This story came to the SBSB news desk. This story just happens to come from the same school Lunch Teacher where the ridiculousness happens non-stop. 

Before I continue, I want to emphasize that whenever I blog about a teacher in distress I am sure to receive that teachers permission to do so. Also, I will never name that teacher, nor any teacher. A PSEUDONYM is given to protect said teacher. Some might confuse this with misnaming. It is not. 

Now back to the story. 

Meet Frieda Rabinowitz. She teaches in the same school as the Lunch Teacher. In fact her and the Lunch Teacher co-taught last year. They were a good team. Like Martin and Lewis. Hekyll and Jekyll. Frick and Frack. Lucy and Ethel. Cagney and Lacey. But I digress. 

This year the Dynamic Duo has been separated but not apart. It was arrival time one morning, and Frieda Rabinowitz was heading towards the yard to pick up her class for the 8:00 AM arrival. 

On the way to the yard Frieda walked by the room of the Lunch Teacher and said hello. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. Little did Frieda Rabinowitz know what was lurking in the hallway. 

Several days later Frieda Rabinowitz was given a two day notice to meet with the "assistant principal" and Frieda's chapter leader. Frieda was perplexed. She was wondering what in the tarnation had she done to warrant such a request. 

The two days came, and Frieda and her chapter leader were in front of the "assistant principal."

What was this horrible, no good, very bad thing that Frieda was summoned for? Frieda was seen by the "assistant principal" at 8:01 AM commiserating with the Lunch Teacher. Never mind the commiseration lasted a nano second and was just to exchange pleasantries. Never mind that each and every clock in the building is not at the correct time. Never mind that there are actually BIGGER CONCERNS to worry about whether or not a teacher is several seconds late getting to the yard. Never mind that he yard is only 10 yards from where Frieda had been commiserating. Never mind that OTHER TEACHERS were still on their way to the yard at 8:01 AM. The "assistant principal"decided to single out Frieda Rabinowitz. 

Oh, did I mention that the "assistant principal" happened to be in the hallway at 8:01 AM, failing to be at her post in the yard at 8:00 AM. Did I mention that the "assistant principal" deemed this professional misconduct on the part of Fried Rabinowitz? YGTBFKM!!!!

Frieda Rabinowitz was doing her commiserating at 7:59 AM. But with all the clocks in all the building having different times how would the "assistant principal" know this? If the "assistant principal"was so sure it was 8:01 AM why were the other teachers not written up? Why was the"assistant principal" not in the yard? 

The Crack Team has some theories. One is that the week before all this mishegoss went down Frieda filed a grievance over a missed prep as IS HER RIGHT! God damn, why do administrators take it so freaking personally when a grievance is filed against them? These are the same people who hide behind the cover of the CSA and would not hesitate to file a grievance if their rights are violated. 

The other theory is that Frieda Rabinowitz has an active PERB case right now. Sadly, the current administration at the school thought nothing better to do than to pour gasoline on the fire. 

I really wish this story could be fiction. But all too often in the DOE it is true. This could not have been handled in a conversation such as....

"Assistant Principal": Hey Frieda. Look, the other day you were talking to the Lunch Teacher and I know you were just saying hi, but please be mindful of the time in the future. I know this has never happened before with you. So just be aware."

Frieda Rabinowitz: Gee, thank you "assistant principal" that was thanks for letting me know. 

They walk off singing kumbaya together.

And scene. 

See? That's leadership. That is how to build comity in the workplace. Think this crap would happen in Scarsdale? Nope. Just because one has a second masters, a title, and a parking spot does not automatically make one a leader. 

 On December 10 there was a UFTSolidarity/United for Change Happy Hour at the G Bar on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

I am there for a bit when I see a blast from the past. One of Lord Palpatine's Sith Apprentices. Hmm, I wonder thinking to myself, why would Darth Whatevertheirname be here? To spy? To chastise me for something I had written almost three years ago? 

It turned out to be the latter. I was confronted concerning the blog post I had written regarding how the Lunch Teacher was thrown under the bus by colleagues. I had moved on and wasn't obsessing about it for nearly three years. I have better things to do.

So later that night I called a meeting of The Crack Team and we promptly convened at the local Burger King. Over some fries and several Whoppers, we decided it was time to reach out to the Lunch Teacher and get an update on her what she has been up to. 

After commiserating with the Lunch Teacher not only myself and The Crack Team aghast, but quite faklempt as well. Seems her and food do not go well together. 

Seems that just before Thanksgiving the Lunch Teacher was being observed. In fact the students were so well behaved during the observation because they knew (and were looking forward to as well) there was to be a Thanksgiving celebration that day.

Regrettably, the class eats lunch first thing in the morning. One student was quite hungry. He had stomach pangs. Poor kid. He was hungry. He's little. He asked the Lunch Teacher for some food, like a cookie or a treat. Just something to tide his hunger over. Because the Lunch Teacher cares and loves her students so much she obliged. It turned out to be her undoing.

She got a developing for class management due to this act of kindness. So she should have the student to suffer? To starve? But if she had  refused the student's request, it would have been the same outcome. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. 

More to come on the Lunch Teacher.....

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

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

Here now, the words of the Lunch Teacher:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

social media at all.

 

The shit for the Lunch Teacher just got real. Yesterday, her 3020a hearing started and it got off to a very inauspicious start for the NYCDOE.

No just to update the Lunch Teacher is facing charges because she took her students to lunch at the proper time during testing in April of 2019 (You can read all past posts about the Lunch Teacher here.).

Before the hearing even began, the NYCDOE was desperate. They were in a "Oops, it seems like we really fucked up here," mode and were desperate. An offer was made.

Ready?

The offer was a fine of $5k, no mention of her 3020a in the federal lawsuit (there are other torts besides the 3020a) and enter the world of the ATR's.

Her response she gave to her lawyer?

"Tell them to fuck themselves!" 

The Crack Team has since learned that her lawyer relayed her request using language in a New York State Bar Association approved manner.

The first witness to be heard was a supervisor from the Office of Special Investigation. Why was it a supervisor from OSI and not the investigator himself? Good question. The reason is the investigator is no longer employed by the DOE and, stranger, is he is nowhere to be found. For all intents and purposes he has dropped off the face of the Earth.

Now, he might be in hiding. Seems that said investigator left something pertinent out of his report. When he interviewed the Lunch Teacher, she had told him she was bringing her students to lunch. He left this out.

The Lunch Teacher did not like this. When she found out she filed a report with SCI. The Lunch Teacher doesn't like to be screwed with.

The OSI supervisor couldn't testify regarding the case. All he was able to do was look like a putz and explain the procedure of an investigation. Ooooooh!! Her attorney, reportedly channeled Al Pacino's role in "...And Justice for All," and stood up for her by shouting, "This impedes her due process!" 

Obviously, the NYCDOE got caught with it's knickers down. There was a time out in the hearing while the both sides went to their separate corners.

The Lunch Teacher's lawyer inquired what would how much of a fine would be OK with her. "Not for one fucking dollar," was her reply. 

Round two is this coming Monday. Principal Palpatine and her two Sith apprentices are expected to testify.

How fucked up is this? Why would  the NYCDOE lawyers approve such a frivolous case? There was nothing done here by the Lunch Teacher that warrants the waste of thousands of dollars by the DOE for something that could have been handled at the school level. If there was such an appalling breech of testing protocol why not bring the state into the matter? Principal Palpatine surely has a rabbi within the NYCDOE.

Know what is even worse. The silence coming from 52 Broadway. Here's a question. Is Uncle Mike Mulgrew made aware of each and every 3020a hearing happening? He should be. We pay his salary. I bet Pat Lynch is aware of every cop involved in a departmental trial. Shouldn't the taxpayers hear from our UFT president how the NYCDOE is literally wasting away millions are bullshit frivolous teacher discipline "hearings" Kangaroo Courts?

This does not happen anywhere else than New York City. Not upstate, not Westchester, not Long Island! Only here. It happens time after time after time because the NYCDOE has enablers.

The Lunch Teacher is about to become the "Bathroom Teacher, or the "Water Fountain
Teacher," or the "Shat Upon Teacher. "But for continuity, we shall still refer to her as the Lunch Teacher.

Remember, this shit can't be made up!

The Lunch Teacher had a bit of good news a couple of weeks ago. Apparently (and we here at SBSB always wait until the action occurs to make a definitive affirmation), the Lunch Teacher won a step 2 grievance. Sadly, it should have ended there but, it didn't.

The Lunch Teacher was summoned to meet with her principal because two of her male students had to go pee. And then decided to drink some water after the aforementioned urination.

Now mind you, there is no place for the students in question to do their business on the floor in which their classroom is. The students were faced with a Hobson's Choice. Do they go up a flight of stairs to pee, or down a flight of stairs to go pee? They chose the latter. I would have made that choice as well. It is better for the bladder to go down a flight than up a flight.

The boys (5th graders. Approximately 10-11 years old) sadly were seen by the principal. The principal was dressed to impress due to escorting really, really, big shots around the school. Now mind you, the bathroom happened to be right next to the cafeteria, a place where there are adults. But that is neither here nor there. Worse, these students dared to drink water after they had peed.

One problem is that the students were not carrying bathroom passes. Yes, all the teachers were made to sign for passes in October, but there is nothing in writing as whether or not it is mandatory for students to be with a pass when using the facilities. Nor are there any regulations on which bathrooms the students are to use. 

The principal was not pleased. She was in a foul mood and wanted to meet with the Lunch Teacher "informally."

The meeting took place this past Monday, April 1. The principal wanted to be so so helpful. She wanted help clarifying anything (of course the principal was as patronizing and condescending as possible) the Lunch Teacher was "confused" about.

But the Lunch Teacher held her ground as if she knew this meeting were a set up. The principal tried to get her to sign something acknowledging the concerns of the principal. In fact, without barely mentioning a word the Lunch Teacher was already being accused of insubordination.

But the Lunch Teacher held fast. She refused to sign anything right then and there. She requested time to read the letter and bring it back signed. At this time, there was no disciplinary letter.

But all hell broke lose the moment the Lunch Teacher contradicted the principal on a conversation on proper bathrooms to use in September. The principal claimed the Lunch Lady was being belligerent. The meeting ended. The Lunch Teacher was told that the next meeting she will need a UFT rep.

The Lunch Lady got a letter on Thursday, April 4 to meet THAT afternoon after school ended at 3 PM. That wasn't going to happen.

I smell a rat. The first rat I smell is the principal. But out of desperation people get stupid. So this might be a good thing. The other rat is the CL in that school. The CL lives in the principal's colon. 

What's bothering me is why matters which floor the students use the bathroom on? The floor above or the floor below? Either way the bathroom is equidistant from the classroom. Either way a flight of stairs must be used. An argument can be made if the students were up on the top floor. But they weren't.

If the principal is claiming that the students were unsupervised, well, we call bullocks! Even if the students went to the bathroom upstairs, would they not be unsupervised walking up the stairs? Would they not be unsupervised walking through the hall to the bathroom? Aren't the students unsupervised in the bathrooms?

This is nothing more than workplace harassment and piling on the Lunch Teacher.
The principal has created a hostile work environment for the Lunch Teacher.

Sadly this what is happening with the Lunch Teacher is not occurring within a vacuum. This is systemic across the DOE and enabled and condoned at the upper reaches of Tweed. This "bounty hunting" on teachers must end now!

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for an update on the Lunch Teacher. Actually, no hard and fast rule about Wednesday.

For those who have forgotten, or those who are new, you can catch up on the Lunch Teacher here, here, and here.

This past Monday, March 25, the Lunch Teacher turned the proverbial Lunch Tables on her accusers during the always fun and exciting professional development.

PD was all about the upcoming ELA exam's next week and The Crack Team had some insiders at there reporting back that not only was the Lunch Teacher chomping at the bit raring to go, but she completely p3wned the upper echelon of her school.

The Lunch Lady asked the testing coordinator...

"If the students don't finish the test by lunch is it permissible to keep them from lunch until they are finished?"

The Crack Team's insiders reported a collective gasp from all the teachers gathered when the above was asked.

We here at SBSB applaud the Lunch Teacher for asking a hard hitting non softball question. Recall, she was punished, ostracized, and shunned for daring to insist that one of her students report for a federally mandated lunch last year during testing.

The response...

"No, they go to lunch then when they return they come back and take the test."

Exsqueeze me?? So it seems the Lunch Teacher was following protocol last year. But then why is she being charged in a 3020-a? She just had her pre-hearing last week? Apparently the hacks at Gold St  are going full throttle in presenting this farce and doing whatever they can get away with in separating her from her direct deposit.

The Lunch Teacher then inquired to...

...a pacing method that was placed in the PD folder about telling the kids to stop at question 5 or so and tell them to wait like doing it all together as a class everyone as looking at each other like we’re not supposed to guide them at all. Then asked further about pacing. The Lunch Lady asked the staff that was there does anyone pace the kids. Insiders shared with The Crack Team that other teachers were sharing how they do it. One said she writes the time in the board just to let the kids know their pace (that’s what Lunch Lady did.) Lunch Lady said to testing coordinator, you cannot clarify about pacing and suggest how to do it and she said no.

Now one of the issues is that another teacher in the school took her tongue and tattled on the Lunch Teacher informing upper echelon on improper pacing. Seems the Lunch Teacher was doing it right all along. 

Then the Lunch Teacher asked....

"...if a student doesn’t finish on day 1 by dismissal can they finish on day 2? 

Testing coordinator said no but they can finish on the make up days.

Face palm!


This is a big violation. It is supposed to be in the confines of the same day!

Is this 3020-a really necessary? Are most? Think about it. If we had seniority transfers and get rid of fair student funding there would be a drop in the amount of teachers brought up on charges. The Lunch Teacher was brought up on charges just to get her out of the school. So she can spend her remaining years wandering a nomad existence as an ATR.

There are more lunch table to turn.

This is an exclusive SBSB news update! News so exclusive that we here at SBSB felt the need to copyright our this blog post.

The Lunch Teacher's (here and here) date with the Rubber Room came and went. When she walked into
school on February 26, she fully expected to sent to Michelle Nacht's welcome and dispersal unit on Gold St to find out which Rubber Room in the Bronx (Fordham Plaza or Zerega Ave) she would reside at. The Crack Team had it's fingers crossed for Zerega.

She had studied Star Trek trivia and other useless trivia to better able to segue into the insane conversations one gets into at the Rubber Room. Also, a stack of Eric Carle books was with her for her reading pleasure.

But she was thrown a curveball. She was not sent to Michelle Nacht. She was not reassigned. She is still teaching her class. This is great news for the parents and students who depend so much on her.

She is still facing these bullshit charges and was just assigned a damn fine NYSUT attorney.

My guess, as well as The Crack Team's, is that these are charges to drive her out of the school and into the ATR pool. And of course, a small fine of at least $2k just to drive home the point.

Luckily, The Crack Team has a contact over at 100 Gold St and has found out some interesting information on this case. The NYCDOE is about to introduce a pilot program, a new shock punishment regimen, on naughty and wayward teachers. The word is that the Lunch Teacher will be the first one this will be tried out on.

There are two punishment options being discussed.

Punishment #1 entails, in conjunction with new NYCDOE consultant Satan, "The Prince of Darkness," having the Lunch Teacher travel back with Satan to Hades in she will do lunch duty in the staff cafeteria in which she will be subject to one of Satan's "ironic punishments": she will be forced to do lunch duty for what will seem forever (In actuality it will be only a week).

Punishment #2 The Lunch Teacher will be forced to watch hour upon hour of watching this lunchroom etiquette (click here) film from 1960. The goal here is for the Lunch Teacher to show that she understands the proper social ramifications of lunch.


As of press time we are waiting with bated breath on the UFT to share if any of the above punishments violate the contract.

This update has just come into the SBSB newsroom courtesy of The Crack Team.

The Lunch Teacher is officially suspended with pay effective at the end of business February 25, 2019. All this for ensuring that one of her students eats a hot lunch as mandated by federal law.

Where will the Lunch Teacher wind up? Will she stay in the building, confined to a closet having nothing to do but to stare at the walls all day?

Will it be another school within the district in which the Lunch Teacher will maybe be allowed to see sunlight and human beings and do clerical work?

Or will it be the famed Rubber Room where she can join in the debate on which Star Trek series is the best? Or which Star Trek first officer is the worst? Personally, I choose Chakotay. He kind of sucked.

Yet, this is now February. March will be here in five days. These accusations go back to last April, almost a year. Why if these charges are so perilous was she, not REMOVED LAST APRIL? If she is considered a danger to students, here we go again, was she, not REMOVED LAST APRIL?

But let's not forget who is most damaged by this. Yep, the Lunch Teacher's students. They have a test, a big one, coming up in about six weeks. Who is going to pick up the slack? Just shove a random teacher in there? One that doesn't know the students or the routines? Maybe even one that doesn't know the curricula. But as usual with the DOE the students are ancillary victims in all of this. Where are the rights of the students?

The Lunch Teacher has already been disciplined for this. She received a letter to the file. Why must there be this vindictiveness?

This is why tenure is so important. Why tenure is more than due process. If not for tenure the student would not have been able to eat lunch. And if that was a non-tenured teacher denying a student the federally mandated lunch then that teacher would have been summarily terminated. Or if that non-tenured teacher took the student to lunch the teacher would face the same fate.

This is such a waste of taxpayer money and DOE resources. This shows again how blind those in charge are to what the true needs and wants of the community are.

Tell me this can't be settled in a ten minute meeting among all aggrieved parties.

If I was a NYC student, I could do without passes off for food in the cafeterias. However, I myself, have always had two favorite NYCDOE lunches. One, those fish cakes with the cheese under the breading (which I have not seen for a long time) and the pizza. But what do I know? I think the $1.40 pizza at 7-11 and the $1.25 at Kennedy Fried Chicken are good. Oh and I just remembered. Those onion rings are darn good.

I certainly would not like to be tested up the ying yang if I was a NYC student. With my attention span I couldn't deal with it.

But what is a teacher to do when testing comes into conflict with lunch?

The Crack Team has learned that a teacher (tenured with 20 years in the system) in the Bronx had to make a command decision and now she might pay for it with her job.

Yes, I know. You are shaking your had are facepalming right now. I agree. This shit can't be made up.

Before I go on, remember, all tests (ELA and Math) are untimed.

Day 1 of the test. The entire class except one student is finished as lunch time approaches. The students must be brought down to have their federally mandated lunch. Mind you; these are students that this might be their only meal of the day, at the very least their only hot meal of the day.

It is time to go to lunch. Sadly, one student is not finished. Worse, this student is probably feeling the pressure to cram as much as one could into very little time left to complete the exam. Chances are the student knows that there will be time after lunch to finish up. But in the mind of a student under this much pressure they are unable to think clearly.

The teacher tells the student it is time to go to the federally mandated lunch. The student does not stop nor is the test turned over to the teacher. The teacher then gently takes the test off the student's desk and secures the tests with the others.

To make a long story short the teacher is now facing three 3020-a charges. Conduct unbecoming, conduct prejudicial to the good order, and being unfit. Better yet, when we return on February 25 at the end of business the teacher will be suspended with pay. How will this effect the teacher's current students getting ready for the upcoming state exams? No one at the DOE truly gives a fuck.

The teacher already has a letter to the file for this. Got it last month. The OSI investigation began in April 2018 only to be concluded in January 2019.

Here is the damned if you do damned if you don't scenario: what if the teacher let the student finish and miss lunch? What do you think would have happened? Yeah, you are right.

What were the protocols for dealing with lunch during the test? What were the protocols for students that were not done before lunch? Were students that were not finished to have lunch alone, with other students that had not yet finished or did it matter that nothing would be done? Why at the very least could this not be dealt with a simple counseling memo. Shit, even the letter to the file would suffice which in turn could have saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.

I really wish this story could be made up. It's not a dream. It's not a nightmare. It's real fucking life day in and day out at the NYCDOE.