Published in The WAVE Nov. 23, 2018.
There are 2 Eva schools in Rockaway.
School Scope: Schools
Threaten Parents with ACS; UFT OT/PT Turn Down Contract
By Norm Scott
School employees have been charged as mandated reporters of
child abuse and neglect but in some cases there has been abuse of the process
itself. Some NYC principals have been known to call, or threaten to call, Administration
for Children’s Services, New York City’s child welfare agency (ACS) on parents
who might be deemed “politically difficult” and not because the children are
being mistreated, says a recent Hechinger report. https://hechingerreport.org/when-schools-use-child-protective-services-as-a-weapon-against-parents/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cb_bureau_ny.
Such a call charging the parent with neglect could lead to
serious repercussions, including the ultimate outcome of children being removed
from the home. Such threats are used against outspoken parents.
Some charter schools have used this tactic to force parents
to remove unwanted children who might bring charter inflated test scores down. Eva
(Evil) Moskowitz’ Success Academy, the largest network in the city with almost
50 schools, has been one of the most egregious, frequently calling ACS to
encourage parents to take their children, often with disabilities, out of the
school. This has led to a number of legal and civil complaints against the
charter network. A law suit against Success was allowed to proceed when the
judge said “allegations that school employees called police or child protective
services on 4- and 5-year olds, would, if true, help to demonstrate enough ‘bad
faith or gross misjudgment’ to sustain the discrimination claims. Calling ACS
is one of the tools in their repertoire to make the parents comply,” said Irene
Mendez, a staff attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, one of
several groups that filed the suit.”
The report points out that “school workers may sometimes be
overzealous, calling in allegations over relatively minor issues such as broken
eyeglasses, inappropriate clothing or small scratches…. disproportionately
affect[ing] low-income families of color, who tend to live in neighborhoods and
attend schools that have bigger police and social services presences and whose
children are more likely to show markings of poverty that can be confused with
neglect.” Racial bias often plays a role when people of different cultures are
the ones making the judgment.
There are Success Academy schools in Rockaway and if any parents experience similar pressures (in any schools), please contact me and I will put you in touch with the lawyers handling such cases.
UFT Contract:
Occupational/physical therapists say NO by 66%
While 87% of all UFT members voted YES, livid OT/PT members
are demanding a renegotiation. Some WAVE readers have been in touch and have
explained why they are so unhappy and I have been publishing the comments on my
blog. https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2018/11/uft-contract-otpts-defend-turning-down.html. A WAVE reader: “Most OT and PT’s work two
jobs because our salary is so far below speech and teachers. Most of us had NPI
numbers because of our second job in early intervention. It was not a
requirement for our work in the DOE as therapists. About 3 years ago the DOE
sent in Medicaid doctors because they were able to bill Medicaid for our
services. At that time, speech was also required to meet with the doctors. We
were told in no uncertain terms that we had to hand over our NPI numbers to the
DOE so they could bill. The UFT told us we had no choice and had to turn over
our numbers. Speech therapists, on the other hand, were told NOT to hand over
their numbers by their union rep. It’s been an ongoing battle with the union as
to why were required to turn over the one bargaining chip we had.... our NPI
numbers without receiving a dime. Yet, speech therapists were given another
$5,000 yearly outside of a contract. That further increased the disparity in
our pay. The union claims that OT and PT receive more than their counterparts
in city hospitals, which is not true.”
I’m beyond my word count. More next time. Happy Thanksgiving.
I’m beyond my word count. More next time. Happy Thanksgiving.
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