Thursday, May 3, 2007

A 6th Year Teacher.....


....I was speaking to at the radical math conference this past weekend has the following problem:

He doesn't want to leave his school yet but might one day. He has all his credits and is going to be making around 60 thousand soon.

As he began to understand the implications of the revisions in the budget and the UFT basic agreement to accept the Tweed plan (which means the school keeps the money if a senior teacher leaves but the principal doesn't have to use it to hire a teacher of the same salary and can use it instead to buy a 50 inch plasma for his office) he realizes that as his salary goes much higher, he is in danger of being stuck at his school for eternity. Of course with the UFT-touted Open Market System (go over to the UFT blog Edwize to see NYC Educator and Jonathan rake the Leo Casey tout sheet over the coals) the teacher is in a quandary.

"Do you think I should make my move now even though I don't want to," he asked?

He is in his late 20's and politically active but hasn't been active in the union. He attended the surreal Delegate Assembly in April and couldn't believe the Randi zoo. He asked questions about the UFT. As events hit home an inconsequential union enters the consciousness.

There were over 400 people at the radical math conference from around the nation but many from NYC. If even a portion of them get active in the UFT.....

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