SUNY Charter Board Approves The Use Of Inferior Instructors For Their Children.
Yesterday, SUNY's Charter Institute has approved a vastly inferior teacher certification process because their charter schools are having serious trouble hiring and retaining teachers. Therefore, to...
View ArticleChancellor Carmen Farina Hates ATRs.
Yesterday, Chancellor Carmen Farina told Chalkbeat that ATRs will not be placed in Renewal Schools and that ATRs who were subject to discipline would not be placed in any schools. The interview with...
View Article10% Of New York City's Students Are Homeless.
Despite the City having an economic Renaissance and a $6 billion dollar budget surplus, the student homeless population continues to increase. Of the 1.1 million students, approximately 140,000 are...
View ArticleOur Union's Complicity In The ATR Crisis.
It's been over a decade since our union negotiated the terrible and "giveback" laden 2005 contract. The union leadership has claimed that they're not responsible for the ATR crisis and blames it...
View ArticleThe Maximum TDA Contribution Is Expected To Increase By $500 Next Year.
There's some good news on the financial front as the Federal Government has raised next year's maximum contribution to 401(k) plans to $18,500. That is a $500 dollar increase from this year. If you...
View ArticleComing To A High School In Your Neighbohood, More ATRs For The Bronx And Queens.
The Chancellor, Carmen Farina, has informed 226 teachers and other staff members that two Renewal high schools, DeWitt Clinton in the Bronx ( 96 staff) and Flushing high school (128 staff) in Queens,...
View ArticleBehind The Drop In 3020-a Terminations. The 2014 Teacher's Contract.
In today's New York Post, Susan Edeleman published data that showed that under Bill de Blasio teacher terminations dropped, when compared to the final year of the Michael Bloomberg administration. If...
View ArticleThe City Is Playing Hardball In Negotiating The Next Contract.
The City has started contract negotiations with the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and in the first negotiating session the City has offered the PBA a 4.2% raise for 42 months. That comes out to...
View ArticleWhy I Don't Contribute To COPE.
I stopped contributing to the union's voluntary COPE program because of their lack of transparency on where the COPE funds go to and to the highly questionable causes our union leadership contributes...
View ArticleATRs Will Be Changing Schools On November 6th.
In keeping with their secrecy and lack of transparency, the DOE will be moving the ATRs to different schools without any ATR input. Some of the ATRs will be "forced placed" in schools with vacancies...
View ArticleMy Job As A Father, Mission Completed.
I was at a wedding last night and talking with other men we compared stories about our now adult children growing up in the house. Almost all of us experienced similar emotions and stories about our...
View ArticleWhen It Comes To Veteran Teachers And ATRs The DOE Only Has Tricks And No...
The DOE has, over the years, implemented policies and practices that discriminate against veteran teachers and ATRs, who for the most part are veteran teachers. These DOE policies and practices that...
View ArticleThe Rules For Donating Cumulative Absence Reserve Days.
There seems to be some widespread confusion on how colleagues can donate some of their Cumulative Absence Reserve (CAR) to others in the school building who may have need for them due to medical or...
View ArticleTeacher Turnover Is Higher At The Renewal Schools Than For The Rest Of The City.
A union investigation of teacher turnover rates for the two year period between October 2014 and October 2016 shows a much higher teacher turnover rates at the Renewal Schools than for the New York...
View ArticleThe Difference Between A Successful School District And The NYC Schools.
There is little doubt that the DOE is dysfunctional and rather than cooperate and support schools, they instead appoint and protect unqualified administrators. Moreover, the DOE imposes top down...
View ArticleThe Good, The Bad, And The Ugly When It Comes To Screened High Schools.
There is a debate on whether there is too many screened high schools in New York City. During the Bloomberg years, the amount of screened high schools quadrupled and about 33% of the high schools...
View ArticleThe TDA Fixed Rate Fund Is A Winner!
In New York City, teachers are known as"the smartest", due to their educational requirements that require a masters degree to achieve tenure and passing a content specialty test. Of course I question...
View ArticleRules Of Thumb For Retirement Decisions.
Over the years I have heard various rules of thumb for teachers who want to reach their safe and secure retirement goals. These rules of thumb include the combination of age and years, asset...
View ArticleJust Another Ethically Challenged Principal.
In today's New York Post, Susan Edelman has an article about another ethically challenged Principal, Onethea Swinton, who is the intern acting Principal of Port Richmond High School in Staten Island....
View ArticleThe Difference Between An Ineffective And Unsatisfactory Rating
I have been following the nyc educator blog with great interest and in a couple of his posts he mention that he asked the UFT leadership various questions about how many members received an...
View Article