First kudos to Mike Mulgrew. He knows when to talk a tough game as he did on NY1 last week. Yeah, he shows he is "there for the members," that he actually his doing something. But as usual, he folds like a cheap suit from the Johnny Carson Collection that used to be sold exclusively by Sears. 

I was driving over the Tappan Zee Bridge this afternoon when I heard word of the latest failing by Mulgrew. I shook my head and contemplated driving into the Hudson River. I thought better that I control the means of my demise rather than my union that is supposed to protect all its members in the schools and me. However, I changed my mind. I mean, who then would be able to blog about this complete and utter shirking of leadership and responsibility?

Not me. I can't do this. This plan, that I heard over WCBS 880 and later read in a personalized email sent by our leader, has so many obvious flaws and leaves so many questions unanswered. I was aghast and just speechless. The Crack Team and I have decided to ask my neighbor's 8 year old son Timmy to rebuke Mulgrew. Take it away Timmy. 

The staff of the Situation Room will double in size, making it bigger than ever before and able to handle the current surge.

Bigger doesn't mean better. How long will it take to get to the numbers that will make the Situation Room effective? What are the qualifications to be employed by the Situation Room? What is the pay? Are Situation Room employees employed by the DOE are by outside contractors? Who is in charge of the Situation Room? Are there any medical doctors employed? Consulted with? Shouldn't the UFT President Mike Mulgrew share this with the rank and file? 

The city will double in-school PCR testing in every school every week. These tests will now include both vaccinated and unvaccinated students as well as staff. The city will make another push to get parents to consent for their child to be tested regardless of vaccination status.

Big deal! Will this be testing anybody, anytime? Why test every other week? What happens if the shit hits the fan (My daddy says this all the time!)when during a week of non testing? Will teachers be allowed to be tested whenever? Will students be mandated to be tested without a parents permission?  Details please, Mike Mulgrew!

Close contacts and classmates of positive cases will now have immediate access to two at-home rapid tests that they can take to monitor themselves for the days after exposure. 

This has so many flaws that I can't believe that I, just a child of 8, can see this, but Dear Leader Mike Mulgrew can't.  

Schools reopen January 3 inn a city where their are shortages of materials and every conceivable item for teachers and students. Why should we believe that next Monday there will be over 1 million test kits available for every student and employee in DOE? 

Who and what determines a close contact? Read what Pete wrote on Sunday. What happens if there is a false negative? How does one know if there is a false negative? Are schools to rely on the honor system of parents? Can you imagine if a student tests positive and yet is asymptomatic? Is it possible that a parent will not keep the child home but rather send the child to school? What if there is a choice between work and keeping a child home? What if the parent loses the test kit? 

But I keep coming back to this being a logistics issue. The DOE can't be trusted to do jack. How can the DOE be trusted to keep its word not only on getting test kits to everyone?  And at the same time keep its word on the Situation Room and the in school testing? 

There you have it. Timmy the 8 year old is able to take apart the agreement Mulgrew agreed to with the city. Let's look at the rest of Mulgrews email. 

Thanks to all of us working together to tell the city we will not accept unsafe schools

Bullocks. We are not working together nor Mulgrew for us. Mulgrew has a flush and is folding to de Blasio, Hochul, and Adams who each are holding just a pair. Besides, how can it be us when not one working stiff teacher has been consulted? 

We, as educators, are always prepared to do our jobs.

We are, Mulgrew still isn't.

The real issue is whether the city can do its job — ensuring that ample testing is available in every school and an improved Situation Room is actually in place by next week.

Timmy addressed these issues. He knows the real deal. Mulgrew doesn't.

We will continue to work through this week to advocate for you and our school communities and will update you on all the details of the new safety program before Jan. 3.

OMG! I laughed so hard reading this that I inhaled a Cheeto and had an accident. 

 Who remembers Trixie the teacher? For those who don't remember, Trixie was the teacher that had sanitizer splashed in her eye and is teaching nuclear fission for grades K-2 without any coaching or anything from higher ups. Caught up? Good. Because the news gets nuttier. In fact so nutty, the news falls under the auspices of "This Shit Can't Be Made Up!"

Trixie teaches at the Speed Racer School. It is a K-5 school with a lot of students and teachers in the building. Whilst out caroling on Thursday with other teachers from her school Trixie found out news that made her so aghast, so upset that she puked.

For several days of last week (The days before break), an entire grade at the Speed Racer School was on quarantine. That includes the students, the teachers, the paras, and any wayward cucarachas. All students and their families, the teachers, the paras, and any wayward cucarachas were all notified. 

NOBODY ELSE IN THE SCHOOL WAS NOTIFIED!

No, I am not making this up. 

"B-b-b-ut we did contact tracing," Trixie was told.

Yes Trixie was told that. But is contact tracing 100% effective? What happens if someone doesn't remember being near someone. Or someone is in the stall going #2 and someone else is at the urinal going #1? They are both in the same bathroom. How would the those at the stall and the urinal know who is in the bathroom with them? 

How would someone remember if they were just passing someone in the hallway? Or on the stairs? Or sitting together in the auditorium? Or, outside the building walking in?

Trixie is freaking out! She has health issues to begin with. But there are loved ones at home who are seriously immune-compromised.  Yes, Trixie and her loved ones are all vaccinated as well as having had boosters. But there is nothing guaranteed in this world except death and taxes.Wait, there is one more thing that is guaranteed: Mulgrew and the UFT leading from behind and not being proactive!

I'm not giving Mulgrew or the UFT and thumbs up, kudos, or job well done for last weeks email and presentation on NY1. It's all to little too late.

As much as a loath PBA President Patrick Lynch he would have the balls to tell his members to stay home. 

Trixie shouldn't be upset with her school administration. She should be upset with the DOE, the Situation  Room and the UFT.

But, the DOE and the Situation Room is not there for the teachers well being. They are not supposed to give a damn about us. However, at the very least the UFT is, at the very least, supposed to feign interest in its members well being. 

When Trixie came and shared this story with myself and The Crack Team we sat there incredulous. Yes, none of us expected the DOE to do anything? But the silence coming from the UFT on  this quarantine has been deafening as well as mind numbing. Of course the UFT knows about this shut down! How couldn't they? Why didn't the UFT notify the members of Trixie's school? And by the UFT, we want to know why 52 Broadway was silent, not the borough office. This falls upon those downtown to make sure are mitigation is being done right, to ensure there is social distancing, mask wearing, etc.. and to inform and allay concerns of the members as well as the parents. And what happens? NOTHING! BUPKUS! STUGOTS!

A kid with head lice or strep throat a note goes home. Head lice or strep are easily treatable and cured. COVID and Omicron it's "If we don't say it out loud or if we bury our head in the sand it'll go away."

How difficult is it for the UFT to lead?

 I am so happy I heard about Stephanie Edmond's attention seeking interview on CNN after it had aired. I would've reacted like Luke Fuchs. Fortunately, I watched the video whilst on the bike at Planet Fitness. However, I did scream out, "What a fucking idiot!" 

One thing she has said (In addition to the myriad of whacky things she has blabbered) when asked by CNN's Alisyn Camerota is if she had "taught her final class," Stephanie replied...

 "I just finished a class. I still have one more"

Let's get this straight. Stephanie was being interviewed in her classroom, during her prep, while still on the clock? This is allowable? I recall back in 2012 when admins were trying to find out if I was blogging during the school day. Someone thought they could get me for stealing time. What should it be called what Stephanie did? Prep time is for PREPARING. Not for the flowing of crocodile tears on CNN. 

At :45 Stephanie claims that...

 "she has a deeply held religious objection that this goes against my faith. Betrayal of my faith in God and for that reason I decided not to (get vaccinated)"

I've been Jewish since day I was born. I can't think of anywhere in Judaism where it says thou shalt not receive COVID-19 vaccine. Let's see what Chabad has to say. One thing that stands out is...

"Assuming that vaccinating when there is a high risk of catching a disease is similar to fleeing from an epidemic, then it’s mandatory for you to do it, and others can be compelled to do so as well."

We here at SBSB would all bet our collective salaries that Setphanie's son has had all his MANDATORY vaccinations to enter school. We would also hazard to be that Stephanie does not keep kosher. She enjoys mixing meat with dairy. She doesn't honor Shabbas (As we can see from her prolific tweeting from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) She enjoys shrimp on the barbie and doesn't have separate plates and stove for Passover. In other words, Stephanie picks and chooses what she wants to follow in Judaism as a matter of convenience when it suits her needs. 

The Crack Team has since learned that Stephanie did put in for a religious objection accommodation to get vaccinated and was shot down. It is being appealed and it is pretty safe to say that she'll be shot down again. 

Growing up privileged in Fairfield County and attending an exclusive boarding school Stephanie has probably experienced entitlement. That daddy has always given to her what she wants when she wants it. That is not how the real world works. 

Camerota finally asks at 1:34 what we here at SBSB have been asking, "Where in Judaism does it say that you can't be vaccinated?" 

Stephanie's reply...

"Judaism is not a monolith, like all religions(WTF?) I'm a history teacher. Even a basic look at history will show us that people of the same religious fate do not always agree."

Yes, that is true. I agree. Yes, there are many edicts, laws from all religions that its adherents don't follow.  But again, there is nothing in Jewish law against vaccine or MANDATED VACCINES!

"And while in Judaism there is no specific tenant"

And you wonder why she got denied her accommodation. SHE JUST ADMITTED SHE'S FULL OF SHIT!

"We can look to it (Judaism) for guidance."

Again, there is nothing in Judaism about Vaccines!!!!!!

"This is the decision I have come to between me and God"

Puke!

She starts to shed the crocodile tears about leaving. Blah, blah, she's crying about leaving her students. Well, if her students were so important she would sacrifice her well being for them. She would have risked everything for her students. But she hasn't. In fact one member of The Crack Team believes that she is vaxxed. And I believe that member of The Crack Team is correct.

Why? She wants to be a martyr. She is building her brand. She considers herself an "educelebrity." She does not care about her students, her school, nor the community. Whatever she can do to promote herself is all that matters.

To use Judaism as a crutch and worse to misinterpret what Jewish law says is just vile. She is the stereotype of Jews that got 6 million of us slaughtered.  I wish I could denounce my Judaism. I am far from a perfect Jew but I try. I don't use it as a crutch or use it for ill gotten means. 

I feel so filthy right now having listened to this woman that I need to find myself a Mikveh. 

But seriously. Stephanie. Please. Seek help.

 

 Where has Stephanie Edmonds been? When we last saw Stephanie was April and I exposed her on You Tube. Then she went pfft. Like a fart into the wind. 

Both of her Twitter accounts have been deactivated. Her Facebook page as well as her Instagram page
have vanished. Heck, her You Tube channel has had no new content since April. Nowhere was Stephanie to be found on any social media or for that matter, any media whatsoever. Heck, Stephanie isn't building her brand. Remember, she labeled her self an "educelebrity."

Many have speculated that after my historic smack down of her back in April she turned tail and ran with her tail between her legs. Maybe. What would we do without Stephanie? 

Well, rest assured, she resurfaced this week. It makes sense. Where there is a camera or a microphone, Stephanie will find it. Oh, and of course, she would come across like a total idiot.

Earlier this week CBS 2 News found Stephanie, or should we say Stephanie found them, and she blabbered away (Link to Story. Link to Video). 

Stephanie, I am sad to report, is leaving the DOE. Read:

This is the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life, but I feel like it’s an important one,” said Bronx history teacher Stephanie Edmonds.

Edmonds says she fought hard for schools to reopen last year, so students could get a better education. But now, she’ll have to say goodbye to those she’s mentored the past six years.

“I will not be coerced into inserting something into my body that does not fall in line with my religious faith,” Edmonds said.

Saddest decision? She spent last year HAMMERING teachers who chose to teach remotely because they, we, had underlying health conditions! She claimed we abandoned out students and SHE now decides to change her tune and abandons her students? She's so full of shit. 

Remember this tweet...? 

Inserting something into her body that does not fall into line with her religious faith? What faith? She's fucking Jewish. There is nowhere in the Talmud, the Torah, or anywhere where it says that vaccines are forbidden. Orthodox rabbis consider vaccinations a moral obligation. 

One wonders how much she takes her religion seriously if she had got pregnant while not married. Don't most religions have issues with having something inserted into oneself if not married? 

Hey, but she can do what she wants to do. It's her right. As one super SBSB groupie said, "It's Stephanie's right to be an idiot." Yes it is her right, and she does it so easily. 

But what does Stephanie care? Daddy makes shit loads of money. Stephanie can always return home to Connecticut's Gold Coast for shelter, for food, for money. Daddy will help with the rent, the car, the bills. Mommy will help with the child rearing. Stephanie is a child of privilege. But good riddance to her. Maybe she'll drop that fake Bronx accent and go with something more suited for the Gold Coast. But like in the Bronx where the students saw through her facade the Goyem will never accept her and see though her as well. 

Stephanie is the ultimate schlimazel.