Monday, April 25, 2016

Damned by her own words - Fariña Speaks of Partnership with UFT/Unity in purging bad teachers

Farina leads hunt for bad teachers
Before we can even think about removing bad teachers, bad principals have to go first. Many of the bad teachers who leave move up to supervisor and it is often these people that Farina is telling to go after "bad" teachers. And she protects these people. As long as even a few principals act on V is for Vendetta principles the UFT should be digging its heals in the sand.

Here's a deal - for every "bad" teacher let's get rid of a bad principal.

An illuminating piece from Politico.
Fariña insisted the union was not interfering with her plans for firing ineffective teachers. “We have worked very collaboratively with the U.F.T.,” she said, adding, “If I’m getting pushback from the U.F.T. [on individual teachers] I or someone on my team is going to get involved.”

Fariña has repeatedly said she believes new provisions in the U.F.T. contract will help get weak teachers out of the classroom, including moving teachers out of the Absent Teacher Reserve (A.T.R.), a controversial pool of teachers who have been removed from the classroom but remain on the payroll.

Fariña said asking principals to weed out their weakest teachers has been her “first statement when I get into any school visit. ... I repeat it over and over again."

Fariña said, “I literally told the principal, ‘I will be back at the end of April, and so-and-so better not be here.’”
 - POLITICO  Capital New York 
The witch hunts are on. How nice to have a collaborationist UFT.
Jonathan Halabi said it on WBAI Monday night and I said it to the school I visited when they asked how we would be different than Unity? Farina would not be able to say any of the above about the union as the DOE will get severe pushback on wasting these resources on the bad teacher hunting expeditions. Because before we can even think about removing bad teachers, bad principals have to go first.

I love this line the best:
Fariña has appointed a D.O.E. official whose primary role is instructing principals on how to properly write letters about certain teachers to keep in their files.
You see, they have a plan while teachers are given no plan by the UFT to defend themselves.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2015/03/8563677/fari%C3%B1a-method-purging-bad-teachers

Diane Ravitch touched on the bad teacher rap in her dialogue with Whitney Tilson when he asked:
• Some teachers are phenomenal, most are good, some are mediocre, and some are truly terrible.
This spread is probably the same in every other profession. Those who are “truly terrible” should be removed before they achieve tenure; most, I suspect, leave early in their career because they can’t control their classes. We actually have many more successful teachers than most people believe; as states have reported on their new evaluation systems, more than 95% of teachers have been rated either “Highly effective” or “Effective.” Very few fell below those markers. Frankly, teaching these days is so difficult that it takes a very strong person to handle the responsibilities of the classroom.
My response is that many of the bad teachers who leave move up to supervisor and it is often these people that Farina is telling to go after bad teachers.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bad teacher!
Bad teacher!
Where have you been?
"I've been to London to visit the Queen."

Who is responsible for clearing out bad superintendents and bad chancellors?

Abigail Shure

Anonymous said...

So glad to know that every election season there will be a bounty on my head. Oh sure, I'm one of the good ones, you say, don't worry. BS. I am worried because only $expensive$ teachers get targetted, being "good" doesn't keep you safe. When Fariña goes to a school, she looks at the payroll and says, "I wan't your most expensive teacher gone before I come back."

Anonymous said...

Farina visited the Brooklyn UFT offices last year and Mulgrew was standing in the conference room with her. Farina was addressing many new teachers and said, stay out of the teachers lounge for fear of being influenced by older teachers, not the exact wording but you get the message. The chancellor who brags of her cleaning house in her school when she was a principal had no fear of the UFT president who stood by and did squat to defend teachers many who have been teaching for more years than he or his predecessor had combined. This anachronism from the BOE past should be put out to the pasture another brilliant move by DeBlasio who may not last out his term. Idiots running the city, the DOE and the UFT.

Anonymous said...

The Farina piece is a year old. When it came out and it was props ed that people bring up a DA resolution to put some internal pressure on Farina, why did nothing happen?

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew sacrificed ATRs to the altar of the new high priest and priestess of NYC. He contractualized their slaughter via the last contract. Mulgrew should leave with DeBlasio and Farina. Chances are Mulgrew is under investigation for giving DeBlasio $350,000, agreeing to discriminate against his own members and his close ties with the DeBlasio administration.

Anonymous said...

Well, with the current scandals and investigations occurring at city hall, De Failure has proven that he could not manage the City, if he tried. I feel the best move for him would be to resign. Farina is totally incompetent at changing the tone and rates of success. Simply look at the paltry figures of minority enrollment in specialized schools, we need equality. She has failed, and should resign with De Blasio.