E-mail From A Working Teacher

We have a teacher in the building, a 12 year-old math teacher who is a nephew of one of the men working in the guidance office.   He was hired last year when there was a supposed freeze on teacher hiring!  He had one music class which he did not have a license for.  One of the teachers is working with him in the math department and told me today that he is working on his masters.  We also have Sue in the building.  She is a wonderful person, GREAT teacher...the kids and her co-teachers think she is WONDERFUL, however she is overweight, over 50 and is paid too high.  I guess no one can look beyond all that because she has been an ATR for the past  5 years.  Question:  Why would this building be allowed to hire a newbie that is not tenured or fully certified but have an ATR who is working day to day?  Do I really have  to pay union dues to a union that closes it's eyes on its own members?

I am getting a bad taste in my mouth for the UFT...AFT and every union out there!  HELP!!

Real Losers

I have a friend who is a fantastic teacher.  He is bright, worked hard and cares for his students.  Unfortunately his Principal did not like him.  Long story short, he ended up being sent to a rubber room where he spent 5 months and then, without even being told what he was being charged with, all charges were dropped and he became an ATR.

Friend has worked in various schools.  In each, he strived to do his best.  He cared about the kids.  But a big red R was branded on his forehead and no matter how many kids he reached he was never good enough for the administration of the schools where he worked.

Friend is disillusioned and is retiring this year.  He's taken enough abuse to last multiple lifetimes and he has had enough.  He's still being abused by his Principal but he's Teflon now and has told the evil bastard to bring on the "U".  The newbies in the school have been told to stay away from him.  The only people in the school talking to him are custodians, school guards and cafeteria workers, the ones the Principal cannot control.  It doesn't bother him since these are the real people, the ones he connects to.

The school system is losing an experienced, caring educator, one who has made a difference and would be continuing to make a difference if the system permitted.  His school administration and the city are winning as they are getting rid of another senior teacher.   He is winning because he will be able to collect a nice pension for the rest of his life.  The kids are losing but no one really cares about them.  Schools are a business and kids don't show profits.

New Contract and the ATR

If two Principals rate an ATR unsatisfactory, that ATR is gone.

Principals often rely on APs for information. APs are more often than not, inexperienced teachers with no sense of what makes a good teacher.  Often they are not even good teachers themselves.  Some will have problems because the ATR did not jump high enough on command.  Principals talk to one another and opinions and ratings will be given before some ATRs even take a step in the building.

A teacher once told me she could never become an ATR because her Principal loved her.  She had no sympathy for ATRs and would not support anything that had to do with them.  This teacher is now an ATR, going from school to school and worried about keeping her job.

Teachers need to vote no for this contract.

ATR Thrown Out In Favor of Newbie



The Principal called Mrs. ATR.  She said Mrs. ATR had a very impressive resume and requested her to come in the next day for an interview and a model lesson.  Mrs. ATR did that and was told by the teenage Principal the job was hers and she could start the next day.  Some of the classes would be out of license but she did not care.  She called friends, gathered material and came in prepared to work.

Mrs. ATR worked two days in this school and was then called to the teenager's office.  The Principal said her services were no longer needed.  Mrs. ATR was being replaced by a recent college grad, a young man with zero experience who had not been asked to interview or teach a demo lesson. 

Mrs. ATR is back in the pool, rotating from place to place.  She no longer cares about getting a permanent job.  She knows no one will hire her.  She knows her efforts and her expertise will not be valued or appreciated.  She plans on just collecting her check until retirement day comes.

ATR and the Know Nothing Administrator

 



The 20 year veteran teacher, who is now an ATR goes on interview after interview.  He is an ATR because the elite program he worked in has been eliminated.  His first two years as an ATR were spent at the school that wrote the recommendations for the elite program.  Instead if bringing him back, the school hired several newbies, straight from college.

The ATR has worked in many schools, has done everything asked of him, but he can't get a permanent position.  Recently he got a call from the school that gave him the rave reviews.  He was interviewed by a 30 something AP, supervising a subject she knows nothing about, for a position in a subject she knows nothing about.  Needless to say, the ATR did not get the position.

It is sad to see how low education has sunk since I began teaching.  Experience and quality are a threat to these incompetent, know nothing administrators.  They can't help new teachers and they won't hire those who can.  Heaven help the students in their schools.

No Respect



The ATR did like she was supposed to, she rescheduled her interview.  The e-mail told her to show up at 10:00 AM which she did.  She refused to take my advice, came dressed to the nines ready to answer all questions.

The interviewer was approximately 20 years old.  He greeted her with, "Mrs. ATR, why aren't you in your classroom?"  She explained that she didn't have one.  She was on sabbatical.  It took several repititions of this statement before it made sense to him.  He then turned and said "We will have to reschedule this interview.  Today I am only interviewing people already in the building.  Goodbye."  She thanked him for letting her know before she made the hour long trip and walked out.

Mrs. ATR got home and called her union rep.  The union rep immediately made excuses for the poor infantile interviewer who had no experience dealing with people and then berated the teacher for being unwilling to accept a job 2ith a two hour commute.

The ATR is disgusted.  She is ready to spend the rest of her career sitting around doing nothing and collecting her check twice monthly.  She's tried over and over to do the right thing.  Her age, combined with her years of experience is slamming doors in her face.  Enough is enough.  I personally don't blame her.

Class



Although on sabbatical, the ATR religiously checks her DOE e-mail once a day, applies for jobs and goes on as many interviews as possible.  However, when she checked last week at 9:20 AM she noticed she was already five minutes late for the interview scheduled that day.  She quickly sent out an e-mail, explaining her status and giving the days and times she is available for interviews.  She "cc'd" the union.

It is pretty obvious that this ATR is not wanted at this school.  If she was, she would have been given more notice and a courtesy phone call.
I told her to go to the interview in her old sweats, rinse her mouth out with beer and be sure to dribble some on her clothes too.  That way they wouldn't have to lie about not wanting her.  The ATR said no.  She said, "I have class."  I hope some Principal out there is smart enough to give her 5 classes permanently in September.

Retiree Luncheon



The UFT retiree luncheon was today.  We got flowers, speeches and a meal.  I ordered vegetarian because I was afraid anything else would consist of an ATR on a plate.

They Deserve Better

If you cut them, they will bleed.  Pain is as real to them as to any one of us, yet ATRs are being treated as subhuman beings and no one is doing anything to prevent this.

ATR 1 has moved from school to school.  Last year she found a "home", a school where the kids loved her and she loved them.  She worked hard, got them to succeed, got satisfactory ratings from her AP but got an excess letter in June anyway.  It was be gone and make room for the young one coming in.  This year, she was placed in a school far from home, but she did her best, built a relationship with the kids only to be transferred midyear.  The new school seemed like heaven.  Everything was going great. Along came June and along came the excess letter.

ATR 2 has a similar story to ATR 1, only slightly different.  ATR 2 was appointed to the school she is currently in.  They begged her to come to them.  Everything was going great.  She thought she finally landed a permanent position.  And then, along came June, complete with excess letter.

ATR 3 has a different background but has been bruised beyond belief as well.  He has gone above and beyond the requirements of any teacher in hopes of showing the stuff he is made of.  The school saw it and agreed he was great.  They gave him tutoring assignments and per session money.  But, they also saw him as working stock and piled on assignment after assignment, giving him only the bare minimum amount of time to have lunch.  He finally asked for equal treatment, only to be denied.  ATR 3 has no hope of being appointed to the school he is currently with.  The interviews he's been on end with a "don't call us."  He knows it is all about his age.

The part of all this that hurts me the most is the bashing that is coming from the ATR peers, with the superior attitude.  Any one of them could end up an ATR any minute.  It could happen from a closing school, a program that no longer exists or a vindictive principal.  How about ending the abuse from our end and starting a drive to support our fellow union members.  Remember, it is about us, and us includes the ATR.

Shuffling The Deck

The more you shuffle a deck of cards, the more useless they become. Casinos discard decks after a few hours of play.

The DOE is in the process of shuffling ATRs. Teachers from school A have been moved to school B and the ones in B are now in A. The DOE does not want them to get comfortable. They know new environments are often unnerving. They can't fire the ATRs so they are using psychological warfare, hoping this constant shuffling will wear them out and they will retire, like the decks of used cards.

Race To The Bottom

He was an ATR in Staten Island, his home borough. He became an ATR because the school he was in closed down. He wanted to teach. He wanted to do the right thing so he accepted a job in Queens. He worked hard and found a wonderful mentor as his previous experience had been in elementary school and now he was in a middle school. (Overlapping license) The principal came to him his first week and had him sign a letter stating that he was a provisional hire and that after the year he could go back to Staten Island.

Well, the year is up and he just got his new assignment. It is a high school in Queens. He is upset. His license is for grades 4 - 6. He has no experience and no credentials to teach high school. He is worried the school will find a way to U-rate him. Supposedly the UFT is working on the problem, but he is so afraid they will not be able to help. He is also tired of the long, expensive commute to Queens every day. To quote him, "If the gods will not have it any other way, I will do my best. I don't know how they can rate me since I'm out of license, but I will try."

School starts Tuesday. Things are a mess. This ATR is not the only one in this awful situation. We might have won Race To The Top money but the way this city is handling education, we will soon win the race to the bottom.

Meeting The Fellow

(Getting caught at the end of each line by this guy was almost the best part of the adventure.)

Flying through the air is a great way to meet people. As we zip lined across the Jamaican Hills, I started a conversation with a nice young teacher from Manhattan. After a while, he admitted to being a teaching fellow. I gasped! How could this bright, caring, obviously good teacher be a fellow, a teacher whose sole mission in life is to steal the jobs of tenured teachers? How could I even admit to liking this guy? Here he is, a first year teacher, with four weeks of student teaching under his belt and he has a job while my ATR buddies are still floundering away, searching for that impossible to find teaching position.

Well, first let me say that this guy is a special education teacher, one of the few new teachers actually hired this year. And, let me say, he is a great guy that does not deserve the bad press and bad feelings he gets from people like me.

Getting back to my conversation with him, we both agreed that they system created the hostility between the old and young teachers. We both agreed that the students are the losers because of this. He told me his school had been closed and then reorganized recently. The paras got to keep their jobs. All the teachers were let go. This school teaches life skills. How bad could all the teachers have been that they all had to be let go? Where are the veteran teachers these young people might need to go to for advice? Why are the veteran teachers sitting around without classrooms? How long will this type of situation be allowed to continue?

Posted from Delta airline, on my way home from a wonderful vacation. Now to catch up on all the blogs I missed all week.

The Biggest Losers

Everyone is playing games. The DOE has initiated a hiring freeze on new teachers until all the ATRs are placed. The Principal's don't want the ATRs and are not hiring them.

The ATRs are losing as they cannot work at the profession they love.

But, the kids are the biggest losers. Monday will be the ninth day of the 2008 -2009 school year and there are kids who have not had a teacher yet.

Is there anyone out there that cares?

UNITY SUCKS

Our school had a visit today from one of the district UFT reps. Speaking for my ATR buddies, I voice objections to today's hiring hall and the abysmal way these teachers are being treated.

His response:

The UFT fought hard for the hiring halls. The teachers only have to stay until the end of their school day.

By the way, the two ATRs in our building were on their way to the hiring hall when Mr. Unity Sucks came a calling. He couldn't understand why they weren't around as he had been in the building for an hour before I saw him. It never occurred to him that they were teaching.

Just In..

A very prestigious high school in one of the five boroughs of New York City will be the first school in the country to hold classes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Mayor and Chancellor combined with the UFT to solve the overcrowding problem. They have even managed to find placements for all current ATRs. These teachers claim to be eager to return to the classroom and there will be quite a few openings in the midnight to 7 AM shift. Any ATR unwilling to work this shift will be terminated immediately.

Seeing Red

I just have to answer this Daily News article. Since I know they would never print my response, I will just post it here. My comments are in red because that is what I saw when I read this article. The black is from the News.

With the new school year nearly here, with principals bracing for budget cuts, almost 2,000 teachers are getting ready to pass their days at full salary - doing nothing.

DO NOTHING!!!!!! The author of this article has not seen an ATR at work or he would never write this. One of the ATRs in my school taught 5 classes (some not even in her license area) one term and the other term she taught 4 classes and mentored two new teachers. Yes, the teacher that is deemed too unfit to be in a classroom was asked to help two young newbies. She was also asked to run staff development. Another ATR worked in the college office and spent almost every period counseling students, helping them fill out college applications and all the other stuff that goes with applying for the universities. Still another one worked as a daily sub (not her choice.) She got to know some of the most difficult students in the school and was able to help them. They are more than earning their salaries and if there are schools where they aren't, the administration is to blame, not the teacher.

They have no place to go because the city's more than 1,100 principals have not offered positions. Which is a biting commentary on how well-suited many seem to be for the classroom.

HOW WELL SUITED!!! The problem is not the ATR, it is the fair funding policy and the fact that principals want the young, moldable teachers. The mentor program no longer exists so quite a few ATRs are former mentors. Klein told them they were the cream of the crop. Now they are undesirable. Take a 30 something principal who is lucky he can wipe his own bottom and take his word on suitability. Give me a break!

The roster is now a couple thousand long, at a cost of $200 million a year. The Education Department has offered résumé-writing help and other job-hunting aid. And Chancellor Joel Klein has assured principals their budgets will not take a hit if they hire pricier, more experienced teachers rather than younger peers.

All the help mentioned is true however most of these people don't need the help. They are experienced, qualified people who know how to present themselves. And, schools will take hits in the long run. Principals don't want teachers who might ask why instead of answering "Yes sir, may I have another."

The longer teachers stay idle, the smaller their chances of finding work. Long timers are more likely to have unsatisfactory performance ratings than colleagues outside the pool. More than 325 have sat for over a year.

Isn't it interesting that only older teachers are undesirable and have unsatisfactory ratings. I smell a rat here. The three ATRs I know all have satisfactory rating for their entire careers and they still cannot get teaching positions.

The waste is unconscionable.

IT SURE IS. Klein ought to force principals to hire these wonderful teachers.

I know I am rambling on a problem that is not mine. But, it could be. Besides, I grew up in an era where people stood up for others, we weren't afraid of consequences. We stood up for what is right.

This is only a little blog but when I look at the counter in the sidebar, I know it is well read. I would be just as guilty as Klein, Bloomberg, the principals out there who won't hire ATRs, and the writer of this article if I kept silent. My message has to be heard and it has to be repeated over and over again. We can't let ATRs lose their job because of the negative propaganda being spread.

You might be safe in your job today, but you never know what tomorrow will hold. Your "A" school today might be an F school next year and Klein will decide to shut it down. You will then be an ATR. The principal that loves you now might be replaced by a teenie bobber leadership academy one next year. You might then become an ATR. You might be young now but trust me, if you are fortunate, you too will be old and the system will want to put you out to pasture as well.

ATR Problem Revisited

Under Assault was an ATR until she won her grievance and had to be reinstated to. Her year and a half as an ATR has been wiped out and her record shows continuous service.

If the principals involved and the DOE had their way, she would be one of the teachers Klein is talking about getting rid of, one of the ones Chaz recently wrote about.

I met one of Under Assault's students on my cruise. We shared a dinner table and after a few minutes I found out that this young lady lived in a development I knew well and attended the local high school. I decided to do a little investigating and asked this high school girl if she knew Ms. Under Assault. Here is her response. I wish I had my camera going so I could publish her exact words.

Ms. Under Assault is the most amazing teacher I have ever had. She was so passionate about her subject. She taught with enthusiasm. She really knew her material. I am going to miss her so much. (This girl just graduated.)

Under Assault, like many ATRs had not been getting interviews and job offers. If she had not been reinstated, she would be facing another year as a teacher without a classroom. Her "homelessness" would have had nothing to do with her ability as a teacher or her search for a job.

There are too many ATRs like Under Assault out there. One of the ATRs I know well has gone on a ton of interviews with no success (and she has a wonderful resume and wonderful recommendations. All her ratings are S.) Something must be done to get these teachers back in the classroom where they belong.

Still No Answer

Still no answer as to why my ATR buddy can't be given the position available in the school she has worked in and taught 5 classes in (satisfactorily) last year.

If Shakespeare were to write today, he would surely say "Something is rotten in the DOE."

The Accountable Mayor

He spends a mini fortune to go on television and talk about how he improved NYC schools.

He talks about accountability, how he himself is accountable.

Wake up public! NYC schools are no better today than they were 10 years ago and in my opinion, they are worse. Kids are graduating without knowing basics. Things like credit recovery and boot camps are pushing them out without real educations. Incidents are going unreported. Hundreds of good teachers (ATRs) are sitting without classes. Others are sitting in the rubber room on trumped up charges with no substance made by principals who can barely wipe their own rear ends.

Bloomberg, you talk about accountability, but, how are you being held accountable? How about being accountable for the students in the community colleges who barely know reading, writing and arithmetic? How about being accountable for substandard trailer and split room classes? How about being accountable for school built to hold 1800 now holding 4500? What is your penalty for failing the children of NYC?

Internal Hiring Support Center

I just got the following e-mail from my ATR friend.

Internal Hiring Support Center called me today, to ask if I would sign up for an interview technique class that they offer or a job fair. And had I been using the open to hire for jobs?

Yes, I told them I had been applying to the open to hire, but that in 2 years of applying I had not gotten one interview. I informed them that I have an AP and Principal license and have gotten plenty of interviews for AP . It seems strange that I can get AP interviews but can not get one interview for a teaching job in my district. Perhaps they can get me teaching interviews? I also informed them since I worked last year for the University of Santa Cruz and the DOE with Fellows, on a DOE leave, it seems strange that the only organization I can't seem to get a teaching interview with is the DOE. Also, I informed them that I do not need interview technique skills, because I was a Mentor for three years and can teach interview skills.

They then asked if I would come to a Job Fair? Why? Why should I leave my district where there are jobs, which I am not getting interviewed for? This is totally ridiculous. ATR mentors should be placed in their home schools as jobs become available. We were moved from those schools to work as mentors for the UFT and the DOE, who both had people on the interviewing committees to choose the mentors. If we were good enough, " The brightest and the best" to quote Mr. Klein, we should be returned to our home schools.

I think the real reason I am not getting interviewed is because of age and salary. This is really terrible as I have a lot of training and background to offer a school. But to have the DOE call and suggest I take an interviewing class is really insulting.

My friend is depressed. She has done everything right but no jobs are materializing. A former principal told her she costs too much money and should look for a job somewhere else. She wishes she had a tape rolling during the conversation. The UFT says she should be happy she is getting a paycheck, and while she is happy to get paid, that is not enough. She is a teacher who wants to teach. There are students out there who deserve a teacher like her.



We are guessing there might have been motivations besides the obvious with this phone call? Have any other ATRs been approached in the same manner?