensibly who got grades in the 80s on the English Regents. That’s because the writing part of the test does not really involved writing, but rather copying, pasting, and marginally explaining. As for the reading portion, my students who don’t bother to read and simply search for answers do better than those who waste their time with, you know, reading.

It’s good that we now have options not to include these awful tests in teacher ratings, and that’s a step forward. Still, why are we allowing the state to rate our students with such terrible tests? I’m just a lowly teacher, and I can write tests better than the overpaid geniuses in Albany. I don’t know. I’d be surprised if anyone could write them worse.

David Coleman famously said no one gives a crap what you think or feel and that led to these abysmal exams. Therefore writing, according to New York State, has absolutely nothing to do with writer voice. Reading, according to New York State, is answering twenty multiple choice questions, for which you need not even read a single entire passage. We have a whole lot of students who can pass a test but who can’t write a college statement to save their lives.

NYSUT is all over Facebook on this, and NYSUT EVP Jolene diBrango is making some very sharp observations on Twitter.  A lot of teachers, would like to see t largest local in the country standing for reasonable student evaluations, more teacher autonomy, or preferably both. What can we do to help our brothers and sisters in NYSUT achieve this?

Schoor—Evelyn not here. We’re part of NYSUT. We are over a third of NYSUT. Will ask Evelyn to give report next time.

Mike Schirtzer—Asks for moment of silence for Jeanine Cammarata.

Schoor—Coming later.

Schirtzer—Asked about investigation process. Update on whether students need parental approval.

Schoor—We don’t control that. We send members or lawyers to rep members. We are involved in this process.

Reports from Districts—Sean  ?—Appreciates comments on Jeanine Cammarata. She was murdered. Husband arrested. Used dogs to ID body. Manner in which they found her, was identified by dental records. Was a good soul, good person, was at PS 18 and 29. Have had support from borough office dealing with this tragedy. Was a vigil, with pastors, all dressed in purple for domestic violence awareness. Asks for moment of silence, also for passed CL Denise Budd.

Rich Mantel—March 30 6th annual middle school conference, 250 people, Shakespeare theme. 5K Saturday May 11. Most walk don’t run. Free t-shirt. Proceeds to UFT disaster relief fund.

Sterling Roberson—Saturday had a tech for all event. Introducing parents, students, veterans to tech and careers in tech. Was a fair manned by corporate executives. Different tech orgs, higher ed and others. Served breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many benefits and prizes for those who stayed. Thanks Nick Cruz, para liaison in Bronx. Was a child care center. Thanks Bronx office. Thanks central UFT for 20 page program. Very successful event. 400 plus people. Thanks to all.

Janella Hinds—March 31 second annual Herstory event. Attendees received pampering services from students, manicures, makeups and more. Ellen Procida, Carmen Alvarez, Ray Frankel honored, Members shared stories. Phenomenal time. Thanks all members of committee and everyone who joined.

Mary McCarol—District 26 March Against the Madness. People rated principals positive or negative. Schools that rarely get involved had selfies with buttons. At end of April will take another look at brackets and post on social media.

Camille Eady—Last Monday, Brooklyn UFT, career day. Thanks Liz Perez, Sterling Roberson. Various workshops.

Eliu Lara—Bronx HS district event, superintendent, principals, teachers, parents, This year Carranza coming as keynote. Asks for donations to help kids, to donate laptops and supplies.

George Altamari—Please come to social studies conference this Saturday the 13th. Has CTLE credits if you need them. Great program. Over 20 courses. Hope someone in this room comes. Program starts at 8 AM. Main speaker Mario Celento, Pres. NY AFL-CIO.

Mike Schirtzer—This body in April 17 and DA passed reso on voter registration. DOE taking up initiative. This week is voter registration week. But it was in principal’s weekly. Unless principal nominates someone in charge, nothing will happen. In our school they will register all students. City paying per session. In our school students will say why they registered. We’re giving cupcakes. Wish city partnered with UFT. I will suggest that.

Schoor—Union does many things, depth and breadth unbelievable. Great to hear what everyone does. Thanks members.

Resolution in support of 2019 May Day.

Mary Jo Genice—Asks for support for 2019 May Day. We are proud to be Americans, but can trace heritage to other countries. Our labor movement stands on back of those who came before us. Dates to 1886 in Chicago.

Passes

We are adjourned 6:40.

Better Stop Talking and Find that Hypotenuse

I'm kind of in a bind. My students need to pass the NY State English Regents exam or they won't graduate from high school. While I hate test prep, especially if the test is total crap, I can't see having them all walk in blind with no idea what to expect.

How do you break up the tedium of the common core crap with which they're banging our students over the head? The prime task on this exam is pulling quotes out of articles presented by the test-prep experts in Albany. They will assign you a topic like The History of Cement. You will then get four articles that will explore cement all the way from ancient Babylonian times up to the present.

I collected a bunch of articles on whether or not teachers should carry guns. I figured that was a topic of possible interest to my students, and that it would therefore never, ever appear on the test. I found a few articles on the topic and distributed one each day. Eighteen of my students thought it was a bad idea, five favored it, and eight didn't want to go through the excruciating process of raising their hands and committing one way or the other.

We got some pretty good discussion happening, but fewer than half of my students volunteered. Making non-volunteers talk was pretty rough. Either they had nothing to say, or didn't really feel like being dragged into anything. Two of my brightest kids came out in favor of teachers carrying guns, and really surprised me.

I surprised some of my students too, by asking them, "Would you want me to have a gun?" Some said no, which was kind of what I was hoping for. Many said nothing, which was not what I was hoping for at all.

On parent teacher night last week, one of my students sat with me during a lull. I asked her why she didn't talk that day. The day before she had some really good comments.

"I thought you'd be mad at me," she said.

"Why would you think that?"

"It sounds like you really want to carry a gun. Everyone thinks so."

That's so odd. I absolutely do not want to carry a gun, and I don't want any teacher to carry a gun. I think it's an idiotic idea, borne in the fevered minds of corrupt politicians who want more money from the NRA. I must be very good at doing the whole devil's advocate thing, My students seem to believe I'm actively advocating for Satan and his NRA terrorist group.

I told the girl my real opinion, and that I just say things to try and provoke responses. I wonder if I'm bending over backward to be fair to the opposing opinion.

I'm pretty happy we got a few days of discussing the issue, and maybe that my students have considered it. I'm a little horrified that I made kids think I want guns in the classroom, or that I want to carry one myself. I'm gonna have to find a new approach next time.

The Halls Smell Fabuloso

That's what a Spanish teacher said to me yesterday.  The custodians had done an unanticipated hall cleaning and none of us knew what to make of it.

When was the last time that happened?

"The halls have never smelled fabuloso before," she said.

We had parent-teacher conferences last night. We moved them from March, via SBO, so we'd at least have one marking period behind us before meetings. I didn't think it mattered that much, since most of us have the same students, but it didn't seem like a bad thing either, until I realized what a long day it was gonna be. Of course I had a short day a month ago, but no one thinks about that stuff.

Now you might think she was saying the halls smell wonderful. Maybe they did, but it's all in the nose of the beholder. Actually, Fabuloso is kind of a Colombian Pine-Sol. (One of my colleagues says they sell it here at Costco, but I've never noticed it before.) It was really this odd chemical smell, but it gave you the feeling the halls were clean. I've been working in this building for 26 years and this may be the first time I've noticed this.

There must be some Very Important Parents coming, I figured.

In an office I saw people working furiously on the school computers.

"Don't you know that school is over, you aren't being paid, and absolutely no one in the universe appreciates the extra work you're doing?" I asked.

"How do you know we're not buying shoes?" one teacher replied. I couldn't argue with that.

Then the talk turned to PD. "I'm taking this online course for 3 CTLE credits," one teacher said.

"Wow, I didn't know you had one of those licenses that needed CTLE.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Everyone needs CTLE credit except really old teachers."

The teacher next to her took exception.

"Hey, I don't need to take CTLE credit."

"Really?"

"Yeah I graduated in 2003. We were the last class that didn't need to do that stuff."

I was glad that teacher took on this conversation rather than me. I felt kind of Methuselah for a moment before she spoke up.

Last night I had a crisis in my electronic grade book. I was talking to a parent about a student I thought was failing, and it turned out he was doing pretty well. Then I noticed that several tests the student had taken were not counted. It turned out when I changed the category from "exams" to "exams and projects" two of my three exams just disappeared from student averages.

I had to run all over the building to find someone who knew how to fix that. I sure didn't. I was lucky enough to get help, but alas, my student wasn't lucky enough to escape those two tests.

After that, for a while the internet seemed to stand still. Another of my students had to rely on my memory for why he got the grade he did. A few minutes later, the internet came back and I was able to establish that my memory, in fact, was not all that bad for a really old teacher.

I'll tell you, though--that particular moment was a pretty fair argument for paper record books.

Walcott, the YMCA, and School Lunch

My friend teaches with me, and her family goes to a nearby YMCA. They like to swim there. One thing that a lot of us have in common is Francis Lewis branded shirts. For some reason one of our former principals gave us a few, and our current principal gave us one too. The social studies department has these department-branded blacek fleece things with zippers. All of us are jealous, because our departments never gave us that stuff.

Anyway my friend's husband and son were at the YMCA swimming. My friend's son is very dedicated, and lasted a lot longer than her husband. When her husband came out, he was wearing a Francis Lewis International Festival t-shirt. He saw some guy who looked very familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on where he'd seen him before.

Then the guy approached him. He asked him if he'd gone to Francis Lewis High School. He said no, he hadn't but his son did. Then he remembered.

"Hey, aren't you the chancellor?"

"Well I used to be."

Then Walcott said he loved Francis Lewis High School. He had gone there, and his daughter had gone there. When he became chancellor, it was the first school he visited. He said it was a great place. Everyone welcomed him there. The staff was wonderful.

"I know," my friend's husband said. "My wife has worked there for many, many years."

I don't know about many, many years. That makes it sound like she'd been working here since dinosaurs roamed the earth. But he didn't remember how long she'd been working here. I'm gonna hazard a guess and say fifteen years. I could be wrong, but that's more accurate than "many, many."

Then my friend's son came out and spoke with Walcott.

"How do you like the school?" Walcott asked.

"I like the school. All my friends are there."

"And what about the teachers?"

"I like the teachers."

Then Walcott asked him, "Is there anything you don't like?"

He thought for a minute. His mom had been sick for the last few days. Usually, she packed him lunch, but she was a little tired lately, so she'd just been giving him money to buy his own.

"I don't like the school lunch," he said.

It's ironic, because one of the only things Bloomberg did that was worthwhile was upgrading the school lunch a little. He substituted whole wheat bread for white bread. I even went to a PEP meeting where Joel Klein and company spent a great deal of time boasting about how they'd spent millions of dollars buying canned ravioli with whole wheat pasta wrappers.

School lunch is still that. School lunch. It's a lunch no one would pay for if they weren't at school. Whole grains are better for us than processed grains, but it's still crap. It's just healthier crap. Now, when the kids dump the lunch in the trash, they're dumping a better quality lunch.

Excelsior. Onward and upward.

Blogger's Day Off...

...but you can read my piece on Forest Hills High School. in El Diario.

The Paul Egan Story (or Lack Thereof)

I don't know Paul Egan terribly well. I really met him in 2016, when Norm Scott, Jonathan Halabi and I were at the AFT Convention in Minneapolis. We were out for lunch and ran into him in a restaurant. He sat at our table and was very kind to us, which surprised me. At that time I was not accustomed to Unity members being overly friendly to us. That's not to say we were overly friendly to them either.

I've been seeing him fairly frequently over the last three years, mostly at Executive Board meetings. Sometimes I would talk politics with him. I do recall his saying they wanted to get on board with Hillary very early. She seemed like a sure thing, but we all know how that turned out. During the build up toward the Constitutional Convention vote I had him to my school to do a COPE drive.

He also seemed to read my Executive Board notes, especially when I began actually writing down all the things he said about the Chelsea football team. He asked me if I wanted him to just email me his comments beforehand. Sure, I said. Actually, I write my own comments beforehand because I can't take notes while I'm talking. Anything to make it a little easier when frantically taking notes is a net plus as far as I'm concerned.

I was pretty surprised when he failed to show to a meeting last month and no one mentioned why. I was even more surprised to hear rumors that he'd been let go, with no clue as to why. Then the Daily News story showed up. I was a little upset with it, and I won't link to it. Here's why:

First of all, it referred to him as "burly." Paul has not been burly for years. It used a photo of him that must've been at least five years old. And then, of course, it went into the embarrassing story about ordering quail in a restaurant and complaining about it. So here's a story written by people who certainly know that Paul lost all that weight, yet make it appear that he hadn't.

I've lost some weight too. A year ago last August, my doctor told me I was pre-diabetic. That was a bridge I decided I didn't want to cross. That day, I gave up sugar. I gave up beer. I gave up white rice, white pasta, white bread, and white potatoes. I don't reach for the snacks people leave lying around my department office anymore. I lost a little over 35 pounds in a year, and I stopped taking blood pressure pills I needed when I was overweight.

Still, I wasn't overweight like Paul was. I wasn't "burly."  I don't know how he did it, but I know it must've been very hard. I know because it was very hard for me, and he had a far longer way to go. But I remember him telling me he'd competed in an ironman triathalon, something I wouldn't even consider doing. That was one long and disciplined journey. The DN writers acted as though it never happened, and doubled down on every tidbit of negativity they could muster.

The quail thing was outrageous, but it seemed to have inspired Paul to change. That's my best guess. Not everyone could do what he did. It seems to have caused him to take stock and make over his life for the better. Did he make himself perfect? Probably not. I don't know anyone who has.

Was Paul actually sexting? I don't know. Was it the same source that provided the obviously inaccurate photograph? If they knowingly lied about his weight and appearance, what else did they lie about? I know something must've happened, because he didn't part ways with UFT just for laughs. But I don't know what it was. Something about some relationship with a lawyer., it says. Some people have reservations about lawyers, but there's no law against dating them, at least as far as I know. (Full disclosure--I am not a lawyer.) So maybe he had a relationship with a lawyer. Or maybe not. All I really know is there's much I don't know.

There are those old charges against him from the DOE. I spent one year as LAB/ BESIS coordinator in my school. When I was missing information I'd have to make phone calls. I was shocked at the abject viciousness of DOE officials who didn't give a damn about students and instead went directly to threatening me over mistakes I may or may not have even made. I hear ridiculous deliberate lies from DOE legal on a regular basis. In general, I don't trust DOE bureaucrats any farther than I can throw them. 

This story, of course, is a reason to damn the UFT in the eyes of some people. That's likely why it made the front page, and why it's presented as more important than whatever atrocity Donald Trump committed on that particular day. Even though we parted ways with him we are guilty of his sins, whatever they may be. It makes me sad to see these things happen. I don't believe the story, because it quite obviously contains outright lies. Maybe we will find out he did something awful. If we do, I'll say that was an awful thing he did. Maybe I'll say it's a good thing UFT wouldn't put up with that awful thing. I don't know.

But until and unless I hear something like that, it's just a sad story. I saw one comment saying there was a cover-up. A cover-up of what? I know people who've lost their jobs. I'm a blogger, day to day desperate for a story, but the most you'll ever see me write about them here is never. I know people in trouble. Sometimes they should be. Sometimes they shouldn't. I represent all of them to the best of my ability regardless. You will never read about them here. Is that a cover-up? Am I depriving my readers because I don't share every tidbit of human misery I come across?

This is a story about one person, who did something. I don't know what he did. I don't know why, exactly, it's even my business to know. Maybe I'll learn otherwise. Here's one thing I do know--judging every UFT member, or even every UFT employee by the actions of one person (particularly when we don't know what the person did) is crafting an outrageous stereotype, the same stereotype demagogues like Joel Klein and Campbell Brown use when they trash working teachers in the press.

That's the only reason it made the front page. The press can do better than that, and so can we.

Musical Chairs

Suspension is once again getting a lot of attention. We shouldn't do it, they say. Students who get suspended are less likely to graduate, they say.I have no doubt whatsoever that students who get suspended are less likely to graduate. I'm not at all persuaded, though, that suspension is what causes this, More likely, students who, say, get into fights all the time are not as focused on schoolwork as those who don't.

I always remember a student who walked into a class I was teaching. He didn't belong there. I told him he would have to leave. He offered to blow my head off with a 45. I didn't take it well. I found out his name and reported him. When I asked what the consequence was, a dean told me they had called his parents. I thought that was pretty weak. The dean told me the kid was brain damaged. I told the dean any kid who talks like that doesn't belong in the same building with my students. Surely he got a good, stern talking-to for threatening my life in front of my class.

Another thing we do when students have problems is move them. In fact I know a student who was moved to our school. She had a very serious issue at her last school, so they sent her to us. It doesn't really matter what the issue is, so I won't address it. But guess what? When they moved her here, the issue seems to have followed her.

I know a guy who brought his family here from South America. They had issues over there. There was trouble finding work. So he came here and told me he was moving to Canada, where they knew people. They stayed there for a while, but he wasn't happy there either. So he came back here. Then he had other issues. Eventually the rest of his family went back to Canada without him and left him here. They had finally identified what the problem was. It was him, not the country. He wasn't happy anywhere.

Actually, I sensed something like that from the moment I met that guy. And I sensed something amiss with this student too. It turned out that the same problem that plagued her at the other school plagued her here. So what did they do? They moved her class. That didn't work either. She still has the problem.

I understand some things are tough to deal with. I have a lot of things on my plate I'd rather not deal with. But sometimes you have to face the situation. In New York City, there are things we just don't deal with. Overcrowding? I worked my ass off to stave off overcrowding in the most overcrowded school in the city. We made a little progress, and then the city just started loading us up again. We're going to get an annex in a few years, but there's no guarantee the city won't do the same thing, though they've agreed not to.

Class sizes? Screw you all, says the mayor, who now puts simplistic commercials on TV, touting mayoral control, which he now calls mayoral accountability. That's nonsense. This mayor has done a few things, but he's ignored a whole lot more, including an entire Bloomberg culture at the DOE. He's better than Bloomberg, but he's nowhere near what those of us who enthusiastically supported him hoped for.

The process of shipping kids from one school to another, from one class to another, from one situation to another without remotely addressing their needs is nothing new. This notwithstanding, it's an awful and pointless process. It's doing something simply to say something was done. It helps no one.

Every teacher in New York City knows this. It's amazing how few supposed leaders bother to even discuss it with us, let alone ask what we think.

Why I'm Voting for Unity Caucus, and Why You Should Too

For the last three years I've been on the UFT Executive Board. We worked very hard to win these seats, and I've been focused on trying to make things better for UFT members. We had a small group that worked together pretty well for the most part.

One thing we always knew was that to get anything done we needed to work with Unity. Unity is the overwhelming majority in the room, and without their votes, absolutely everything is DOA. That's not going to change, and a big reason for that is the state of the opposition. What exactly is that?

We have one caucus that wants nothing to do with any others. We have one caucus with which no other will associate. We have another, the one for which I have the most affinity, that finds itself dominated by retirees. There are good individuals in all these groups, but union is not about individuals. It's about our group, the United Federation of Teachers.

We have individuals who deem it's their life's work to oppose anything the UFT accomplishes, be it good, bad or otherwise. Though I really hope not, that may have been me at one time. I have always hated being characterized as someone who is reflexively contrary. It's not a good look, and certainly not who I am now. 

We have made important steps forward over the last year, and I'm proud to have played some small part in that. Getting parental leave was wonderful, and members in my school were jubilant hearing about it. I watched Emily James speak, I saw Michael Mulgrew promise to win it, and shortly thereafter I saw it happen.

I wish parental leave had been around when I needed it, but I'm glad to see my colleagues availing themselves of it, which they've now done multiple times. Like everything created by humans, it is not perfect, and it could be better. But most of the arguments against it are desperate and/ or idiotic. (Some are downright offensive, like the notion that I didn't have it, so you shouldn't either.)

We won fewer observations. This is significant for a whole lot of us. Having the observations hang over your head all the time is daunting, even if only 1% end up rated ineffective. Fixing it for 85% of tenured teachers is a quality of life improvement for many of the teachers with whom I speak, even the ones who aspire to be administrators. Of course many of the same people who loudly demanded it opposed the contract that won it, but that's how it goes

And then there is that contract. This contract contained no givebacks. You could argue that having first year city employees use HIP is a giveback, but they are getting full medical coverage, unlike a whole lot of Americans. If they last one year, they have access to other choices. This is not much of a hardship, and it beats the hell out of all of us paying premiums. Could they have negotiated something better? Perhaps. I wasn't there and I haven't got a time machine to fix it anyway.

This contract was pretty straightforward. We got the pattern, and we don't have to wait for it. Are we getting rich off of it? Certainly not. If that's your goal, you're in the wrong line of work. Also, if you've been following UFT history, there is one way to beat the pattern. The way to beat the pattern is via givebacks. I hate givebacks, and I'd argue we gave back so much in 2005 that we have nothing more to even offer.

Some of the same people who complain there isn't enough money in this contract also maintain it's unacceptable because we didn't get back what we lost in 2005. It's an odd contradiction. We want more money, but we don't want to give back anything. We also want to reverse all the things we got money for in 2005, but we don't want to accept less money. These positions are not productive in negotiation. Personally, I'd be happy to forgo raises to get back 2005 rights. I'd be happy to give back money to negotiate lower class sizes. I'm certain, though, that places me in a distinct minority.

There are those who say we can strike and win all of those things. Those people are wrong. I was just speaking to a teacher who told me he and his wife clear about a quarter million dollars a year. He was imagining their faces on the cover of a tabloid, along with their salaries. While NYC is expensive, we are not working three jobs to get by. We are not selling our blood to put food on the table, and we are not laying out tens of thousands annually for health insurance. There may be a time to strike, but now is not that time.

Then there is Unity. Anything I've been able to accomplish has been with Unity support. I've written at least three resolutions that were passed in some form or another. The first two were with the cooperation of UFT Academic HS VP Janella Hinds. Both times, I speedily wrote resolutions, sent them to her, and she sent them back much improved within fifteen minutes. I'm a little picky about writing, so it's no small thing for me to admit that. Janella is super smart, I'm honored to work with her, and I'm honored to be on the high school team with her.

I've also worked closely with Education VP Evelyn de Jesus. Evelyn will call me and say let's go to

picket in Long Island, let's go to the Puerto Rican Day parade and give free stuff to children, let's go to Albany and testify about Part 154, or let's go to the NYSABE meeting and talk to the Regents about the ELLs we serve. If she ever sleeps I don't know when. She will stay up all hours negotiating, not giving up until she's sure we get, for example, fewer observations. Evelyn is one of those people who you meet once and never forget. She is a force of nature. I pity the person in her way if she's intent on doing something.

The first person from Unity to reach out to me in a substantive way was Amy Arundell (who certainly doesn't want me writing about her, but it's too late now). Amy called me one morning out of the blue and demanded that I help an ATR teacher who was having trouble getting placed. I was impressed that she had no fear reaching out to a blogger (me) who was generally hostile to her caucus. I was able to help get this teacher placed, and I now work with this teacher (and several other former ATR teachers) every day. Amy's been my go-to for years now when teachers outside my school contact me for support. Sometimes she's been able to fix their problems, sometimes not, but she always tries.

If I can make one change in my career, I will push back on the cynical and hurful Part 154, the regulation that robs my students of much-needed instruction and threatens the jobs of my brother and sister ESL teachers. I've tried very hard to do this on my own. I've written about it on multiple forums, and I've even been on TV talking about it. If this is going to be fixed, it's going to be fixed with UFT cooperation. It's gonna be a long haul and it's gonna take more than teachers writing angry blogs.

Of course I've been that angry teacher-blogger. I'm still that, but I'm also chapter leader of a very large school. I see the value of working together for common goals. Opposition has been patently unable to do that, and that's precisely why there are three distinct opposition caucuses. It's hard, often impossible, for people to accomplish things on their own. Unity reached out to me and my brother Mike Schirtzer, saying they wanted to work with us. They didn't demand anything, and they specifically asked we continue to challenge them.

Who's going to affect change, in our union and out? That will be those of us who look at what's going on now and think of ways to make it better. That will be those of us willing to put aside petty squabbles and work toward common goals. That will be those of us who look to the future, who look at what our students and children need, who look at what we need, and work together to find ways to get there.

This is a new era for unionism. This is a time to battle for our future, for positive change. It makes absolute sense to work with people in a position to make that happen. On this astral plane, the people in that position are those in the Unity Caucus. I'm going to work with them to amplify teacher voice, to serve our students better, and help get what working Americans want and need.

So I'm running with Unity Caucus this year. I ask that you vote for not only me, not only Mike Schirtzer, but also for the people who are going to help us overcome all the nonsense that's going to be hurled against us in the wake of Janus. It's coming, and it will be a barrage of big money against us and all working people. That includes our students and children, because they'll soon be working people too.

We will fight them and we will win. Check the Unity Caucus box on your ballot and drop it in the mail right now.

The SAT and Me

I didn't really have strong feelings about this test one way or another until yesterday, when it took up almost all of my time. I was scheduled to proctor between 8 and 10. I went to the library, where they told me I'd be testing one student who needed to be read to. We went up to a room where envelopes were being distributed and stood around for a while. One by one, kids were matched to teachers, who walked away to do whatever it was they were going to do.

In the end, a bunch of colleagues and I were still standing there. We were sent down to a reserve room, where we sat around for two hours in case someone had to go to the bathroom. As far as I recall, the only person who did was me. Then we were released, and I focused on other things for a while. I don't recall what they were, because an hour or so later the complaints started coming in.

It turns out that, somehow, no one bothered relieving a whole lot of people who were on the 8-10 shift. People found me and said their friends were sitting for a whole lot of time beyond when they were supposed to be relieved. I ran around and couldn't find administrators who could help. I relieved several teachers myself, who said things like, "Do I need to come back?" I said no, you've already done more than you were supposed to.

Somehow I got relieved more quickly than my colleagues. I filed a grievance, but the very best that can do is prevent another fiasco next time, if there is a next time A real grievance process would allow you to go back in time and correct the issues before they happened. (I may bring that up at the next Executive Board meeting.)

You are, under the UFT Collective Bargaining Agreement, allowed to be programmed for up to three consecutive classes, or four consecutive activities. So you may, for example, have three classes and a tutoring period in a row. But you can't be given another assignment directly after that. I'm not sure whether proctoring is considered a class or not. You are, after all, in a classroom and supervising students. Regardless, you shouldn't have to do anything for over four hours without a break. (Surely DOE legal will disagree, and insist teachers should work 200 hours a day, but they get paid to spout baseless nonsense. In many ways, it certainly beats working for a living.)

Then there are these special needs kids, the ones who get time and a half and are read to. I was reading math problems to one. He asked me if I could explain them. That would be problematic, what with it being a test and everything. I told him the truth, which was that I didn't understand the questions either. The best I could do was read them. I was pretty happy I wasn't taking the test. I do recall that when I took the SAT, a million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, that I did much better on the English section than on the math.

I later met up with the teacher who I'd relieved.  She told me the student had been asking for food. Teenagers tend to get hungry at times. He asked her if she knew whether anyone was bringing anything. She told him she didn't know. I know, though, that no one did. She also told me that he finished one part before time, and well before time-and-a-half. When that happened, she and the student had to sit there like scarecrows waiting for the time she marked in the book. NO, you may NOT go ahead, even if you're the only student in the classroom.

I don't really know whether the student understood that part or not, because at some point in the math, he told me he was just guessing the answers and had no idea what they were. That was really disturbing to me. This young man has to sit here for six hours, hungry and miserable. He's taking a test he doesn't understand, and being made to sit for, I don't know, six hours of absolute tedium. To me, this seemed not only idiotic, but outright cruel.

Of course, I'm not one of the geniuses who designs this test. I'm also not one of the geniuses who decided every high school student in NY City should take it. I don't know this young man. He seemed perfectly lucid to me. Were I in his place, I'd likely have the same questions and frustrations he did. I certainly don't know math any better than he does. Nonetheless, I think it's worse somehow to deprive teenagers of food. I eat breakfast in the morning. Lots of teenagers find that uncool, even thought they surely need the calories more than I do.

I don't believe the SAT can magically determine who does and does not belong in college. I don't believe knowing or not knowing a bunch of mathematical terms demonstrates your college readiness or lack thereof. Regardless, I would never, ever put that kid through what he went through. Then I think about another few dozen kids who, likely as not, are doing the same. It's pretty terrible.

Thanks to Mayoral Accountability, every @NYCSchools junior will be able to take the SAT for free at their school tomorrow. No student should miss out on college due to the cost of an exam.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) March 27, 2019

That's nonsense. Plenty of municipalities with real school boards, as opposed to our fake one, manage to deliver the SAT to students. Maybe, if this mayor really wanted to change things, he could deliver tests to those who ought to take them. Maybe he could examine all the other crappy tests our kids are required to take and say, "Hey, what the hell is this all about?"

If Bill de Blasio really had mayoral control, he'd be able to tell Eva Moskowitz and her test-prep till you pee your pants to take a long walk of a short Hudson Pier. Instead, she's paying herself over half a million a year, courtesy of NYC taxpayers.

I don't want any student to miss out on college. But I don't want students wasting their time on excruciating, pointless activities either. Maybe that's why I'm a teacher instead of a politician.

Kamala Kash

Several of my colleagues have been asking me about Kamala Harris's plan to boost teacher pay by an average of $13,500.  I, for one, am delighted to see a candidate pandering to teachers, and I'd like to see this become a trend. One of the things that disappointed me most about Hillary 2016 was her lack of pandering. I was at the AFT convention that year and she blurted out something about how we could "learn from public charter schools." I wondered what a "public charter school" even was. I wondered what we could learn from them other than your stats go up when you take only kids you want and dump those you don't.

Now if you just sit around and think, "Wow, I'm gonna get an extra 13.5K if I vote for Kamala," well, she's won you over for sure. There are a few details the headlines leave out:

Under Harris’ plan, the federal government would provide 10% of the funding needed to close the pay gap for teachers and then incentivize states to increase teacher pay through a federal match. For every $1 a state invests in raising teacher pay, the federal government would invest $3 “until the teacher pay gap is entirely closed by the end of Harris’ first term.” Teachers in high-need schools that disproportionately serve students of color would receive more of a pay hike, an effort to improve teacher recruitment and retention.

Let's try and unpack that, and feel free to correct me if I'm misunderstanding. If the average teacher pay is 50K and your state only pays 45, Kamala's plan gives $500 to your state to give you a 5K raise. I'm supposing after that, the state would be responsible for 25% of whatever the pay was raised. So they pay a thousand dollars to get you the 5K raise. Would legislators in W. Virginia and Oklahoma go for that?

What about relatively highly-paid teachers in NY? Would we get anything whatsoever? Would it be determined that we are already sufficiently compensated? What if the government grant were to disappear? Would the state still be obligated to pay us the difference, or would it be in some special place in the contract, where if federal funds disappeared our salaries would go down?

For many years, whenever state aid would go up, Giuliani would reduce city aid by an equivalent amount. Could municipalities find ways to take Kamala Kash and lower their own contributions? I'm sure they'll be plotting ways to take that money and use it for something more important, like tax cuts for gazillionaires who need them not at all. 

Hopefully that won't happen. Nonetheless, here's something that really makes me nervous:

Radical idea: pay the professionals we entrust to teach, nurture and mentor our children a better salary! https://t.co/REj7KtOlfZ

— Arne Duncan (@arneduncan) March 23, 2019

My feeling is, if Arne Duncan supports it, there must be something wrong with it. Arne never talked like that when he was in a position to do something about it.  I mean, isn't he the guy who blackmailed states into using junk science and establishing charter schools? Isn't he the guy who said if you don't buy into this nonsense, you don't get federal funds for your cash-starved state? Could Kamala have reforminess on her mind? I actually have no evidence for any of this, guilt by association is a logical fallacy, and I have no idea whether or not Kamala even knows who Arne is.

But since he loves it so much, you gotta ask, will there be strings attached to Kamala Kash? If there are, she can keep the money. Teachers here and nationwide are stretched pretty much as far as we can go. Few hang in this job beyond the first few years, and no that isn't because it's an easy gig that just anyone can handle.

I've seen a lot of talk about how this is a setup for AFT to endorse her. I don't know if that's true. For one thing, I don't see her as a top candidate, though perhaps she's a strong contender for VP. I will say this, though--If there is some sort of setup, it's a significant improvement that the candidate is pandering to us. If that's the plan, I want more. I want to see them trying to out-pander one another and promise funding for lower class sizes, adequate school facilities, and hot, cold and vodka in the teacher rooms.

Because you know what? They all kind of suck on education. If Randi Weingarten is indeed hidden behind a bush somewhere manipulating candidates, I hope she's prepared to manipulate well more than one of them. There's room for improvement on all (except Cory Booker, who's actually Betsy DeVos with a tie).

UFT Executive Board March 25, 2019--Forest Hills in the House, and UFT Condemns Teacher Assault in Indiana

6 PM—Secretary Howard Schoor welcomes us.

Speaker

From Forest Hills High School

Adam Bergstein—chapter leader—Wants to say what’s happening—A month ago voted no confidence by 90% of 215 voters. That vote invigorated staff. Empowered and motivated them. Now is sense of urgency, driven by passion to fix and save FHHS. Staff used to be apathetic. Tyrannical principal fixed that. Over two years, staff because sick and tired of being sick and tired. Staff is now voice or reason and tenacity, reaches out to chancellor and superintendent. UFT helped on regular basis. Amy Arundell and Janella Hinds and LeRoy Barr helped foster this movement and empower us.

We have a sense of confidence, and desire to remove principal. Have removed superintendent. Great that staff is willing to put themselves out. The “don’t tell anyone” that chapter leaders hear so frequently is gone. Wanted to take school back and continue positive environment principal did not allow.

New superintendent working to get things back on track. Have added more deans. Trying to negotiate clubs and activities back. Superintendent is willing to work with staff, not obsessed with unilateral motives. We want Michael Mulgrew to come as celebration when principal is gone. We want school where it’s been for decades. We are still fighting, and we will be here on April 12 to celebrate. Thanks to union for help.

Minutes—approved

Moment of silence for Sheryl Moraldi

Staff Director—LeRoy Barr—Over 100 people for para luncheon Saturday. Great events. Middle school luncheon Saturday 9-3. Sunday Herstory brunch 10 AM. NY Social studies conference April 13. HS awards on April 12. Exec. board April 8.

Reports from Districts—Shelby Abrams—Thanks everyone for support Saturday. Was a carnival, did many things. Welfare fund showed up. Everyone greeted, felt at home, will return. Thanks everyone.

Schoor—Al Shanker insisted we support organization of paras, would have quit if we hadn’t.

David Kazansky—Thanks people for Purim costume party, will be Passover Labor Seder April 9.

Amy Arundell—Week ago Friday Queens HS bowling event 40 schools, 200 people, half high schools in Queens. Had tables for certification, supported teacher centers, saw schools new to participation. Great event. Maspeth HS won.

President’s Report—Michael Mulgrew—Thanks Shelvy for para event. Was a lot of fun. Schools, students, carnival booths, well done.

Thanks Adam from FH for coming. Key we strategize as other side lies and obfuscates. Thanks them for staying on path.

Headed into last week of budget, short on revenue. Next year’s can be much worse. Revenue trending down. SALT package is having an effect. Not easy for New Yorkers doing taxes. We were attacked, in complete alignment with governor here. Bad on us and 9 other states as we support forty others. At least now Congress is on our side.

APPR is pivotal, passed both houses, all matched, want to get through. But this is Albany, so we keep an eye on it.

Health care, hospitalization, constant challenge. Out of network hospitals charge whatever they like. NY State law says we can’t question it. We are not here to enrich hospitals as they double CEO bonuses. We want members to have binding arbitration process to question bills.

We are focused on teacher eval and funding for schools based on need.

City—We are arguing about student discipline. They are now having a real conversation with us. They want to suspend all suspensions, which we know won’t work. We cannot base policies only on children who act out.

City budget right after this. State budget ends Sunday or Monday, and then we go into City Council budget. We want to change culture of observations and eval. I will be harsher on Tweed, because they don’t help, thinks schools there to serve them when opposite is true. Important week for us.

New Director of Grievance—David Campbell
New Political Director—Cassie Pruh
New Attorney—Beth Norton

Thanks people who took new positions.

Questions

Jonathan Halabi—Update on BETA—Bronx Academy, and with new contract, and extra arbitration days, do we have initial priorities of how we use them?

David Campbell—Just bring them. Ideally we can schedule them faster. Ones that effect more people are priority. We have many more slots with class size agreement, so we can bring smaller ones, quicker.

Eliu Lara—Spent hour and a half at BETA. Majority of supplies done. Visited superintendent, says he will contact assistant, make sure this gets done.

Special order of business—

Modify student form to add veteran status

Don Nobles—I can tell you how difficult it is for a serviceperson to come back. Veterans don’t know what’s available to them. We just want a check off. Is parent a veteran? When it’s checked yes, it means parents get letters advising them of rights. Will be code so children get benefits if entitled. Almost no cost for this. Simply makes sense.

Evelyn de Jesus—Rises in support. Wants to support Don for work with veterans. UFT working for rights of veterans to get respect and help they need. I learned a lot today about veterans. Children can use parents’ GI Bill for college. Principal told us he had no idea how many kids had parents who were vets. Wants to protect legacies.

Kate Martin Bridge—As a family, my cousins were able to use GI Bill. Uncle died as result of disease incurred in war. Father served. Should allow for those of us who were affected to help.

Nobles—You want to help implement program?

Martin Bridge—Other people would like to help.

Schoor—Will vote on existing resolution and see if CSA will allow for and/ or other trained personnel.

Passes

Appropriate accountability measures for transfer schools

Pat Crespino—These schools take kids other schools want gone. Every one will be on state list if allowed. UFT will continue to work with NYSED to develop provisions that make sense. We have 11 transfer schools on state lists. Please support

J. Halabi—Rises in hesitant support—Should go much further. Worked in Columbus. Earlier versions were used, principal moved people from school to school, which resulted in high schools closing. Accountability measures hurt schools with students of color. Is weapon against us, not objective. When Brooklyn Tech got F, city refigured it. Shouldn’t be used against transfer schools. Should extend to other schools unfairly threatened.

Passes

Resolution to oppose weapons in school based safety drills

Whereas, Indiana teachers were assaulted with plastic pellets in something called an "active shooter drill,”  and;

Whereas, in actual assaults, teachers have saved student lives, and;

Whereas, in the course of doing so, some teachers have sacrificed their own lives, and;

Whereas, it’s of no benefit whatsoever to terrorize people in schools, be it therefore

Resolved, that the United Federation of Teachers categorically opposes the use of weapons of any sort against teachers, students, or anyone present in schools in drills or any school-sponsored activities.

Arthur Goldstein—As teachers, we tolerate a lot from children. It’s our job to help them learn so they’ll know better next time. We expect more from adults. In Indiana, a bunch of administrative geniuses decided to assault working teachers with plastic pellets, causing welts, bruises and cuts, not to mention the moment of terror wondering whether or not the weapons were actually lethal.. Twice a month we all hear about more crazy things from Bloomberg’s leftovers, who’ve infested our school system. Let’s tell them in advance how we feel about this, and let’s teach them it’s unconscionable and absolutely unacceptable. I urge you to pass this resolution.

Passes

We are adjourned

Can This Happen Here?

Some geniuses in Indiana thought it would be a cool idea, during an "active shooter drill," to actually shoot teachers. They decided to be sports about the whole thing and used non-lethal bullets. However, just because they didn't kill the teachers, don't assume they didn't injure them:

Teachers at an elementary school in Indiana were left with bruises, welts, and in some cases bloody and broken skin during an active shooter drill in January where they were shot multiple times with plastic pellets.

You don't believe this stuff until you see it, but once you do it makes sense. After all, in the United States, when there's a mass shooing in a school, you'd think we'd move to keep lethal weapons from criminals. You'd think wrong, of course. You can still get an AR-15 if you feel like shooting up a school. No, in America the conversation becomes about arming teachers.

This is in stark contrast to New Zealand and Australia, which reacted to atrocities by banning the weapons that caused them. So it's not a huge jump to imagine some troglodyte deciding to physically assault teachers to impose his idiotic philosophy upon them. There are a lot of crazy people around. A fair portion of them are educational administrators. Did the administrators in Indiana know this was going to happen? It appears so, because they seemed to be fine with it:

"They shot all of us across our backs," the teacher, who did not wish to be identified, told the newspaper. "It hurt so bad."
The school's Facebook page posted a photo on Jan. 4, thanking the White County Sheriff's Department for training its staff members. "Safety is priority at ML!" the post said.

Except they weren't exactly fine with it:

The teachers were instructed not to tell the others what had happened inside the room, and the sheriff's department did not warn any of the participants about what was going to happen, according to the ISTA.

So if safety is a priority, and the Sheriff's Department merits thanks, what's the big secret? Someone knew something was amiss. If the training was such a big success, and the sheriff's department merited thanks for their great work, why were the teachers asked to keep quiet? (Not to mention, why the hell are they physically injuring teachers if safety is a priority?)

So you tell yourself, here in liberal New York, these things can't happen. But then you read about what's going on in Forest Hills High School. You read about what happened at CPE1. You read about what happened at Townsend Harris.  You read about still-sitting principals getting away with whatever. The DOE seems to keep these people on payroll no matter what they do.

In fact, you look around and we have an entire legal department, instituted by Bloomberg, that exists only to tell principals they can do whatever the hell they please whether or not they violate our Collective Bargaining Agreement. You see that supposedly progressive Mayor de Blasio has not only failed to remove them, but has also chosen to ignore the fact that they deny virtually every grievance at Step Two regardless of merit. You see the new chancellor allowing his signature to be appended to preposterous decisions.

I don't know about you, but with Bloomberg's morally bankrupt leftovers still stocking Tweed, there's very little that would surprise me.  Is Mayor Bill de Blasio going to let them outlast him? Will Chancellor Carranza allow them to remain as his legacy to New York City students and teachers?

Only time will tell.

NY State Regents--No Reading Necessary for Reading Exercise

The more I work with the NY State English Regents exam, the more I hate it. A big part of it is multiple choice questions, which I generally do not like or use on tests I write. From speaking with people who've taught this to ELLs before, I'm beginning to understand this is the toughest part of the test for them. They're able to master the pseudo-writing for the other parts by memorizing simplistic formulas, but if there are four answers, they really have to pick the right one.

There are strategies. For example, if it says the answer is on lines 5-8, you can underline them and focus right there. In fact, you can underline all the lines to which the questions refer, and then ignore the rest of the piece utterly. It's a real time-saver, and several of my students have figured this out. A lot of my students are from China. From what I hear, testing is a big thing over there. Perhaps my students have looked at these things from angles I'd never have imagined.

One thing I'd never have imagined is a reading test that doesn't require reading. Yet that's precisely what we have here. I think there was one question about overall theme that may have required a quick scan or so, but for the most part it was look at these lines in isolation and don't fret about the rest.

I'm one of those old-fashioned English teachers who thinks it's our job to inspire children. It seems to me that I ought to be trying to instill a love of language in my students. I want them to love speaking it, hearing it, reading it, and writing it. That's not how David "No one gives a crap what you think or feel" Coleman envisioned Common Core, and whatever they call the test this year, it's still Common Core.

As if that's not enough, I have a whole bunch of students who've studied this test before. Some have passed, and some haven't. But all have taken practice tests, likely as not the ones I'm giving them. So if I pull a set of ten questions and use it for a quiz, for all I know, they've seen and reviewed it before. A colleague suggested I write my own, but I'm not doing that. I don't mind writing materials for my classes, and I do it frequently. But I'm not going to spend my prep time preparing crap.

Also, I'm in half a classroom with the kids sitting at tables of four. The only way I can give a quiz without cheating becoming the national pastime is by putting up dividers. While the dividers preclude a lot of copying, they're far from ideal. This is because no matter where I am, I can't see 80% of my students. How hard would it be to pull up the answers, available on the net, on your phone, and just hide it whenever that awful teacher comes by?

Here's how far I will go with that--The next time I give a ten question quiz, I will rewrite the answers in a different order. I will then check for students who gave the series of answers that's on the test. If anyone has the test answers, I'll be a little suspicious.

I can do this stuff, and I will do this stuff. I'll bet a lot of English teachers come up doing this stuff. I'd wager some have known nothing else. Sadder still, we have children who've known nothing else. This is work for me, and that's it. Taking the test is work for them, and that's it. Of course I've done a lot of other things. I've seen some supervisors who mistake studying the Regents exam for studying English.

How pathetic is it that New York State brings up our children to value prose and poetry not at all, and instead has them indulge in the drudgery this test dumps over their heads? If I were a NY State Regent and my name were attached to a test like this, I'd have trouble sleeping at night.