The APPR travails continue. 

When last I blogged I shared how my principal, XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX did an end run around me. I was refused to be observed and rated through Advance. But, however, thanks thus for to the
Bronx UFT this case shan't wither away. We will have a step 1 hearing come September and I am sure this will go further. That is in addition to the appeal for the bogus U rating I received. 

But I believe in getting all the information possible. And apparently others do as well. In my blog post of June 29 I posted just a memo with the agreement to Advance, who will be under it, etc... But it is just a memo. Or whatever. How much juice would it have?

Blogger NYCDOENUTS contacted me last week and suggested I look to the contract. OK. I looked. In Section 8J Part D Covered employees, Section 2 it states...

Same words, but in the contract. But codified. In the contract. But yet another method that our administrators pay no heed to the contract, to a legal agreement. Just because they feel they are above the law. McDonald's managers are more honorable. 

Thank you DOENUTS! You're a mensch.

So during one of my conversations with Principal XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX I was told; 

"I am not sure if you are on Advance. I will have to check."

I made this inquiry in February regarding my IPC. Wouldn't a principal be aware of this without having to check? A manager at McDonald's would know who is qualified to perform each task (I in no way am belittling working at McDonald's. I worked at McD's myself in 1980). 

But someone, way, way up in the NYCDOE got in touch with The Crack Team concerning how one gets on or off of Advance.

"Your principal has the ability to make teachers eligible or ineligible based on the eligibility requirements listed here (section 1.1.1)" (Remember, the above mentioned memo)

So why would Principal XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX be uncertain whether or not I was in Advance? According to information received by The Crack Team it is the principal that determines whether or not one is on Advance. 

Is it possible I was on Advance and when I started asking for an IPC Principal XXXXXXXX XXXXX of PS XXX summarily removed me? I mean it was February, who asks to be observed, especially APPR observation? I am sure it was common knowledge. Advance was advantageous to me and other teachers, in particular ATRs that got a bogus letter to their files. 

Even if the new contract is ratified, the unchecked, unfettered abuse by administrators will continue unabated. 

I just got rated U for the year. Here's the backstory.

I had an accommodation for this year. Working with small groups. OK. I filed the proper paperwork with SOLAS and HR kicked it to the principal to be approved or disapproved. It was approved.

When I entered the school in September, they had me "help out" the Kindergarten teacher. I was there for a few weeks, did coverages, etc...y end of September, beginning of October I was sent to an ICT class that was a teacher short. Again, an extra body. I did small group instruction. Worked with the neediest students. Did nap time two periods a day with pre-K and pre-3. My prep was different than teacher I was with. That's what I was thought of.

At beginning of the year I asked for a laptop. I was told no because I was an ATR. I eventually got a DOE laptop that I needed for my per session. I made a mistake. 

One day, it was a Wednesday in which I be with the outside chess instructor, I had laptop with me and was I was on it. A report to OSI that I was looking at porn. One student claimed he saw the porn from the glare reflecting off my glasses. There was no porn. Heck, OSI thought so too. OSI didn't find the students credible. It was bounced back to the principal. Anyhoo, I got letter to file for doing what everyone else had been doing during instruction time. But then and there I was told I can not use that laptop in the school. That it is not a school laptop. FWIW, this class, a 5th grade class is incredibly disruptive. The have driven their co-teacher to quit mid year, they are extremely disruptive, and get away with everything

When we come back from break in January I was assigned to the other ICT class. Originally I was to work with a very, very, very, challenging student. But after a few days they pawned the student off to a para. 

After I got letter to the file on February 9, I was concerned with risking a U for the year. I had yet to be observed yet. I thought, hey, let's get observed but this through Advance. That why the letter doesn't come into play. Well, here is a taste of things to come.

I had observation thinking, in fact, both me and AP thinking it was under advance. I met with her about 10 days later and she gave me a U, even though the observation was 15 minutes. She told me that if using Advance it would be a Developing. Fine, MOSL would have brought me to an Effective. When I kvetched, we met with principal and her way to fix this was to give me a formal observation with pre observation meeting. When I asked for paperwork, etc... of first observation she refused to give it to me. I know that the 2nd observation was pre-determined. 

 The following is of an email I sent to my principal, District 7 Superintendant Padilla, and other luminaries on June 19. Please feel free to comment. Or better email me if you have any ideas or question.

In case anyone is curious, the Union is taking action. 

1. I was rated effective for the 2021-2022 school year. Therefore I was already in Advance and I am sure I was in advance at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. Seemingly, at some time during this school year I ceased to be in Advance for PS XXX. Who was responsible for removing me, and if need be, who would be responsible for adding me to Advance? At what point was I removed from Advance? What was the rationale for being removed from Advance? 

2. According to this document put out by the NYC DOE https://www.uft.org/sites/default/files/attachments/advance-frequently-asked-questions_October2021.pdf and on page 4 it states:

K-12 classroom teachers1 who teach 40% or more of a full-time position are eligible to be evaluated using the Advance system. A full-time teaching position usually corresponds to five teaching periods per day

So we are almost at the end of the year and it is safe to say that no one has had an official observation or evaluation as of yet. Yes, administrators can pop in on teachers either virtually or in person any time they wish to. I welcome such informal "pop ins." This virtual teaching is new to all of us and I would welcome a second set of eyes and ears. This is what observations
should be about. Helping a teacher grow. 

But of course, using APPR in these times is like trying to fit a round peg into a too small square hole. There is no way to measure student progress. The Regents have been canceled and there is no way, no how that there will be standardized testing this year. So what to do?

Look to our union and its leadership for direction and for having our backs unconditionally. 

WTF did I just say? I think the cleaning solution emanating from the kitchen is affecting my brain. 

At the DA of December 16 Mike Mulgrew was asked what is going on with observations.

His response started off well...

There are no observations, and there is no APPR. State has said will be done through collective bargaining. DOE wants to use S and U system. 

OK, what is wrong with that? The state has shown wisdom and left it up to each district and it's bargaining partner to come to an agreement. That's how it should be. As for the S or U, yes it can be manipulated, but I'll accept it. 

Numbers tell us that's not great. When you use authentic student learning, not standardized testing, teachers are better off. 

Describe actual student learning instead of standardized testing. How then are we better off? What about the rest of the crap teachers who fall under APPR are subject to? That can be easily manipulated. And what numbers are we talking about? Specifics please. 

We get thousands of Us because people had fights with admin

Yeah, and thousands of ineffectives and  developings because people had fights with admins. Best way to end shitty observations and evaluations at the hands of admins? Start making them accountable for lying, cheating, and bullshitting on evaluations. 

We want to figure out a baseline of authentic learning, only for this year. Will only be used this year. None at this point.

So we are, or rather, the UFT along with the DOE will figure out what is authentic learning? Is there a baseline to figure out how to get a baseline of what authentic learning is? Is it not possible that authentic learning will look different in classes which are face to face than remote? Or even devices used in remote learning? For instance, I am sure the students at an elementary school in Riverdale have all the latest laptops with all the bells, whistles, and doo dads. The students in the South Bronx are stuck with shitty, shitty iPads. 

May finish by early January

A deal might be in place by the end of January? Will teachers be allowed to have any input? Will teachers be allowed to vote on such a deal? 

But say if there is a deal. With February coming next what with it being a short month and a vacation to boot, evaluations probably won't commence until March. Is that fair to the hard working teachers to have their careers and livelihoods judged for such a short amount of teaching? It'll be less than eighty instructional days to judge teachers on some makeshift, never before tried evaluation system. Geez, it might be longer than March for the first observations. Administrators will have to be trained, no? 

And what is the rush to have this by the end of January? The DOE wants it? FUCK THEM! How often do we want something and the DOE slow walks it, takes their sweet ass time? Let's turn the tables. Slow walk this. Wait until May to come to an agreement. 

We also need protocols, with people demanding things from online classrooms.

Good answer. We do need protocols. We need guardrails. What are they going to be?

We have silliness of demands they get access as a teacher into my classroom. What that tells me is admin is incompetent. If it's a school program, they have access and don't know how to run their own programs.

And these silly demands can creep into an evaluation agreement. This is what keeps teachers up at night. That incompetent admins that will put into practice a makeshift, never before tried evaluation system. Teachers really don't  trust the UFT not to cave to the DOE's whims. 

Let's do something different. Agree with the DOE and CSA that it is verkakte out there and try something new. No observations or evaluations. Let's think outside the box. Let's have true collaboration for the remainder of the year. Teachers and admins we can get together and sing Kumbaya and work together as a team to do what's right for the students and the communities of our schools. 

Know what the UFT can do? Be transparent. Why can't the UFT share with us along every step of the way the process of it's negotiations with the DOE? Why wait for a once a month meeting in which only by the grace of luck, someone asks Mulgrew a question about observations and evaluations?

Just a few days ago on these pages, June 9, we here at SBSB asked the question, "But what about the ATRs?"  This was in reference to that Governor Andrew decreed that teachers that fall under APPR will not be evaluated for the 2019-20 school year. Oh joy. There was dancing in the streets. Celebrations enveloped Coruscant.

I was skeptical. ATRs do not fall under APPR. And neither do others who work in the schools and offices of the DOE. What about these people? At press time on Tuesday, there had yet to be any clarification.

The Crack Team got the clarification.

As of now, ATRs, guidance counselors, school social workers, deans, etc... any one that does not fall under APPR will still be given a year end evaluation.

Of course.

The UFT is awaiting word from the lawyers whether Governor Andrew's gracious offer is extended to The Others. The UFT should be getting an answer soon. This is the best information that The Crack Team got and will pass along more when it is known.

You know what? This is a swift kick to the crotch of ATR and all that do not fall under APPR. None of us were properly observed this year. None of us were properly supervised during the last three months. How can this be?

If the UFT doesn't fix this it yet again amplifies how uneven the playing surface is for ATRs. Yes, The Others are just as affected as well but having an evaluation. But The Others are not on the precipice of losing their careers every year for farting in a non DOE manner, or getting written up for leaving a toilet seat up.

The school year ends on June 26. Two weeks from today. We need an answer. Soon.

The heavens opened up yesterday and Governor Andy proclaimed, or signed something,
that teachers and principals will have their evaluations waived for this school year. Oh, and teachers will still be able to be tenured if everything is copacetic.

According to Chalkbeat....

State law mandates school and district leaders assess teachers and principals using the so-called Annual Professional Performance Reviews, or APPR. The evaluations, which include classroom observations and student performance data, can influence tenure decisions and trigger firings.

OK. Good. This year has been unlike others. 

So no evaluations is a good thing? Yes. But...

State according to state law evaluations are based on APPR which includes MOTP and MOSL. ATRs are still evaluated under Teaching in the 21st Century using the old S/U system. If we go strictly by the law, it is possible that ATRs are not included in in Governor Andy's proclamation.

Yes, I know, I am overthinking this. But, ATRs are still the overlooked step-children of the DOE. We are the crazy uncle that you keep in the attic when company arrives. There should be some clarification and certainty.

There has been too many stories of ATRs getting ONE letter to file and are given a U rating for the year. Too many ATRs have had the rug pulled out from under them in JUNE with unfavorable observations that lead to a U rating for the year.

I have reached out and have either not gotten an answer or the answer was not clear and concise. I know the UFT can and will come through with further clarification. The DOE is not to be trusted. Just look how they have twisted and turned taking away seven vacation days from us and told us to take it or leave it four additional days added to our CAR. Bupkus. Big whoop.

Remember the Sunday morning TV show on Channel 5, Wonderama? Bob McAllister sang "Kids Are People Too"at the end of every show? ATRs are teachers too, and we're people. We fall through the cracks at time. Forgotten about. Looking at the inside from the outside. Feel like we're shunned. Sometimes it is real, sometimes it's our perception. But perception is reality. We just want communication. And clarity.

I turned 55 two weeks ago today. Along with the receding hairline comes a lot of thinking.
Thinking of one's mortality, where one has been and where one is going. Trying to eliminate the phrase "should have," and thinking of all the people that have come and gone from our lives.

Too often I want to re-connect with people who for lack of a better phrase have made up the story of my life. One regret I have always had came right came in late 1982. I was 18 and I reached out to the speech therapist I had seen from the age of four until I was in 3rd grade. I had wanted to show him the fruits of his hard work and that except for the slight lisp (the braces were what really curtailed it) that I talked fine.

Sadly, my mother died about a week before I was supposed to see him and I never even to notify him that I wasn't coming. I never called back. Never changed the date. He died in 2001.

About a month ago I found out that my 1st grade girlfriend had passed away. She was my age. Heart attack. We were friends on Facebook; we communicated, but she wasn't at any of the last two reunions nor did we see nor speak on the phone or whatever. The last time I saw her was over 30 years ago at the Fountain Diner in Hartsdale, NY.

Having said all this, I was saddened to hear about another long lost friend who died last week at the age of 53. Trish Rukeyser Lewis I knew as a camper and a counselor at Camp Sloane in Lakeville, CT, between 1977 and 1984. I was closer to her sister Jill (who was only there as a camper), and in fact Jill and I stayed in touch. Maybe until the mid 80's thereabouts.

I had heard that Trish was a teacher over the years from mutual friends and even recall hearing that she was battling cancer in the 90's. But I did not know the extent of the type of teacher she was. And you know what? I wasn't surprised.

This is from the New Paltz NY school district webpage (click to enlarge)...

So Chapter Leaders and I guess administrators are being trained on the new evaluation system.
Everything being crammed into a short time frame. I guess sooner or later teachers will be trained  as well.

But I've been thinking lately.

Think about this. Say you are a teacher and up until now, January 11, 2017 you have had say 2 observations in which were complete disasters. You have to ineffectives and on your way to end of year rating hell. And let's just say for arugments sake that the new evaluation system kicks in on February 1.

Do you get a mulligan? A do over? Like in Galaxy Quest when you get to use the Omega 13 and rearrange matter and get to go back in time redeem a mistake?  Or do the ineffectives get combined with the new method?

One should be able to get a do over. It is only fair. But we have yet to hear from anyone with knowledge to share this with us.

In fact, what about the four observations? Are the observation pro-rated to two observations are will the four observations be jammed into the last few months of the school year?

And one more thing.

Keeping the beginning date of the new evaluation system as February 1in place shouldn't all teachers observations/evaluations be then based on the old S/U system? Think about it for a moment.

Back in November when I was at the Bronx UFT ATR meeting it was shared with us that if we got a permanent position at that time we will be under the auspices of the, at the time, current APPR system. However, if we got a permanent position in the second semester will fall under the S/U nothing to do with Danielson system. Heck, this is even true for new hires if they started that late in the year that they would be under S/U as well.

Will new teachers that are hired in March or later be part of the newest evaluation system or will they fall under the older old version of evaluations/observations the S/U?

Inquiring minds want to know. Inquiring minds want to hear from someone, anyone.

Sometime ago, when talk of UFT Solidarity was in its infancy I had had a discussion on what it's
name should be, where to stand on the issues, and even what the logo should look like.

Yes, there was this air of militancy and looking out for teachers, but that side needed (In my opinion) to be offset with what would this new caucus do for the communities of NYC.

The name needed to be education friendly and not appear militant. Even the logo should be professionally done and include those that we serve every day as educators. Remember, though this upcoming UFT election is about us as educators in the long run what is most important is how this election and its results will effect the communities.

Teacher abuse, teachers as ATR's, teachers resigning, testing, APPR, teachers sent to the rubber room, Common Core©, etc... can all be---and should-- what we as teachers are fighting against. But, we can take every issue and easily make it how it affects the students of New York City.


But it was not to be. This is not how autocracy works.

But this is not how UFT Solidarity works.

It just seems about revenge, Revenge to right some perceived wrong on somebody's part. Yes, there are many a teacher who has blindly joined UFT Solidarity and listened to the words of Harold Hill. Why not? Not when you are told all these lofty promises that are to come. Not when you learn how to FOIL. But a question remains. What does UFT Solidarity promise our communities?

Looking at the UFT Solidarity Jedi Council and Committees page (Before the ubiquitous cries of trolling, hey it's like watching a train wreck, you don't want to look but feel you must)  one can see many a committee listed.

These include; Member Support, Integrity and Corruption, Outreach and Social Media, Union Democracy. One can surmise this is taken from E4E, but no, E4E only makes you sign a loyalty oath at an event, not online.

I am a great believer in what effects teachers does trickle down and effect the students. We can and should fight for our rights, but in the larger picture (Such as in an election) we need as teachers to articulate how our right, or our lack of rights, effects the students system wide.

We as educators are not in a vacuum. We are in this for our students and the communities we serve.

We can't be in this for ourselves only.