Don't Blame The Unions



I just finished reading this bullshit piece by Alexander Nazaryan and once again, I say thank goodness this guy and the editors of the Daily News who published it are no where around or I would be seeing the inside of a jail cell.

I don't think anyone can deny that there are some bad teachers out there, just like there are bad doctors, nurses, plumbers, sales clerks, etc.  But, the fact that these people have kept their jobs has nothing to do with union protection and has everything to do with the administrators highered to keep their schools moving ahead successfully.  If a principal is only seeing what the teacher is doing during formal observations, that principal is not doing his job.  The principal of Packemin, much to the annoyance of many teachers (no one likes Big Brother constantly looking in on them even when they are doing nothing wrong) , roams the halls on a daily basis, peering into classrooms constantly and he knows who is doing their job and who isn't.  He knows which teachers are prepared.  He knows about kids being locked in closets and he knows which teachers have no knowledge of the subject being taught.  And, in spite of what Nazaryan says, good administrators can get rid of incompetent staff.  It takes work, but it can be done.  I've seen it done at Packemin HS under the auspices of four different principals and in my former school, the math AP also weeded out the ones who weren't very good.

Unions are now being blamed for all the ills of society, probably because many of these ills can't be fixed.  Unions, and especially teachers right now are being scapegoated.

Nazaryan insults the female union leaders, saying they could play for the Giants (this has absolutely nothing to do with what he is writing about) and insults his former principal because she happens to be Caribbean.  He thinks working in an all Black or Hispanic school gives teachers the ability to sit and do nothing but I disagreee.  I taught in one of those schools with some of the best and most competent people around, all who have gone on to bigger and better things (still working in education) when the school was broken up.  Back in the '80s, it was not the teachers who caused the schools to be disfunctional, it was some of the children, the ones who snuck guns into the building and started fires during drills.  Many of the students were top rate.  I went to a 30th reunion from this school and met former students who are now doctors, lawyers and Phds.  The teachers were given choices of where they wanted to go because everyone knew the teachers were fantastic.

Union protections is a necessity.  Principals today often have no knowledge of what goes on in the school.  A 28 year old leadership academy graduate does not have the ability to know who is good and who isn't.  The recertified ISS AP who knows nothing about special education students and little about anything else should not be in a position to have life and death decisions over a career. The math AP, who believes he is still living in a Communist regime and wants little marching soldiers, teachers who show no individual initiative, and favors only young teachers of his own race should have no position of power.

This opinion editorial is another example of union bashing.  The edtiors need to go back and reread history to see the importance and necessity of unions for everyone's protection.  This article makes me happy I dropped my Daily News subscription years ago.

Saga Of Two ATRs



In 2008, both teachers were ATRs at school A.

Woman was an ATR because her school was closed down. Somewhere, not in the real world, politicians and businessmen decided the very special population this school serviced no longer needed special services.

Man was an ATR because his position as a mentor teacher dried up. He only got the position as a mentor because he was deemed an outstanding teacher. Now he can't get a teaching position anywhere.

In 2009 man and woman found jobs at school B, where the principal is known to have a few screws loose. But, they worked hard. Woman got satisfactory observations from her AP, but nut job principal U rated her anyway. She was forced to find a new job in September. They just didn't click. Man got along well with loony bin principal but June came and he was told to hit the road. He knew he could stay and grieve but crazy principal promised him a U rating if he stayed. He decided it would be best for him to leave.

Now comes 2010, both have jobs in schools that like them and they like. They are sure they have found homes. Woman gets passed over for an appointed position in January but is recruited by another school with promises of a real teaching job. Man is also recruited by a school and also promised a permanent position. June came and both were excessed again.

It is now 2011. Both woman and man are back with the principal who belongs in a straight jacket. Principal let them know loud and clear they weren't wanted. They went to the union, begging and pleading to get into another school, any other school. Woman got out. Man is stuck.

Why is it so hard for anyone outside of education to see how impossible it is for ATRs to get jobs back in the classroom? Why isn't it obvious that the city is doing everything possible to get rid of them?

Another One



Pipe Lady sat at her desk, pipe in her mouth and smoked away.  The kids she was supposed to be teaching sat quietly at their desks.  She scared them.  She didn't need union protection.  No one came after her.

Bad Teachers--Part II



The series on Bad Teachers who didn't need union protection to keep their jobs continues here.



Zoo Keeper came to school every day smelling like the cages he cleaned early every morning.  His clothes not only smelled the part, they looked the part too.  One day he wore one with all the buttons missing.   I stapled it shut to hide the raggedy tee shirt he had underneath.  The term I had the misfortune of following him into a room had me carrying a can of air freshener.  The kids refused to enter until the air was cleared.

Smell was not Zoo Keeper's only fault.  He was a lazy bastard whose daily lesson consisted of ripping a page from a book, photocopying it and handing it to the kids to do.  The ones who didn't cut were afraid of him and sat quietly and worked, learning next to nothing.  The AP knew he was bad but was too afraid to start with him.  The principal, too, left him alone.

Zoo Keeper taught the lowest level classes in the department and for this, the other teachers were grateful.  They didn't have to deal with these children.  Zoo Keeper claimed he didn't know the higher level math and that was all he could handle.  Even when it came to marking regents, Zoo Keeper claimed ignorance and got away with doing nothing.

In addition to his smell and his lack of teaching, Zoo Keeper took a week off every year to go to Florida.  He always had some family member's funeral to attend to.  No one bothered to check whether this was true or not.  No one wanted to deal with his wrath.

One day, the big bad boys in Albany decided that high schools would no longer teach remedial math.  This  meant Zoo Keeper would have to start teaching.  There was only one thing left for him to do and that was retire.

The union didn't protect Zoo Keeper.  The administration did.  He got away with behavior like this his entire career.