Tuesday, November 25, 2008

The Royal Butt Wipers Were In Town


Randi's lackeys came to visit today. They came to answer questions and bring us information but mostly they came to spread her word and sing her praises.

We are so lucky to have our jobs and our health coverage, they say. Look around, they say, see how many people are out of work with no jobs, no income, no health coverage. We should count our blessings, they say.

I tried to be quiet, I really did, nothing they were saying was going to impact on me directly, but then a spark ignited inside of me and I exploded.

Yes, we have it better than other professions but better is not good enough. Why are we accepting mediocrity. Why aren't we standing up for what is right?

I asked the lackey about the union's support of Bloomberg's third term. He answered "Bloomberg was going to get it anyway, why make waves."

I asked the union lackey about ATRs. He said, they just got a great deal from the DOE. Smart principals will hire them in a minute. I reminded him of the fact that principals do not like experienced teachers, that they don't like teachers that think and have minds of their owns. Years ago, principals hid vacancies whenever they could. No one wanted a veteran teacher who would not jump when told to. He said smart principals did not think like that. I said the smart ones were few and far between. He just kept talking about the one smart principal he used to work for.

I aksed the lackey about Randi sabatoging the candlelight vigil for ATRs at Tweed (see the sidebar on ednotes for details). The lacky ignored the question.

The lackey promised there would be no job layoffs, no worry about pensions being funded and no loss of tenure. Will Randi really stand up for us or will she buckle under as she has done in the past?

I asked the lackey about the Keep It Going NYC campaign? The lackey never heard of it.

A colleague asked about how job security was going to be secured at a Green Dot school. The lackey did not have an answer.

Many years ago Eddie Murphy starred in the movie Coming to America, the story of a rich prince coming to the United States to find his true love. Eddie was so spoiled that he even called for the royal wipers when he finished in the bathroom. Well, Randi's wipers are making the rounds of Queens schools these days. These guys make me sick.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's amazing they just want us to keep drinking the kool-aid.

Schoolgal

JUSTICE not "just us" said...

We don't have it good! Let's see:

1. Principals can and do what ever they feel like regardless of the Contract and State and Federal law.

2. The DOE has "Guantanamos" in which 800+ teachers are warehoused. Any teacher that dares to speak out and exposes wrong doing will end up there!

3. "A" schools such as yours are a sham!

4. "F" schools such as mine are a shame!

5. Randi speaks out of both sides of her mouth.

6. Bloomberg will have his third term.

Yes we have a job but look at our working conditions. Those that can bail out will and those that can not will suffer.

These are very dark times, indeed!

NYC Educator said...

Thanks for spreading the word about Green Dot. I find it incredible the UFT can partner with an outfit that openly rejects tenure and seniority, claim they have a system better than tenure, and be unable to point to a single example of this system being tested, let alone protect a working teacher.

As for seniority, they just ignore that aspect, and expect us not to notice. For the most part, they may be right, unfortunately.

Anonymous said...

It applaud to the teachers of your school that questioned the UFT suit. "THE SIDE AGREEMENT IS NOT GOOD FOR THE ATR teachers." Just a few of them will get jobs, the rest will be in the same condition. Especially those ATRS who are CENTRALLY FUNDED. Do you think that a principal will hire an ATR that is free?" NO, NO.
I am a freebie for the school where I work. The principal does not pay me from her school budget, and she will not hire me because if she hires me, she has to pay one-half of the starting teacher salary.
Plus, imagine that another school in my district needs a teacher. I will not be lucky to get that job either because there are many ATRS floating around.
In this agreement Randy should have pushed for the HIRING FREEZE UNTIL ALL ATR TEACHERS ARE PLACED.
Thank you very much to the Ad hoc committee for organizing the RALLY to support the ATRs. Thanks also to the ICE members, and especially to Marjorie Stanberg and John Powers for the hard work.