Thursday, May 24, 2012

Steamy Side Of Teaching


When I first started teaching I worked in a wild place.  I'm not talking about the kids (although they were a handful), I'm talking about the teachers.  We were a young, enthusiastic group who gave all for those students, but oh, did this group like to party.

The phys ed AP had a liquor cabinet in his bottom desk draw for after school parties, the drama director hosted the most exciting parties.  He emptied the furniture from his small brownstone apartment and invited the entire school, along with all his acting friends and gay friends from outside the school.  Everyone intermingled.  It was a blast.  The school was full of heterosexuals, homosexuals and bisexuals.  My favorite was O.  He was so sexual nothing breathing was safe in his vicinity but he never forced his interests on anyone else.  There were several husband and wife teachers as well as teachers married to former students.  Everyone stayed away from room 223 in the morning because we all knew the bible teacher was involved in some pretty heavy stuff with the baseball coach.  They were both married to other people.  Special after school parties always involved lots of drinking, most often led by the APO who looked like he walked around with a stick up his butt during school hours.  After, he was a hoot.

None of these activities affected our teaching or our interaction with the students.  In fact,our camaraderie after school hours helped us work together better and in turn we did more for our students.  We ran student-faculty basketball games, put on faculty shows to raise money and were always available to give our students extra help and encouragement.  We worked together and knew what kids were doing in classes outside of our own.

Reading about Mulgrew and the guidance counselor doing it on the work table reminded me of the coach and bible teacher which brought back all the other memories of the school I began teaching in.  I don't know if the story about Mulgrew is true and, unless he sold out the union to protect himself, I don't care.  He didn't do anything countless other individuals have been doing for years.  As for the cushy job at the union for the guidance counselor, almost everyone with a cushy job knew someone or did something to get it.  That's life.  It might not be fair, but it is what it is.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What he does or does not do and with whom shouldn't really matter or be anyone's business. This sounds more like Mulgrew has some enemies within UFT (former and present) who wanted to release 'dirty laundry' to the public....

Anonymous said...

"That's life"????

While I don't care if someone is getting it on, when it comes to how my union dues are being spent, I give a damn.

Too many sons, daughters, and friends with benefits are getting paid really big bucks within Unity to screw the rank and file over.

While I hate the NYPost, at least it did bring up the alleged
(although I believe it) special relationship between the mayor, Klein and Randi. (The '05 contract comes to mind.)

So if this story opens up this Pandora's Box, and I hope it does, I for one will be very glad. And I won't care which paper reports it, as long as it is based on facts. And I really hope someone within the organization will one day come forward, because at the rate Mulgrew is going, NYC teachers will have little to no rights or benefits.

Pissedoffteacher said...

The alleged acts happened while he was teaching, not on union time.

Anonymous said...

I am also the person who posted anonymous comment #1.

This happened a LONG TIME ago, it is no one's business to release or share this information (even though a lot of people knew about it). This has nothing to do with union being manipulated or bullied by the DOE. This sounds like it is a 'releasing dirty laundry' scandal on Mulgrew from a person that clearly does not like him. Since this rumor has been floating around for years, I bet the main culprit behind his is someone who worked for the UFT.

Anonymous said...

I wasn't talking about the sex act which doesn't interest me.

I was talking about the lawsuit which also claims Randi and Mulgrew made deals with Bloomberg and Klein.

If anything, the '05 contract has left many questions in my mind why Randi would give so many givebacks. And this is what bothers me every time I pay my dues.

Anonymous said...

To the Comment # 5 (Anonymous)

Let it be. There is no cover up or deal that Randi and Mike made with Mayor Mike and Klein.

****This is just some bad and sleazy attempt to air Michael Mulgrew's dirty laundry.

He may have used some poor judgment in a specific location, but he did not do anything legally wrong.