It's finally happened! Tomorrow afternoon I will be appearing on Dan Alicea's radio program "Talk Out of School," on 99.5 WBAI-FM tomorrow afternoon, January 22 at 1 PM (Streaming here).

As per Dan Alicea on Facebook; 

Join us for conversations with NYC educators about what’s going on in the DOE!

Listen to tomorrow, Sat, 1/22 at 1 pm @WBAI 99 FM. Or listen online at WBAI.org

We will discuss the new video and audio podcast show “ Grading the Drama: DOE Unplugged” with its hosts, Matt & Abby.

** They will grade the DOE’s pandemic response and Michael Mulgrew’s job performance as of late! Don’t miss it. ***

Also, we begin a series that will dig into the life, myths & plight of our city’s ATR teachers with Kathleen McCormack Perez & Peter Zucker

Yeah, lots of myths and of course plight with us ATRs. The life of an ATR is not as glamorous as it appears. 

And for further listening I appeared as a guest on a podcast hosted by Lydia Howrilka, Johnny Hinesley, and Eric Severson. It can be heard right here. 

 Back in June or late May we, and I mean we as ATR's, were told that the there was an agreement that the ATR caste system was no more. That we would be placed in the schools were were in last year and that was that. 

Obviously that for that didn't happen. I wasn't placed in the school I was in last year. I made darn sure. But I and others were still told that even if that happens, "you will be PERMANENTLY to a school." On these pages in June it was written about (Here and here). It was over. ATR's would be permanent and not feel like an outsider anymore. We will be on organization sheets. Be invited to holiday parties. Have mailboxes. Be on the the email blasts. And, most importantly, the Sunshine Club will remember our birthdays.

So why then am I still able to get into Open Market or the Excessed whatever it's called from September through April? Wanna see?

 

Why am I still considered "excessed"? I thought I was permanent. My time card says, "ATR." I'm not on the organization sheet. I don't even have a place for my stuff. And worse, the Sunshine Club hasn't asked me for $20.

How many ATRs are still the same predicament as I? Are some ATRs more equal than other ATRs? I do understand that to a point. Some are ATRs for no reason of their own. Some, and I admit to being one, are ATRs for being naughty. 

Oh, and we were told there would be zero rotations. I already know of someone who has been rotated. 

Sure would be swell to know what really is going on. 

 

 

 One day to go!

Oh, the death of the ATR pool was greatly exaggerated. That according to the Post and everyone's favorite bastion of education reporting, Chalkbeat. 

The plan was originally if you were placed in a school the entire year and and received either an effective or highly effect MOTP you were to be automatically placed in said school. And something about not facing discipline.

But think about it. With all the craziness of this year, with not enough teachers at the beginning of the year, or through the year, an ATR was a godsend to the principals. They needed bodies.And ATRs provided the bodies. ATRs were seen basically as useful idiots. 

But now with the supposed grand reopening of school in September the ATRs are not needed. In particular, ATRs who have been naughty and don't make wads of cash. Oh, and those ATRs with institutional knowledge. 

Why would a principal want an ATR like that in their building? We gave up our seniority transfer in 2005 because principals want control. Sometime in the last ten years, I forget, ATRs were going to be forced place and the principals and their union were up in arms. Why should things be any different this time? 

And of course nothing changes with the Post and Chalkbeat bashing ATRs. 

From the Post...

And now teachers assigned to this pool, including some who really shouldn’t be teaching at all, will be given positions back in front of classrooms.

And from Chalkbeat (Christina Vega) using six year old data...

About one in five scored one of the bottom three rankings, according to data from the 2015-16 school year, the most recent the education department has shared publicly.  

But let's give her credit where credit is due. She did get one thing correct...

Teachers in the pool also tend to be more senior, and therefore earn higher salaries, creating a disincentive for principals to hire them. 

It would have been swell if Ms Vega bothered to spend some time speaking to ATRs. But I would guess that would be to difficult. 

Fixing the ATR problem is easy. Read it right here. It can be fixed. 

Being an ATR is like being in purgatory, actually Jewish purgatory. We are not wicked. Nor or we righteous. We are good people as well as teachers who have made mistakes. And learned from mistakes. 

...whose virtues and sins counterbalance one another shall go down to Gehenna and float up and down until they rise purified; for of them it is said: 'I will bring the third part into the fire and refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried'

 

Five days left! We are in the home stretch. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Praise be. 

So ATRs are going to be teachers again. That's nice. But there are some issues. 

As for me I have been an ATR since December 2015. That 6 1/2 years. What training have I had on the latest reading, writing, and math curricula? It's more or less been some perfunctory gesture of administration, mostly on Monday afternoons. The big training, being sent somewhere on PD days or huddling with someone from Teacher's College, well never happened for me. And I am sure there are other ATRs in the same boat. 

Even if we have had sufficient training, when have we had the time to utilize such training? We aren't in a position long enough nor even a school long enough. We are not up on the latest year to year. We aren't even in the same school year to year. 

I used to pay for my son every winter for catching lessons. It helped because he was able to utilize what he was taught. But if he played right field would those catching lessons help him? Or if he played right field and had to catch a game, would he not be rusty or not acclimated to what he had been taught? 

It's the old, use it or lose it approach. 

But we will hear, "You have the same rights as every teacher in the school for PD." I have in the past asked to be included in specific PD's.  However, I was told, "We can only afford X amount of teachers to attend the PD," or something to that effect. And, if we cause a ruckus about not being able to participate then we get targeted. ATRs do there job and they do it they best that they can under really complex conditions. But, ATRs want to stay below the radar. It's a fact. 

Now, about this "forced placement." I understand, it's in the contract, the DOE can do it. But just because something can be happen, doesn't mean it should be happen. 

It's funny, since when does the DOE believe in the sanctity of the contract? Time after time the DOE picks and chooses what it will and will not honor in the contract, so why can't the UFT use this to ATRs advantage?

This announcement a few weeks ago didn't happen in a vacuum. And it didn't happen without the UFT knowing about it beforehand. Can't  the DOE in conjunction with the UFT work with each teacher (Say those who have been ATRs for five plus years) and together to find a good fit for the school and the ATR. It would be a win win situation. Everyone is happy, every gets something. 

Instead, ATRs are thrown blindly back into society without any say or possibly eroded skills. This is like after doing 45 years in prison. You leave with a suit and $25 and told, "Good luck, you're own your own, deal with it." ATRs don't even get to fill out a preference sheet! We can have a life long first grade teacher thrown into teaching 6th grade math. Does that make sense?

Oh let's not forget the old, "Well, you are a common branch teacher. You have a license which means you can teach 6th grade math even though you have taught 1st grade for 20 years." Blah, blah, blah. Yeah, that's true. But when I decided to have my shoulder replaced, I went to a shoulder specialist, not a proctologist. Yes, both are licensed medical doctors under the State of New York, but only one has the experience and ability to replace my shoulder. Same with attorneys. 

And how will principals feel upon being forced an ATR they had no say about invading their building? Particularly mature teachers with many years in the system making a lot of money with institutional knowledge? How fast will ATRs be written up for failing to put the toilet seat down in the co-ed staff restroom?

What is the mechanism that will prevent undue harassment upon ATRs in schools they are not wanted? One, of course, is taking advantage of what the open market offers, but we know how well open market works (Sarcasm).

It sure would be swell if the UFT can have some type of meeting for ATRs before this big change takes place. There are many, many questions to be answered.

My dad always said, "You can always ask, the worse answer you'll get is no." He was very wise. So I'm going to ask.

Having said that, I have three questions for the UFT. I am not going to editorialize or add extraneous information to the questions. I do not know if others are thinking the same as me, all I know is I am only speaking for myself. 

Question #1 (Multi-part): Now that ATRs will be placed does this mean that principals have no say? If so, is there not a chance that principals will be quick to drum up accusations, charges, false stories on ATRs? Is there any mechanism to prevent this? 

Question #2: There has yet to be an official announcement from the UFT regarding Governor Cuomo's signing a bill stating that there will be no ratings this year. Other unions in the rest of the state of notified their membership as well as a release by NYSUT. Are there any updates? 

Question #3: Are there any updates to share on being made whole financially for giving up our spring break in April 2020?

Thank you for your time.

 In the September of 1981 Billy Joel released a live album of his more obscure songs, "Songs in the Attic." The release also coincided with the beginning of my senior year. That June in yearbooks across the country, and at least in Westchester County (including my HS girlfriend)chose the following quote from "Say Goodby to Hollywood..."

So many faces in and out of my life/ Some will last /Some will just be now and then/ Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes/ I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again

Its time for goodbye again to yet another school. And there have been so many teachers faces in the last 5 1/2 years I have been an ATR. 

But more importantly, there have been so many students faces. And this year that's all we saw, their faces. 

I know this remote teaching was put together at the last minute. But I have seen and heard a lot of great things. I think there are plenty of students who for the first time got to be heard in a class. There weren't the behavior problems that we have become so accustomed to. Students who have had a hard time in the past staying focused and staying still in an overcrowded classroom were finally able to have the tranquility they have so desperately wanted so they can learn. 

This year I had been with three different classes and worked with fantastic students. I enjoyed so much working with these students in small groups all day which we would never be able to do if we were in person. 

I worked with a few decent teachers and one great teacher, This great teacher worked with miracles with her students. Her students were not only sharp as whip but tech savvy as well. By the way, we are going to have a generation of really tech savvy kids. Starting with next year's third graders. 

But the students of this class responded to their teacher. They did their assignments. There were enthusiastic to learn. They grew! Emotionally and academically. This is something AARP and Danielson can't show. 

But alas, like Shane left little Joey alone I must to ride off into the sunset. 

 Why does Stew Leonard's have a higher regard for its customers than the UFT has for its rank and file? Why can McDonald's treat its customers better than the UFT does for its rank and file?

Back in the 90's I was in Orlando and booked a room at one of the Radisson's. The hotel was overbooked, and they sent me to another, yet swankier Radisson. My room and meals were comped. If it was an official
UFT hotel they would make me sleep in my car. However the management would claim they were attentive because the brought me a blanket, pillow, and a milk jug to piss in.

Members of the UFT should be thought of as customers. What does the sign say at each and every Stew Leonard's? 

"Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, reread Rule 1."

It's pretty simple. The UFT has taken some steps, more like baby steps, in the last few years. But they still don't get it. They don't understand at the very least the perception and at the worst the reality of a union that does a little as it possibly can. Which will only fight back when confronted. For years, I have said if one seeks the help of the UFT without having knowledge and without standing firmly you are shit out of luck.

Yesterday, I got my first letter to file since 2013. All over the inane ambiguity over synchronous and asynchronous teaching that I shared last week. Oh joy. Thank you UFT  for really putting that true effort in.

But last this morning as I was making breakfast I had a revelation. I sent an email to my chapter chair on March 16 asking for clarification on synchronous and asynchronous.

I sent it due to the request of the CL for topics to bring up in the upcoming consultation meeting of March 19. 

 XXXX-  

I think clarification and discussion should be brought up with administration concerning asynchronous time. Some believe that we should be in front of our computers during this time without students just waiting for them to appear or with students whilst they do their work silently and we are doing nothing. XXXXXXX clarified it all. Asynchronous means we are available if needed. We are to be notified through text, email or dojo.  Thanks!

Even if the information is wrong or not exactly right, this was something that needed clarification!

In the chapter leader's email, we were asked to have our requests in by 1 PM, March 17. My email was sent at 8:44 PM. This was plenty of time to add it to the agenda. 

Guess what? It was not part of the agenda. 

Worse, I never heard back from the CL before the consultation with any questions, comments, concerns in regards to my email. And guess what else? I never heard back from the CL after the consultation meeting. Yet, before and after the request for clarification, the CL shared the party line with me several times. That asynchronous time means sitting live in front of the computer awaiting students who might or might now show up.

I got a letter in the file due to either incompetence or negligence. Since February I have been asking for clarification and no two responses are the same. How difficult is it to get clarification? 

But I am just a lowly ATR. An outsider, an interloper to the "family" which the CL explicitly claimed as well as implied in an ad hominem attack upon myself. All because I am running for chapter leader.

I am really bothered and hurt but not surprised. Why have expectations of the UFT when one can only be disappointed? But there is plenty more to this story that I am holding back on. 

For $120 a month we should get more than concierge service and unwieldy town halls in which only buddies and pals get chosen to speak. I asked for clarification during the last DA and Rashard didn't pick me. 

I pay my dues, I am a teacher. I am a teacher in my school. I am not some second class citizen. Nor is any ATR. No teacher, nor any UFT member should not be treated like this. And it wouldn't happen if upper echelon of the UFT took the rank and file more seriously.

About two weeks ago I, along with others, were involved in a Twitter kerfuffle with a Bronx Social Studies teacher. The topic at hand was how this teacher is appropriating the culture of her students of color. She has a Youtube channel in which she raps and talks in a phony Bronx accent. I felt that in addition into appropriating culture her actions were condescending and patronizing of her students and their living environment. This teacher, who has only been teaching 4 years took the time to insult ATRs, insinuate that chapter leaders are teachers that have outlived their usefulness, has zero empathy for teachers who sought accommodations, and is basically a know it all.

In light of yesterday's blog post a reader and former subject of a series of blog posts on these pages, the Lunch Teacher wanted to shine a light on reality. The Lunch Teacher first became aware of this teacher by reading the Twitter feed of two weeks ago and was not pleased. She asked if she could write a guest post and after consultation with The Crack Team we agreed. No money changed hands. The teacher in question was given a pseudonym, "The Hip Hop Lady Teacher." We will not publish her name or her social media at all. social media at all.

Here now, the words of the Lunch Teacher:

Hip Hop Lady Teacher, I hear you. I do. I even feel you. Wanting to do bad ass teaching and saving this racist world that your forefathers created. Coming to the Bronx like a “modern day” Christopher Columbus to realize that your students can help you share your visions of a new world. 

I hear you talking about “racism” and how kids from the Bronx can open up about it and rewrite their own history. Here’s a good idea. Teach racism and equity in your own neighborhoods (Sound Shore of Connecticut) so that they can. This will make the world a better place. Brown kids don’t need a lesson on racism and equity. Your neighborhood (Sound Shore of Connecticut) kids do. Plus, the fact that you are a Social Studies teacher trained in the United States coupled with a white world (Sound Shore of Connecticut) perspective adds to the “racism “ issue that you so long to ram down your Bronx students’ necks you exploit through solicited donations. The first donators should be the admins in your school. Putting your students on display as if they need a “fixin”.

You say you have found ways to enhance the New York State curriculum to make it culturally relevant. Care to share? Because another picture of a civil rights black face or a Hispanic entertainer isn’t going to do it. 
Did you know the most commonly use American history textbook in this country is something called the “Americans”.  It’s 1200 pages. In the 1200 pages there is one paragraph with a sub heading on discrimination in the north. Within that one paragraph there is one sentence on housing discrimination. If we don’t do a better job of teaching our young people true history they will be in as poor a position to remedy it. There’s a national myth that determines the policy alternatives that we were able to conceal under our constitutional system. If racial segregation happened by accident it can only be undone by accident but if racial segregation happened as a result of explicit public policy then explicit public policy can improve it. Not an act of tangibility. Understanding this history is a precondition of going forward.

A black or Hispanic cannot act too black or too Hispanic in a white neighborhood. Ask your Hispanic students how they feel speaking Spanish around you as their white teacher. (You’ll probably not get an honest answer) Can you imagine a black teacher in a white school acting like you? Because that’s what you are doing. It’s an act like putting on black face.

The lexicography of hip hop was not meant for all ears hence it even repels those who cannot interpret let alone translate its message because it can be foreign to outsiders. It is a social political movement meant to be taken seriously, respected and not fronted. Its pillars all have socioeconomic roots, every one of them. You would not be able to call any of your male students B-boy and not get a look of disrespect. And no, the B doesn’t stand for black or brown. Another tidbit, jump around, which is a copy of the Harlem Shuffle by Bob and Earl, the white national and Trump rally rap anthem is seen in the Boogie Down (South)Bronx as a generic copy, further shows how culturally inept you are.

Do you even know where the name Boogie and the meaning from which it derives or Hip Hop for that matter? If I could assume you don’t know (you should and am glad if you do) how much more do you assume of your students in the not Boogie Down Bronx? Let me give you a geography lesson. You do not teach in the Boggie Down Bronx unless you teach in the South Bronx. But Damn! There it goes again!! People coming in and changing things!

“Fixing” kids in the Bronx won’t wake them into accepting white privilege any more than accepting you as part of any solution but actually as part of the problem. Equity? Simple. What you are allowed to do in a school in the Bronx you would never be allowed to do in your neighborhood school (Sound Shore of Connecticut). I know, you came to win, let her begin, so jump out yo seat and jump around, jump jump jump! Keep it real Hip Hop Lady Teacher. You won’t get away with anything less in the Bronx especially in the Boggie Down (where you perhaps didn’t send your resume). Just assuming! Promise us one thing, if ever any of your evaluating officers seem to be violating students’ rights please keep us posted as to how you are transferring your “jump” energy to protect them, K?

social media at all.

 

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.

Every morning as an ATR is an adventure. You walk in expecting the unexpected and sadly incompetent stupidity.

Last Tuesday, I became the gym teacher. I was handed the schedule when I waked into the office. Not bad, I thought to myself. I like covering Gym. It keeps me active.

Now the gym in the school I am currently assigned to is a classroom. That is why when the weather is decent the current Gym teacher brings the students out to the yard. The little ones you can get away with a classroom, but the big kids...not so much.

Being the principal and the competent AP were not in the building that day I went to the incompetent, out of touch, useless other AP to confirm that I can take the classes outside to the yard (I had previously covered gym and have done it).

Our conversation went like this:

AP: Mr Zucker, you are a substitute.

Me: No, I am an ATR.

AP: But I'm not sure of the safety of the students. 

Me: I have been teaching for nearly 25 years. 

AP: But this is Gym, you might....

Me: I have taught Gym in the past, once for almost an entire school year. I also was athletics director at a summer camp, taught Gym in D 75 for summer school, and coached my son's Little League team for 4 years.

AP: Well...let's see how today goes in the classroom and if it goes well, maybe next time.

Me: But there is no equipment in the classroom, at least the older kids can bring their basketballs with them.

AP: You can take some equipment from over there (points to the recess equipment closet).

Almost everything in the recess closet was projectile based and/or hard. I took four cones with me.

In the classroom all I had access to were about a half dozen hoola hoops and two foam balls.

I improvised during the day.

Playing steal the bacon with 4th graders was fun. The 5th graders were too big, and I saw what a safety issue I was put in the middle of.

The little ones it was fine. We did relay races, stretching, and some laps around the room.

But why is being outside cause the AP to me concerned for the safety of the students, when there is plenty of room to run free and to spread out. But being in a small enclosed space all is peaches and cream?

This idiocy just can't be made up.

I have been a UFT delegate for about a year now. In fact my first meeting was the
"emergency meeting" that was held when the new contract was agreed upon. I think I went to that a little headstrong and spoke when I should've listened, but everything is a learning curve.

But one thing I would like to see is the Delegate Assembly meetings become much, much, more transparent to the rank and file. The DA is for all intents and purposes is like Congress, right? Wait, bad example. Is like the New England Town meeting? Help.

Yes, any rank and file member off the street can come to a DA meeting and observe. But one can only observe in an inhospitable room on the 19th floor with through closed circuit TV, with a grainy analog picture. In this day and age should there not be at least a clear digital picture?

Why isn't the Delegate Assembly streamed live? The UFT website and app, Facebook, Periscope, and Twitter (Am I leaving anything out?), can all be used to show the UFT in action but more importantly get more teachers involved in the process as well as giving the rank and file more ownership. Where would we be as citizens without C-Span if Congress was allowed to operate without cameras? Yeah, poor example.

The voting process can use tweaking. When a resolution is voted on delegates hold aloft their voting cards. Nothing is counted. That's hard. What's easy is to say something passes by proclamation by just seeing a lot of cards being held up.

The UFT has an app. Can there not be a delegates only section on the app? And in this delegates only section delegates would be able to vote yay or nay on any resolution? This can be done. Heck, I have seen it done with lesser technology. This way, each vote would be secret as well as have an accurate count.

Lastly, why do I as a delegate get an advanced copy of the topics of each Delegate Assembly? Why must the rank and file be in the dark? Again, the outlets for the UFT to share the DA agenda with the rank and file are limitless. It's time this agenda was shared ahead of time (Click to enlarge if need be).



Yeah, it's nice to support the Hurricane Dorian victims and to raise the awareness of the 2020 census. I get it. I have no problem with the resolution supporting the UAW in their strike. But again, the point is being missed.

Where are the bread and butter issues and issues that effect the communities? What's going on with hiring ATRs permanently? What about abusive administrators? Useless chapter leaders? Lack of school nurses? Bus issues? Gifted and Talented? Specialized high schools? Retaining UFT members (I know I am leaving plenty off)? If there were a clothing drive for Dorian victims I would do what I could. If someone was needed to go door to door to raise awareness of the census, I would. But first things must be first. And that is simply our teachers, our communities, and our union and other unions.

The UFT has been taking baby steps. First with the app, and of course, with the concierge service. Let's have full transparency. It's time.

Arthur Goldstein wrote an interesting piece today about overcrowded music classes in I
would assume his school, Francis Lewis HS. I was not aware that HS music could have 50 students in one class. I have always been aware (and I could be wrong) that even in elementary, Phys. Ed could have 50 students with one teacher.

Which brings me to elementary music or the appearance of it in one Bronx elementary school. Two years ago I wrote about Aaron, a teacher that was written up for bullshit and a failed attempt (gratefully) at suicide during his 3020-a hearing.

Aaron was the music teacher in his school at the time of his troubles.  In fact, Aaron was in my school for a year as an ATR music teacher about ten years ago. In that one school year at my school he put in a grant in and received about a dozen keyboards. The kids loved Aaron and loved going to his class. Sadly, when the year ended Aaron was not kept on.

At the school he was at when I came across him in my ATR travels and as of the basis of the writings above Aaron was yet again the music teacher and no longer an ATR. The school was damn lucky to have him. He gave of himself, going above and beyond constantly. The Christmas Spectaculars he put on were the talk of the community. Sadly, his principal did not care for him and wanted him out.

If Aaron Judge comes up to the plate without a bat, he won't get a hit, correct? Well, Aaron's principal decided not to supply him with the necessary accoutrements for him to succeed as a music teacher. Namely, he was not supplied with any musical instruments at all. Nada. Bupkus. Nichts.

What did Aaron have? He had iPads. What was on the iPads? Garage Band. That's it. No YouTube. No nothing else. How is a music teacher supposed to introduce and teach the appreciation of music with just an app? Why didn't the principal supply Aaron with the materials that would give him, not only the chance to succeed and shine, but to stimulate the minds of the students? The students were to learn keyboarding and whatever else, on an iPad.

I am all for integrating technology into the curriculum. But there has to be training. Aaron had ZERO chances or offers of professional development. Aaron was set up to fail.

Aaron is a professional musician. He has played on Broadway countless times and has played in several prominent jazz bands. Aaron as a deep love and historical knowledge of music, though I am perplexed at his lack of knowledge of Rush. Aaron is without a doubt a principal's dream to have on staff as a music teacher.

But the principal didn't care for Aaron. He wasn't part of the "cool kids" clique. Aaron had to be brought down at the expense of the students.

I thin the DOE has stepped up in the world to the level of a "super villain." I mean if they haven't
reached that level before. Perhaps they are now a "super duper villain."

The story goes, and I got this from none other than Chaz the Blogger, was if you went through a 3020-a hearing and kept your job, but were fined more than $2k, or a month suspension (Chaz, correct me if I am incorrect) you were automatically put in the ATR pool. I mean come on, who would want to go back to a school in which you obviously were not wanted and if you go back, there will be a bigger shit storm raining down on you. I mean, you go through a 3020-a, obviously the principal wants you out there, no? And to see your smiling face come back, don't think for a moment your return will get your principal to say, "OK, it's all water under the bridge."

My biggest worry going through my 3020-a was not just losing my job, but actually winning. As in being found not guilty of all the charges and having no choice but to return to my school. I had a plan for just that contingency. My first day back I would've come dressed to school as Corporal Klinger. I had the outfit picked out. Short, short, black dress, red 5 inch heels, show some cleavage, and red lipstick. Thankfully, I didn't have to go that way.

The arbitrator automatically put me into the ATR pool along with a four month suspension. I was free!

But things appear to be changing.

The Crack Team has learned from very high up sources that a teacher who has gone though a hearing and his fined more than $2k does not automatically go into the ATR pool. The only way can happen is if the principal signs off that he/she does not want you back. And it appears some are not signing off on this.

We here at SBSB think there are two reasons for this.

One, is to thin the herd. Too many ATRs are a blight on the DOE. ATRs have been a blemish on the DOE for two long. This way the DOE can show it is doing something, anything to reduce ATRs.

The other reason I believe is more valid.

This ATR thing has backfired on the DOE spectacularly. They still want to thin the herd, but this plan is more diabolical.

Think about this. If you just went through a 3020-a and are sent back to your school do you think the bullshit will end? Nope. It will get worse, much worse. Every little inane thing you do, whether it would be, farting, leaving the toilet seat up, not puckering up, you will be written up for. If you are being observed, a student that fails to raise their hand while all others do, will be a blemish for the teacher. Students aren't walking perfectly on line? That's a letter to your file.

The DOE had been counting on ATR teachers who got fed up to quit. It wasn't happening. Now, with sending teachers back to their schools of horror the DOE is playing GOTCHA! You go back to the same school, under the same circumstances, under the same administration, and under the same bullshit. In no time you will be hit up with 3020-a charges AGAIN!! And this time, they can show that you can not change nor were you rehabilitated. You get terminated. There is a method to this madness.

Case in point. I know of a teacher that got fined $5k. Where will she be on September 3? Right back in her school. And this time, the principal will know better than nailing her with three bullshit charges. The principal will be relentless. And this teacher is one of the few teachers in her school that gives a shit, the kids love, and the parents adore.

The DOE has now entered super duper villainy. Unlike in Batman when the villain put Batman and Robin in some contraption to die and walks away, the DOE will not walk away until there is no longer a teacher's heartbeat.

Wonder why ATRs won't go that extra mile or try with all their heart to stay under the radar?

Read on.

An ATR in Queens, and is currently assigned to a middle school, that has had the proverbial DOE bus driven over her several times and suffers from PTSD was given the dreaded white envelope one day in January. It wasn't an envelope filled with fifty dollar bills but rather the "48 hour notice" meeting and to bring along a union rep.

For the next 48 hours, the ATR spent most of the day, both at home and in school, barfing her brains due to the effects of the PTSD and the 48 hours of not knowing what the hell was going on.

The ATR did have the presence of mind to bypass the school's chapter leader and turned instead to her district leader (we here at SBSB highly recommend this route for ATRs unless you have a real all-star as a chapter leader) to represent her in the meeting with the AP.

The day of the meeting came. This is what she was accused of...

Early in January a student meandered into her class along with the proverbial chip on her shoulder happened to be in a feisty mood that period. It so happens that this young lady was looking for an argument and who better to start it with than this ATR who was covering a class.

When the ATR refused to take the bait this student went to plan B. This student then called her a "racist bitch," "you're not my teacher," and the usual early teen anger that spews forth from an early teens mouth

Still, the ATR retained her poise and composure as if she had learned at the footsteps of Emily Post.

The student, ever so frustrated took her anger to the dean and claimed that the ATR purposely hit her in the face with a textbook. This is what precipitated the meeting with the ATR and her AP.

What the ATR did was place four textbooks at the middle of each table for the students to distribute to themselves. At no time were any textbooks or students in danger.

Of the 30 kids in the class, nine wrote statements and only two corroborated what the student claimed. The student and her best friend.

Praise be to some higher deity (be it God or Mulgrew) that this ATR didn't suck down a bottle of Xanax with a glass of vodka or that the students of her class had her back.

Were there any consequences befallen upon this student for taking her tongue and telling a lie? Of course not. Even if the AP or principal wished to there is nothing in the NYCDOE discipline code saying lying and being dishonest is wrong. And just as an aside, nowhere does it say that admins that lie are doing bad. Only teachers. Go figure.

What to do? The Crack Team suggests that this teacher and any and all teachers in the future that are falsely accused by a student is to take them to court. Hire Bryan Glass and sue the parents.Hell, represent yourself if you don't want to hire Bryan. Let the parents pay for their own lawyers or if they fail to show you get a summary judgement.

But thanks to the last 15 years of hatred of teachers in the media, of politicians, and nationwide, students have learned that teachers make inviting targets.

One more thing, OSI and the AP know before hand that the kid is full of shit, Yet they let it drag on. Name them in the lawsuit as well.

In the summer of 2012 I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. In retrospect I think I had
been having symptoms, constant thirst and always running to the bathroom, for two years before that.

At the time of my diagnosis my blood sugar level was nearly 500 as as my cholesterol level. My A1C was over 13. And my weight was 30 pounds heavier than it is now. I went from a size 38 waist to 32.

I am not on insulin, yet I am on Metformin, Glimepiride, and Jardiance for the Diabetes and Lipitor for the cholesterol. My cholesterol is now normal and my blood sugar, well it can always be improved, but my A1C is usually around 7 (it should be less, closer to 6.5) but I have cut out a lot from my diet.

I'm saying this because I remember several years ago talking about going on a hunger strike. Hunger strikes are hard. No food at all. Only water.

What's easy is going off my medications (OK, I have opened myself up to a litany of jokes!) . Flush it down the toilet. Stop going to CVS once a month for refills (except my Lipitor which comes mail order).

Why am I sharing this? Because something needs to be done with how our union elections and how decisions are made.

The UFT is calling, or at least exploring, earlier than usual elections for 2019. ATRs still have no voice, no functional chapter, no nothing. All teachers, all members of the UFT vote for every single officer. Why as an elementary teacher am I voting for HS VP? What purpose does an at-large executive board serve? Why at the DA is modern technology not used for voting of resolutions (simple, use an app to vote yes or no). There are a slew of other things to complain about.

That is one group. The other group is the MORE Caucus.

The MORE Caucus has gone bat shit crazy of late and is controlled by its patróns at the ISO and Gus Hall Superfriends Club, not to mention some truly demented human beings there. Worse yet, the purges of earlier this year in which the MORE Caucus stuck to the playbook of Stalin, Mao, and Saddam Hussein. The MORE Caucus still cares more for all this extraneous bullshit stuff rather than for the rank and file.

So what am I thinking.

I am really think choosing one of these two groups, that if things don't change I am going to go off the meds and set myself if I go hypoglycemic, or worse, so be it. But at least I will be doing it for for change, for the rank and file, a for a cause that means something.

If I do this I will be all in. Live on camera and streaming I will take my blood sugar. Instead of seeing between 90 and 150 2 hours after I eat, what will be seen are numbers like 600, 700, 900 or higher two hours after I eat. If I stroke out let it be on the UFT or the MORE Caucus.

I'm getting tired of the bullshit. I don't know what else to do. I am open to other ideas.

Today was exciting. There is a new contract agreed upon between the UFT and the
NYCDOE. Yippee! We all got the emails today from Uncle Mike Mulgrew which was more or less highlights which barely touched on details.

But right now I just want to touch on the part of the contract that will pertain to ATRs.

First, I want to dispel the rumor that I have read first hand that ATRs will be disbanded, not by layoffs, but rather than placing ATRs in schools. Like forced placements. That is not happening.

As James Eterno and Arthur Goldstein mentioned, the date that ATRs are placed in openings in the license area has been moved from October 15 to day one of the school year. This makes sense. Does no one any good to start in October.

But there is more.

The Crack Team has learned through sources within the UFT that schools won't be penalized financially anymore for hiring an ATR with a high salary. For instance: Say a school has all first year teachers and 22 year ATR is hired. Ordinarily that ATRs salary would raise the average of the school's teachers salaries. Now, that ATR, that expensive ATR's salary will be seen as on par (Haven't a clue how this is being worked out) with the 1st year teachers salaries. That teacher making $119k won't skew the schools budget. Again, the devil is in the details.

Something else that is new is a new program that will hire ATRs into a program called 4x4. ATRs will be hired into schools (This will start of as a pilot program) in which ATRs will work with small groups of students in group literacy intervention. You won't need a reading license to do this. The curriculum will be scripted out and the cost borne by the DOE. In my opinion this is a long time coming. I have always wondered why ATRs are forced to do menial sub work when they could be better used to target in need students either individually or in small groups. But as usual, the devil is in the details.

But we don't have the details and neither will the DA tomorrow night until after a vote. Why the UFT couldn't wait until Monday to have the DA ratify the contract boggles the mind. Shabbas candles are lit tomorrow at 6:02 PM. It would be safe to assume that some CL's and delegates are Observant Jews.

I've been listening to a lot of George Harrison's solo work of late. I was a big McCartney/Wings fan back in
the day and never thought John Lennon had done much with his solo work. I bought Harrison's "Somewhere in England" back in 1981 because it contained the tribute song to John Lennon "All Those Years Ago."

But his song, "Wah Wah" from "All Things Must Pass" is really hitting home of late. For those who are unaware of this song...

...Harrison wrote the song following his temporary departure from the Beatles in January 1969, during the troubled Get Back sessions that resulted in their Let It Be album and film. The lyrics reflect his frustration with the atmosphere in the group at that time... In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison explains that the song title was a reference to "a 'headache'

Yeah, I am having a special fucking ATR headache. And it ain't happening from the students. The illogic in the banality and inanity of this fucking ATR shit is giving me a damn wah wah!!!! But I refuse to cave. I refuse to not do what I have to do to get through each day, each week, each month, each school year.

We, all of us, ATRs have that ATR wah wah. Don't cave, don't give them what they want. Stay strong, you can do it!

Wah-wah
You've  They've given me a wah-wah
And I'm thinking of you me
And all the things that we I used to do
Wah-wah, wah-wah

Wah-wah
You made me such a big star an ATR
Being there at the right wrong time
Cheaper than a dime
Wah-wah, you've they've given me your my
Wah-wah, wah-wah

Oh, you don't won't  see me crying
Oh, you don't might hear me sighing

Wah-wah
I don't need no but I have a wah-wah
And I know how sweet life can be
If I keep myself free, wah-wah
I don't need no but I have a  wah-wah

Oh, you don't see me crying
Hey baby, you don't hear me sighing
Oh, no, no, no, no

Wah-wah
Now I don't need no wah-wahs
And I know how sweet life can be is
If I keep myself free in spite of wah-wah
I don't need no but still I have a wah-wah

Meet Timmy. Tim says hi. Timmy is an ATR. Tim has been an ATR for some time now.
Timmy always puts his best face forward when arriving to a new school and always bent over backwards for the school community. Timmy, while he doesn't love being an ATR, wants to do what's best for the kids. The students in the schools where Timmy has been have liked him.

Timmy has a masters degree in Educational Widgets. Timmy at one time had been a widget staff developer as well as a widget coordinator in his school. Timmy knows his widgets. Timmy has been to many a school where the widgets are not being integrated with the curriculum. Timmy's widget knowledge would, in theory, be beneficial to whatever school he is in.

Over the summer there was a posting for a widget staff developer working out of the Widget Department at Central. Timmy was excited. Timmy read the requirements and while he did not have some, he had most. This position would be perfect for Timmy.

Timmy wrote a great cover letter and spruced up his resumé. He emailed it in by the deadline. All Tim wanted was an interview. Nothing more or nothing less. Timmy didn't want anything handed to him.

Timmy knew getting the position would be a long shot. But Timmy was thinking. Central is already paying his salary. Wouldn't Central rather pay Tim's salary having Timmy contributing and doing something that would benefit the students if not all of mankind?

It's been almost a month, and Timmy hasn't heard back. Timmy doubts he will get the position let alone be interviewed. Timmy is stoic. Timmy will not give up on getting a permanent position.

Poor Timmy.

Here we go again.

In yesterday's Post there is a story about an ATR, who escaped war in Bosnia only to walk into another one within the NYCDOE.

This, according to the Post, is some of what happened to Aida Sehic...

"...rampaging pupils broke her nose with a bag of metal rulers, stabbed her with a mechanical pencil, demanded sex acts, trashed her classroom and hurled epithets at her including “white bitch.’’

Of course, guess whose fault this was? The system? The DOE? The schools in which she taught? The administrators? The students? The students parents? Nah.

It was, of course, the teacher herself. Heck, Aida even tried to take the high road in attempting to appeal to one student's mother only to have the student retort back...

“...When my mother comes in tomorrow, she’ll deck you,”

Aida reached out to anyone and everyone she could. The DOE, NYPD, and the UFT. She got nowhere other than being brought up on 3020-a charges in 2016 for incompetence.

Isn't it possible, that the constant threat to one's physical well being, the constant fear for one's safety, just might have an affect on one's pedagogy?

Aida was excessed in 2011. She has been teaching since 1999. Three schools, IS 218 in the Bronx, MS 322 in Manhattan (School site and Inside Schools), IS 143 (Which was closed for poor performance according to Inside Schools) in the Bronx were the schools where she was abused.

Anyway, Aida was lucky. I guess. She kept her job. She was fined, $7,500. But she could have lost her life at any moment and left her two children without a mom. As one colleague shared with me who had been through something very similar to what Aida had been through...

"Wait until a teacher is killed. It's coming, people."

I don't think so. I hope not! But sadly, if it did happen, I would not be surprised.

But something is bothering me more. I am not upset at the lack of any action by the DOE or the NYPD.What I'm upset about and sadly not surprised at all is the lack of any action by the UFT. 

Why would the UFT ignore this teacher's desperate pleas for help? Where was an action team from the UFT when Aida needed one? Where were her chapter leaders? District leaders? 

This story was in in yesterday's Post. It was on the Post's website Tuesday night. Today is Thursday, September 13.Where is a statement, a communique, and email to the rank and file in support of Aida and calling for outrage against the DOE for the way her situation was handled? Something. Anything?

But I'm able to get a robocall last night at 7 PM from the UFT imploring me to vote for Cuomo and his crew. And then, guess what? I got another robocall this afternoon (As did many other teachers) again requesting that I sell my soul for Cuomo. WTF????

The UFT has time for this inane electioneering for Cuomo but doesn't have the inclination nor the time to have a teacher's back? What the F*** gives? If Aida were a cop, Patrick Lynch (as much as I think he is a turd) would be front and center having her back!!

But not our union. Not the union we no longer have to pay $100 a month to (even though I will).

Well, Aida has filed a federal lawsuit. Good for her. Even better, she has hired Bryan Glass as her attorney. She can't go wrong there. She is damn good hands. Get some fuck you money from the DOE.

We, each and every teacher, must fight back in a united method against the UFT.