Principal Alison Coviello's Motto. "Do As I Say Not What I Do".
I have been reading South Bronx's running account of his problems with the Principal at P.S. 154, Dr. Alison Coviello. According to South Bronx Ms. Coviello is an "elitist" who believes in perfection...
View ArticleThe City Pulls All Stops To Get "Select" Newbie Teachers Hired While Trying...
The DOE has shown once again how they will go to great lengths to get "newbie teachers" hired while making it difficult for schools to hire better qualified ATRs. In today's Gotham Schools there is an...
View ArticleThe Real Story On What An ATR Costs A School's Budget, Assuming The Fair...
In my last post I received a comment from a high union official who claimed that I was not being factual on how much a higher paid ATR would cost a school. In my post I stated that a school would be...
View ArticleWhy Teacher Tenure Is Important.
In today's New York Daily News there is a sympathetic piece about a teacher who was pressured to resign from his $75,000 per year teaching position because he was seen with his shirt off. The article...
View ArticleWhy New York City Is Not Detroit.
I read the article by "Ed the Apple" and must disagree that the bankruptcy in Detroit is a warning sign for New York City when negotiating with the unions. The differences between New York City and...
View ArticleWhy It's Important To Be In A Good School With The Teacher Evaluation System....
Looming on the horizon is the New York State teacher evaluation system that will be a "house of cards" and eventually collapse, Unfortunately, when this does happen (2016-17?) the damage to the...
View ArticleTeaching New Americans In Summer School. It's A Pleasure.
I must admit I wasn't looking forward to teaching high school science to recently arrived students to the country. Most of them had limited English language skills and some none at all! My students...
View ArticleWhy The Open Market Transfer System Is A Joke.
Today is the final day for teachers to look for vacancies under the Open Market Transfer System (OMTS) and just like the last few years, the OMTS is simply a joke when it comes to veteran teachers....
View ArticleTo The Education Reformers. It Really Is About Community, Family, And Poverty.
The revised New York State tests came out and as predicted, every school district saw drops in the passing rates. In the well-to-do school districts scores dropped by an average of 25% while the poor...
View ArticleMayor Bloomberg's Legacy Is That The Achievement Gap Is Wider Now Than When...
Well, the results are in and the academic achievement gap between Asians and Whites on one hand and Blacks and Hispanics on the other is now wider than in 2002 when Mayor Bloomberg took office. Yes,...
View ArticleWhy I Believe It Will Be A Bill de Blasio/Bill Thompson Runoff.
After watching the Democratic mayoral debate, I am more and more convinced that it will end up to be a Bill de Blasio/John Thompson runoff. The poor showing by Christine Quinn and her high negatives...
View ArticleMy Interview With A Disgruntled Education 4 Excellence Member.
During the summer I was contacted by a teacher who wanted me to hear his story about joining and eventually leaving Educators 4 Excellence (E4E). I suspect his story is similar to many other...
View ArticleThe DOE's Scarlet Letter
Only in the bizzaro world of the New York City Department Of Education (DOE) does a teacher who was found innocent of charges still is guilty of those charges. Yes, it's true! The DOE has flagged all...
View ArticleMichael Mulgrew's Knockout Of Campbell Brown
I am usually critical of my union for allowing Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his cronies at Tweed to poison and disrespect the teaching profession, especially, the classroom teacher. However, there are...
View ArticleThe DOE's Corrupt Investigative Process.
What does Mayor Bloomberg his poodle, the clueless Chancellor Dennis Walcott, and the failed journalist, Campbell Brown have in common? They all believe that real evidence of teacher misconduct is...
View ArticleCampbell Brown Fails To Understand How The Teacher Discipline Process Works...
Failed journalist and pseudo-reform advocate, Campbell Brown can't seem to understand that when teachers are accused of misconduct that they have "due process rights". These "due process...
View ArticleWhy Teaching Experience Counts. My Story.
I was appalled by the New York Times inaccurate "puff piece" on charter schools and why teacher experience is unimportant. In fact some misguided Administrator claims that teacher experience is a...
View ArticleBack Into The ATR Pool For Me.
Well, I am back into the ATR pool, complete with weekly assignments, administrative abuse, and student disrespect. Normally, I would be upset that I am not teaching but this year is very different...
View ArticleChancellor Dennis Walcott's Teacher Approval Ratings Are In Cathie Black...
Well if there is any question how teachers feel about Chancellor Dennis Walcott, the 2013 Learning Environment survey certainly clinched it. Gotham Schools published the findings on how teachers felt...
View ArticleWhy Doesn't The Union Tell The ATRs That They Are Not Subject To The Teacher...
I was reading the union propaganda rag, the New York Teacher, and noticed that the paper published an article that said who were and who were not subject to the flawed teacher evaluation system....
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