Baynard Rustin

I came across Justice and Not Just for Us from a comment on my blog. This blog is written by a teacher who has been U rated and is not being given a chance to defend himself. The following is a direct reprint from his blog. Nothing could say my feelings about the way we teachers are being treated than this:

"When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.”
Bayard Rustin ...


I INSIST ON MY DIGNITY AS A HUMAN BEING AND AS AN EDUCATOR!

Abominations

ABOMINATION: extreme disgust and hatred : LOATHING

While in temple on this Yom Kippur, praying for forgiveness for my sins, one stood out more than any others this year

For the abominations we committed.

Reading this, I couldn't help but think about the abominations heaped upon the children and the teachers of NYC this year by our wonderful mayor and school chancellor. Here is a list of things I think these two should be repenting for and should be trying to correct:

For the abomination of class size so large that students can not receive the help they are entitled to.

For the abomination of giving guidance counselors case loads so large that students must wait weeks to get an appointment and sometimes even longer to get into the correct class.

For the abomination of classes that meet in rooms that have been split into two with walls that are not sound proof so that every sound from the adjacent room is heard in their classroom making hearing and learning hard.

For the abomination of classes in these rooms having seating arrangements that make it impossible for kids at either end to see the blackboard.

For the abominations of making kids stand in classrooms or sit on floors to do their work.

For the abomination of making teachers sit on the floor in the hallways to receive extra help from their teachers.

For the abomination of forcing kids to sit in tin can trailers without working air conditioners (and possibly no heat) or windows that open.

For the abomination of forcing kids to be in a room without a working thermostat so the room is either too hot or too cold.

For the abomination of forcing kids and teachers to pass a fetid pool of water to get to class every day.

For the abomination of not giving teachers a proper work space, computers and telephones.

For the abomination of bathrooms without soap, towels and in some cases running water.

For the abomination of having experienced, good teachers wandering the halls as an ATR, instead of putting them in a classroom where they can do some good.

Klein and Bloomberg: prayer will not help absolve you of these sins. Actions will.

Off To A Great Start

The first week of school has come and gone and although Klein and Bloomberg claim that everything is going great, things are not good. As usual, kids are sitting in the wrong classes. A kid who never passed math A has been sitting in my math B class all week. When she told me, I sent her to guidance. Of course the secretary would not let her in the door. She just took the form and told the girl that her guidance counselor would look into the problem. I'm sure it will be at least a week until the class is straightened out. Another one of my kids was placed in the new integrated algebra class. He should have been in math B. He couldn't get anywhere near guidance. Luckily, we ran into each other in the hall so I was able to walk him into his counselor and I got her to make the change immediately. I did ask her to put him in my class because he is a kind of space cadet who needs a little extra care. Of course she didn't. She claimed she couldn't move his science lab. It took me about 30 seconds to get someone in the program office to make the change the best way for the kid. A hard working, bright girl was not given pre-calculus because the math chairman decided her grades were not high enough (she has a 94 average and every math grade, except for MB 31 was in the mid to high nineties. MB 31 was her only 85. This girl is in the science research program and plans to study some science in college. She needs the math.

Klein--sit in your office and make your claims about the caliber of NYC public school education. Don't provide more counselors to improve programming. Don't provide more advanced math classes so all that want to take the classes are able to. Don't worry about the BC calculus class with 41 kids in a trailer built to hold 30. Don't worry about the air conditioners that don't work , the ceilings that leak, the kids sitting on the floor because there are not enough chairs, or the bathrooms still under construction. NYC schools had a great start. Keep up the good work Klein.

Joel Klein On His Anniversary as Chancellor

Next week Joel Klein will have been Chancellor for five years – one of the longest serving in NYC history. For the occasion, he sat down for an interview with Mike Meenan of NY1. Some excerpts:

Despite all the reorganizations, he admits that in some ways there has been little change: Klein: "Any fool can lower class size by the numbers. The question is can you lower class size at the same time you maintain and improve teacher quality?"

If any fool can do it, why can't he? Especially given the fact that there are now almost ten qualified applicants for every teaching opening.

Klein says he's all for class size reduction, but wants to take time finding the right teachers. It’s a go slow approach.

Slow indeed. At this rate our grandchildren will still be waiting.

"It’s a little bit like that song ‘The Glory of Love.’ You know, you gotta give a little, you gotta take a little and in the end you gotta let your poor heart break a little,” says Klein.

Some would say there's been a lot more taking than giving. Fewer classes provided in nearly every grade under this administration -- leading to no discernible progress in class size, despite falling enrollment.

He's often accused of running the system from the top down. Klein insists he does seek the input of parents. "Let me say to you, I consult broadly and extensively,” says Klein.

Hmm. Wonder which parents he consults – perhaps parents of private school students?

Asked what the proof of progress is:

Klein says the proof is coming, most visibly with every school now getting a report card. "You don't need any lingo, right? A, B, C, D, or F. People get it,” says Klein.

What mark would you give the Chancellor? NY 1 lets you grade Klein on his performance.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Polls/index.jsp?pollactivequestionintid=2905
posting from
Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011

212-674-7320

leonie@att.net

www.classsizematters.org

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/

Kodak Moment

The Chancellor is coming to my school next week to visit our new science labs. I haven't seen them but I am betting that they are state of art! I wonder if he will be followed by a camera crew. I'm going to dress up for the occasion--wear my oldest jeans and my NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND tee shirt. I wonder if Principal Suit will also show him the leaky trailers, the rancid pool that sits in front of mine, the classrooms with no windows or ventilation systems, the classrooms that have been split in two--long and narrow so kids cannot see the board from either side, etc, etc, etc.