Sunday, October 05, 2008

Message To My Councilman

Schoolgal suggests we all write to our councilmen and all members of the city council, telling them to vote no on ending term limits for the mayor. You can find your councilman here.

This is the letter I wrote:

As a NYC teacher and resident for over 30 years, I want to ask you to vote no for ending term limits for this mayor.

Mayor Bloomberg has destroyed education in the city of NY. Students now, more than ever are being promoted without knowing anything. Merit pay for administrators is leading to the passing of everyone, no matter how little they know. Principals are reversing teachers grades without any kind of teacher input. Class sizes are still out of control. Millions are being spent on private consulting companies that care little or nothing for our students. Thousands of quality teachers are without a classroom. Many are sitting in rubber rooms on trumped up charges due to a personal conflict with an administrator. They languish there for months before they are even presented with charges and then they never get a fair hearing. The city is wasting millions of dollars here too.

Bloomberg has done little to nothing to help the middle and lower classes of this city. Under his administration, public transportation costs have risen.

Please, if you really care about the children and citizens of NYC, vote NO!!!!!!

6 comments:

17 (really 15) more years said...

Beautiful- I'm going to use it and send it.

Anonymous said...

Love it!!! Thank you so much for posting this! I can add in the fact that our students with the most severe emotional and behavioral issues are in the midst of being cycled out of D75...while we in there know it is a matter of time before they get cycled back because not everyone has the training to deal with them. The last thing these kids need is instability in their school setting with this constant cycle!!

Anonymous said...

From Schoolgal:

Well I added things about the city in general in my letter and wrote my rep as well as the Speaker and other Queens rep. Here is my letter...

I cannot tell you how this grab for power by Bloomberg is upsetting me. To use the financial crisis to as a scare tactic to overthrow the voters is an abomination to our city's democracy. This is the man who let our city's children freeze for hours in the middle of winter when he allowed a bus route change in the middle of the year. The same man who made us shovel out our cars the day after a major snowstorm. The same man who chastised fellow Queens residents for demanding better service from Con Ed during the blackout. A mayor should be for his people rather than a corporation. He has destroyed NYC education by turning it into a test prep factory and put students, teachers and parents last by increased the DoE's budget rather than reduce class size. He has made it impossible for experienced teachers to be hired by telling principals not to hire them. And his Progress Report favors our most violent schools while good schools receive low grades because their students are already among the top performers so the stats can't recognize the difference between a school's improvement and a school already at the peak of excellence.

When it comes to the people of NYC, especially the outer boroughs, he is extremely condescending.

Please do not support this.

Pissedoffteacher said...

Schoolgal--I like you letter better!

Anonymous said...

Schoolgal, Good letter--yours, too, POed. I am going to incorporate elements of both into my letter. Thank you for suggesting this idea--it's great! Hopefully there are enough smart people in this city to prevent "der fuhrer" from seeking a third term!

windhover

CaliforniaTeacherGuy said...

The system you describe sounds like a nightmare. I have to say I'm glad I'm not a part of it!