Monday, September 7, 2009

For Whom the Bell Tolls

It tolls for the teachers and students in the N.Y.C. school system. Another year of fun and games. Everyone pretends on Wednesday how happy they are. By Friday, the discipline problems come out and begin their never ending attack in the classroom.
We don't see the restoration of the 600 school concept for the unruly. Hence, we have schools in this city that are an absolute nightmare. Children, and I use the term loosely, run amok through the halls-screaming, fighting, yelling, cursing, setting bulletin boards on fire, throwing stink bombs under the doors. It's a close encounter of the worst kind.
Congratulations and best wishes to all N.Y.C. teachers who retired this past July 1. You are entering the best phase of your life. It can't get better than this.
Watch how Klein & Co. show up on Wednesday, the 1st day of school. He'd never know what good teaching is since he spent just 6 months in the classroom before fleeing the classroom.
To all those who begin their careers and to the veterans: Have a great year. Take care. ...And remember, June must come!

Shame of Our Schools-Excessed Teachers

As we approach the start of the new school year, what the city is doing in terms of its excessed teachers is a disgrace. How can the UFT continue to go along with this?
Excess teachers lost their positions when schools suffered a decrease in children attending, or when the school was shut down. These excellent teachers gave many years of service to the New York City school system. They received their yearly satisfactory ratings.
Our beloved chancellor has taken to criticizing the excessed teachers. He claims that they're not looking hard enough for positions. Let him attend job fairs to view for himself that there are few positions available.
The situation is made worse by the 2005 contract. In that loony agreement, the UFT gave up the right for senior excessed teachers to "bump" people with less seniority. This is ridiculous. How do you agree to something like that. These teachers were paying union dues and this is how their union treats them?
Excessed teachers did not get master's degrees to be relegated to substitute status. The Department of Education should be using them so as to lower class registers. Instead, our chancellor says they're lazy in not looking for a job, are incompetent, or are u-rated teachers. This is not true on all accounts.
This is a terrible situation which needs remediation at once.