It seems that DC 37 has set the bargain for us all. Thank you DC 37! But is it all for naught?

As per James Eterno's blog and The City DC 37 agreed raises of:

May 26, 2021: 3.00% 

May 26, 2022: 3.00% 

May 26, 2023: 3.00% 

May 26, 2024: 3.00% 

May 26, 2025: 3.25% 

May 26, 2026: 0%

As well as a $3,000 dollar signing bonus. Nice pattern. Are DC 37 members getting retro, and if so, will it be in one lump sum or spread out over 20 years? 

Several things have crossed my mind. Yes, inflation is high, but it is on its way down. So for now, at least for me, I have a wait and see. Of course we have Mike Mulgrew has our leader so he might think us getting less would be a great deal. 

As for the bonus, hey I am all for a bonus. But not for $3k. I want at least double. But Mulgrew is our leader. We're screwed. 

But the devil is in the details. We still don't know about healthcare. That is the most important part. I'm still of the mind that we have it pretty good as far as healthcare in comparison to our counterparts in the rest of the state. But I saw also saw this on James' blog and it is somewhat disconcerting. 

The unions owe the city $1 billion? Other than voting Mulgrew out what can be done? I have said it before put the burden on new and newer teachers. Also, combine all the welfare plans into one. Yes, the number of patronage jobs will be affected but I'm sure there are savings to be found. Heck, even Arthur put this idea about combining the Welfare Funds together...

I don't believe a consolidated Welfare Fund would be any less efficient than the one we already have. It would surely be a hell of an improvement over screwing our retirees.

But, we have Mike Mulgrew leading us. From behind. 

My predictions for the new contract?

We'll get 2 percent raise per year for the first four years, and then 2.1 percent for the fifth year. 

Instead of a $3k bonus like DC 37 received we will get a coupons worth $19.99 in savings to Applebee's that will only be valid on Mondays and Tuesdays.

We'll get retro but the payouts will be stretched through 2031. The rules will be the same but if you turn 65 before the retro is fully paid you are out of luck. 

Teachers will no longer receive letters to file. Instead teachers will be summarily executed. However, the families of the executed teachers shall receive full benefits. The union will say, "Hey, at least your next of kin will be getting paid."

DC 37 has no settled. The proverbial ball is now in Mulgrew's court to totally fuck it up.

UPDATE: I made BIG MISTAKE! I conflated the original quote from Mulgrew vas one incident. I misread and took when he said he was traveling to school nearby as him being in the Bronx. I was it was pointed out to me, I edited this blog post, I was incorrect, I take responsibility, and I apologize.

 Sometimes being a leader is not just being a leader of those who elected you, but being seen as a leader to those who haven't elected you or even to those who don't know you. That is the hard part. That takes time and effort. And sometimes it is needed. 

On April 8 Angellyh Yambo,  a 16 year old student at University Prep Charter High School in the Bronx, was shot and killed in the Bronx walking home. I can't imagine the devastation and the pain the family must be going through. 

I had not known until I read Arthur's blog with his DA board minutes of April 13 that the teachers at UP are represented by the UFT. As per Mulgrew during his opening soliloquy...

Last Friday was horrendous shooting of three students. UFT-represented charter run by group of teachers--We have a better procedure with NYPD to get people home. We've had people there all week... Thanks Jeff Povalitus  and safety team.

Jeff is a stand up guy. If Jeff is involved, you know something will turn out well. 

But one thing bothers me.

Mulgrew could have made an appearance. He is the UFT President and this not only affected it's members, but the community of University Prep. Again, never missing a chance to miss an opportunity. 

I have seen the UFT first hand when it comes to a student dying. This school year a 4th grade student in my school died from an asthma attack at home. The UFT was there in force. They did what was needed to be done. I can give credit where credit is due. 

But a student being gunned down on St Ann's Ave is different. This cries out for leadership to be seen and heard. Maybe Mulgrew to visit the school was too much of a schlep from Staten Island. In a way I can empathize with him. For me, going to Staten Island from White Plains is too much. Do I go through Jersey or Brooklyn? But make to Mulgrew.

He just doesn't get what being a leader entails. He just doesn't understand what optics mean. He doesn't get how to schmooze. He doesn't get that for whatever reason some look to him for leadership. And it appears he only will do the right thing if there is something in it for him or if there is some sycophant involved. 

What harm would it do for Mulgrew to appear in the Bronx and show that he is there for the entire University Prep community? 

If Mulgrew can't do the obvious things, what makes you think Mulgrew can do what's right when everything is all higgely piggedly.

 I was reading Arthur Goldstein's blog with his minutes of last night's UFT executive board meeting and something caught my eye. What I read did not give me  happy feeling.

In his opening remarks Mike Mulgrew mentioned the spring break arbitration thusly (I added the bold)...

Cannot go into details, but we have made clear we must receive the value of our work. Arbitrator concerned about money. Car day not equivalent. Two for one upon retirement. We need value of 7 days work, which we did. Expecting to know something by next week.

Arbitrator concerned about money? What does this mean? Whose money? Which money? This statement is quite cryptic and can mean several things. 

1. The arbitrator is concerned that the city would have to pay out too much money and we will either get nothing, or at the very least each teacher will receive two 15% off coupons for Denny's. 

2. Mulgrew knows already that the arbitration failed and he's starting to grease the skids to blame the arbitrator. 

3. We will not get 100% of the spring break monies. Maybe like 50% or less. 

4. He's making it look bad on purpose so when if we do get total restitution he will come out looking like the white knight on the white horse.

5. We will get 7 days added to our CAR.

6. We're screwed and getting bupkus.

Something is just nit sitting right with that statement he made. A SBSB nearly octogenarian fanboi shared with me that he doesn't think we will be made whole. I really don't want to think that way. I mean, how can anyone work seven days without being compensated for their time? Oh yeah. Only teachers can. Or rather, made to.

Yeah, I want to go back. I want my routine back. I really do miss going in to school in the morning. I miss my per session. I miss working with the students. I miss my per session. I am perverse. I like getting out of bed at 5:15 in the morning and leaving early to get a parking spot. I kinda miss working for some of the brain dead principals this past year. There's a lot getting used to being at home.

But guess what Mayor DeBlasio, don't lump me in that dumb ass statement you made in the Daily News....

I have not “met a teacher yet who doesn’t want to go back, because they’re devoted to the kids and they know the kids just can’t get as good an education remotely.”

Bullshit. Bullocks. 

I believe DeBlasio that the teachers he met said the above to him. I truly do. What Deblasio fails to share with the grownups out there is that that statement came with a qualifier.

But. However. Nevertheless. Notwithstanding. Nonetheless. Though. Withal. Be that as it may. 

I can go on and on but I shan't. 

Since our mayor is completely becoming brain dead let's use one of those adverbs so how douchey mayor but learn. In fact, this can be an example of remote learning.

Let's see. Johnny, I would like to use "however" for $200.

Billy Boy, watch and learn.

You said: "blah, blah, blah" (refer to above highlighted quote).

I say: However, I am afraid to go back. I have type 2 diabetes and 56 years old. Though I would like to go back, I will not risk my life for the NYCDOE. I will risk my life for my family, and maybe if I am motivated enough or in a good mood, God and country. THOUGH I think I would risk my life sooner for either Chrissie Hynde and/or Sarah Silverman before God and country.

I do not trust the NYC DOE with my, as well as my colleagues, health and safety nor the health and safety of the students. You and Carranza fucked up. There should have been a plan in place no later than the beginning of June. One plan for reopening and one plan for remote. The summer should have been used on best practices for remote learning. Actual teachers should have been consulted. For instance, Arthur Goldstein, who wrote  a spot on piece in the Post yesterday and in fact came up with a gosh  diddly darn great idea...

Let a limited number of students in to see counselors, nurses, doctors and social workers. Let them socialize safely, which they could not do in class. If technology or home conditions are difficult, let’s give students and teachers safe, quiet space in buildings to work online.

Sounds reasonable. Why wasn't this planned for? You know the old saying, "Plan for the worst, hope for the best."

Arthur is also right. Every teachers should put in for an accommodation. Start smoking I say. Newport's are only $8 in Pennsylvania. I am sure the generics are cheaper.

How do we know the HVAC systems will be fine? How do we know masks will be available? Testing? If one person in a school comes down with COVID, does the school shut down?  Why not just IMPROVE the remote learning over the summer?

The districts in Westchester still haven't got a clue and these are much smaller district? What makes DeBlasio and Carranza think they can pull it off???

I want my son to go back to college. BUT or WITHAL, I am concerned with spending that money and he is forced home in November when he can start and stay the semester at Westchester Community College. NEVERTHELESS, I trust my son's college to be prepared and to do the right thing any day then I do over DeBlasio and Carranza.

Every teacher reading this, your life is not worth your job. I lost a dear, dear friend in 2011 because of the mayhem at IS 162 in the Bronx.

BE THAT AS IT MAY,  I am counting on, and giving the benefit of the doubt thus far,  the UFT to do the stand up thing.

Last week I stopped at Stew Leonard's in Yonkers to pick up a few things for dinner. There
was about a 30-45 minute line to get in. A few minutes after I got on the line Stew Leonard's employee shouted, "All essential workers (first responders, health care workers, etc..) can go enter." I turned and asked, "What about teachers?" She said to go on ahead.

But thanks to the this New York Times article from April 21, some might be thinking we are no appreciative of what we have, think we are complaining too much, or both.

Off course the Times has to begin the article with snark.

According to the Times, teachers... work under meticulously negotiated contracts that detail their work hours and break times, and the rules for how they engage with administrators — contracts that now seem all but irrelevant with students and teachers confined to their homes.

Uh, yeah. We do. There is a reason we do. Just like First Responders do, just like MTA workers do, just most healthcare workers do (At least in New York City owned hospitals), even nurses in private hospitals. Sanitation workers are unionized, highway workers as well. But of course the Times must make it out to seem that only the teachers are hiding behind a collectively bargained contract. 

Irrelevant? So the contract goes out the window because we are working from home? We are therefore not entitled to a 50 minute lunch? A six hour and fifty minute day? A prep? Sick days? 

Administrators must not follow rules? Mustn't supervisors in NYPD follow rules? FDNY? Any other essential workers that work under a CBA (For those that aren't aware the C in CBA stands for COLLECTIVE which is an adjective meaning "done by people acting as a group.") The UFT collectively enters into a contract with another party, the City of New York."

 But some of these teachers are working longer hours without being compensated. According to the Times...Unions in some of America’s largest school districts have called for restrictions on the number of hours and days that teachers would be required to work from home during the pandemic.

That's because some of these teachers, many in fact, are working longer hours. All the time from home while juggling taking care of their own children.

Maybe they just want to be compensated for their extra time, or what is known as OVERTIME. NYPD cops are still afforded OVERTIME, In fact the plan is if 5k cops call in sick NYPD will go to 12 hour shifts which will include OVERTIME. Does the Times have issues with other public service employees taking advantage of the fruits of OVERTIME?

Is it possible that teachers, due to our CBA also wish for relief from supervisors that break the agreed CBA, go against agreements negotiated by the UFT and the chancellor?

From yesterday's UFT Delegate Assembly (courtesy of Arthur Goldstein) during the Q&A...

Q.How much work can principals mandate, now being told to record voice over PowerPoint. Pushing us to be onscreen as much as possible. In Kindergarten.
A--If they're mandating you be live, go to operational complaint form. Chancellor not requiring it. Why are they changing things all of a sudden? Perhaps being directed. I will check what's going on in your district. If this goes to my consultation with chancellor, will be inconvenient for AP

That's just an example.

Of course the Times has this; New York City has seen perhaps the most drastic display of unions pushing back against the new expectations placed on teachers.

Yeah, because we have been shat upon for too long and we don't trust those making decisions even though the teachers of NYC put together remote learning for 1.1 million students in 3 days.  

Think it's easy for us? How does one think it is for an average 7 year old? How does one think it is for any child old whose only escape from their home is that time spent in school? How does one think it is for four school aged children under one roof with only one laptop or just an iPad or iPhone? We know. We feel it. 

We push back because we are not generally supervised by competency or even have a background in education. I'll guarantee that any cop is supervised by someone who has been a cop and has more than 3 years of service. I will also say the same that one can't become a health care professional with only 50 hours of training. And I know if I walk into McDonald's tomorrow morning that the manager has experience working for McDonald's.

But the Times went full snark with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that spring break, scheduled to begin in early April, would be canceled for schools across the state. (Many other places did the opposite, keeping or even extending their breaks.)

As was previously speculated  on these pages, and confirmed all within the last week (here, here, here,and here) Arthur Goldstein and Mike Schirtzer are running with the Unity slate for HS executive board. But that's not all. There's more exciting news!

The intrepid Crack Team has also found out that Mindy Rosier is also running on the Unity slate for the elementary executive board. What you may ask does all three have in common? Yes, they were all members of what remains of the MORE Caucus, with Arthur and Mike currently on the exec board as part of the MORE/New Action Slate.

Know what this reminds me of?  Way back in the 70's when Charlie Finley, the owner of the Oakland A's, was too cheap and stupid to keep Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, and Gene Tenance and thought that replacing them with Mitchell Paige, Wayne Gross, and Jim Tyrone would suffice.

I have no qualms nor apprehensions about the kind of job or impact that Arthur, Mike, and Mindy can and will do. Ethically they are above reproach. Do not think for one minute they are selling out. All three have said (And I know this to be true) that they will retain their independence. I am grateful that Arthur will still be there to record and share what happens during each executive board meeting, that Mike will hold Unity's feet to the proverbial fire, and that Mindy will work her ass off like no one for the rank and file morning, noon, and night.

I was planning on boycotting this year's UFT elections. I am unable to vote for Arthur and Mike, but able to for Mindy. Mindy has my vote. And seeing who New Action runs, thus far Mindy has my only vote.

The Crack Team and myself wholeheartedly endorse Arthur, Mike, and Mindy.

For those that don't know John and Mike are the Tony and Barry that I had written about last week.

The three of us went into joining MORE's steering with an idea that our positions were not to be tolerated and we saw first hand the systematic wrath incurred upon us for daring to speak up and think different.

I can't blame them for this. Both have had their characters debased and their ethics questioned. I have come to know these two men better in the last 2 months and say without a doubt that if I was starting a baseball team based on having teachers backs that both John and Mike would be in my starting lineup.

But like Arthur Goldstein had finally gotten fed up with MORE so finally have John and Mike.

This here is their opus (Bold has been added by myself).


Why We Choose to Leave MORE
By John Giambalvo and Mike Schirtzer

We became involved with teacher unionism after a few years of working in the schools as a result of our classroom and school-level experiences where we saw public school teachers and students being cheated out of the resources needed to provide them with an adequate education. Sparked by the general lack of response from our union, the United Federation of Teachers, our involvement led us to join the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), an organization that we believed would respond to concerns of UFT members by allowing them, as well as members of their school community, a space to voice concerns about our schools within the political structures of our union and the Department of Education of the City of New York. 

We joined MORE during a time when few voices within the UFT represented the needs and interests of our colleagues. 

We joined under the premise that our union had the potential to be the most powerful vehicle of change for teachers, students and families in New York City and beyond. 
We joined MORE to create a more assertive union, where member voice was the greatest priority and, when heard, would lead it to action for the entire education community. 

We joined MORE to strengthen the UFT for the betterment of the teachers, students and families we serve. We were aware that the UFT apparatus, under the almost 60 year stewardship of the Unity Caucus, had developed more than a bit of sclerosis, had not been adequately serving the needs of its members, and that that power structure needed to be challenged from the ranks. We believed MORE offered the potential to engage in that challenge.

We joined MORE and were faced with working with people with many different political backgrounds and ideologies, including some differing from our views. We made concerted efforts to function collectively with other members of MORE to improve conditions in our schools. We learned the basics of their ideologies and did our best to find middle ground. We genuinely believed we were learning to struggle together in order to improve conditions, especially for those who were affected by hurtful policies on a daily basis.

We joined MORE to prioritize making connections with teachers throughout all five boroughs; to construct and devote our work towards an agenda that would have wide appeal to a majority of members of our union who have been shut out of influence. In order to be successful MORE would have to, not only offer a way forward by leading in a new direction, but do so by being responsive and interacting with UFT members in our own schools and beyond to transform a union that operated in an absolute top-down manner.

We have been disappointed.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen that MORE has been increasingly dominated by one group with a definite pre-formed unyielding ideology. We’ve come to understand over time that these voices do not represent the needs of most of our members, or even our students or parents. MORE has devolved into an organization that uses anti-democratic and secretive methods to push the agenda of this faction and marginalize, isolate and push vocal opponents out of the caucus.

There were many opportunities for the members of MORE to analyze the results of our work in order to determine the course of the group’s direction, but it has chosen not to do so. There were meetings with varying topics, causes endorsed, social media/blog data, and the results of the 2016 UFT election which provided data on voter turnout by division and district which clearly showed a much higher turnout in the Queens high schools (36.4% compared to 12.8% in the Bronx and 14.5 in Manhattan, boroughs where key leaders of the current leadership in MORE are based.)

Queens high school voter turnout was clearly the crucial difference in winning the high school seats but admitting that would be counter to the narrative being pushed.
This turnout was mainly due to the organizing efforts of two key MORE members. (Ed Note: Details and analysis of 2016 high school elections at http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/district-by-district-breakdown-shows_3.html?m=1). 

This should have been an important lesson for MORE about the kind of activism by some more members that reaches out and resonates with rank and file teachers. Yet, these people are the very people who are being pushed out of MORE. One of these people is the chapter leader of the largest high school in Queens with 300 UFT members and an elected UFT Executive Board member.

The other was a former chapter leader of a closed school who led a valiant battle to keep his school open but who was forced to become an ATR. One of the most respected voices in the UFT for almost 30 years who developed hundreds of contacts in schools all around the city, and served for a decade on the UFT Executive Board. He too is being forced out of MORE.

Along with one of us, two of the four MORE Executive Board elected high school representatives are being pushed out of MORE. What does this mean for MORE as an organization when it feels activists with this history and stature and the overwhelming support of their colleagues don’t belong? 

Instead of revisiting different petitions we advocated for or addressing the way we have utilized our positions on the UFT Executive Board to create voice for colleagues, the small group taking control of MORE chose to purposely ignore these results, criticized us, and attempted to micro-manage us over issues like class size and the defense of ATRS and rank and file UFT members over abusive principals because this work did not fit their preordained agendas. 

Attempts to build a large, robust organization, including the creation of newsletters produced for wide distribution, planning meetings with topics related to school-based issues, like the nuts and bolts of enforcing the contract or running for chapter leader, and attempts to compete in union elections (both at the chapter level and for citywide officers), have been met with obstruction, in-fighting, frustrating layers of bureaucracy and the gradual disappearance of democratic decision making. 

All this is a direct result of the group’s lack of democracy and failure to connect with members in our schools.

Predictably, instead of growing into a member driven movement, MORE has seen its numbers dwindle to levels rivaling our earliest beginnings in 2012. Instead of examining and discussing the reasons for the shrinking of MORE, such as the inability to develop a newsletter and distribution network or even a regular handout at the UFT Delegate Assembly, the constant excuse has been that all the problems in MORE have been due to some rude emails by a few people. 

In fact, dozens of people have abandoned MORE over the years due to the rigid ideological framework imposed in MORE. Their “solution” to the crisis in MORE has been to actively move to push out even more members who do not go along with their line, many of them older and experienced in union politics, obviously a threat to their ability to win over new and inexperienced teachers who enter MORE to their ideological line. Rather than engage in discussion, including historical reference and analysis, they want to promote their own political positions, positions that are rarely open to debate.

It is especially difficult for us to remain with a group that no longer honors the principles of democracy. There was a glaring lack of due process involved in our recent suspension from the MORE listserves and the caucus’ steering committee, which just happened to remove our ability to vote on crucial decisions concerning the direction they wanted to steer MORE in. There is no provision in the by-laws from suspension from steering.

This decision began as a disagreement over political process and the tone of some emails. The suspensions were decided without either of us being present. Just four people out of nine on the committee created, ex-post facto, new rules. Since MORE is on record as opposing suspensions and calling for restorative justice for students, calls for the use of restorative justice practices in lieu of suspension in our case were voted down.

As union members, social justice activists, and New York City public school teachers, we cannot compromise the principle of due process. We must expect from ourselves the rights we demand for our co-workers and our students.

The loss of trust in the people who made these decisions will be difficult to repair. The realization that a caucus dedicated to the principles of social and restorative justice but can no longer muster enough respect for basic due process portends a future for the group that is far too troubling for us to be part of. 

It is simply not acceptable to be involved with an organization that does not hold itself to the very values of democracy upon which it is premised and for which we have both worked. 
There are many good people in and around MORE and we are proud of our past work with them. But too many priorities have changed over time, both for the group and for ourselves. We seek out the serious work of helping to build a more robust union, one that can affect policy as it improves the conditions under which we teach and our students learn. We have concluded MORE as a caucus is not capable or willing to build this movement. In order to work with rank and file UFT members and other stakeholders, we feel it’s better we separate ourselves now. We are leaving the organization and disassociate our names from it. 

We still intend to spend time learning from our from past successes and failures in future endeavors we pursue.

There is a Janus decision on the horizon, a well financed effort by corporations and interest groups to undermine unions, and a relentless effort to privatize our schools by forcing out veteran UFT members and closing schools in our poorest neighborhoods, which harms our children of color and immigrant children. It is imperative that our union fights harder than ever against these forces. 

We are dedicated to defending members unfairly under attack, ensuring our children are provided a great public education in well resourced schools, fighting for racial integration of schools, defending immigrant, African-American, Latino, Muslim, and LGBTQ union members and students. We will continue our work in our chapters, Delegate Assemblies and Executive Board meetings to educate and activate union members, defend public education, demand due process for our students and colleagues, and advance the cause of labor unions for all workers.

In Solidarity,

Mike Schirtzer: UFT Executive Board, UFT Delegate, Social Studies Teacher
John Giambalvo: Social Studies teacher, Coordinator of Student Activities

======= John Giambalvo will is completing 18 years of service teaching social studies. He teaches in a Queens high school.

Mike Schirtzer, is a member of the UFT  Executive Board and a delegate from his school. He has been teaching social studies at Leon Goldstein HS in Brooklyn for 11 years

*=========
District 71 Manhattan High Schools: 683 votes= 14.5% of total HS turnout

District 72 Bronx High Schools: 594 votes=12.6%

District 73 Brooklyn High Schools: 729 votes=15.5%

District 76 Brooklyn-Staten Island High Schools: 984 votes=20.9%

District 77 Queens High Schools: 1712 votes=36.4%

So this dipshit President Assclown, and his lackeys at the NRA, are suggesting that teachers should be armed as well as locked and loaded in case of some crazed demented male with a tiny tallywhacker decides to shoot up a school.

This is not a good idea. Please read Arthur Goldstein's take on why it is stupid. Think about it. We as teachers keep on hearing how we are no good. But, we are to be trusted with handguns and other weapons in case an active shooter comes into our school to destroy the lives of the children we keep on being told we are destroying anyway.

Law enforcement are the only ones with the training and capabilities to protect the children and take down an active shooter. Yeah, dumbass Trump says to train teachers. But law enforcement does not get trained just once, they keep on getting trained and re-trained.

My son's school district has a Harrison police officer at each school. That is who I trust. I also, God forbid, believe that if there is an active shooter in his school that his teachers will shield the students to the best of their abilities. But not all school districts and police departments can afford or have the manpower to have an office in each school.

This is not perfect, but this is what we have until more is done to limit the sales of guns and military style weapons. But in the meantime something needs to be done. The Crack Team got together and came up with some ideas that are better than arming teachers and hopefully will appeal to the Cheeto Face president and his sycophants.

Lightsabers

Yes, lightsabers. Arm all teachers with lightsabers. As Obi Wan told Luke in Star Wars Episode IV...

Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

Yes, each teacher will be assigned a light saber (color of their choice). As Rey has shown in Episodes VII and VIII one does not need to be trained in the ways of the Force to use one. And let's not forget that Finn was proficient with a lightsaber.

Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Each district will send several teachers from each school to the Vulcan Science Academy for intensive instruction on the practice of using the VNP. What's that you say? Only Vulcans have the ability to perform the VNP? I don't think so.

In Star Trek: TOS episode "Omega Glory" after Spock uses the VNP...

Kirk tells Spock "Pity you can't teach me that" (i.e. the Vulcan Nerve Pinch), and Spock replies "I have tried, Captain."

And lest we forget, Mr Data, Odo, Jean-Luc Picard (because he is way more cool than Kirk), Jonathan Archer, and the useless holographic Doctor have all used the VNP. It can be done.

General Order 24

Yes, we more Star Trek: TOS! In "A Taste of Armageddon" Captain Kirk while he and the landing party were being held hostage ordered Mr Scott to implement General Order 24, An order to destroy all life on an entire planet. But Scott was trained well. He did not want to follow in the footsteps as Captain Garth did on Antos IV. Scott had the Enterprise wipe out all power and weapons systems on EminiarVII.

Trump can commission, or use his billions, to build a star ship orbiting the earth. When an active shooter situation happens in a school the local principal can give General Order 24.

Batman Style

No, come on. Let's be real. There is no such thing as Batman. But, we can train teachers, one teacher per school, in the style of Batman.

Each summer every school district selects one teacher (of course by seniority) to travel to Bhutan and be trained by The League of Shadows and Ra's al Ghul. After an intensive 8 week session the teachers travels back to their schools and are in essence each school's Dark Knight. When an active shooter (hopefully never) situation arises that teacher can take care of the shooter Batman style.

The Crack Team worked hard at coming up with these inane ideas. Much harder than Trump and the NRA did coming up with their dumbassity. It's time to be realistic. Want to end the Active Shooter curse. Don't give them something to shoot with.

Oh, and get rid of Trump and all the blooducking NRA Republicans.

It's been some time since I took the UFT and it's "leadership" to task, but now is as good as time as any.

I was looking forward (As are all of us) to my retro pay coming up in a few weeks. Even better, I was going to get a double retro check due to me being suspended (But technically "on leave") when teachers got their first checks in October 2015.

I was told, specifically, by several within the UFT that I was to get TWO payments with the upcoming retro check. Yes, more taxes will be taken out, but a double check would be nice.

So about last week I was reading Arthur Goldstein's blog and saw something that raised an eyebrow. Those who were on leave or whatever in October 2015 will not be getting a double check.

I checked with a good person within the UFT and I received confirmation.

Then a few days later Chaz the Blogger called me up to share the news.

Then I told my wife. YIKES!

Yeah, it is true. Anyone considered on leave when the first retro checks came out in 2015 this year's check will be considered their first payment and next years the 2nd and so on and those of us affected by this inanity will have to wait until October 2021 to be made full.

According to my sources the UFT never shared this part of the agreement with the rank and file. It is deeply embedded in some super duper double secret part of the MOU.

The UFT does it to us again. Just for the f*&*ing seat at the table. Just to f*&*ing acquiesce to the f*&*ing city once again.

"NO! You can't get your retro all at once, we might bankrupt the city. There are too many UFT members. You are not entitled to retro," goes the gibberish from 52 Broadway.

BULLSHIT!!!!

It takes two parties to agree to no retro. It takes one party to cower like a scared UFT President Dunsel to give into the city this f*&*ing ridiculous, moronic retro schedule!

DC 37 has as many members if not more than the UFT and they got their retro checks in one lump sum. So did the cops, the firefighters, the sanitation workers, the shit cleaners, and everyone except the UFT thanks to President Dunsel.

Who the f*&* came up with this idea of paying us over the course of 5 years? And worse, if you are terminated, quit, or die you get nothing! Bupkus! You are then royally f*&*ed!

So come 2021 when I get that last check, my son will be starting his junior year in college, the Jets will still be without a quarterback (I'm not a Jets fan), mass murders will increase, Trump will be in a mental hospital, and the UFT offices, thanks to Janus, will be down to a 250 sq ft office storefront. Now located next to Sizzler's on Tremont Ave in the Bronx with President Dunsel sitting a high school desk.

I swear when I tell friends who are members of other unions how the UFT operates they just don't believe it. This shit can't be made up!

It is time, with Janus on the horizon, that the UFT starts to heed the wants and needs of the rank and file.

A few weeks ago I touched on, and broke down the idiocy, of Chalkbeat's latest ATR missive. In the last few days,  Chalkbeat again showed it's cluelessness as well as the DOE's official mouth piece, the NY Post. The New York Times also chimed in, but it was a little less shrill.

All of these articles came out within the last 3-4 days and I so much wished to comment on them, to break the down the BS and expose the truth. But in a way, it'll be beating a dead horse. There must have been some way I can shed light on the truth without just rehashing the reality yet again.

Arthur Goldstein today helped me unlock what I been wanting to write about for some time but never found a proper segue to put fingers to keypad and share.

Arthur wrote...

It's important to note that any teacher can be brought up on charges at any time, and that even if the charges are nonsense it's likely some minor one will be sustained. Maybe you used your phone in the school, or did something equally inconsequential. That's enough to fine you a few thousand bucks and place you into the ATR. Then you're doomed, if the Post gets its way.

This is every ATR's nightmare. Yes, other teachers have this nightmare as well, but with an ATR it is especially magnified. One thing, one mistake, one act taken out of context can at worst, have charges brought against you or at best, a letter to your file in which no matter how trivial and how much great work you do the rest of the year will bring you a U rating.

This past December, my 3rd day in my assigned school, I was bringing a 5th grade class upstairs from lunch. I had never had this class before. They had no clue who I was. There was one young man you was quite attention seeking and was quite boisterous the walk up four flights of stairs.

When we got to the class I lined the students up and asked for quiet until I would send them in. Most of the class complied as I sent them in four at a time. In the meantime this student, and for the sake of keeping his anonymity will henceforth be known of Shlomo Epstein was getting more and more obnoxious.

With him and three other students the last ones to be asked to go in the classroom not only was his obnoxious level rising, but his obnoxiousness was rubbing off on the other students. Their teacher was in the classroom and she heard and saw of my issues yet did not lift a finger to help. It was her prep. A MADE UP PREP. I was on my own.

I asked Shlomo to step off the line. I walked up to him, whispered in his ear and stepped back. I was about 12-18 inches from him when he finally complied and walked to the other side of the hall. As he walked by me he tripped over his own feet, on purpose, and then threw himself into the wall. He turned around and screamed, "WHY DID YOU THROW ME INTO THE WALL????"

Then the teacher got involved. She asked one of the students if he had seen anything and he feigned ignorance. Great. 

My heart stopped. I knew it was BS and so did he. But, and I heard this later, his mother is a para for the DOE and she sees no wrong in Shlomo. And, I heard from other teachers that he has pulled this fake thrown into the wall act in the past.

At the end of the day the AP wanted me to give a statement. Just the facts. I wanted a UFT rep there with me. Not the one in the school (She was way, way too inexperienced) but I got hold of the Bronx UFT and was told that for a statement I did not need a rep. But I did it anyway.

The AP appeared sympathetic to me, but that could have been a ruse. It seemed that the adminstration was more concerned with mom and wished to share with her what had happened when she came to pick Shlomo up.

I immediately reached out to my District 7 rep and he assured me that when and if I met with the principal he will be there to rep me.

Days went by, I hated the wait. It was about 3 weeks until I got the notice to meat with the principal. At least it seemed that OSI bounced it back to the school. But I was still nervous.

When we met with the principal I signed the waiver to be able to read the statements of the other students. There were 11 statement and every single statement except one exonerated me of throwing Shlomo into the wall. Shlomo's statement was the only one still insisting that I had.

I was fortunate. My DR knew what to do and how to handle the situation. I doubt at anytime the school's CL could've done the same. I got no letter, no nothing. The principal was quite fair to me and treated me with dignity.

I am sharing this for a few reasons. One is how quick something so inane, so baseless can ruin a teacher's career in an instant. Second, that being an ATR, especially when you first arrive at a school you are basically an island onto yourself. You have ZERO support. Nothing, nada, bupkus. You are on your own. At this school there were a few teachers I knew from over the years and this helped. But too many ATR's are left alone and vulnerable in their schools and worse they are ignored and/or chastised.

One more thing. If you go into a discipline meeting, unless you have a strong Chapter Leader, whatever you do go into any discipline meeting with you DL.

We've been offered $50,000 to go away and not be to heard from again.

As many know by now, there is a new ATR agreement bestowed upon the unsuspecting, the injured, the desperate, and the pissed done in secret by the powers that be of our wonderful union, the United Federation of Teachers (Yeah, I know I am a little late to the game in sharing).

To tell you the truth, I stopped and thought about it. That's a lot of money. Figure about $15k is taken off the top and that would leave me $35k. There is this deli or something on NY 203 in Spencertown (Columbia County) NY that used to be a general store. I have a small dream of buying this place when I retire and living up there full time. I could be another Sam Drucker. Sadly, I am 53, not eligible for a full pension until 2021 and my son graduates high school in 2019. So there goes that dream, for now.

But no one is going to take the offer unless they are thisclose to retirement or thisclose to being fed up. Want to delete the ATR pool? Offer early retirement. It's been done before.

But I have some question and/or concerns about the rest of the agreement.

Some of the highlights/lowlights:

After October 15, ATRs will be given a temporary provisional assignment to a school with a vacancy in their license area where available.

So what is it we do up until October 15? But even after October 15, here is a problem.

Say they put you provisionally in school after that date. You are a common branch teacher and you have been in the ATR pool since 2012. When do you think the last time a teacher in this situation had any true professional development? When was the last time such a teacher was trained on the latest and newest curricula? When was such a teacher trained in Danielson, or had any real meaningful feedback? 

Oh please, we will hear, "You are a teacher, that means you teach!" Well, I have a friend who is a doctor of proctology, I'm not going to see him about heart murmurs, am I? I mean, he is a DOCTOR? Using the DOE's logic he should be able to transfer is knowledge of colons and rectums to the heart.

But here is another problem. Instead of just plopping an ATR provisionally into any school, why not meet and/or interview the ATR and find out what their strengths are so they can be placed properly. Make it a win-win situation for all? How difficult can this be? 

The DOE, at its sole discretion, may choose not to assign an ATR to a temporary provisional assignment who have been penalized (as a result of a finding of guilt or by stipulation) in conjunction with §3020-a charges based on the circumstances of each case.

OK.

The DOE shall not be required to send more than one (1) ATR at a time to a school per vacancy for a temporary provisional assignment. These assignments will first be made within district and then within borough.

This is good and bad. It's good if your district is in Western Queens or Brooklyn and you live on Long Island, or the South Bronx like I do and live in the Hudson Valley. Put me in District 10 or 11. It'll chop 20-30 minutes off my commute.

But, if it all comes down to it I would much rather stay in District 7. I know the neighborhoods, I know the schools. I know the teachers. This year I have been lucky enough to know a few teachers in each school I have been at. It makes the transition easier. 

But it will affect more ATR's than it won't and this is not a fair.

It is understood that at any time after a temporary provisional assignment is made, a principal can request the removal of the ATR from this assignment and the ATR can be returned to the ATR pool and be subject to the terms and conditions of employment then applicable to ATRs pursuant to this Agreement.

This should be good. Don't like the school you are at show up wearing a dress or a pro Donald Trump shirt and boom! You go back in the pool.  

What this agreement does not mention though is for those who are still being rotated, how long will the rotations be? 

But there are other problems with this agreement, most of all the secrecy in which it was done and which James Eterno, Arthur Goldstein, Chaz, and Norm Scott  have written about.

When ATR's received the email concerning the new ATR there is a link that takes us to a online form if we have any questions (ATR's should have some fun with this form and inundate it with REAL COMMENTS, wink, wink, nudge, nudge) for the UFT.

What is perplexing is why after the genie has packed up and left the bottle is there a way to talk to the UFT about the agreement?  Why at no time did UFT leadership, re: Mulgrew and Barr take the time and play make believe and treat the ATR's as if we are retired members who live in Southeast Florida and come to us? Five borough UFT offices, five meet and greets, five question and answers, five separate days of at the very least pretending to give a shit what is on the minds of the ATR! If Mulgew was so afraid of meeting with ATR's get some tech geek to set up Survey Monkey and blast the poll out to ATR's.

I know James Eterno was working on getting ATR's recognized as a chapter and I have lost track of what the current status of that struggle is but is time to take a big step in my opinion. The fact that a few people are making the decision for about 2,000 teachers is beyond the pale and patently unethical. The ATR's should have a chapter, should have a seat(s) in the delegate assembly, and should have a seat on the executive board. The worst part is this agreement is rammed down our throats without even having a chance to vote on it!

The UFT is figuratively emasculating the ATR's by not being proactive to what we want and need. It is time that our leadership stops being reactive and try being proactive and hear what we want and need. All it will take is a little listening and a lot of empathy. How difficult can this be?

In the meantime something needs to be done. Can a complaint be filed with the National Labor Relations Board, NYS or US Department of Labor, or PERB?

Please don't tell me or any ATR that our Chapter Leaders in our schools are there for us. Many of them don't know who we are, don't care, too inexperienced, or bought. An ATR and the CL are two ships passing in the night.