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 have the years and the age to retire. I just owe some money for my first few years that I hadn't paid into TRS and wanted to get some clarification.

Back in the good old days I was able to dial the Bronx UFT and either a) get through to someone at the switchboard, or b) call the pension people directly. Not anymore. The UFT has a new way to avoid your calls. It's non award winning concierge service. 

On October 26 I decided to make place the phone call to the Bronx UFT. I got the concierge service and promptly placed on hold.

I placed the phone call while on the Deegan at Fordham Rd. No one picked up until I was up on Elmsford where you get onto I-287 from the Thruway. I was then told that I would hear back from someone within 48 hours. It took a week. I got a date for a consultation. November 17. In person. In the Bronx. 

I'm excited and scared at the same time.

As much as I can’t stand the DOE and what it’s done to me, I’m looking at retirement with trepidation. It’s like I’m losing my identity. For 25 years this is all I have known and been. It's not that I got my identity from being a teacher, but this all I have known for 25 years. My year doesn't go from January to December, it goes from September to June.

I feel I need to decompress for at least a year after I retire from the DOE. It's the same feeling I had during my 3020a hearings. After the hearing I needed down time and stopped at IHop each night. I will need more than IHop.

My firsts choice to move to some cabin in the Adirondacks or the Catskills where my nearest neighbor is 5 miles away. I would live in this cabin for a year completely off the grid. I will forage and hunt for my food each day and chop wood for fire and heat. I will grow my hair long and have a manly beard. But this is just a fantasy.

My other dream is to live in Corning for a year or two (I lived there for about 6 months in 1986. In fact I nearly caused an international incident there. I must share one day). Kinda like reliving my youth, but this time as a so called "responsible" and "mature" adult. I figure I can sock my pension away and sell cars to
pay my bills. I've always wanted to sell cars. Or sell anything. Maybe I could be a greeter in Walmart. 

If Corning doesn't pan out there is always Binghamton or Hudson to live in. I really like both towns. But selling cars. 

I can't do the Florida thing. One more retired Jew from New York moving to Florida has become a stereotype. I used to ask my dad about why he hadn't retired to Florida. His answer was, "Florida is death's waiting room." Yeah a waiting room with the 4:30 early bird special.

I doubt I will retire anytime soon. My son is a junior in college, and he has another year to go. Also, I am not retiring without having another gig lined up. Part of me wants to write the book the late, great, Stu Schmelz and I discussed writing: "We Can't Make This Shit Up!" Just like Sparky Lyle and Graig Nettles had in their last years with the Yankees I can as well in my last year with the DOE. 

Something hit me as I was writing this. I'm sure there will be people I still communicate with and see. I don't think I will wither away in the night. But then there are people I was close to but will never ever see again due to distance or whatever reason. Sad.

Let's see what happens and what I hear on the 17th. Maybe I will hit mega millions.

In this corner we have remote teachers. In the other corner we have in person teachers. And in the center of the ring we have the New York Post stirring the shit pot and and pitting teachers against one another. 

This story, which myself and The Crack team believe was planted by the DOE starts off, not with a teacher kvetching, but rather a DOE official. Chances are it's some ass kissing,
narcissistic,  incompetent (And if male has some serious physical Freudian shortcomings) administrator with serious people issues.

 Article starts off....

“Teachers who work in-person are all raging right now,” one DOE official said. 

“They’re all pissed because they feel they’re getting the short end of the stick in here everyday getting exposed while people are sitting home in their jammies,” the staffer seethed. 

“I just feel they should be forced to come back [after getting the vaccine]. Right now there’s many people before them that are in direct exposure that should’ve been entitled to receive the vaccine first.”

Who says they are raging? Where is this DOE official getting this from?  If this source is an administrator, are they quoting some pimply face, runny nose newbie teacher whining that they can't boogie down in Manhattan anymore? 

But to say we are all in our jammies? How gauche! In fact, how unoriginal. Claim we're all in our underwear. At least lie that way. But seriously folks. We get up, we get dressed. We eat breakfast. We go to work. My dad worked from home from the time I was in 3rd grade. Not once did was he at his desk or on his phone in his jammies. 

How do you know that there aren't remote teachers that want to come back to work? Duh. But it won't happen as fast as some would like. From what I have read (And I could be wrong) it could be 3-4 weeks before before one is at full immunity. And that's after the second shot! Lest we forget 4 weeks go by between shots. That goes for everyone. 

One Brooklyn teacher said the request to “wait for further guidance” hasn’t stopped remote workers from signing up for the booster. 

“Remote people are already scheduling their appointments, they had the luxury of being home and were able to refresh [the page] and find appointments today,” 

Yeah, it hasn't stopped remote teachers, and it shouldn't have stopped unnamed Brooklyn teacher. As I stated on Sunday a SBSB groupie shared a link with me Saturday night around 9:30. Unnamed Brooklyn teacher had the same opportunity. Unnamed Brooklyn teacher had all day Sunday to sign up. Did unnamed Brooklyn teacher sign up? Nope. 

You want something bad enough you do it. In 2007 my then 6 year old son wanted a Wii for Christmas. I got up at 4 AM and got to Target by 4:45. I wanted to get it bad enough for him. See how it's done? 

The same unnamed Brooklyn teacher continued to whine... “Remote people are already scheduling their appointments, they had the luxury of being home and were able to refresh [the page] and find appointments today,” the teacher, who works in-person, griped to The Post. 

Again, where were you on Saturday night and ALL DAY SUNDAY? There is no one you could have entrusted to sign up for you? This couldn't be done on your lunch? Prep? Whilst on the commode? Excuses and whining is all this unnamed Brooklyn teacher can do.

And lastly, an administrator came up with the whine of the day:

“Wish I could give my spot to my mom who’s [in her 70s],” the administrator said, calling the vaccination system “not organized.”

My 79 year old step mother signed up Sunday and received shot on Monday morning. Enough said. 

The DOE said “employees working remotely have been directed to wait for further guidance.”

We're not waiting for further guidance. Why? We suffer from heart disease, lung disease, cancer, diabetes, etc... If we don't have suffer from these, then a loved one we live with suffers from these ailments. We are not doing anything wrong, illegal, or unethical. We are following CDC guidelines which the UFT and the DOE agree upon. For those whining about teachers teaching remotely, do you really think it is that easy? Walk a mile in our shoes before you complain. Oh, and I don't wear my jammies but I usually walk around in socks. Last week I stepped in a big wet hairball deposited by Sparkles.  

And let me add. Any teacher who that is in a building and does have one of the CDC comorbidities, you have the right to go ahead of any able bodied teacher as well.

But in retrospect I think it was the DOE all along that wants the teachers in buildings to get vaccine and the UFT went along with it. Sound familiar? Why spend time and medicine on the sick? Just separate the teachers as we get off the 4 train. Those that can work go to the right, those that can't go to the ovens. 

I have no intention of becoming a statistic. Nor should anyone become a statistic. Whether able bodied or with a susceptibility. I don't want to wind up on this list nor do I want to see any teachers on it as well. I know people on this list. My dear friend Chaz is on this list, and I miss him terribly. 

If you are a remote teacher, or a teacher in a school that is vulnerable, you have every right to get a shot NOW. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones. You are no good to them dead. I was raised to believe that we help our most needy and most vulnerable ahead of ourselves. Doesn't the time call for this? 

This Post article was clearly planted by the DOE to sow division amongst teachers and to discourage remote teachers to get vaccinated soon. Perhaps the DOE is wished us to die off? 

There is enough crap on Twitter and social media, by NYC teachers with fake Bronx accents stabbing remote teachers in the back with wacky theories and what not. 

Oh, it'll help if the UFT gets involved in this. Maybe at tomorrow's DA?

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

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

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

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

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

His response started off well...

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

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

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

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

We get thousands of Us because people had fights with admin

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

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

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

May finish by early January

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WOW! It has been just about 6 weeks since my last blog post.

Imagine if you will (From the files of, "This Shit Can't be Made up!")...

A brand new teacher. In fact a second career if you will. You are in your mid 30's, married about 18 months, and a baby on the way. Heck, you coach high school hockey in your spare time, life is perfect right now.

You start at a school that is just above being the boil on the hairy ass of the South Bronx. Some good veteran teachers are around to show you the ropes, tell you how it is (And how it will be). You see that you have entered bizarro world, you see shit they don't imagine or even tell you that can happen in your teacher school but you persevere.

You're stoic. You have no choice to be.

But gosh diddly darn the kiddies sure do like you. Even administration likes you (Even the AP with the uni-brow). But you are hearing whispers from your colleagues.

"When Open Market comes get the frig out of this school." "Go to Westchester."  Stuff like that.

A few days before Christmas vacation and you are looking forward to being a daddy any day. You're busting with pride. Chest is puffed out. The best Christmas present in your life is coming nothing or no one can ruin this feeling you have.

That is except the DOE.

BOOM! You are sent to the Rubber Room post haste. WHY? You have no fucking idea except things you can only piece together in your mind.

Five and a half months in the Rubber Room. For what? Why? Because some parent called 311 with a false complaint. Made up. Bogus. Bullshit.

Why did it take 5 1/2 fucking months to clear this teacher? This couldn't be done in a week? People accused of murder get cleared in less time. What is the point of dragging this out? In fact it took another month from the when official word came that this teacher was cleared to the time he came back to his school.

Praise be to baby Moses that the administration was on his side. It could have been a lot worse for this teacher. What are the repercussions for the parent that took their tongue and told a lie?

The teacher shared with The Crack Team his feelings that he wrote when he returned. We are using it with his permission.

Staff was very pleased and happy to see me. Administration was so apologetic and real of how everything went down, disgusted at the fact DOE had me sitting there for so long not knowing anything about what the accusation was. 

They finally told me first thing and it was mind blowing that someone out there can actually make up a lie and get away with it , knowing nothing will happen to them. The fact that they can ruin someone's emotion, integrity and break an individual down is ok with them. 

Teaching my first class at 10 am, I wasn't the same teacher I was when I first entered 5 months ago.  My enthusiasm, courage and professionalism has completely drained and I don't know how long this will take to diminish. It's a horrible emotional feeling one can feel while going through this nightmare. I'm still not right. 

So to all of you, fight with everything you got, because what they are doing to us professionals is just not right. Nothing will ever be heard unless we take a step forward and report this. Unfortunately with me there is no physical evidence I have against this accusation other than my emotional well being. Keep the faith and do not let them get over on you. This is something I will never ever forget. Thank you for guiding me through this hard time and being there for me when I needed it the most. Don't give in, stand your ground and give them hell.

There you go NYCDOE. You taught this teacher in 5 months what it takes most of us a few years to realize. BRAVO!

The DOE is still at it.

Whimsically destroying lives and careers.

It doesn't matter if you are about to become a parent for the first time ever. "Fuck that shit!," the DOE thinks. You are about to experience the birth of a person you have partaken in giving life to. So what if you have to worry how you are going  to take care of that baby.

You are the sole person with the health coverage, and a child is being born? Again the DOE says "Fuck that shit!," as you ponder if you and the baby will be covered for the birth and for the pediatrician visits in the future.

You gave up your career, rolled up your sleeves and not only earned a bachelor's degree but a masters as well. What do we hear from the DOE? "Fuck that shit!"

Walked into some "Kafkaseque" that in all your time of student teaching you couldn't even imagine? Well to the DOE that is "tough shit!"

As the wheels of the bus trample over you once, twice, three times and more? That DOE driver behind the wheel of the bus says, "Deal with the fucking tire tracks."

That new car you wanted? Yeah, it was supposed to be an SUV, but you went for practicality and that suburban look as you recently dropped bucks on a minivan. "Fuck you," will say  the DOE buyer when you sell it at a loss.

The white house with the white picket fence that is a dead ringer for the house that Wally and Beaver lived in that you planned on?  "Ain't going to fucking happen," says the DOE realtor.

"Hey, where is my mentor?" you ask. "Mentor? You don't need no fucking mentors," the DOE blabbers. "We're the DOE and we own your ass. We have the power to ruin your life at the snap of a finger."

This is where you have to tell them to fuck themselves and plant your feet firmly in the ground. It seems dark. It seems hopeless. But stay strong.

Remember, "fuck them!"

I've Been laying low. Having to deal with Dr Evil and Mini-Me.

So, what's new? Tell you what's new from me. The DOE stole money from me, and it seems others as well. Not once but twice.

My son had saved up money to buy a car over the last six months. I promised him that I would kick in some cash towards the purchase but it would have to wait until the retro came in. When it came in, it was a real kick to the groin...





RESTR SETTL PR is probably "restructured settlement". But what is the PR?

Yeah, I am out $727.33. Why? A bit of a backstory first. I was under suspension when my the retro was dispersed. Last year when I got my first retro almost everyone else was getting there second retro check. As I was told, the checks are divided by 1/8, 1/7, and so on, or something like that. Anyway, the amount I received last year was equivalent to if it had been my second (Like everyone else) retro check. The amount I was blessed with this year is equivalent to what I would receive (which should have been my first) in 2015, which would have been less than last year's check. Therefore, last year I received more than I should have. So due to some bookkeeping method I am out over seven hundred dollars.

But if I received in the proper ordinal order...1st, 2nd, and so on, I never should have been out these monies. But looking at it with my non-mathematician mind, shouldn't the checks have the same total amount in whatever order they were dispersed? This seems like it is straight out of Abbott and Costello.

And guess what? I am not the only one this has happened to! I have heard from many teachers that feel that they have been robbed and want their money back. Like now!

My question is how do I, or those in the same predicament as I know that the numbers, or rather, the math is correct with what we are owed? Or for that matter what anyone is owed? Why has there not been something on the payroll portal a clear and concise accounting for each teacher, how much total money they are owed and the amount of each year's payout? This would solve so many problems and help teachers to plan accordingly.

Though the UFT has been quite helpful to me and has been on top of it, I've been cautioned that though I might get the seven hundred dollars back there is a chance that I might have it again deducted down the road.

That is why I filed a payroll grievance and hopefully I will not only get my money back but if and when it goes to arbitration it can be ruled that there will be no further deductions. Not to mention the hope, there will be accountability on the decision and the logic behind why I lost this money but a full accounting on how my retro is decided.

Fortunately, my son has a car. But not to soon after we had purchased the car, we learned that he needs a passenger side axle along with an inner tied rod.

The parts won't cost me much. I delivered auto parts during my suspension and can by the parts at the same price the garages pay (The mark up is obscene!). As for the labor, I know some good street mechanics in the Bronx and have a garage in White Plains that'll do the job for $200 (Gustavo's on Ferris Ave in White Plains---Shameless plug!).

"Not to worry," I told my son, "this can be fixed for on November 1 I shall be receiving yet another blessing from the DOE, my retro per session check."

"Oh blessed be Mayor de Blasio and Mike Mulgrew," my son said whilst smiling.

November 1 came. So did November 2. November 3. November 4. Nothing, nothing, and more nothing.

For some reason my per session retro is "not showing in the system." Why did this happen? No one knows. However, there is good news. I have been added to the list "of people who need to be paid." Let's see here. The definition of people is...

plural : human beings making up a group or assembly or linked by a common interest

The main takeaway from this definition is that people is plural. So ipso facto many a person (meaning many people) has yet to receive their retro per session.

I even called per session pay roll on Thursday. Iouldn't get an answer. What a surprise.

This is really from the files of "You Can't Make This Shit Up!" I'm out over $800. I am sure there are those that are worse off. But there is no transparency. No communication. No nothing.  

But UFT members have been in the dark since 2014 when this contract was ratified and we were told it will take until 2020 (And myself and others in 2021) to be made financially whole again. I want my money.  Maybe I will have it in time for Hanukkah. In 2020. 

Some news came into the SBSB newsroom that is so disturbing it made several members of The
Crack Team physically sick and they spent most of the day in the SBSB vomitorium.

We here at SBSB believe that any UFT member should reach out and do all they can to help other UFT members. But when a UFT member decides to play God, or some other deity, we shall take umbrage.

After the blog post of July 9, 2015, entitled, "Why I Can't Support UFT Solidarity" many emails came in to the SBSB newsroom in shock about one passage regarding the leader;

Good evening Principal Hernandez,

     I was reading the below article and couldn't help but wonder who the teacher you had concerns about was. Chancellor Fariña recommended you "observe them many, more times a day."

    I'm curious in not only their identity, but if they are probationary/non tenured or veteran? Even more important to me is what support have they been given in the last year, two years, three years etc.

     I will be making a Freedom of Information Law request today to obtain documentation on the support this teacher was given. Please expect communication from the Records Office soon.  I don't agree with the chancellor's "counseling" methods and intend to follow up on the number of observations this teacher has from now until the end of school in June.

 The emails all expressed indignation and outrage and many wondered how a boss (Yes, lower case b) could have been so irresponsible and think of only himself. Trust us, the above is nothing compared to what The Crack Team came across. Francesco Portelos Francesco Portelos Francesco Portelos

As we know under the new contract ATR's who fail to show for 2 interviews are will be treated as if they voluntarily resigned their employment. Francesco Portelos Francesco Portelos Francesco

The Crack Team, through several well placed and above reproach sources, has found out of one ATR who missed both interviews and was deemed having resigned. Francesco Portelos Francesco Portelos

That is sad. From what The Crack Team has found out since is that there was a legitimate mix up and miscommunication on the part of the ATR and the UFT was in the process of negotiating with the DOE to come to a favorable conclusion. The fact that the DOE was amenable to this says a lot about not only the UFT finally reaching out for a member, but for the DOE to compromise and show a human face. Things were going to be worked out and the ATR would have been back on payroll.

That is until there was unsolicited interference on behalf of the ATR. Francesco Portelos Francesco Portelos 

According to sources, someone playing God, decided to stick his nose in this issue and contacted the DOE. This "deity" tried to intimidate the DOE on behalf of this ATR, even though this ATR was never asked for the assistance of a "deity" nor did this ATR even know who the "deity" is.

This act by the "deity" so turned off, and this is according to several sources, the DOE, that the DOE (From what has been ascertained) decided to take away the offer made to the ATR and leave the ATR without a job. The "deity" was left with a job and with it's hands clean so to speak.

One must ask one this. Is this the kind of "deity" we need? What would a real Boss (Yes, upper case B) do, such as Bruce Springsteen or George Steinbrenner? How could someone purport to be such a leader and/or boss (Yes, lower case b) and do such a damaging act? Francesco Portelos

Surely, one should ask themselves who was this "deity"putting first? The "deity's"ego or the needs of the ATR. One should think about this question and refer to the two previous blog posts to help them come a rational conclusion.

And this "deity" needs to look in the mirror and think real hard about why the perception that is out there is there. And perhaps, just perhaps, think what would God do and what the "deity" must do now.

I smoke. I know I shouldn't but I do. Maybe 10 cigs a day and I don't buy packs. I just buy loosies for if I have a whole pack with me I'll wind up smoking that pack.

I want to quit and know that I will be more or less stress free for the next 6 months I think this is as good as time as ever.
So why am I sharing this? Because one of the 19 charges against me was that I had been smoking a cigarette, outside, away from the school during that 5 minute lull we all have between the time we dismiss the students and when we have to start PD.

On December 12, 2012 As I was smoking, as per chancellor's regulation C-810 that was in effect at the time and written on May 3, 2005 (I shall paste only what pertains to me);

Smoking is prohibited on all school grounds and other DOE outdoor facilities, including playing fields, school yards, entrances and exits to buildings, parking lots, and the like.

Fine, no problem. However, DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx decided to add her own codicil to a Chancellor's Regulation. There was to be no smoking on the entire block the PS 154 was on. From East 135th between Willis and Alexander Avenues and on Willis up to 139th St and Alexander to East 137th St.

The spot I was smoking can be seen here (Click to enlarge);
I indicated my spot by marking it with "ME." The main entrance is where you see that white truck and by that tree that is indicated as where I was is a city park, not any park or property that belongs to the school.

In the disciplinary proceeding that followed several days later I asked how she can supersede a Chancellor's Regulation. DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx responded that she had spoke to someone at legal and they said it was OK. When asked the name of the person DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx responded, "I don't remember." Apparently her favorite words.

Yes, DR Alison Coviello's, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx edict was in the 2012-2013 Staff Manifesto about where to smoke but as we shall soon see, not everyone has to follow the edicts from the burning bush.

DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx did inform me that I was free to smoke directly across the street from the school however illogical as it would seem for in Chancellor's Reg C-810 it did say that children should not see their teachers smoke.

I was written up for this. I had never ever smoked where I was not supposed to, I always followed C-810, and never was disciplined for this. Why I couldn't get a counseling memo is beyond belief but if I was part of the inner circle, the few, the proud, the ignorant, perhaps, well not perhaps, nothing would have come of this.

As we ended the meeting I inquired if the cars are only allowed to be parked in spaces in the lot and not along the wall. DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx said yes as one can read in the school manifesto. I inquired as to why one of her Chosen, Gladys Rabinowitz has been parking her car there for weeks now. It is not as if DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx was not aware of this. DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx did one period of lunch duty and when she escorted the students to playground from the cafeteria she had no choice but to walk by Ms Rabinowitz's car.
This photo was taken just the next day or two days later. For the rest of the month the car was still there. Parked everyday violating the terms of the school manifesto.


When we came back after the break what was there to see? The car. Here is the car on January 14, a full month later;
And guess what? It was there at least through January 28.

Again, why do I get a disciplinary letter and the Nissan stays?

When we get to the hearing the defense we use is that I was following Chancellors Regulation's to the T. The smoking on entire block was never used by the DOE, but that I was too close to the school. But that was contradictory to C-810.

An updated C-810 came out on November 29, 2012. Which states (Click to enlarge);


In the hearing they now were nailing me that I was within 100 feet of the building as opposed to the May 2005 Reg which said not near entrances or exits. I was not near the playground, nor was I near the parking lot. I was not smoking near an entrance or an exit. I was complying.

And guess what? DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx never informed the staff of this change in Regs!!! Is that not part of her job?

Here is what the arbitrator had to say;
How am I, or any other teacher, supposed to know when a new Chancellor's Reg comes out? Does this not fall to the purview of a school leader to do so? Even using the arbitrator's convoluted logic that I was still in violation of the previous C-810 where is he getting being on the sidewalk is the same as being in the parking lot or the school grounds? These arbitrators pick and choose what they want to believe and try to find some distorted rationalization to fit with their perverted logic.

Again, if my name was Joe Blow or I was feminine, I don't get written up for this. No way no how. This was all part of the DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx method and conspiracy to do me in. She had one set of rules for her inner circle, her crowd, her boot lickers and another set of rules for those she hates.

Gladys Rabinowitz by being a favorite, a toady flouts the rules only because it curries favor, or has the opportunity to curry favor. DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx know how to divide and conquer the staff of a school.


Oh, one more thing. I know what I did wrong, in retrospect I should not. BUT, what became of this incident was not warranted. A true leader doesn't need to use the hammer all the time.

On May 6, 2015 I shared on these pages about my arbitration hearing of May 5, 2015 battling the city
over $76.12 owed me by the DOE.

Some quick background. September 3, 2013, the first day back, was the day I was served 3020-a papers. I had already sat though about 2 hours and 15 minutes of PD that day when I was summoned to the office. There waiting for me was a process server and two of the biggest and meanest looking school safety agents I had ever seen.

I was barely allowed to get my stuff, speak to my colleague who had given me a ride, and was shown the door rather quickly. I was in shock and embarrassed.

As explained on May 6, I never made it down to the Rubber Room Intake Center on Chambers St for various reasons. But no matter what, I was in the school and working for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The DOE argued that I am not entitled to the pay of being at my school for that time because I failed to go to my next assignment. They feel that since I did not go, I do not get paid for anything.

The UFT argued that the DOE's argument was nowhere to be found in the contract and they cited Articles 3, 6, 20 and Appendix A of the contract.

Under testimony for the DOE it was shared that if I had only called the school I would have been given money for the subway. Wonder why that wasn't shared during the Step II hearing over a year ago.

But no matter what, it was never denied that I was in the building participating in PD and was there for about 2 1/2 hours. With that as a fact and being able to cite the contract we all thought it was quite winnable.

It wasn't. We lost.

The arbitrator found my story so fantastical that he denied me my $76.12. He said that since I had a cell phone I could have called someone. Yes, as reported before my ride has yet to enter the 21st Century and did not have mobile technology as of 2015 and the only other person I could have called (My wife) was 25 miles away without a car. Heck, the arbitrator never even asked me why I hadn't called anyone.

This was a non-precedent setting hearing. The DOE spent more money defending this than it would have cost to pay me the money. Heck, I would have even accepted a ticket for the then upcoming Who concert at the Nassau Coliseum.

I really wish I had the ability to make this stuff up. I just can't.

For those who do not know there is an ATR support page on Facebook known as the ATR Alliance (It is a closed group and you must request to join). If you are an ATR I suggest you sign up and get to know some of those in the same boat.

One thing I myself have noticed over the year and a half of being rubberized is that most of those I have served time with are outliers. Heck, not even just from the Rubber Room, those I call some of my dearest friends and confidants in across the DOE are outliers and proudly so.

These people are smart, dedicated, demanding, independent, and worse to many administrators, honest. But instead of being seen in a positive light by our colleagues we are seen as something that must be rid of. Something that must be shunned. Something that must be ignored. Something that is berated behind our backs. Something that must be stopped at all costs. Notice the something is used instead of someone. These people looking down their noses and from behind our backs do not see "someONE," they see "someTHING."

Some people only feel good in being part of the problem and part of the mob. The lack of independent thought and independent guidance is what leads these people to be part of this mob mentality amongst adults in our schools. Hold your head above the crowd and see how fast you are taken down.

So I was reading this posting on the ATR FB page about bullies in the work place. We have all had our share of those in the DOE, some more than others. Those that turn their backs to you. Those that are your "pals" to your face yet would not think for a second to do you in. Those that are so bereft of any ethics or morals that they will just shove a knife in your back in a heartbeat.

But the worst are those that you genuinely have gone to bat for and when you need them to step up to the plate for you they run away feigning they ever knew you or were close to you. Yeah, really. Those are the worse. Those are the ones who don't wish to ruin their cred with the correct school clique.

But back to this posting. It really hits home for me. It is a witch hunt out there. What makes it worse is that we expect it to come from administrators, we don't expect it to come from those who we consider friends and colleagues.

I'm re-posting the blog post and  juxtaposing it with lyrics from 1981's "Witch Hunt (Part III of the Fear Trilogy)" off of "Moving Pictures" by the band Rush. Seems so appropriate.

The night is black
Without a moon
The air is thick and still
The vigilantes gather on
The lonely torch lit hill

What Is Mobbing? - The office disease

The hallmark of mobbing behavior is an initial unresolved conflict that is preventing the targeted person from accomplishing his or her job in the most effective way.

The targeted person tries with good intent to resolve the situation in a constructive way, never realizing that the people he or she is dealing with have already decided to get rid of him or her, which is "revealed in attacks of various sorts: humiliation, ridicule, stigmatization, ostracism, exclusion and isolation.".

Features distorted in the flickering light
The faces are twisted and grotesque
Silent and stern in the sweltering night
The mob moves like demons possessed
Quiet in conscience, calm in their right
Confident their ways are best

This leads the targeted person to suffer "self-doubt," "…confusion, tension, anger and depression." Id. These unresolved conflicts intensify and are magnified until the targeted person is suffering severe emotional distress. The more the targeted person attempts to find recourse the more those who are doing the mobbing create reasons why the issue cannot be resolved. Because those doing the mobbing have no intention of resolving the conflict, the conflict escalates until it is virtually unmanageable.

The targeted person becomes very ill or depressed, work suffers and it is only a matter of time before the targeted person is terminated, resigns or retires. The expulsion of the targeted person was predetermined by those doing the mobbing from the very start and there was nothing the targeted person could have done to resolve the issue (therein lies the "crazy-making").

People new to handling power, and who are insecure and incompetent when it comes to wielding it, will apparently target the talented and dedicated for mobbing. Learn to spot and stop it whenever it rears its ugly head.

The righteous rise
With burning eyes
Of hatred and ill-will
Madmen fed on fear and lies
To beat and burn and kill

Checklist of mobbing indicators

Sociologist Kenneth Westhues devised the following list of mobbing indicators, with indicator number 12 probably being the most important:

- By standard criteria of job performance, the target is at least average, probably above average.
- Rumors and gossip circulate about the target's misdeeds: "Did you hear what she did last week?"
- The target is not invited to meetings or voted onto committees, is excluded or excludes self.
- Collective focus on a critical incident that "shows what kind of man he really is".
- Shared conviction that the target needs some kind of formal punishment, "to be taught a lesson".
- Unusual timing of the decision to punish, e.g., apart from the annual performance review.
- Emotion-laden, defamatory rhetoric about the target in oral and written communications.
- Formal expressions of collective negative sentiment toward the target, e.g., a vote of censure, signatures on a petition, meeting to discuss what to do about the target.
- High value on secrecy, confidentiality, and collegial solidarity among the mobbers.
- Loss of diversity of argument, so that it becomes dangerous to "speak up for" or defend the target.
- The adding up of the target's real or imagined venial sins to make a mortal sin that cries for action.
- The target is seen as personally abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities; stigmatizing, exclusionary labels are applied.
- Disregard of established procedures, as mobbers take matters into their own hands.
- Resistance to independent, outside review of sanctions imposed on the target.
- Outraged response to any appeals for outside help the target may make.
- Mobbers' fear of violence from target, target’s fear of violence from mobbers, or both.

They say there are strangers who threaten us
In our immigrants and infidels
They say there is strangeness too dangerous
In our theaters and bookstore shelves
That those who know what's best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves

Psychological and health effects to the victim of mobbing in the workplace
Victims of workplace mobbing frequently suffer from: adjustment disorders, somatic symptoms (e.g., headaches or irritable bowel syndrome), Post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression.

In mobbing targets with PTSD, Leymann notes that the "mental effects were fully comparable with PTSD from war or prison camp experiences. Some patients may develop alcoholism or other substance abuse disorders. Family relationships routinely suffer. Some targets may even develop brief psychotic episodes, generally with paranoid symptoms. Leymann estimated that 15% of suicides in Sweden could be directly attributed to workplace mobbing.

Quick to judge
Quick to anger
Slow to understand
Ignorance and prejudice
And fear walk hand in hand... 

Degrees of mobbing

First degree: Victim manages to resist, escapes at an early stage, or is fully rehabilitated in the original workplace or elsewhere.

Second degree: Victim cannot resist or escape immediately and suffers temporary or prolonged mental and/or physical disability and has difficulty reentering the workforce.

Third degree: Victim is unable to reenter the workforce and suffers serious, long-lasting mental or physical disability.
Watch:

Francesco Portelos' blog post on how to give yourself a raise was quite thought provoking. In fact it gave The Crack Team quite a bit to think about. The Crack Team wanted to investigate  other methods to give oneself a raise without anyone, especially the DOE, ever knowing about it?

The Crack Team has spent the day locked away with top scientist from across the nation today debating and discussing the best methods to give teachers of New York City a well deserved pay raise without anyone really knowing. At about 6:30 PM EDT on March 13, 2014 a light bulb appeared above the heads of The Crack Team and the scientists. Getting a raise for teachers can be done through time travel. But how?

There are several options The Crack Team discussed for time travel.

The Crack Team thought of the whip around the sun method used in Star Trek, but it is impractical due to needing a star ship, the need for dilithium crystals, and a Vulcan to make the proper calculations. But it seems impractical. Or a rift in the space time continuum can be used. But again, there is that need for a star ship. Or that planet with the "Guardian of Forever?" But how do we get to that planet? And if we do, how can we be certain that we jump through at the right time?

One can develop a WABAC machine, but one would need to find Mr Peabody and he suddenly has grown a huge head from his new found found role as a Hollywood leading man, has blown off Sherman and hanging out at Hef's.

That left The Crack Team with the Flux Capacitor. The instructions to build one are all over the internet, but The Crack Team has decided instead to save time and spend a few bucks and buy one. Now to power it.

Do we go with the plutonium or a lightning strike? Since purchasing and owning plutonium is illegal and might incur the wrath of SCI, we decided to go with a lighting strike.

What will our time delivery system be? The cost of a De Lorean is prohibitive for The Crack Team are just teachers and the De Lorean is a little out of their price range. Bob suggested we go with a 1977 Chevy Caprice Classic which is a solid automobile and has a bit of style.

To get up to 88 miles per hour we will use the Cross Westchester Expressway during a lighting storm starting at Exit 10 in Rye Brook and by the time The Crack Team gets to the Tappan Zee Bridge the Caprice will be hit by lighting and it will be 1927.

The Crack Team chose that year for that is the year that Uncle Mike Bloomberg's parents met in high school and kissed for the for the first time at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance.

The plan is to keep them from kissing at the dance. If they never kiss, they never fall in love. If they never fall in love, they never marry. If they never marry, Uncle Mike never exists. And if Uncle Mike never exists, Uncle Mike never becomes mayor. And if Uncle Mike never becomes mayor, we get a contract in 2009 with pay raises. And if we get a contract in 2009, we probably get a contract in 2012 with even more raises!!

It can work. It can be done. But, wait. Could it be that someone will take this seriously and sick the Timecop on The Crack Team?

Just one more thing. Let's call it a disclaimer.

This is not real! If anyone thinks time anything written on these pages is actually a plan you must be dumber than a brain damaged monkey!

Nelson Mandela. Eugene Debs. Mahatma Gandhi. Andrei Sakharov. Ho Chi Minh. Bobby Sands.
Pussy Riot. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

These political prisoners are now joined by a new name. Francesco Portelos.

On February 25, 2014, Francesco wrote a post on his blog; "How to 'Hack' the DOE Payroll Portal and Give Yourself a Raise." When you read this, and you will be laughing your tushy off,  you will come to the realization that a brain damaged monkey would come to the conclusion that Francesco's post was tongue in cheek, sarcastic, and satirical.

Sadly, the folks at the DOE and the NYPD are not as smart as the aforementioned brain damaged monkey.

On Monday, March 10, 2014, at 10 AM EDT Francesco was forced to turn himself in to the detectives at the 84th precinct in Brooklyn which so happens to be the local precinct for our friends at 65 Court St. Thus begun Francesco's odyssey.

Francesco spent the next 13 hours in the holding cell in the precinct with having nothing but a bag of Doritios (Dependable sources have shared with The Crack Team it was nacho cheese flavor) for sustenance. He was then shackled with other prisoners and bussed to Central Booking on Schermerhorn Street and spent the next 20 hours locked up in a cell.

A cell in which he was put was filled with crack addicts, child molesters, and mean people. Twenty hours of just cheese sandwiches. Twenty hours before he saw a judge. Thirty hours of holding it in.

When he went before the judge, Francesco came across the first adult in almost 2 days; the assistant district attorney, who saw it was all bullshit and dropped the charges.

Is this what has become of the DOE? It now imprisons teachers who speak their minds? We expected something like this under Uncle Mike and Sock Puppet Klein, but now?

The Crack Team has come up with a theory. It could be that the 7,000,000,908,000,344 lawyers know that their days, and their hold on power, are coming to an end with the millions of dollars spent soon diverted to the students. Can this be an example of their last hurrah?

When The Crack Team reads and hears about what legal at the DOE is capable of, what they do, they think of The Rainmaker. To paraphrase Rudy Baylor;

 We're just wonderin'... do they even remember when they first sold out? 

Whatever became of the rule of law? Upholding the United States Constitution?  The Bill of Rights?

Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press

 This is not open to debate. There are no gray areas.  Francesco had his right abrogated. Worse, he was violated.

And not just with his rights being stripped away. He was charged with a misdemeanor;

S 195.00  Official misconduct.   A public servant is guilty of official misconduct when, with intent to obtain a benefit or deprive another person of a benefit:   1. He commits an act relating to his office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized; or   2. He knowingly refrains from performing a duty which is imposed upon him by law or is clearly inherent in the nature of his office.

Why did Francesco spend 33 hours away from his family? Why could he have not received a desk appearance ticket at the precinct?  The only reason one can assume is that someone wanted to send a message and intimidate him.

Francesco has two little boys and they were without their daddy for almost 2 days. Was this fair to them? Was it fair for the angst his wife had to go through? God forbid, what if Francesco was violently assaulted? Does anyone in the DOE have a conscience anymore?

Two things have been on The Crack Team's mind. Why did the NYPD so easily do the bidding of the DOE, and who out there actually thought they could intimidate Francesco?

The persecution of teachers must end.

Oh, and be sure to read Francesco's more detailed account of his 33 hours on his blog!

Lots going on lately. Too much baseball.

Time to start opening up here. Lots of information soon to be published here. Scandalous is to say the least. For example this true story.

Remember, this shit can't be made up!

I can't name the DOE district that this happened. I can say it is in the Bronx, and it is one of the most dysfunctional districts in that borough.

I can't name the superintendent, the two school administrators involved, or the school.

But everything is true. Everything happened. Everything was covered up.

An assistant administrator at a school, which happens to be neither a elementary or a high school, put in "long hours" at home doing the scheduling. I mean really really long hours.

There were no time cards to be punched nor signed. The administrator of the assistant administrator did not have enough money to pay per session so the pay was in comp time.

There was shit loads of comp time involved. Remember, all unverified.

The assistant administrator took vacations with this comp time. All during instructional time for weeks at a time.

Countries and cities of a far off continent were visited all while the students of this school were busy this assistant administrator was off gallivanting around.

Meanwhile the school is going into the crapper.

Somehow the Commissioner of Special Investigations office got wind of this. Praise be to God! We all know how CSI can be when going after those who misrepresent time taken off and defrauding the DOE claiming they worked while in reality they did not.

Just ask Matthew Kaye aka Matt Striker or Lynn Stewart's daughter. We know how seriously CSI takes this stuff.

This is where that superintendent comes in.

CSI, the bastion of all keeping all that is correct in the NYC DOE drops the ball!!!!!!

There was proof up the ying yang!!

They kick it back to the superintendent for the discipline phase.

The administrator is buds with the superintendent.

The assistant administrator gets a letter in the file!

Imagine if a teacher had done this??? OH baby!

Of course the assistant administrator could not have done this without being enabled by the administrator.

I might not be a lawyer, but dang, if this doesn't seem like fraud, larceny, conspiracy, and a few other felonies, then I mock my SUNY education.

Why hasn't Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson been notified of this?

But he is a dolt. How about US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Preet Bharara?

It has been said, and by very reliable sources, that the assistant administrator had much more than a professional relationship with the administrator. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Know what I mean? Know what I mean?

So this happens and teachers all across the city, and the country are getting crapped on.

Why? Where is the logic behind this.

It is not us running the schools. We just work there.

Maybe it is time to go after the schmucks in charge? 
 
Yeah, this shit can't be made up!!!

During the first inning of my son's baseball game tonight I get a tweet from embattled Brooklyn teacher Christine Rubino. Curious, I read it an notice a link. The link directs me to New York State Courts page and what is there you ask? Christine Rubino kicked the DOE's ass! The Appellate Division found that she was unjustly terminated.

My favorite quote of the decision goes a little something like this;

Supreme Court properly found the penalty of termination to be shocking to one's sense of fairness

 Way to go Christine! Keep up the good fight!!!


Michael A. Cardozo, Corporation Counsel, New York (Deborah A. Brenner of counsel), for appellants.
Glass Krakower LLP, New York (Bryan D. Glass of counsel),
for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, New York County (Barbara Jaffe, J.), entered February 2, 2012, which granted the petition to set aside respondents' determination to terminate petitioner's employment
with respondent Department of Education upon findings of misconduct to the extent of remanding the matter for the imposition of a lesser penalty, and denied respondents' cross motion to dismiss the petition, unanimously affirmed, without costs. 

The record shows that petitioner teacher posted comments on a social media website alluding to a tragedy involving an unknown student at a different school. Although the comments were clearly inappropriate, it is apparent that petitioner's purpose was to vent her frustration only to her online friends after a difficult day with her own students. None of her students or their parents were part of her network of friends and, thus, the comments were not published to them, nor to the public at large, and petitioner deleted the comments three days later. Despite petitioner's initial denials when confronted about the incident several months later, she admitted to making the comments at the disciplinary hearing, acknowledged that they were inappropriate and offensive, and repeatedly expressed remorse. Although the Hearing Officer found that petitioner engaged in a plan with her friend to mislead investigators right after the allegations surfaced, the court reasonably concluded that petitioner's actions were taken out of fear of losing her livelihood, rather than as part of a premeditated plan. 

Under the circumstances, which includes the lack of a prior disciplinary history during petitioner's 15-year career, and her expression that she would never do something like this again, Supreme Court properly found the penalty of termination to be shocking to one's sense of fairness (see e.g. Stoyer-Rivera v New York City Bd./Dept of Educ., 101 AD3d 584 [1st Dept [*2]2012]; Matter of Riley v City of New York, 84 AD3d 442 [1st Dept 2011]; City School Dist. of the City of N.Y. v McGraham, 75 AD3d 445 [1st Dept 2010], affd 17 NY3d 917 [2011]). 

THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER
OF THE SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.
ENTERED: MAY 7, 2013
CLERK

Like the Tenctonese (Newcomers) finally able to live free, the persecution of NYC's over 1 million  students finally ceased with a whimper rather than a thud.

The NYC DOE is;

...recommending a set of math and English curriculum options for grades K-8 and will spend the coming months supporting principals and teachers in becoming familiar with these new materials. 

Now break out the champagne. None of these options involves Teacher's College, Lucy Calkins, Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop. (Is it just me or am I the only one thinking of the celebrations on Coruscant at the end of Return of the Jedi?)

According to the NYC DOE;

For English Language Arts, the Department is recommending that schools select either NYSED’s Core Knowledge or Pearson’s ReadyGen for grades K-2, either of which could be used by a school as a stand-alone curriculum or paired with the Fundations phonics program. For grades 3-5, the DOE is recommending that schools either continue with ReadyGen or select NYSED’s Expeditionary Learning curriculum. Expeditionary Learning is also recommended for grades 6-8, along with Scholastic’s Codex.  While varying in style and structure, these programs—like those the DOE is recommending in math—hew tightly to the Common Core’s instructional shifts: they include a balance of rigorous fiction and non-fiction texts, build students’ academic vocabulary and knowledge across content areas, and engage students in using evidence from texts to make oral and written arguments.

The Department of Education believes that the selected programs represent the highest-quality Common Core-aligned curriculum materials currently available. They include brand new curriculum materials and materials that are being updated to fully reflect the shifts required by the Common Core standards.

While we here at SBSB cynically assume that these curricula are probably crap, or at the very least, need to be proven, we applaud the fact that Lucy Calkins has probably seen her last case of abusing children in NYC. But we are encouraged by seeing the word PHONICS mentioned and look forward to the day that 8th graders in NYC will have decoding skills. No longer will TC be responsible for making the students of NYC "dumber than wood" as one qualified educators once shared with me.

What of all the students who are suffering through a year, not to mention their entire lives in the NYC public schools, in which they learn nothing due to the incompetency of Lucy Calkins? Who will give them back their lives? Who will give them back all those precious wasted years of not learning and being able to read and write?

Who will give back the careers of teachers forced to teach the horrible Balanced Literacy approach that was used as a sword against them rather than a blanket to protect them? How many sick, twisted principals got off knowing that they set up VETERAN teachers to fail by forcing a known and failed method of teaching our most troubled youths to read, write, and appreciate the written word?

A generation of NYC children will pay the price of a failed experiment. But Lucy Calkins and the $5 million she received last year from the DOE, as well as the close minded administrators that implemented her cult of learning, will not pay the price.

Lucy Calkins and her Balanced Literacy abused children. As teachers, as educators, we are mandated reporters. Is it not mandatory for us to notify the Child Protective Services in Albany or ACS in NYC?

We here at SBSB wish to take some credit towards the eradication of Lucy Calkins. It was here on this very blog that we feel assisted in exposing what Lucy Calkins is and isn't.

So long and be gone Lucy Calkins. Please, stay far away.

Isn't it amazing how art sometimes imitates life?

I swear, I have watched Star Trek: First Contact a thousand times. Never before have I been able to put two and two together and see the striking similarities between the movie and the DOE. Most striking though is the scene in which Commander Data first encounters the Borg Queen.

In the scene Data is in the engineering section when the Borg Queen comes upon him. Like the Blue Angel promises to make Pinocchio a real boy, the Borg Queen promises to make Data a real human.

She turns on his emotion chip, she gives him real skin with feel feeling and sensation. But for Data resistance is not futile. Even though he is an android he resists, he fights back against the Borg Queen, he is a real man, a real human being. He won't back down from the wily intrigues offered by that Borg Queen. Yes, he is tempted for about .00005567 of a second, but in the end, he does the right thing, he is on the side of right, the side of goodness. He will not be assimilated and become some inane Borg drone just wondering mindless through the Collective.

On the opposite side of the story we have the Borg Queen who probably represents most principals in the NYC DOE. The principal that reminds us of the Borg Queen is nothing more than some amalgamation of used mechanical and biological parts barely held together by a thin teetering thread. This type of principal and the Borg Queen share attributes as in wishing to assimilate the weak and mindless, the unknown and faceless. And while the Borg Queen believes that its thoughts are independent as does a principal, both have brains and thoughts that are totally inane, bereft or originality, weak.

Like a Borg Queen it is possible that there is a principal out there, probably many, that are soulless both inside and out. Skanky and waif like, pasty white like the Borg Queen due to not having lack of nourishment of the soul, this type always fizzles out, over reaching thinking that no matter what their way, their method will prevail. It never does.

For in the long run, we, the Commander Datas of the NYC DOE will bend, twist, and turn, but will never break and never give in. We all will misfire on the Enterprise (dear God I hope someone gets this reference!) when it matters.

Like Popeye eating a can of spinach, or A-Rod shooting up some HGH, I felt reinvigorated driving home from yesterday's Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) meeting.

I admit I was skeptical about the movement, in fact any movements, and sadly I said as much on these pages. I was wrong, I was mistaken.

As I am heading up the West Side Highway on my way home yesterday afternoon I place a call to a friend of mine who has been an ATR for the last 3 years. I figure that as an ATR he can help distribute MORE flyers to a different school each week. He is a valuable cog.

For the purposes of his anonymity he shall hencforth be known on these pages as Teacher X. The small talk at the beginning of the conversation relating to the new configuration of Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers, and Ron Greschner are omitted.

Me: So the reason I am calling you is to ask what you think of the UFT and Mike Mulgrew

Teacher X: The UFT and Mulgrew can go &*!@# $%$ )*  #$**###!!

Me: Really? Why do you say that?

Teacher X: Because Mulgrew is a #@$(!@@ ###&@ !@!$. The %*&$@^$^$ sold us out and does not care for us. Let's see Bloomberg do what he is doing to teachers with the cops. You would see Lynch on TV so fast blowing a gasket against Bloomberg it would make your head spin. The day after there would be at least 30,000 cops protesting in a rather loud manner at City Hall.

Me: (And I got this idea from Accountable Talk and the MORE blogs) Are you better off now than you were three years ago?

Teacher X: %^&# no!

Me: If you could vote out the current UFT leadership would you?

Teacher X: YES!

Me: Did you know there is a union wide election coming up?

Teacher X: No.

Me: I'm with MORE and we have a great slate of candidates running against the current leadership. Would you consider voting for them?

Teacher X: YES!

Me: If I supply you with flyers can you put the flyers in the teacher's mailboxes at the schools you go to? This is legal but please be sure you only do it before or after school and during your lunch.

Teacher X: YES!

So there we have it. One vote of many more to come. But what is disconcerting, and it is just not with Teacher X, is there is a lack of knowledge amongst the rank and file of not only of an upcoming union wide election, but just any information about the union at all. It's as if the current UFT leadership only wants the rank and file to know what the union decides to let it know.

It won't be like that if the MORE caucus wins. The vibe I have gotten from the meetings of MORE is that not one single person involved is there for their own glory. Each person involved with MORE joined because they all see and understand the sickness that has permeated education in the last ten years and all not only want to take a stand against it but to eradicate the sickness not only from New York City but from all over the United States of America.

MORE wants to give a voice and expects to hear the voice from each and every member of the UFT.  With MORE, decisions that effect the membership won't be agreed upon in a back room and rammed through a compliant DA. Like the New England Town Meetings, all voices will be heard and all voices will be able to vote.

Below is the current flyer that is being distributed by MORE. Print it out. Share it with your colleagues. Talk it up with your colleagues. Post the flyer in every social media site you can think of.

The time is now for change.