An Example

Sometimes we need to look to others to help us figure out the best course of action. This holds true when it comes to unions, especially unions. I remember when the fire fighters, (love them, God bless them) stood firm and waited till they were given a fair contract. Ditto for the police force. However, the teachers' union doesn't follow suit.

If anything, I would say, (I do say) that we were sold out and that when the contract was ratified the membership was not consulted. Do you remember voting to ratify the contract? I certainly was not included in that decision.

Well, right now we have to live with the choice made for us and wait for the tiny little increments we will be receiving. Yeah, more like bread crumbs, if you ask me. Sold out, is how I feel and so does everyone I speak to. The contract shows how little our union thinks about its members and how much they think about lining their pockets.

So, I'm looking to Seattle teachers for a little guidance. Maybe a model for when I am part of the new union leadership, Solidarity. They do say, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery!"

First of all, let me set it up for you if you haven't heard.

• Having  the old contract expired, Seattle's teachers hadn't received a cost of living raise in six years. 

• the district wants to increase the length of the school day by 20 minutes without adequately compensating teachers for the extra time.

• The teachers are seeking to address racial and social inequality in Seattle schools by setting up equity teams to study achievement gaps and discipline trends in 60 of the district's 97 schools

• Teachers also want to ensure that every elementary school student gets at least 30 minutes of time to play outside the classroom.

• Teachers also wish to address over-testing by imposing limits on the number of tests students take and increasing teacher involvement in deciding which tests are given and how they are used.

These are just some of the major points they wanted to address in their new contract. I love how they became social advocates for the kids, especially schools with more low-income students and students of color who tend to have less recess than wealthier, whiter ones. 

The talks broke down and they announced on their website, "parents and students (should ) prepare for something not seen here in a generation". Yes, they are  passionate and willing to make sacrifices even in the face of being fined for their action. 


Hear that, New York...


On they went and their strike lasted until Tuesday, September 15, 2015, 6 PM, P.S.T, when the  district and teachers' union bargaining team reached a tentative agreement. They voted to recommend its ratification and end the strike. School would start on Thursday for Seattle students, but the strike wouldn't be officially over until Sunday, when the full union membership would have a chance to vote on the contract agreement.


Hear that, New York...


... full union membership has a chance to vote on the contract agreement...


Membership as part of the final decision... isn't this the way it's supposed to be? I have yet to vote on a contract and ladies and gentlemen, I have been around since 1987!

On this past Sunday, the full membership of Seattle Education Association overwhelmingly voted to accept a new three-year contract with the Seattle School District after months of negotiations and six days of striking. Sure some of what they fought for had give- backs, like their salary increase came with a longer school day for students, but they fought for their beliefs. They stood firm and took on Goliath. That's what a union does.

A union supports and fights for its membership.

A union keeps track of the rising cost of living and makes sure to take it into account when it's time to talk again.

A union does not allow anyone to speak ill of one of its members. No Matter What!

A union does not play politics on the backs of the people who voted them into their positions. They keep in mind, I Am a Representative Of Many!

A Union...

A union...

A Un... I could go on...

It is time for a change. As I walk the hallways of the school I'm in, you can hear it. As I sit in the Teachers' lounge, it is a topic of conversation. Teachers want a change. They are dissatisfied and morale is at its lowest. This is not our doing. This is the result of a leadership who puts itself first. A leadership who plays politics for its own betterment. A leadership whose president belongs to so many different councils and groups that he has forgotten that this is his primary job and that we put him there. Well, not me.

This upcoming June will be the first time that I will vote with much delight and full of hope.
I will be voting Solidarity all the way! Because as their slogan says, "Hope is coming!"

High Stakes Testing

I don't know about you but, testing in my eyes is a waste of time. Time that could be spent working in the classroom teaching kids real life skills and content that will help them shine in their future. Growing up, I only remember classroom tests and spelling tests. It wasn't until high school that Regent's exams come to mind. And, yes, the teachers prepared us for them by teaching us content not test taking skills.

Education has been reinvented over and over by people who apparently need to fix unbroken things. I have been witness to this. What I hear now being called "old school" worked. I learned the "old school" way. And, I was an English Language learner. This is probably the reason why when I started in 1987, I taught the "old school" way. They were all Ells and speds. My students passed and went on to their higher studies. They didn't have a test hanging over their heads to worry about, just plain ol' learning. Teaching them was fun!

This whole climate of test taking is simply out of control. Never mind the fact that these tests are for money making purposes, they are not evaluating kids and what they know. And, I won't get into the impact these tests have on the sped kids or the ells. Just regular ed kids. I don't think they evaluate what kids know because they are being taught test taking strategies, not content.

It has taken several years but, the focus is not on learning geography or math, history or literature. The focus is on how can you do better on the multiple choice of the Global Regents? Or, how do you make sure you cover every element of question 26 in the English Regents to get full points?

Instead, why don't you let us focus on literature and its elements? Why instead of working on multiple choice strategies or succeeding in the DBQ's, let us teach them about the Incas, the Silk Road, or the Japanese feudal system? Not only will they learn information that in the future will distinguish them as educated, in the present, they will pass the regents.

I am in this situation right now. I am teaching an English Regent's Prep and all I'm doing is teaching them strategies. How about if I worked on some short stories and poetry and actually taught them how to learn to read them and analyze them? No, because they want me to show them what  the secrets are to passing.

As if,,,

This is probably why I am so frustrated being a teacher in this present climate. Now you might argue, there has always been classes to prep for regent's exams and you would be correct. I have taught them. But, as I remember them, I was actually able to continue teaching literature not just prep for a test.

So, when I read the article in The Post about the principal who committed suicide, I blamed it on the test taking culture and what it has done to education on every level. Of course we don't know this woman nor do we know her circumstances, but if in fact this was part of the reason she did it, even a tiny, tiny part, it should be a lesson to the city, the state, and the federal government that education is not being fixed; it is being destroyed by those would- be educators who create these exams. These policy makers who don't know the slightest thing about teaching and what it requires. They don't know why teachers become teachers: that innate need and desire to have children learn and excel. Because, we do know that they are our future: our future bankers, technicians, nurses, mechanics...

You get my point.

These pundits that go on every possible media outlet to tell the world how much they know about education... (Campbell Brown)

How they can fix this broken system... (Andrew Cuomo)

How they have all the answers and teachers are the problem... (ummm, anybody who's anybody)

Go back to the values of yesteryears and you will find the solution. Our society has put emphasis on the wrong thing. Let's put aside the fact that teaching is no longer perceived as a profession and paid as such. The system is broken but not by any fault of teachers.

Let's just bring back the values and the core commitments that made this country great.

Let's put the emphasis on the 123's and abc's and seeing our students as real learners and not just numbers.

Let's find a way to reach the parents and give them the rights they had when I was a little girl.

But, this last one would mean giving back a voice to the parent....

Hmmm, I think I'll leave that one for a future post.

Common Core. All Those in Favor....

The debate continues, but where there is money involved not much can be done by those of us who do not have it.

However, the fallout is being felt across America and parents are opting to home school their children. If my daughters were of school age, I'd be on the band wagon. As a teacher, I can inform parents as best I can but of course, there is the fear of retaliation.

In NYC, homeschooling is not a viable option. Most parents work and do not have the luxury to home school. Except some Networks in Manhattan, most parents cannot afford to have one parent stay at home to teach. Add to this the high number of single parents. Oh, and let's not forget, teenage mothers who are still themselves in school.

I found the following article informative:
Common Core Fallout: Homeschooling Rates Are Rising

Just One More for Today

It made me smile!!!!

Common Core

Now I understand why it is that the PBA and other city unions fought for fair and equitable contracts. They waited it out till they received what they deserve.

The UFT fell for it very quickly and Michael Mulgrew made it a point to instill fear so that the contract would be ratified by the majority of teachers, even when most knew that we were getting the short end of the straw.

It was the Common Core mentality that we have been indoctrinated for the past several years. Look at the next example:

Mulgrew is a big advocate of the Common Core which basically, in its quest to increase critical thinking has made simple math look like a puzzle from the New York Times.

I am not a math teacher but what  I do know is that the increases we will be receiving in no way will match the cost of living in 2020. We were short changed in ways that the union blatantly accepted because they will continue to receive their fat checks as we speak.

Now, I say this in jest, not really but think about, why? Why is it that teachers who are creating the future of tomorrow are treated like second class citizens? Why is it that after three degrees, I am still considered substandard according to the new evaluation system?

My principal who did nothing to support us when it came to Danielson, rated me as Developing. It was only after the test scores came in that the students who took the local exams passed, that I received Effective. Then the state exams results came in and I was found Highly Effective.

Morale is the lowest since I began as a teacher. And it is not just me! It is every teacher who has seniority and is making the top salary. Hell, I worked for that! It's taking me 27 years to get there. Cops hit top pay at five, and trust me, I take nothing away from them. They protect us and keep us safe. But, teachers go through it too. Last week, I was pushed by a student and verbally attacked by another.

The new chancellor regs now stipulate that unless there is an immediate threat we are not to remove students. Well, both were back in the classroom: one the same period, the other three days later.