I've wrote a couple of posts in the last month or so about liars and talking smack behind one's back.  In fact I shared about how SBSB super groupie Trixie and how someone went behind her back. I can empathize with her. I know the feeling. Due to a former groupie going behind my back. The feeling sucks. As the saying goes, "Say anything you want about me as long as it is true."

But that is small potatoes. 

We all have people that we put our trust in. To share things confidentially. A lawyer, a clergy person, a medical doctor, a therapist, a union representative. Those relationships and what is said are sacrosanct. 

So when somebody calls me misogynistic or claims that I have bad mouthed colleagues since 2016 every spring due to "getting phone calls every April and May like clockwork" that I have besmirched a colleague I work with "yet again," I feel I need to speak up. 

Let's take the first accusation. That I am misogynist. What would trigger such a person to claim that? This blog post from February of 2021. Read it. Yeah, I am snarky. I am sarcastic. One might even claim that I took God's name in vain. But I where was I misogynist? Please. If you make an accusation, OWN IT! PROVE IT! 

Let's move on. 

So apparently this person is "getting phone calls every April and May like clockwork." Again, where is the proof?  I come from a place where if one makes an accusation you back it up. 

I went back in the blog and checked out all blog posts from  2016-2022. Checking March, April and May of each year. Nothing. Here are links for 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Check out March-April for each year. Or just look to the right -----> and check out the blog archive. 

I can't find one blog post in which I besmirched a teacher I had worked with. Yes, there are several blog posts about a former candidate for UFT President, but I neither taught with this person nor care what this person thinks. Even the blog post from February 2021 I just stated the facts. I didn't editorialize.

And guess what? I am not the only gadfly that this person has talked smacked and took their tongue and told fibs about. Is it a coincidence that this gadfly is Jewish? There can be a perception that this person telling lies and creating accusations might have anti-Jewish leanings.

We as teachers have to constantly live in fear and worry about being targeted by the DOE day after day. To have to live with those same feelings from someone that we put our trust in, look to for guidance, for empathy, to a shoulder have this happen damaging.

 

 Trixie, the SBSB groupie has just shared some disturbing news that has befell her. We thank Trixie for feeling that she has a safe place here. She asked me to post this episode that happened to her recently and is hoping to hear from readers for advice.

For those that don't recall, Trixie is a teacher at the Speed Racer Elementary School and was expecting to teach widgets but in October for some reason or another it was decided for her to teach Nuclear Fission. Then a few weeks later she got schpritzed in the eye with hand sanitizer by a student. And then faced COVID death due to an entire grade being isolated without any news being shared with the rest of the school. However, what Trixie just shared was her greatest indignity of all. 

What could that be? Trixie and The Crack Team are still crunching the numbers but it somehow in someway runs the gamut of being thrown under the bus to being stabbed in the back to having smack talked about her. Worse, it was from someone that was at one point her closest friend in the DOE. Someone that didn't teach at her school and though they were no longer friends this just was not right. 

It's too bad because Trixie did not deserve it. In fact Trixie was shocked when she found out and at the same time hurt. But Trixie is a trooper. She's not even going to waste her time talking this this person. She just wanted me to share this and get it off her chest.

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

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

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

NOBODY ELSE IN THE SCHOOL WAS NOTIFIED!

No, I am not making this up. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How difficult is it for the UFT to lead?

When last we left Trixie, a SBSB groupie, Trixie had her schedule and program changed. Again and again. 

Trixie is again in the SBSB news. This time for a student copying something from Tik Tok.

Trixie was teaching her nuclear fission class. A student, let's call this student Shlomo Rubenstein decided to get up out of his seat. Why? Because all of the sudden Shlomo decided he needed to sanitize his hands. 

Now Trixie has no problem with the proper sanitizing of hands. Especially when there is little to no mitigation against the COVID. In fact Trixie encourages all mitigation. But not in this instance. 

Shlomo is well known and causes quite a ruckus in class. Shlomo just wanted to get out of his seat. Trixie asked Shlomo several times to return to his seat but Shlomo was just gosh darn determined to get to the hand sanitizer. 

Shlomo then proceeded to put globs and globs of hand sanitizer on his hands. So much, that it was dripping. As Shlomo walked past Trixie he proceed to cup his hands with the hand sanitizer and flicked it over his head and some of the sanitizer got in Trixie's eyes. 

Trixie soon felt the sting in her eyes and summoned the proper school authority. Shlomo was removed from class and from all Trixie was able to ascertain received a stern "talking to." As of press time The Crack Team still has not been able to find out if the "talking to" involved any finger wagging. 

Trixie of course filled out an occurrence report and left to seek medical care. According to this website, hand sanitizer in the eyes can...

 ...can be quite dangerous if not handled correctly, and even lead to vision loss

This can be ungood.  

After this incident several staff members shared with Trixie that a stunt like this is being encouraged on Tik Tok. The Crack Team doesn't care for Tik Tok but did Google search and came up with this.

And guess what? Yeah, it is always the teacher's fault. It would be nice to see the UFT take a more proactive stance in such a situation. Patrick Lynch would be screaming at cops being abused. Where is Mike Mulgrew in such matters?

 From the files of "This Shit Can't Be Made Up," comes another dark tale. 

This is a story is true. The Crack Team receive this story from an SBSB groupie. Names have been changed as well as anything that can be identifiable .

Trixie started her first day at the Speed Racer School Elementary School. She was informed that she would be the widget teacher. She was surprised. She was told that she came very recommended as she is a known widget expert. 

She was assigned to the widget room and spent a week cleaning up and putting away excess widgets. Things were going well. She had yet to be assigned a program. She was told it would take a few weeks due to the disarray the widget room is in. But Trixie was cool with that. He was looking forward to doing innovative things with the students and widgets. 

Days turned into weeks and no program. The widgets were gathering dust. The students were missing out. What was going on?

Trixie soon found out. She found out on a Tuesday that she would be teaching something that she had never taught before; nuclear fission. But not to worry she was told, there is a curriculum and she will have three days (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday). The curriculum will be forthcoming.

Well, Wednesday forthcame and went. Even though Trixie inquired as to the whereabouts of the supposed forthcoming curricula. Good thing Trixie memorialized the inquisition. But nothing forthcame on Wednesday.

Thursday? Nothing. Nada. Bupkus. That's not really true. Something came, not the entire curriculum, but a teeny, tiny bit about 1:30 in the afternoon. That's about 70 minutes before dismissal. 

The next day the rest of the curricula came forth and Trixie asked for the three full days that she was promised. She wished to familiarize with "Teaching Nuclear Fission to Grades K-2." She was told no. 

Two weeks go by, and Trixie is slowly getting comfortable. But the comfort was not to last.

On a Thursday, at 1:30 PM, Trixie was told she would teach nuclear fission to grades 1-3 starting the following day. With that Trixie's schedule was rearranged and the strides she was making with Kindergarten were all for naught. Worse, she would have to learn a higher level of nuclear fission to incorporate 3rd grade. 

Now mind you; Trixie has never ever taught nuclear fission in her life. There has been zero offers of professional development and zero offers of meeting with coaches. Worse, when Trixie asked for a demo lesson the person she asked refused to do it. 

Trixie left that day and reached out the one person, more than The Crack Team, she could count on. As this other person has done countless times coming to Trixie for support this time, was not reciprocated. She was flat out refused and given the proverbial double middle finger. This is why Trixie turned to The Crack Team.

The Crack Team shan't turn it's back on a teacher in need as well as wanting to publicize any teachers plight. This shit wouldn't happen in a suburban school or a school district run by grown ups. 

Only in the New York City Department of Education, does chaos continuously reign and is the norm. Kids first? It's all bullshit.  Where are Spritel and Chimp-Chimp to to save the day for Trixie?