I have said it time and time again. If a principal were caught in the act murdering someone, and smoke still coming out of the barrel, with a sizeable blood splatter, nothing would happen to that principal. Well nothing negative at least. 

That principal would be "promoted" to a nice cushy office job at Tweed, be given a raise, and other perks. There wouldn't even be 3020a charges. It would be swept under the rug, never to be spoken of again.

Yet if a teacher were to fart the wrong way, that teacher would be summarily sent to the Rubber Room and brought up on 3020a charges. Then have more inane charges added and face the whims of an "impartial" arbitrator of whether or not they would keep their job. What gives? 

In today's Post it was reported that...

Khurshid Abdul-Mutakabbir, who was removed as principal of Maspeth High School last July, won’t return to any city school as a principal, according to a settlement of misconduct charges. But he can stay on the Department of Education payroll for another seven years.

Under Abdul-Mutakabbir, Maspeth HS created fake classes, awarded credits to failing students, and fixed grades to push kids out the door, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools found..

In fact, read the SCI report here. It's really more perverse. But it is easy to ruminate over how yet another NYCDOE principal escaped the clutches of accountability or how there are two sets of rules; one for teachers and one for administrators. That's not my beef for today.

My beef today is the silence coming from Mike Mulgrew. The man who never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity. 

I have written this blog since August 29, 2008. I have written about teachers being charged and/or losing their jobs nearly fourteen years. There are teachers who have been accused of doing one tenth of what the principal of Maspeth HS has done only to find themselves at the risk of losing their jobs. 

Where is the outrage from Mulgrew how the members he represents are the sacrificial lambs of the DOE? Where are Mulgrew's words denouncing how Principal Abdul-Mutakabbir's grifting and possibly criminal behavior? Where is the defense of teachers as Abdul-Mutakabbir  gets rewarded while teachers all over the city have suffered for years with such inane 3020a charges? Never once does Mulgrew come out and say, "THIS IS ENOUGH!!!" NOT ONCE! Nor will Mulgrew ever. Mulgrew does not get our plight. Our hurt. Our suffering.

Look through these pages. How many corrupt and incompetent administrators have graced these pages? One of my favorites, Greg Papadopoulos former AP at the former IS 162 in the Bronx. Greg stole time. He did programming at home and his pal, Principal Marilyn Manzolillo signed off on his time sheets and he was rewarded with comp time. Former District 7 superintendent Yolanda Torres gave him a letter to file. And remember this. Yolanda for her incompetence of running District 7 was rewarded with a cushy Tweed gig.

Burt back to Mulgrew. This is his problem. His tone deafness. His lack of connection to the rank and file. It's as if Mulgrew is in this so called gilded tower of his on 52 Broadway or somewhere in Staten Island as he looks down upon us and literally sees what he can get away with not doing. 

How difficult for Mulgrew--at the very least--to come out with a press release denouncing the how teachers are unjustly facing discipline versus administrators. Better would be to get in front of the cameras and show some emotion!

I think the real reason why Mulgrew keeps his mouth shut is even more deviant. Years ago, I think it was 2007, Leroy Barr stopped by when I was in the Rubber Room. I asked him point blank why the UFT is silent as administrators continue to harass teachers. His answer?

"They are fellow union members. We can't go after them." I wonder if CSA Mark Cannizzaro ever reciprocated with his members?

I got off the phone about 20 minutes ago with a teacher that has been in the Rubber Room 18 months and is still awaiting their hearing which has been pushed back several times and probably won't be heard until at least after March 2021. 

This teacher, for anonymity sake will henceforth be known as Jethro, is beside themself with fear and anxiety. Jethro's biggest fear is, "How will I be believed?"

I explained to Jethro that the job of your lawyer is to build up your credibility and reduce the credibility of the witnesses. Yeah, it is a fine line. But any competent lawyer should be able to do this. And I get it, this can cause anxiety and fear. 

If you go through this blog there are many instances of teachers being accused for something they didn't say, didn't do, or something they said or did and it was taken out of context. And for whatever reason their accuser, DOE legal decided to take these teachers words and/or deeds and use them as a sword against these teachers. A vicious bloody sword. 

Heck, I can empathize with Jethro. I know what it was and still is at times, to have my words and deeds taken out of context. Do have words I never said and deeds I hadn't be used against me. 

Jethro feels helpless what Jethro was accused of. What Jethro did was taken out of context. Jethro's words and deeds were contorted. Some people choose fight or flight. Sometimes it just freaking easier for flight. Sometimes it is just worth it. 

Even before you get to that point, there is the dreaded discipline meeting with the principal. There your words and deeds are taken out of context. You are accused of doing something or saying something you hadn't done. I am sure this is how Jethro felt at first. Maybe Jethro wasn't debased or humiliated by their principal in a meeting but many have. I recall a teacher in which he was mocked by their principal for 10 minutes in denying something they were accused of but didn't do. In fact this principal had to continue the mocking 30 minutes later in a email. Or maybe it was a text. 

People wonder why teachers are leaving in droves.

"There is no such thing as reality. There is only perception." - said by so many


Since all this Corona Virus hazerai has gone down since March I have noticed that the UFT has been (at the very least) in a more proactive manner, as well as being a bit more forceful.

Speaking for myself I hope the town halls are permanent and once we are off restriction will becomes more of a traveling town hall with smaller audiences but more frequently across the boroughs, or once a month in each borough. But there is still work to do.

It was pleasing to read about Mulgrew in the Post last month ripping the bloated bureaucracy at Tweed as has been reported on these pages.

It was also not unpleasant to read how and hear from Mulgrew how pissed he was about spring break being cancelled.

And though the UFT was fashionably late to the party, it was at the forefront of the pressure on the DOE to close the school buildings and pivot to remote learning even though some fruity little caucus thinks they were the influencers.

Right now, I am giving the benefit of the doubt that the UFT will continue being proactive. We have been down this road before. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame of me. Once bitten, twice, shy. The devil is in the details. You catch my drift, no?

Maybe, just maybe, Mike Mulgrew is having a Pat Lynch moment(s), but without being the asshole that Pat Lynch is.

There is still more the UFT can do. Not only grab the DOE by the proverbial testes but give a good tight squeeze whilst twisting.

How about this? Leak the names of all CSA and non-UFT useless wastes of space in Tweed with their salaries and perks. That's a good start.

And go after the lawyers. How many lawyers are there working for the DOE are there to make teachers jobs and lives miserable? I think Solidarity came up with 300. Say these 300 lawyers average a salary of $85k. Getting rid of them all can save $25.5 million.

What's sad is this going after the lawyer thing could've and should've been done years ago when teachers were being sent to the Rubber Rooms for carrying a Coca-Cola.

Mike Mulgrew said at either a town hall or a DA recently (I conflate the two sometimes) that we won the teacher war. Well, to the victors go the spoils and the writing of history. Let's do it.

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!

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.

Principal Ben Sherman, who joined Forest Hills in 2017, shrugs off the pot-puffing — saying “it’s going to be legal” anyway, teachers complain. So this says in the New York Post this past Sunday. 

Yet, Principal Sherman remains on the job.

Let's play make believe. Regular guy teacher at Forest Hills High Aaron Rabinowitz is quoted in the Post saying the same exact words with the same flippant attitude.

Yep, you are right. Aaron would be exiled to the Rubber Room posthaste, have 20 stipulations in his 3020-a and risk his 23 year career go down the drain.

Or let's pretend this didn't happen at Forest Hills High. Instead in our pretend, make believe world, this quote was uttered by the principal of Scarsdale High School to the Journal News. Anyone care to guess what would happen?

The parents would be up in arms. The school board would convene an emergency session. The auditorium at the HS during the emergency meeting would be packed with irate parents. Some will have large signs demanding the principal be removed and terminated while others would be hanging the principal in effigy.

So why is Ben Sherman still principal and the teacher and Scarsdale principal are screwed? Several reasons.

Remember, everything is always the teacher's fault. Even though we just serve the crap that is given to us by administration. But in the bigger deal is why a principal in NYC can get away with this and not in Scarsdale.

In NYC there are low expectations from on high all the way up to the chancellor. These are urban kids they say. Some will say (and mind you this is from admins through the schmucks at Tweed and Court St), "These kids are going nowhere," or "These are kids of color who cares if they are stone all day. At least they are calm."

I was amazed when my son was in 2nd grade and I saw the math work he was doing and the math work in my school. My son's work was challenging. Not so in the Bronx. Low expectations.

In Scarsdale there are parents that are involved, that knows their rights and knows how they can influence educational policy. Where have the parents of Forest Hills High been on this?

For the most part the parents in NYC are either afraid to speak out, don't know they can speak out, or intimidated into not speaking out. This is why all the ed deform and testing starts in urban schools and not the suburbs.

One more thing. The principal in Scarsdale would be fired. Ben Sherman is looking at a nice cushy desk job at Tweed.

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.

So there I am this morning about 8:35 minding my own business, eating my breakfast, and having the latest in a long line of discussions whether or not the Freemasons control the NYCDOE when someone walks in the room asking to see me.

I knew what it was about at once but played dumb just in case I was wrong. It was to notify me that my 4 month suspension was to commence tomorrow, June 3, and I return to the ATR pool on December 4. All this without pay.

I will give the person at the Rubber Room at Zerega credit for not making me immediately leave the building and gave me a good 45 minutes to let me process what had just happened and say goodby to my colleagues. I am grateful for this as well grateful for knowing the people that I shared that room with.

I am grateful as well for keeping my job and only being suspended for 4 months. I know it could have been a lot worse.

I'm kind of lucky getting suspended when I did. My next check should be paid in full and my summer pay should be more or less unaffected. That means I am looking at September through December without pay. Fortunately, we were anticipating something like this and we planned accordingly. I am also going to apply for unemployment and that should help.

I have one major concern though. My health and welfare benefits.

I have been getting mixed messages from too many people at the Welfare Fund, UFT, and HR that either I have a 30 day grace period or my benefits end immediately. If I get the 30 day grace period I am good, but there is a but.

The 30 days should take me to the summer. I am not suspended during the summer, only during the school year. I will be getting paid through the summer and my deductions for the UFT and GHI will or have already be taken out. The problem is that no one can tell me whether or not I will be covered during the summer.

If I am being punished for 4 months (June, September, October, and November) why then if I can;t access my benefits during the summer will my punishment then be for 6 months? It does not make sense nor is it logical.

I am in the process of finding out this information right now. Several people that I trust are working on it and hopefully I will get an answer soon.

Then there is COBRA. The Welfare fund is about $225/month and GHI is about $1k/month. That comes to $1200 per month or $7,200 for six months or $4,800 for 4 months. We do not have that kind of money.

And we need coverage.

To begin, I am diabetic and need my medications as well as needing to continually see my endocrinologist. Along with diabetes comes a slew of other health concerns that can pop up at any time.

Worse off is my wife.

My wife has had two back surgeries over the last 16 years. One a laminectomy in 1999 and removal of a cyst in 2008. For the last 6 months or so her pain has been getting worse and shooting down her leg. We went to see one of the top spine surgeons in the area the last few week and she had an MRI as well. The diagnosis is not good.

Her back is a mess. Not only does she have several discs bulging out but she is scoliosis and stenosis as well. The cure is a 6 hour fusion starting at the L3 and going up to her thoracic region. But the doctor can't do surgery now.

She has a major Vitamin D deficiency which is precluding the doctor from surgery. He said at this point he can't be sure the bones will heal properly. But what she can do is physical therapy for the next 3 months and hopefully building up the muscle around her spine and her stomach will help her a great deal.

As some people know my wife had suffered a series of seizures early last year which those at Westchester Medical Center were never able to figure out the cause. After seeing a neurologist 2 weeks ago he speculated that the reason is the Vitamin D deficiency but can't be sure. She has an MRI scheduled this Saturday to see what is going on in her head.

She is also on a medication that she can't stop taking. If she does, she is dead. Heck there are medications I must take and it won't be good if I go without.

So, I will be out about $28k in gross pay and no insurance for either 4 or 6 months. Great.

Just gives me more to ask for from the City of New York in the lawsuit. For those that are interested court is next Wednesday, June 10, at New York Supreme Court on Chambers St. Contact me if you are interested in coming.

Thank you for allowing me my rant.

There is just no way this story can be made up. First some background. 


On September 3, 2013 I entered my school on time at 8:10 AM  thinking that I was about to begin my 11th year there. I knew it was to be a long day. Going through PD, the usual getting to know you stuff and the fact that I had dreaded being there at the very least until 3:25 PM if not the year.

It was already a crappy day. My wife needed the car so I got a ride in from a colleague and to make matters worse I had left my wallet on my bedside table. I wasn't too concerned for my carpool colleague had said he would spot me some money at lunch time.

At about 10:15 AM about 15 minutes before a break from the PD I was summoned to come to the main office. There waiting for me was a process server to serve me my 3020-a papers along with 2 of the biggest school safety officers I had ever seen. I had to immediately leave the school.

Unfortunately my stuff was still in the library. I needed to retrieve my stuff. The school safety officers escorted me not just to the library but into the library where all my colleagues had to witness my humiliation and embarrassment.

I collected my stuff and left with feeling even more shame that I had when I had walked in. Through the halls and out the doors the shadow of the two big school safety officers had never left me.

I was supposed to report to 49-51 Chambers St which is the intake ___location of those that have been rubberized. However, there was one issue. In the meshugas that was ensconcing me I had forgot to ask super special permission to the two big school safety officers to allow me to talk to my colleague and get that money he was to spot me. There was also no way to get hold of him for he does not possess the 21st century technology of a cell phone.

The way I was treated along with the shame and humiliation I felt I didn't dare call the school to ask to speak to him. Being how I was just treated I felt that that they would not let me speak to my ride if I called nor would they get him the message in a timely manner. What was I to do?

With $2 to my name there was no way I could have gotten on the train to go downtown. So I bounded over to the McDonald's across the street and ordered a coffee, and much more coffee. Luckily someone I knew worked there and I was afforded a bottomless cup of McD's best Colombian blend. Along with my trusty book that I had the hours went very quick waiting until 3:25 came so I can meet my colleague in the parking lot of the projects.

Now it gets weird.

Several paychecks later I am short $250 because that day was counted as an unauthorized absence. How could it be an absence if I had been there for 2 1/2 hours?

I immediately called the Bronx UFT and filed a payroll grievance. I was told it can take several months for the hearing and I had nothing to do but time. So I waited. And waited.

About a year ago I had my payroll grievance meeting. The person from the Bronx UFT told me before the meeting that the best she can argue for is to be paid for the hours I was in the building and working. Fine. I understood.

In the hearing both sides of the story were given. I gave mine, they theirs. They did not dispute that I was in the building for 150 minutes! It ended I was told to wait for a decision.

And boy did I wait. Through the rest of the spring, through the summer, through the beginning of this school year when I finally decided to call the payroll person at the Bronx UFT. She told me that the person we argued before (I forget his name) awarded me the pay for the 150 minutes I was at the school. OK, I was good with that and was told that he would be a few paychecks before I got the money.

I then waited, and waited, and waited, and waited some more.

In March I received a letter in the mail from the grievance department at UFT HQ informing me since no decision had been made I get to go to expedited arbitration on May 5--yesterday.

The gentleman from the UFT I spoke with told me that my pay for the 150 minutes came to $76.12 but would I be willing to settle for less. I told him no. He informed me to forget getting the $250 back and I agreed with him. But I was curious as to why the DOE is going through all this trouble for $76.12 when this was to be a hearing which would not set any precedents.

When I arrived yesterday at the American Arbitration Association at 120 Broadway in Manhattan my rep told me the DOE still refuses to settle and we had no choice but to go forward to collect my $76.12.

In the conference room was the arbitrator, my rep along with another from the UFT and a lawyer from the DOE. My rep gave a statement and cited the contract. The DOE lawyer cited that since I did not continue on to my next assignment I can not get paid for the entire day. The one question I was asked by the DOE lawyer was why I did not call to ask for money to get downtown. Yes, in my humiliation I was thinking straight. Besides, what would allow me to think of my school would be so benevolent towards me after what had just happened?

I still can't believe that the DOE would spend all this money to keep from coughing up $76.12! How much did that lawyer cost? What was the DOE's share of the arbitration? How much time away from serious matters did the lawyer have to spend? Transportation? Taking time away from a real arbitration case that needed to be heard?

The DOE has a budget of $23.8 billion. The $76.12 is a mere fart in the wind to the DOE. This is an agency that wastes millions upon millions of dollars a year and they can't put a crowbar in their wallets and give me what I earned? I was at the point laughing it was so pathetic and even told the UFT rep I would accept 1 ticket to see The Who at the Nassau Coliseum in two weeks.

I will know what happens 10 school days from yesterday and if I win I have to wait 8-11 weeksto receive my $76.12.

And we all wonder why.

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:

This story comes from the files of "you can't make this shit up!"

The SBSB news team has learned of one of the most heinous stories of Rubber Room skullduggery ever!

A gym teacher who is currently time in the RR for, are you ready for this? Having the students in gym doing yoga.

I'll wait while you compose yourself from either laughing, crying, or just frozen in wonderment.

OK, got yourself composed?

A young gym teacher (What a shock, someone not over 40 is in the RR) was doing yoga with his class (At press time we do not know the grade of this class). Yoga has many advantages, what can be the harm of yoga? Isn't this great this gym teacher introducing such a wonderful art, exercise of the mind and body to the students of the Bronx?

Even better the teacher having a student in a wheelchair saw to it that the student would not be left out. He adapted, he differentiated, the lesson so the the student in the wheelchair could do upper body exercises so not to be left out.

At the end of the period the teacher decided to entertain the students by performing a hand stand. That, pardon the pun, was his downfall.

Apparently the principal felt that the student in the wheel chair felt bad he couldn't do a handstand and got charges 3020a charges filed against the teacher and off he was shipped to Fordham Plaza.

But it gets weirder.

The teacher, who is not assigned any work to do at Fordham Plaza other than to sit in the cafeteria, decided to make the most of his doing nothing. He resorted to doing some yoga breathing exercises. Sadly this irked someone, OSI was called in, and a letter was put in his file.

It is getting crazy out there. In fact The Crack Team is starting to miss the Bloomberg/Klein days.

But worse, where is the UFT in all this? Where is the UFT in the constant abuse of teachers?

Nowhere, but doing everything to keep those in power at 52 Broadway in power.

WHERE'S MULGREW?

Hi, UFT, it's is I. How are you? In fact where are you when not only myself, but many others need you?

Not to beat a dead horse, but I was conspired against by my principal at PS 154 and I have yet to hear anything proactive from you. Not a, "How you doing?" or "Can we help?" Nothing. Why is that? Please, don't claim you don't read this blog. You all do.

Why is it that I must, and other teachers as well, when there is clear and concise evidence of wrongdoing heaped upon them by out of control, vengeful administrators take the matters into our own hands?

Why must teachers spend thousands of dollars on outside lawyers to get a proper defense that we have a right to? Certainly the $100 a month paid by approximately 80,000 teachers can suffice in having some kind of defense fund.

(Oh for those scoring at home, that is $8 million a month, $96,000,000 a year!)

I sit in a room day after day trying to keep myself somewhat sane by having Star Trek debates, wondering why Spongebob is unable to swim even though he lives under water, and whether or not one got peanut butter on one's chocolate or if someone got chocolate in someone's peanut butter.

There is a crisis happening and all we are getting lip service to the abuse of ATR's, the discontinuances, the Rubber Rooms, the abusive principals, the working conditions, and facing termination for passing gas in an incorrect manner.

I was promised a meeting with a high ranking union person tomorrow, Veteran's Day. But after asking where and when several times as to where we will meet I was told that it would have to be sometime in December. I still give this person credit for at least responding to me and hearing me out. We know that can't be said of the Unity leadership in the gilded tower at 52 Broadway.

Where is the outrage from the UFT about my situation as well as my colleagues? In a strange way the silence of the UFT seems to condone how we are being treated.

All we ask is to be there for us, to support us, and we don't get that.

WHERE IS THE UFT? THE TEACHERS TURN THEIR EYES TO....

Ain't nothing there.

Back on September 4, these pages reported on how the fake cops at OSI came to serve some papers on fellow Rubber Room prisoner Colonel Hogan.


The story is that back in the Spring, Colonel Hogan was covering the SAVE Room for one period. In the room that day was a 3rd grade girl and a 7th grade boy (The school is a K-8 school).

The 3rd grade girl claimed that during Colonel Hogan's time covering that day the 7th grade boy walked over to her and whipped out his schlong. Soon after that Colonel Hogan was removed for parts other than the school.

The notice he got was to come down to OSI and speak with them. Colonel Hogan dutifully went along with a rep from the Bronx UFT. The complaint was that he had witnessed the whipping out of said schlong and did nothing st the time nor did he report it. Tito denied ever seeing it happen and since he never saw what happened he can't report what he didn't see.

He was shown the statement by the little girl, but there was no statement from the 7th grade boy.

The OSI meeting ended and several weeks passed. His principal sent him notice to request a meeting with him and a UFT representative to be held within the walls of the Rubber Room.

The meeting came, he again denied ever being aware of any such incident and that it would be extremely difficult to report what he did not see.

The meeting ended and he went back to gen pop and the principal went on her merry way.

Just an aside. This principal is a Leadership Academy grad. She replaced a trusted and beloved principal at her school. Since her arrival she has systematically gone after veteran teachers. Over 40 teachers have left the school either under their own volition or other indignities. A pattern persists, no? Tito is a 23 year veteran teacher on the wrong side of 50 and makes way too much money. Figure it out.

So a few days after the meeting with the principal, the HR person at the Rubber Room has something for Tito. It is a disciplinary letter to the file. But that is not all.

A week or so after that he gets hit with 3020-a charges. Yep, four specifications all related to this incident.

Among the charges are;

Lack of professional fitness.

Violation of Chancellor's Regulation A-412.

Neglect of duties

Poor judgement

Created a situation in which a student can show off his schlong

Failed to supervise the male student

Failed to supervise the female student

Yeah, someone screwed up here and it was not Colonel Hogan.  Anyone care to guess?

The principal is covering her tushy for allowing a 7th grade boy into a SAVE Room with a 3rd grade girl. Who would allow such a thing to happen? Why would it happen? The principal needs a scapegoat and she picked Tito to be the fall guy. This is a man who in my opinion could not and wold not hurt anyone. That if he saw what happened or if it truly happened he would have done all in his power to stop it and/or report it.

Why would he not report it? What advantage would he have to stay silent?

On the other hand, why is this even going to a 3020-a hearing? Is this not an incredible waste of time and money? A letter in the file is not sufficient even when it is just one person's word against another?

More curious, it seems that either OSI felt there was not enough evidence to warrant any further action or that they decided to bump it down to the principal for her to take the necessary steps. If OSI didn't feel it needed further action why then did the principal have to go past a letter in the file.

It is open season again on teachers. We are sitting ducks and there is not one person out there who care. The DOE is running scared from Campbell Brown and trying to prove her wrong.

While sitting around in the Rubber Room at 1230 Zerega Ave last Monday, October 6th, we yet again found out that what others think of us, as if it were really a surprise.

Doing what one usually does in the Rubber Room the big macha, along with his two deputies, of 1230 Zerega Ave came to address all 11 of us. Why were we blessed with his presence?

A little background.

We are warehoused in the large, 10 table, approximately 36 seat cafeteria. In this cafeteria there are two vending machines (One for snacks, the other for beverages). We are also blessed with a former 7-Up soda refrigerator where we can store our food. We are also have a toaster and a microwave.

There is also a 42 inch flat screen LCD-HD TV in there. Hanging up in the corner. We can watch the TV whenever we want. Sadly there is no cable, we just get the over the air channels and whatever corresponding digital channels come along. We just don't have the remote. That is under lock and key by a receptionist, Mrs Forest Gump, in the enrollment center. No one know why she has such specialized attention.

The Rubber Room/Cafeteria at 1230 Zerega Ave.

About 10 days ago we decided to turn on the TV to watch the latest Channel 4 news when Mrs Forest Gump comes into the cafeteria to eat her lunch. We were then hoping to watch New York Live right after but Mrs Forest Gump would have none of it. She had to watch her stories. We were subjected to the Young and the Restless.

It was attempted that we have every right to watch the TV as her and out of courtesy she should at the very least consult with us, ask us, what we want to watch or if it is OK to change the channel. Her reply was quite typical;

"This is MY cafeteria, 'you people' don't even belong here."

Umbrage was taken at this and it was reported. It didn't have to happen this way. It could have been worked out, a compromise found. But Mrs Forest Gump had to insult and degrade us.

Which brings us to Monday.

So like Fielding Mellish had to listen to the general, I too, as well as my colleagues had to listen to the leader of the building belittle and humiliate us. 

He told us in no uncertain terms that we are not in a Rubber Room and we should not call where we are a Rubber Room. We are in the cafeteria.

That there are 180 people at the Zerega Ave complex and that it is very convenient to the 6 train, the Hutch, the Bruckner, the Cross Bronx and the Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges. Oh, and the parking is out of this world.

There is no other place to put us at Zerega and this is where we must be as he talked condescending to us implying we should be grateful for the amenities we have (See above).

But he would like one thing from us. We must leave the Rubber Room, oops, the cafeteria from 12:30 to 1:30 so the rest of the staff at Zerega can eat lunch. Never mind that half the building is out at schools and whatnot and the rest are eating lunch at their desks. We must vacate or as he implied;

 "We can find other reassignment centers in the Bronx for you."

When asked that even if everyone in the building wished to eat lunch at that time there isn't enough room for everybody, he ignored that and shared that people wish to converse with one another at lunch and talk about the travails of the New York Jets and we will be inhibiting such dialogue.

We were told we can go to lunch (But not in the cafeteria), sit in the bullpens of our networks, sit in unoccupied meeting rooms, or the copy room. But NOT IN THE CAFETERIA!!

This is really unacceptable. We are professionals and human beings. We have already lost a great deal of respect and dignity from others, why must this person come in and kick us when we are down. The Leader even admitted that it was true that this decree was in response to the complaint about Mrs Forest Gump. The same Mrs Forest Gump that insulted the teachers in the Rubber Room last year and the same decree was declared. There is a pattern here for the Leader to notice. Mrs Forest Gump does not play and work well with others.

And if you are asking yourself is the cafeteria overcrowded due to the exodus of the Rubber Room inmates? Not exactly. Mrs Forest Gump has been the lone person having lunch there from 12:30 to 1:30 everyday and watching her stories unfettered.

There was a parole, or maybe a commutation, today at the Zerega Ave Rubber Room.

As mentioned the other day, Rudy Baylor as reported here on Monday, received a new suit, a bus ticket and a ride to the deep end of the ATR pool courtesy of our friends at the DOE. We all bade him a fond farewell, wished him the best and went back to waiting. And waiting, and waiting for whatever fate awaits us.

Now there are 11 of us left. Coincidentally, we are all, we the exception of one (Who happens to be on the cusp of 40), over the age of 40. The vast majority are male and/or of color. But all of us share a few similarities. We are independent of mind and counting the days.

Two weeks ago I wrote about Tito Landrum and how OSI came for him. The poor guy has his meeting just a few days ago and he has been a wreck. He is walking around the last few days in a fog, just in shock. Almost 20 years in the system and it can all go down the toilet because anything a child says is gospel and teachers are deemed guilty unless they have the fight in them to prove themselves innocent after being kicked in the face for months.

Last year I wrote about my lack of human contact where I was assigned. In some ways that was better than I have it now. In a surreal way the Rubber Room at Zerega Ave resembles, rather is, Death Row. Death and doom are all around me. At least at 4360 Broadway I could create my own fantastical world.

That's what it's like. We sit around day after day, week after week and so on and wonder when our doom is coming or if will we get a last minute call to save us. Worse, we sit there wondering if this is all some kind of dream that we can't yet wake ourselves out of. 

We are in a large lunchroom with is akin to the day room in the pod on Death Row. A dozen people who didn't know one another before thrown into this Kafkaesque rabbit hole sit there and do nothing other than read the paper, read a book, sleep, or dream of a better place for themselves.

Since there are about a half dozen networks at Zerega and 3 district offices the building is always buzzing. People (As it is their right), come in and out of the lunchroom we are confined to mostly polite to us but mostly ignored, as if they can catch what we have; DOE Cooties.

The DOE wants to break us, destroy us, and be rid of us. The only difference between the Rubber Room and Gitmo is that the prisoners of Gitmo are treated with more respect and have better accommodations. We get what? A hard plastic chair that is not made to be sat in for nearly seven hours and a hard dirty table.

And like Gitmo, the longer we are held without knowing why or having our cases adjudicated, one becomes more radical in their thinking and more resentful to those responsible for their imprisonment.

Dignity and respect go without saying, but sadly it is going without.

Amnesty International, where are you guys?

Some interesting news came across the SBSB news desk today.

A teacher, let's call him, Rudy Baylor, was teaching a class one day and reached from behind to hand a 7th grade female student a piece of paper. The student was sitting with several of her female friends. It seemed all pretty routine, huh?

The next thing Rudy knows is that he is being accused of improperly touching this girl. How? The young lady claimed that when Rudy bent down ever so slightly to hand her the paper his dingy touched the back of her shoulder.

The girl immediately reported this, not to the principal, but rather to school safety.  School safety had no other choice but to call in NYPD. Thank God that the officers that responded were well trained and able to think independently, Rudy was not charged.

This was in March; Rudy was immediately sent to the Rubber Room, he got cleared today. Six months later.

This could not have been cleared up within a week? Two weeks? Who suffered here? The students did. The students were without their teacher for the last 3 months of last year and so far 2 weeks off this year.

Yet, the Three Stooges of education reform in New York State, Campbell Brown, Mona Davids, and Sam Pirozzolo would lead you to believe that the long investigative process is the fault of the teachers and the union that "protects teachers."

Without that union that "protects teachers" Rudy Baylor would have been out on his buttocks no questions, no nothing asked nor rights protected. Rudy is a single father, without the protections put in place by the collective bargaining agreement and state law, Rudy would have had to go collecting cans so his son could eat.

But according to the Stooge like troika, Rudy even though he has been cleared can still be in jeopardy. The Stooges, if they have their way, would force any decision if a teacher is cleared of sexual misconduct to be given a thumbs or or thumbs down decision made by the chancellor.

On what facts would a chancellor bases such a life altering decision? Would certain teachers be in or out of favor? Would there be some type of checks and balances? Can decisions made by the chancellor be appealed (Other than Article 78)?

The truth was seen in Rudy's case not because the union protects bad teachers. But rather the union is there to make sure and enforce that all teachers are afforded their contractual rights, state rights, and due process as spelled out in the United States Constitution.

It seems this girl had an agenda and didn't want Rudy Baylor around anymore. Kids are smart. They know how to manipulate the system and know how to make a teacher's life miserable.

If the chancellor has a final say on all sexual misconduct accusations it will be ripe for abuse. It'll be like yelling, "fire!" in a crowded theater.

I have been transferred.

For those that recall, last year I spent my Rubber Room time at 4360 Broadway. Worse, I was held captive alone for over 6 months until I was allowed compatriots. I shared with the readers of this blog my captivity, my friends, and how I acclimated myself to the whims of my captors.

I am now at 1230 Zerega Ave in the Bronx where there not only 3 district offices but about a gazillion networks and other support staff as well. Better, I am no longer imprisoned alone. But the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.

There are about a dozen or so prisoners there and each and everyone one of us are above 40 years of age. Most are male as well as people of color. What does this tell you? A lot!

Today was a normal day as usual in the Rubber Room. People were counting the hairs on their arms, counting the ceiling tiles, and other assorted time wasting activities when a network HR director came into the cell block with a nerdy looking white guy no older than 27 years old.

They were both standing in the door jam when they motioned for Colonel Hogan. Tito looking confused got up out of his seat and walked towards them.

Looking at the nerdy white guy, I notice something out of place. Well, yes...besides the fact he was nerdy.

He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, but more intriguing was the stenographers note pad and pen he was carrying in his right hand. I smelled the stench of OSI (Office of Special Investigation) and bolted up from my seat.

I whisked myself out of my chair and went out into the hallway where Tito was being led away as a death row prisoner was being led to the execution chamber. My spider sense tingled.

I called out to Tito not to answer any questions from this Nerdy Guy, that he had a right to having someone represent him.

Nerdy Guy, told me several times to mind my business. I told Nerdy Guy that Colonel Hogan had a right to be represented either my a union rep or anyone else with the union. Nerdy Guy was having none of this.

He demanded to know who I am and I introduced myself. He told me his name was Eric Black, OSI operative.

Eric said that he was not going to be asking Tito any questions but again implored that I mind my own business. I again told Eric aka Nerdy Guy that Tito had rights. Besides I thought to myself, if he wasn't planning on asking him any questions, why then was he carrying that notebook and pen?

Eric aka Nerdy Guy won out and Tito went into a room alone with him. Luckily it was over in less than a minute.

All Eric aka Nerdy Guy did was hand Colonel Hogan a letter. Oh, and chastise me by pointing his notebook several times in my face and screaming, "It's your fault this became a bigger deal than it had to."

Who know what could have happened? If no one spoke up to remind Colonel Hogan of his rights or reminded Eric aka Nerdy Guy of Colonel Hogan's rights perhaps there might have been questioning and Tito could have been a witness against himself.

Worse, why would Eric aka Nerdy Guy not only not allow Colonel Hogan his full rights but feel the need to deride anyone who wishes to advocate for Tito?

Perhaps he is making up for some serious Freudian physical shortcoming and the only way he can counter that is by making himself seem like a tough guy by bullying and intimidating others.

We suggest that Eric aka Nerdy Guy treat teachers he deals with in the future with respect. If he is unable to do that The Crack Team suggests he returns his associates degree from the community college from which it was earned post haste as well as returning the magic decoder ring he got in his Cocoa Puffs to the good folks at General Mills in the same speedy fashion.

This is one of the most difficult and personal blog posts I have ever written in my 6 years of blogging, but this story, now more than ever, needs to be shared.

I'm not sharing it to garner sympathy or adulation but rather to cast light upon the incessant abuse of teachers not only in the schools of NYC, but across America as well.

One of the reasons I am sharing this now is that in this current fight to defend ourselves from interlopers who not only wish to take away our tenure rights, but worse, think having no tenure will help us, I am hoping that the information I share here just might be able to help or have a teacher know that they are not alone.

On Friday, August 1, 2014, my attorney Bryan Glass filed a lawsuit on my behalf in New York State Supreme Court naming my principal, DR Alison Coviello, principal of PS 154 in the Bronx, as one of the defendants.

I am not going to get into too many of the details of the lawsuit right now. But there is one instance, a conspiracy, that needs, that must, be shared.

For many readers of this blog you know that I have been reassigned since September 3, 2013 in the Rubber Room. The 2012-2013 school year had been pure hell. Not only was I U-rated for the year, but all 3 of my formal observations were U-rated as well and I received discipline letters for the littlest things. How could this have happened? Why? Up until the 2012-2013 school year I had never ever received a U rating or observation in my 18 years of teaching to that point.

On August 24, 2012 (Just about 10 days before we had to report), DR Alison Coviello wrote in an email to AP Jessica Cruz;

“Hey, I revised Zucker’s job description  so that it is focused more on literacy. This way, (It was) explained, we’ll have a surer chance of winning a case when our observations detail incompetence.”

Can anybody guess the mistake? It was pre-determined before the 2012-2013 school year even started that I was going to be found incompetent. Coviello was playing God.

At what point is enough enough of this dirty dealing, lying, sandbagging going to end?

Eight teachers, including myself, were U rated for the 2012-2013 school year. One awaits a 3020-a hearing, another went through a 3020-a hearing and resigned. Did Coviello and Cruz conspire on each and every U rated teacher? Why did Coviello and Cruz decide to treat the teachers punitively instead of constructively? Surely treating teachers in such a punitive manner would have an effect on the students, no?

More importantly, did Coviello and Cruz act on their own or did the instructions come from higher up and if so, from whom and how high up the chain of command?

And if they did it to us, what makes one think that they can't or won't act in this manner to any other teacher at PS 154? Anything is possible.

Can anyone not see why we need tenure? Why we need due process? Why we are ticked off about Campbell Brown? DR Alsion Coviello has just given a gift to teachers city and nationwide. She has shown us why we need tenure and how easily power can be perverted and how what I have just shared is systemic in the NYCDOE.

It is time we collectively say, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!"

When teachers are hurt, it affects the students. When one teacher is hurt, we all hurt.

Things are getting better in my captivity at 4360 Broadway, other wise known as the rubber room. It is now 89 days since I had been cast adrift from the wonderful world of PS 154 in the Bronx and the memories of that place are becoming more and more distant.

After a rough start to my captivity, (and here) I have become more accepting of my captors as they seem to have become more accepting of me. Yes, I did have some issues at first, but when one is forced into a captive role one reverts back to mankind's earliest stages when it is traditional to mark one's territory.

Anyway I now seem to have an understanding of their society and have come to accept their ways. Fortunately, have been invited from time to time to take part in their rituals and must say that I have enjoyed myself.

The leader of the captives rules by respect and benevolence. I have let down my guard and no longer expect the chair of punishment for my misdeeds. This ritual of respect and benevolence at first was foreign to me, but the leader seems to treat all the other natives under his rule in this manner and there is no less dedication to the task at hand amongst the natives.

Though some might say that I am suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, I am allowed to come and go as I please and have no problem staying with these people. In fact I feel more like an observer or a guest, like Jane Goodall. I live amongst these people at 4360 Broadway.

On the other hand there is another band of natives on the 4th floor, they call themselves District 79. They are quite territorial, controlling, and worst, malevolent in their dealings with outsiders.

Yesterday was just such an occasion.

The floor of my captivity was having many people and guests. The room where I have formed my base camp and marked my territory was being used, the room adjacent to it was being used, as well the big conference room. There was no place left for me to sit and put my stuff. I asked for permission to make contact with the District 79 natives and seek permission to set up camp for a brief while in their gilded break room where the vending machines are.

I decided to bring gifts of welcome to the District 79 band. I made first contact with their director of security, (For the purposes of this story a pseudonym will be used befitting what the director of security thinks of it's position) Tasha Yar. I explained the situation to Tasha that I had no place to sit and a place for my stuff and asked if I can just sit in the gilded break room for an hour or so.

She said no. She said I belong to the natives upstairs and they must watch me at all times. I asked if an exception can be made since their is no place to sit. Again she said no and that I need to be watched. I asked, "What am I, 12 years old?" At this point she suggested that I speak to the other Director of Security, Odo, who had shifted into some really odd shape.

Again I asked why can't I just sit in the gilded break room for an hour or so. Odo informed me that to keep a happy 4th floor I can't sit there and it is only to be used for lunch as there might be meetings happening throughout the day. I mentioned that there are very few meetings there to begin with and if there is a meeting today that I will clear out.

Odo again told me that I can't sit there and it is only to be used for lunch as there might be meetings happening throughout the day. I asked if there are any meeting there for today and Odo told me I can't sit there and it is only to be used for lunch as there might be meetings happening throughout the day.

I tried a different tactic. I explained to Odo that my captors have said it is OK for me to use the gilded break room. Odo replied that upstairs is for them and the 4th floor is for us and never the twain shall meet. I then said, "Isn't sharing caring?" That remark made Odo shift into many shapes, not all of them pleasant.

Sensing from Odo that there is a fear of me radicalizing and sharing truths with the 4th floor captives I inquired why am I feared. Odo responded that that I can't sit there and it is only to be used for lunch as there might be meetings happening throughout the day. I asked if I can sit near school safety, Odo responded that the agents are extremely busy (????) throughout the day and must concentrate on all aspects of their jobs.

I then inquired if I see one of the 4th floor captives in the hallway can I say, "Hi, how are you?" Odo refused to answer. I asked Odo again, no answer. I asked a third time, Odo said, "Yes you may say hello, but no conversation as it may be taking away from tasks that they perform for us."

Reminder, none of this is being made up. It is real!

Exasperated, I had to end this idiocy. This was turning into a Abbott and Costello routine and I wasn't the straight man, or was I?

I really don't understand why certain people feel the need to have to humiliate and demean people and colleagues. One day Tasha Yar or Odo might be in the same predicament as me and I can promise you they would want to be treated with respect.

But sometimes one is too involved in one's self importance to see the forest through the 4th floor of District 79.

This Thursday, November 14, 2013 at 6 PM a first ever Open Educator forum hosted by Francesco Portelos.

Learn about true bullying and how to deal with the miscreants from Tweed.

Learn about Rubber Rooms, the teacher discipline process.

And all that other good stuff that has made the NYCDOE, Uncle Mike, Sock Puppet Walcott and over 1,000 principals the laughing stock of NYC and the USA!

Tell Francesco Frank Sinatra Jr sent you and receive a free glass of wine!