Extraordinary Interventions

This early morning's Hearing Voices on NPR had a wonderful presentation about a Washington DC student's journey and the extraordinary intervention it took to help him get to his destination.

Getting Out is the story of Jesse Jean whose father murdered his mother and committed suicide when Jesse was 2 years old - in front of him. Jesse tried to avoid all the "stuff" that happens to kids on the streets of Washington and luckily met these 2 ladies - Teri and Tony who I believe worked for some White House connected group - who took him under their wing. I mean seriously under their wing. Like it led to their becoming his legal guardian. A more down home version of The Blind Side. (I liked the movie, but want to read Michael Lewis' book.)

[You can hear an mp3 audio file of Getting Out.]

I post this story for 2 reasons. First because it indicates that even with this extraordinary intervention - including a partial scholarship to a boarding school that costs $28,000 a year - there were still some touch and go moments. Meaning - things like charter schools are merely a drop in the bucket as solutions relative to the overwhelming issues so many kids face.<

The second reason is that there were a few times when I was on the edge of temptation to take a similar extraordinary intervention path with a few kids over the years that I grew close to but just couldn't bite that bullet. One of the students ended up shot in the head 5 times while selling drugs in the wrong territory at the age of 18 - and that after serving 3 years in prison and fathering a child. I spent a lot of hard time thinking at his funeral. It was like I had seen a truck heading for a child in the middle of the street and was helpless to stop the accident from happening.

Some of the kids I worked with in that era of the late 80's to early 90's did experience an extraordinary intervention by a high school teacher in Williamsburg Brooklyn who took in loads of kids to live with her, her husband and a band of adopted kids from just about every nationality. They are some of the true heroes in this world. My particular student was a top-level basketball player and a very nice kid who avoided trouble when he could. Things basically turned out all right though they might have anyway. But even with that level of intervention, the academic problems never went away and college was not his thing.

I was peripherally involved with these kids - attending their basketball games, taking them to sporting events and having them out to my house - but learned a hell of a lot from the experience, understanding just how far I was willing and able to go as a teacher. In the world of today's ed deform that teacher who took kids in to live with her would have her effectiveness judged by her test scores.

When I hear these stories I often think of what it would take and would even echo Joel Klein in with my own call for No Excuses - but on whose part? If you listen to the program - a well spent 52 minutes, you have to ask about focusing only on academic "outcomes" without all that goes with it. What is needed is a lot of extraordinary interventions and this society only wants to take the cheap way out.


Hearing Voices from NPR® Getting Out: The Education of Jesse Jean
Host: Katie Davis of Neighborhood Stories
Airs week of: 2010-05-05 (Originally: 2009-06-03)

Audio will be posted here by 2010-05-12.

“Getting Out” (52:00) Katie Davis

Go to school, keep your grades up, go to college. That’s what we tell kids — over and over. What if just leaving your apartment, and walking up the block is risky? What if it feels safer to stay home, play video games, keep a low profile. When you do go out, head somewhere safe, like the teen center, the basketball court. That was the world of African American teenager, Jesse Jean.

Jesse lived a half a block from host Katie Davis in their Washington DC neighborhood. He was lucky enough to get a scholarship to a private boarding school and brave enough to take it. Katie kept in touch with Jesse, as he moved into this new world. We hear three stories covering seven years, starting in summer, 2001.

Jesse’s Stories on NPR: 2002 Turning the Corner (photos) | 2004 Beyond Myself (photos) | 2008 An Urban Teen Beats The Odds.

Add On
Last week, CBS Sunday Morning did a similar story about the lives of 2 guys living parallel lives in Baltimore at the same time- Same Name, Two Different Stories

One is a Johns Hopkins graduate and the other is serving life in prison. Both grew up in the same neighborhood and share the same name, Wes Moore. Russ Mitchell has the story of how their lives diverged so drastically.

There are a lot of nuances to this story. One Wes had his father die when he was 4. But his father was a journalist and don't lose sight of that very important point as to where this Wes was coming from. His mom just might have gotten into a charter school lottery while the other Wes probably would never have gone to a charter school or been tossed out.

Here is the roughly 10 minute video.

His story is similar to Jesse's and the Wes Moore who is not in prison has written a book called The Other Wes Moore. Here is his web site.

Thriller Dance Roosevelt Middle School Staff West Orange, NJ

How much do kids love when teachers let their hair down?

Darren from GEM sent this video link along:

Hey all,

Check out this youtube video. I like imagining being on either side of the camera - a screaming middle schooler who can't believe her math and science and english teachers are dancing to a choreographed number, or a teacher who knows that the kids are absolutely loving it. My friend Mike, who's now 30, went to this middle school.

Enjoy!

Darren

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhjVKgiatZE

Teachers Selling Lesson Plans? I'm Buying

As a teacher, I was at my best in front of an audience. But I was lousy at lesson planning in an empty room. I would be at home trying to think of creative ways of presenting things like the difference between the short a and long a (I used to act out the roles of the letters, the poor short a suffering from an inferiority complex). Or creative ways of teaching times tables (I used to light a match and hold it until a child finished reciting the entire table for the one number, the goal being for him to finish before I burned my finger - the sharpest kids got the 8x table, the hardest one in my opinion).

I was one of those teachers whose creativity was stimulated when I was in front of kids. Not always the best way to teach.

I was best at performing, not planning, while some of my colleagues were able to create sharp plans but lacked a certain spark in the presentation. I was always confident that I could take just about any material and tweak it to my style. Like an actor on stage performing a script. So though I rail against rigid scripted programs like "Success for All" I hungered for some scripts I could modify and work from. In my ideal world of teaching, I would have had one or more partners who did the writing while I did the performing. Or marked the homework. It would have been a good deal, as I was comfortable being in front of kids for hours at a time. As long as I had the material. But teaching was never really collaborative in the world I lived in.

So, it was interesting to read on the front page of the Sunday Times, (the attention things teachers do seem to be getting incredible scrutiny) that teachers are putting their lesson plans up for sale. Some school districts are saying they own the rights to teacher lesson plans. Then there's this:

Some purists think that undermines the collegiality of teaching. Beyond the unresolved legal questions, there are philosophical ones. Joseph McDonald, a professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University, said the online selling cheapens what teachers do and undermines efforts to build sites where educators freely exchange ideas and lesson plans.

“Teachers swapping ideas with one another, that’s a great thing,” he said. “But somebody asking 75 cents for a word puzzle reduces the power of the learning community and is ultimately destructive to the profession.”

I wonder if Professor McDonald has noticed that the ed deformers are trying to turn teaching into a commodity. It's all about competition and merit pay and performance of kids. Dog eat dog. So, why shouldn't teachers take advantage while they can? After all, what is coming is one script for the entire country. Every single teacher will be doing the same exact thing at the same time of the day.

Even way back then in my days, many teachers wrote books based on their experiences and I bought loads of them. So how is that different from using the internet to sell lesson plans?

So yes, I would buy some lesson plans and curriculum designed by real teachers to save me the time and anguish of having to write them.

Step up to the plate Teach for America

I posted an article from The Feministe by "Anna" called "Why I Hate Teach for America" on Aug. 24, 2008. One of the things TFA'ers who comment on critics say is that they are filling a breach that other teachers won't go into even if it's only for 2 years. In NYC with 1400 unassigned teachers (ATR's) due to closed schools adn excessed positions, TFA continues to pour people into the NYC school system. The cost to the system has been estimated to be $70 million.

Amazingly, the blame has been placed on these experienced teachers by Tim Daly of the New Teachers Project who has a contract to train new teachers and a vested interest in attacking these experienced teachers. His biased reports may in fact be a hidden part of his contract.

Groups in NYC have been calling on the DOE to place a moratorium on TFA recruitment until all these teachers are placed or use them to create more classes where feasible to reduce class size.

The anonymous comment below on the "I Hate TFA Post" came across the other day.


I am a traditionally trained teacher. I have a dual degree in elementary and special education. I'm currently working on my M.Ed in Literacy. It pains me to think of the disservice we are doing our students with TfA.

I've seen people with no background become literacy coaches in 3 years, teaching new recruits how to teach! It's an absolute joke.

We are putting the wrong people in the neediest situations and often watching them fail. With programs like TfA we are putting a band-aid over a huge flesh wound in the American educational system.

I believe that alternative programs can be a part of the certification process but TfA is missing the boat, big time.

I teach special education in an inner-ring suburb of a large metropolitan area. I think of what our students are missing by having teachers, with less than 8 weeks of training, standing in front of them, especially in the elementary grades. Research proves that these primary years are the most important in shaping our academic success and our nation is willingly letting people with no experience or background teach literacy and math.

Unfortunately, this is the way it will be unless this great nation of ours realizes that we need to turn things around, supporting our students at home and our teachers in the classroom. Our profession has lost its nobility.

Students are disrespectful and are supported in their poor choices by parents. We need to reward teachers who pursue higher education degrees and continue to teach with higher salaries and an ounce of appreciation for the often thankless things we do and the countless hours spent helping students beyond our contracted day.

Teach for America perpetuates the problem by supporting the idea that teaching is a stepping stone to bigger and better. In my mind, teaching is the bigger and better. Teach for America boasts that high expectations are required for student achievement. I agree, and I have higher expectations for programs like TfA and the people who have chosen this path.

Step up to the plate TfA and require your recruits to enter the field and continue with their training to TEACH!


Ed Note: I do not agree with the "Students are disrespectful" part of this comment because it brands all students. However, since I also taught special ed kids with emotional difficulties as a cluster teacher - and believe me, I was completely untrained to deal with them - I can understand why this teacher may feel this way.

Blog of the Day: My Kingdom for a Parking Space

For those who follow the adventures of Have a Gneiss Day, this blog is a real treat. I found It's Not All Flowers and Sausages through Gotham Schools. Get the scoop on what really goes on in schools. Here, we get the real scoop on the impact of the parking permit amidst the other trials that go along with teaching. Some commenters tell her to go to the union, not realizing it was the union that sealed the parking deal.

Sometimes it feels as if the forces in the universe are alligning to make this job as difficult as possible, just to see if I have the balls to stick with it. Other times, it feels as if teachers (as people) are the absolute last priority on everyone's list...that we will just suck it up and deal with ridiculous situations "for the kids."


If one more person tells me to do it "for the kids", I might throw a kid at them. Seriously. Stop playing on our good intentions and altruistic dedication to the future and treat us like the professionals you so desperately claim you want us to be. It just seems at times as if this job teeters on the brink of being inhumane.

More at It's Not all Flowers and Sausages

Last Chance to Meet Mr. Fry - Shades of the Sun - at The Fringe Festival

Anyone who saw Nilaja Sun's marvelous play "No child," - see our report on the trip we made with a whole gang from my former school back in Nov. '06, must race over to the Milagro theater (107 Suffolk St. between Delancey and Rivington St.) for tonight's (9:45PM) final performance of "They Call Me Mister Fry." ((Tickets can only be bought at the door starting at 9:30 and there will be enough seating.)

Unlike Sun who is an actress who spent time working with kids and teachers in various schools, Jack Freiberger has taught in various LA schools since 2001. His one man play takes you through the entire process of the pain and joy of teaching, from your first job interview to the total involvement in the lives of your kids that can come to dominate your personal life to the extent that your fiance has had enough.

See the real impact of No Child Left Behind on teachers and students as Mr. Fry is told to put away his balloon sabre in the interests of test prep. Can he be accused of violating a school's "no weapon" policy when you are pointing a balloon at someone? The ideal world under NCLB is for every child in the nation to be doing exactly the same thing at the same time.

Jack manages to find humor in many of the teaching situations, with critical letters from supervisors posted on the screen, along with letters from students. NYC teachers facing Leadership Academy principals will howl.

Jack vividly describes the experience of moving from white bread schools that work to the devastation of South Central LA. "Gee, this school must be safe. Look at all the police around."
Did letting a kid who should have been punished go to a game where his closest relative ends up stabbed to death mean Mr. Fry is a murderer?

Jack called yesterday to thank us for coming to the show (I went with a middle school Spanish teacher) and I urged him to turn it into a film. He will be putting up some video clips on his web site very soon. I asked him to send back reports on what is going on in the LA schools and the LA teachers union when he gets back there. Jack will be around town for a few more weeks and would love to meet with some teachers. I'll post a notice for those interested if that takes place.

Read Jim Callaghan's Mr. Fry Teaches a Lesson in the Back-to-School section of the August 7, 2008 edition of the New York Teacher. (I can't find it on the UFT web site.)

A Very Gneiss Blog

There's no blog out there that gives a better feel for how schools really function - the loves, the hatreds, the joys, the sorrows, the daily, hourly idiocies of the NYC school system than Have a Gneiss Day. A tough gal with a tender heart, Gneiss expresses all the frustrations and excitement of teaching. She's the kind of teacher most NYC principals look askance at because she sees through the bullshit. As a critic of BloomWeinKlein, she falls into the small camp of voices that see the world the way it really is. She would be called a status quoer by the Joel Kleins, Al Sharptons and their band of merry makers, but if I were going to start a school she would be at the top of my list. Actually, I would sit back, put my feet up and let her run it. No Ms. Wannabees here. Yesterday she said goodbye to her favorite kids.

Teaching: Trade or Profession

A Voice Cries Out blog on teaching as a profession got me thinking (I wish she'd stop being so stimulating so I can go out in the garden and get some work done.)

I started attending some workshops on Friday as part of an introduction to engineering at Polytechnic U in B'klyn as part of a DOE grant - it was a small group but most were elementary school people. The prof who is a major guy at Poly was defining the profession of engineering and contrasting it to what people think engineers are - like building maintenance people -- in other words, trades, which he said people can learn in less than a year at a trade school rather than paying $100,000 or more for a degree in engineering.

Examining the criteria for a profession: design tools and know what tools to use. Knowledge is applied with experience, study and practice and judgements are made based on these factors.

I raised my hand and said that by these criteria, teaching in public schools today is a trade, not a profession. He disagreed, saying teachers should control their curriculum, etc. Not in today's world of deskilling teachers where major newspapers and ELA exams extol the benefits of having little experience or real training. TFA is one of the major instruments in this process - making teaching a true trade where you can go to TFA trade school for a short time - like learning data entry.

Ultimately, when the merit pay schemes are in place where a small percentage of teachers will earn bigger bucks with the rest at much lower pay - the idea of a trade will be complete - except people like plumbers will always make more. My advice to potential teachers - try plumbing instead and enjoy a trade that will pay.

When I hear that we need to close the achievment gap to keep up with the global economy my response is train plumbers instead. Plumbing is impossible to outsource.

A Teacher's Dilemma...

... how the DOE/UFT eats its young

Unionizing or Truly Uniting?

A great post at Syntactic Gymnastics.

It was great to see that she got a lot of value out of the Teachers Unite Forum (I think she is referring to Michael Fiorillo's brilliant analysis of privatization.) If she stays in NYC I hope she works with Teachers Unite, ICE and other progressive forces to create a movement for change.

Some excerpts (read the entire piece at http://syntacticgymnastics.blogspot.com/) illustrate the bankruptcy of the UFT leadership from the point of view of a teacher not affiliated with an opposition caucus and fairly new to the system:

I was even a chapter leader for a time. I knew enough to be skeptical of the administration's motives, but I was floored when I realized just how little support I could expect from the UFT. I have reached out to them on numerous occasions, always hoping that something good would come of it, but most of the time, I hear promises from the UFT reps and District Reps that never come to fruition and I just live in fear about the negative consequences.

If the teachers "won't stand up", or so the UFT DR's stance goes, then "what can we do?"

The problem with this logic is that the teachers won't stand up with the UFT if they can't trust the very people who are supposed to be looking out for their interests. The teachers won't stand up when every effort is made by the DOE and the principals to splinter the staff and create a culture of fear. The UFT should have been on the ground, uniting the staffs of these small schools, from the very beginning of all of the reorganizations. They shouldn't be waiting around for the desperate cries for help, only to pass the buck when it's clear the situation is hopeless. The teachers will NOT stand up with the UFT, because the UFT is not ultimately serving their interests lately. I mean, think about it. If the organization itself is top-down (I just learned that the District Reps are appointed by Randi herself!), how could it possibly be serving the interests of the teachers? Yet it's not as if the teachers are scaredy-cats who are all too afraid to do anything. On the contrary, the teachers are much smarter and refuse to align themselves against their own interests. That's why they are not so willing to stand up right now.

SG's great insights reminds me of a conversation I had with a long-time chapter leader and teacher of over 20 years who supports the work of ICE and Ed Notes but insists on remaining under cover – deathly afraid (wrongly, I might add) that when they [admins] come for him/her, the UFT would do what it could to knife him/her in the back if he/she were an open ICE supporter. A bit paranoid, he/she won't listen when I say that the more vocal you are the more protection you get if it is perceived you have allies. (Bully admins and UFT hacks look to pick on the weak and isolated.)

I pointed out that when Shanker, who was viewed as so much more powerful and influential than Weingarten (not true either, by the way, but more on that another time), was in power, the opposition did so much better. The response:

"The union was much stronger then and principals were afraid. With the union being so weak, so many people are paralyzed with fear and afraid to open their mouths about anything, including being critical of Randi."

A year ago, Syntactic Gymnastics wrote:

...after being burned so badly last year for speaking out, and trying so hard to "position" myself well politically this year, I am reluctant to go to the union out of fear. I can't believe I am so intimidated, but honestly, I am not convinced the union would be able to protect me. And I'm not convinced that it would be worth the harassment and intimidation that would probably result.

I love teaching and don't want to quit, but I refuse to be abused like this!

Interesting that such similar feelings come from both vets and newbies.

The impact of the Tweed/UFT collaboration is bridging the gap.

What Makes a Quality Teacher? Part 1

revised

They all say it: Joel Klein, Christopher Cerf, Randi Weingarten, Bill Clinton, Eli Broad - the entire mishpucha. "The single most important factor in education is the quality of the teacher."

The Quality Teacher issue is one worth exploring and we will do so in a series of posts.

Does the quality of the kids and their families have any impact at all on the quality of the teacher? This is a question loaded with implications. We won't go there yet.

The focus on the QT issue, naturally leads to the conclusion that when students and schools fail, there can be mainly one cause - the quality of the teacher. That is the most important factor, isn't it? Hey! They all said it.

Why would a leader of a teachers union go along with this idea when it can only lead to the "blame the teacher" witch hunt mentality with all the consequences — U-ratings, rubber rooms, loads of useless PD [professional Development for those not familiar with educational gunk words], total control of what to teach, how to teach it, when to teach, etc. (often decided by supervisors who have spent 10 minutes in the classroom,) is beyond some people.

But then again you have a chancellor and union president who have spent 10 minutes in the classroom.

There are lots of answers - from – "the UFT is in the PD business and stands to profit from PD, certainly in that scads of jobs are created for the Unity caucus faithful" to "the UFT leadership basically lines up with the rest of the mishpucha philosophically - as befitting of people who think they have answers to educational issues but do not have much teaching experience to really make these judgements. I have not heard many working [classroom] teachers make the claim that "The single most important factor in education is the quality of the teacher."

I guess they're not part of the mishpucha.

A New Teacher Story - updated

Scene: Elementary school in a very deprived area of the city.

Characters:
Principal, Queen bee type, arrogant and abusive. Don't know if she's from Leadership Academy* but perfectly typecast, if so.
* Yes she is

First year teacher, 4th grade. Results on tests are good. Does lesson planning with other 4th grade teacher.

Time: End of '06/'07 school year

Action: Teacher gets rating. Almost every category is a U, including "lesson Plans" which are the same as the other 4th grade teacher who got an S in that category. But new Teacher gets an overall "D" rating for the year. Other categories like appearance, neatness of room are left blank.

Question of the day:
Should she behave like most first year teachers would and be happy she did not get a "U"?

Hell No!

Fly in the ointment:
Teacher was never observed by principal. She calls a variety of people to complain, including the Leadership Academy and a higher up, the Local Instructional Supt. Gets a call back from LIS a few hours later telling teacher she is at the school looking at her Unsatisfactory observation. Teacher goes to school next day (last of the year) and goes to principal with chapter leader asking to see her file. Inside she finds an observation of a lesson she never gave signed with her name, but it is not her signature. She tells the principal that, who snatches the observation out of her hands.

What does teacher do? She calls the cops and tells them the principal forged her name. Principal is now under investigation. Hope she has a nice summer.

The teacher should be president of the UFT.

Postscript: Under this principal of a fairly small elementary school, 28 people have left in just a few years. The mission of Leadership Academy grads is to force out everyone they can and replace them with their own people, obviously using whatever tactics they can, even if immoral (see my stories on Kathy Blythe of PS 147K who was arrested at the instigation of a Lead. Acad grad) or illegal.

Atlantic Yards – and the UFT

An article on the massive project in Brooklyn in today's NY Times points to the release of documents that were only obtained through a lawsuit.

"Critics have long suggested that the project is a taxpayer-subsidized bonanza for the developer, the project’s promised jobs and subsidized housing a kind of Trojan horse for the thousands of high-end apartments that come with them. But the developer, Forest City Ratner, and state officials overseeing the project have resisted divulging much information about the project’s financial structure, confining those criticisms to the realm of speculation." [My emphasis.]

From purely an education point of view, though there is no mention of this point in the Times article, Leonie Haimson and other critics have been pointing to the fact that with all this building, there is no provision for schools. Our May 4 post "Bloomberg Vision: A Childless NY" with a link to Leonie's comments addressed that issue.

But I always come to the question: Where is the UFT on the refusal to divulge crucial information or the no-schools issue or on the enormous amount of public money being pumped into the project? Just as the UFT took an initial position supporting the Jets stadium until they jumped on the bandwagon when public sentiment turned against it, the UFT, being part of the power structure, goes along with what the power structure wants. That is the "new unionism" - a partnership, lining up with the real estate and corporate interests – have you heard of any criticism over the enormous tax breaks for corporations while telling the members there is no money for class size reduction or new schools and relying on decades old CFE suits and phony petition drives on class size?

Well, it's not really all that "new." A new book on Al Shanker backed by the UFT's best friend, millionaire Eli Broad will connect even more of the dots, green, pink or whatever. Sean Ahern has been off and running on this one already and we'll get to that in another post.

What a farce.....

We get letters:

A teacher who asked for help with a friend who is fighting to keep her license wrote:

All the NYSUT lawyers say to either pay the fine or resign. It's time for a coup d'etat at the UFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another teacher posted the message below to ICE-mail. She was U-rated by the infamous Jolanta Rohloff and embargoed from working under her high school license. She is trying to regain the license. What does the system have to lose in letting her keep the license if there are principals willing to hire her? A pound of flesh is not enough. At least she is currently working in the NYC system under a different license.

As for the UFT's role...ugh! Instead of focusing on keeping the school open, they focused on getting Rohloff removed so they can claim a pelt on their belt. Weingarten herself said the school should be closed. An ICE person, who had also been U-rated by Rohloff, tried to get the chapter leader to address the school closing, but as a Unity Caucus clone, he had his own agenda and attacked the ICE guy as being anti-union. Jeff Zahler and Leo Casey must be writing his material. I bet he makes out pretty wel in the closing while the ICE guy was excessed into ATR'dom.

One side story. This teacher got a now-defunct UFT transfer after 4 years of teaching in the Bronx (she lived in Brooklyn) before Rohloff took over at Lafayette that summer. In August, she decided to go to school and introduce herself. The very first words out of Rohloff's mouth to her were, "Don't you think I should be able to hire my own people?" Welcome to the school. Within the first weeks she was being given U-observations, clearly one of Rohloff's chosen pre-determined targets. Rohloff had stated on her first day at the school there would be a rain of U's.

Her assignment to Lafayette as principal even caused smiles among her colleagues at the Leadership Academy, who had clearly seen in her performance there that she would not be appropriate as a principal. It's pretty interesting that even people in the belly of the beast speculated that Rohloff got the assignment because it was clear that her difficult personality would finish Lafayette off. Now the Tweedles have targeted Manhattan Center on the upper east side as Rohloff's next victim, another school that will driven into closure to make room for charters. Teachers there are already passing around petitions.

Here is the teacher's letter. Hard to decide whether to place more blame on the DOE or the UFT. Maybe a tie?

My hearing with the DOE to argue my discontinuance regarding my high school license was held in February ( I was at Lafayette High- 'nuff said).

Though clearly evidence regarding my discontinuance was in my favor (again, those that know of the goings on at Lafayette would agree), the LIS has decided to uphold the discontinuance. This I expected, as I feel the DOE rarely reverses itself, regardless of the justice or injustice of a situation.

Today, I called the UFT. I was told that no further appeals can be carried out by the UFT. I must obtain a lawyer myself to initiate an Article 78 proceeding, if I wish to appeal the DOE decision. After researching what I need to do, it appears that the process is quite lengthy and costly. Again, basically, I was told: "Tough luck"...

WHY doesn't the UFT undertake such appeals on behalf of its' members? Isn't that WHY we have a union in the first place, to protect the members in the case of such events? The UFT rep that I spoke with could not even recommend a lawyer!

More and more, I see the futility of the UFT as a viable organization designed to represent teacher issues vis- a- vis labor problems with the DOE. WHY do we even HAVE a union in the first place, if the Union does not even fulfill its' most basic functions, that of representing
the members in the face of unfair management and labor practices?

What a farce.....

Another Year is Done

Posted to The Wave for the June 29th edition:

As I write this on the morning of the last day of the school year for teachers and students, I have no sense of joy at the days to come. I am not floating two feet above the ground. The chirping birds do not sound louder. And the roses do not smell any sweeter.

You see, I am a retired teacher and I no longer get to celebrate this wondrous day - my biggest regret at being retired. Though I may join still working friends later at The Wharf [a waterfront joint in Rockaway with great views] to help them celebrate and congratulate them on their 2-month annual retirement, I will have just a touch of sadness at not being able to truly share in the euphoria.

Now don’t get me wrong. I really liked teaching, especially the close to twenty years I spent teaching in the self-contained classroom. We were with the kids up to the last moments of the school year (high school teachers slap their foreheads in disbelief when they hear this) and it was sad having to say goodbye to the kids and the little community we had built over the year. But a few minutes after they were gone, followed by an hour or two cleaning up, there was the announcement “the checks are in” and I joined the snaking line of teachers (some had lined up the night before) turning in keys, roll books, record boxed and whatever other stuff we were asked to bring along before we could get our checks. And off we went for another summer of recuperation.

Now this column is clearly aimed at teachers, but those not in the profession who accidentally stop by may scoff at this summer off business. “Hey, we get two weeks vacation, four at most.” Yeah! Well I won’t go into the details but think of teaching as being in a play that opens in September and closes in June, where the teacher is the actor, director, writer, custodian, ticket-taker, etc. No one resents actors taking a little time off between plays. ‘Nuff said.

I did not dread going back to work in September. But the end of two months of freedom was a dreadful counterpart to the fabulous end of June. No matter how many years you taught, the butterflies were always there on the night before you saw the kids for the first time.

Come this September, there will be no twitch of sadness when the gang troops back to the trenches and I get a double dose of the euphoria I am missing out on today.

The CEO of a Major Corporation....

... decides he's had enough of being a captain of industry.

So he does something meaningful with his life. He becomes a NYC Teaching Fellow. That is the fastest way to get into the classroom with certification. And get part of your Masters paid for. He is assigned to a large high school where the notorious Mr. Ogre, renowned for his ability to humiliate and destroy teachers he doesn't care for, is principal. Does Mr. CEO know that going in? Even if he did, he probably thinks his background and credentials will do him good, even with Mr. Ogre. But MR. O is never happy with having another Alpha Male around, especially one with this high level background who will easily see through some of the games he likes to play.

About a month into the term, Mr. CEO is having the usual struggles new teachers have. Nothing catastrophic. With some experience and administrative support things will work out - eventually. But the word "eventually" doesn't exist in Mr. Ogre's vocabulary. He calls Mr. CEO in for a conference and reams him out with a withering attack that is totally humiliating. Mr. CEO emerges and says in all his years in industry he has never been subjected to or witnessed this type of behavior. He packs up and quits. After one month, saying that he has no interest in continuing to work in a system that will tolerate the Mr. Ogre's of this world.

In Defense of Teachers: Responding to Ravitch

(Revised)

Diane Ravitch's defense of teachers in yesterday's NY Sun ("Don't Blame the Teachers") led to some comments on ICE-mail. "Finally, a voice of reason speaking out for teachers about the madness of the education business," said Venice Lady, a teacher who has faced first hand the effects of teacher bashing. (See her full post below.)

I had a similar reaction - at first. But as some critical comments popped up on ICE-mail, I thought more about it. Ravitch seemed to take a narrow point of view of the problem without any political/economic analysis as to the backdrop for the "blame the teacher" syndrome, something that is sorely missing and placed too much blame on students and parents. But this is the NY Sun, a right-wing mouthpiece, (as Sean Ahern points out below) and they don't exactly encourage this kind of analysis.

While the overwhelming majority of teachers appreciate Ravitch's comments, they wonder why their own union doesn't use it's expensive PR machine to engage in a rigorous defence of teachers every day, every minute, at every press conference and in every commercial, which are often so insipid.

But the UFT seems to have different priorities (see my report on the Delegate Assembly in the post below this.) Agreeing to end seniority and take away so many of the rights teachers had is in essence is agreeing that these rules are part of the problem. It's a long road for teachers in NYC when they have to contend with both a hostile DOE and a collaborationist union. You never hear the UFT point out where the money really is when Bloomberg cuts property taxes or gives big tax breaks to corporations, instead selling a bill of goods to teachers that there just isn't enough money to make the NYC school system as good as Scarsdale.

Behind the scenes, they often take credit when these articles appear, trying to make it look like they influenced the writer. (But then again they try to take credit for making the sun shine.) People want to see their union drawing a line in the sand rather than being more worried about how things play out in the press. But when your leader is planning an exit strategy, looking like a reasonable union leader nationally takes precedence.

Teacher bashing/blaming is the only explanation to the so-called right wing ed "reformers." We are not trained. Or the problem is just a matter of our low expectations, as Margaret Spellings so outrageously said to John Stewart when he asked her what is the one thing that would make the greatest difference.

As NYC Educator points out just about every day, all the gimmicks are about an unwillingness to spend the money. Today he says: "And if he [Klein] really wanted to improve schools, he could have tried the whole good teachers/ smaller classes/ decent facilities thing. I guess it's more impressive to follow the longstanding NYC tradition of intergalactic personnel searches."

When Chris Cerf threw the usual bull at the Manhattan Institute about how throwing money at problems don't solve them, he had no response when I pointed out that the DOE hasn't tried to throw money at a school instead of closing it, preferring to spend on gimmicks like $80 million computer systems that will have zero impact. At another recent Manhattan Institute luncheon there were at least 5 mute UFT officials there to feed at the trough.

There were a few points not made or others that were emphasized in Ravitch's piece that nagged at me. Carolyn Eubanks said on ICE-mail: "What about putting the blame where it belongs: on a system that does not care about students and pits teachers and students (and their parents) against each other?"

Ravitch says: "Our children — with too few exceptions — don't have that hunger. It's not the fault of their teachers." Or "if they arrive in school with a closed and empty mind, don't blame their teachers." I agree about the blame part but I saw it as part of my role as a teacher to try to stimulate that hunger. Or unlock those closed minds. I may not have succeeded very often but when I did it was like climbing Mount Everest.

And what's with the "teachers don't know what to teach" stuff? Most teachers always knew what to teach and how to teach it - until the Tweedles started telling them they didn't. They just haven't been given the resources.

Leonie Haimson made some additional points on her listserv:

"I agree that the current tendency to blame teachers for the ills of educational systems is ridiculous– but equally absurd is blaming parents and students. The failures of our schools are due to the lack of resources and the low priority that education has, particularly in urban school systems with large numbers of minority students, the misallocation of funds, and the tendency to follow fads, and the ideological fantasies of the moment rather than make the proven reforms that we all know are necessary – like smaller classes -- that every powerful and wealthy person demands for their own children."

And Sean Ahern goes after Ravitch full throttle on ICE mail in his usual inimical style, where he posts articles from the Nation exposing the NY Sun and explores the relationship between Ravitch, Shanker and the UFT. One of the milder statements:

"If you like your pity party heavily laden with maudlin syrupy nonsense then lap it up. Sort of pathetic when so called educators rally round and cheer someone who is tickling them under the chin. Displace real advocacy with phony advocacy."

Phew! There is heavy stuff there, including references to Sean's usual babies - the whitening of the teacher staff, the '68 strike and the Zionist lobby (just the mention of which resulted in some hysterics on ICE-mail). I haven't absorbed all of Sean's points and probably disagree with most of it, but I can be pretty weak when it comes to political analysis and Sean is always provocative and worth reading - you can read it in its entirely at Norms Notes. I do feel he goes too far in his critique of Ravitch. I have more issues with her as a standardista, but I think she has been a real ally and force in the battle against BloomKlein and hopefully, mayoral control and having her voice on this side of the fence is good thing.

Venice Lady loves what Ravitch wrote:
Finally, a voice of reason speaking out for teachers about the madness of the education business. In the four years that I've been with the DOE, it seems to me that teachers are, and have been treated as if we are the "enemy" by administrators and students alike. Somehow, we are supposed to correct all the ills of society by some miraculous teaching in the classroom. Kids sleeping because they are not actively "engaged"? Our fault- never mind that maybe they are not eating properly or getting the sleep they need at home for whatever reasons. Fights in the classroom? Again, it's the fault of the teacher- if we are not teaching wonderful lessons to "engage" the students' attention, we are at fault that students may have hair trigger tempers and emotional problems that they are bringing into the classroom, and are not capable of exercising self control, no matter how wonderful a lesson we have planned on paper or the delivery of that lesson. Why are teachers blamed for all of the problems that are exhibited in
the schools? It's no wonder that so many people leave this "profession" before completing their fifth year. I can think of no other profession where so much blame is laid at the feet of the
people that most try to help those in need by providing an education as the way to get that foothold in society. I hope that the powers that be are listening to what Diane Ravitch is saying, and realize that teachers are not able to correct those problems that students are bringing into the classroom by following some TC methods in the classroom. It's time to lay some responsibility for learning on the students and the parents, too.

What It Means to Teach....

.... a book by Amy Demarest & Ellen David Friedman is reviewed in the Monthly Review. Most of the conclusions seem very reasonable though the points about the research showing that the quality of teachers and student achievement is as much of a major factor (sounds a lot like Klein and Cerf) and that salary alone will have a major impact. I believe that most people who leave teaching in public schools do so because of working conditions. Check out the elite private schools in NYC - the kind of people they attract and the salaries they make. Here are the opening paragraphs of the review. The entire article is at Norm's Notes.

Although some idealize and others demean the work of teachers, few people outside the field fully understand what it really means to teach. Misconceptions about teaching influence the ways that Americans think about the profession. One of the manifestations of this enduring disconnect between the American public and the professionals who teach is the low salaries teachers receive. This is the main issue that Moulthrop, Calegari, and Eggers tackle in this thorough and valuable ethnographic study of the lives of teachers, their daily struggle to make ends meet, and what it means to teach.

The authors challenge the perception that teachers have it pretty easy and instead paint a compelling tale of the inspiration and desperation that teachers experience in their professional lives. They examine what keeps teachers in a profession where they feel undervalued, and what makes them leave. They include the voices of educational experts, policy makers, and other players involved in all aspects of the educational system.

The main premise of this book is that teachers need and deserve a decent salary, and that schools will improve when they're able to attract, support, and retain "the best and the brightest" by paying higher salaries.

Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari, and Dave Eggers, Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers (New York: The New Press, 2006), 355 pages, hardcover, $25.95.

Continued at Norm's Notes.

Teacher Certification

There's a good debate going on at NYC Educator's blog about teacher certification. The issue of alternative certification programs like the Teaching Fellows and Teach for America has come up. I won't repeat the arguments made. Go on over and check it out. Many teachers coming out of traditional programs also say they were not prepared for the reality of teaching in NYC. I have generally disparaged traditional programs because I have felt on the job training was more important than coursework. But when the guinea pigs are kids....

Someone commented that you wouldn't want a pilot who wasn't certified. But pilot certification is not all about studying flying in classrooms but mostly about spending many hours in the air with an experienced pilot. I would apply the same to teaching. Pay people a decent salary to assist in classrooms and really teach, not observe for at least a year and ask them to perform before getting certified to go solo instead of that stupid video tape system that you send in after many years of teaching.

Practically, the only way to fill classrooms is with non-traditional programs given the realities of the system. In a rational system, teachers would spend a year or two as interns or assistant teachers. That is what goes in in may of the private schools in NYC.

I came into teaching through a non-traditional route -- The Intensive Teacher Training Program (ITTP) an early version of the Teaching Fellows in the mid-late 60's. I wish I had a little more of a traditional background but I'm not sure how much difference it would have made. I was part of a group of about 15 new teachers in my elementary school, PS 16 in Williamsburg. That was after the 1967 contract which increased preps and reduced class size. I learned on the job. There was a full-time teacher trainer in my school named Elaine Troll who was an immense help and I learned a lot from her. Most of my colleagues resented the hell out of her (I saw the pettiness of teachers very early) but I saw her as a lifeline to a drowning man.

Ironically, because we had extra teachers I lucked out in that I was an ATR in my school for a year and a half by subbing in a different class every day. It was hell. But I also saw how all the teachers organized their classes and began to develop techniques for control. I also had days where they assigned me to assist other teachers and I got to see them at work. Coming to teaching with little respect for "ed" majors - which elementary school training required - I developed tremendous respect for their skills. Whether these skills were due to their training or practical experience, I couldn't tell but my instinct even as a new teacher was that it was due to the latter.

Grad school draft deferments were still not being honored so I had to teach a 2nd year and I was still a sub - the administration had no confidence in me and I don't blame them. But in the middle of that 2nd year a teacher left and I asked to take over because I was bored subbing and wanted more of a challenge. A new principal (a political appointee who proved to be incompetent) had come in a month before so I sort of had a new start (one of his first incompetent acts) even though the AP - Dr. Norman Jehrenberg- did not care for me and was against my getting the class.

After the first week Dr. Jehrenberg stopped me in the hall suggested I go back to subbing. I asked for another week. If I had accepted his offer I would have probably left teaching after that year. But something clicked with the kids that 2nd week and I became a real teacher. Elaine Troll was often in my class assisting and giving positive criticism, not writing me up. Jehrenberg became a big supporter. I remember once telling him I was having trouble getting a math concept across. He showed up shortly after and did the lesson for me. When I needed a child removed he was there within 10 minutes. It got to the point that I just had to take out the paper to write the note and the kid giving me trouble behaved. That was support.

Gaining the respect of this tough, hard-bitten (much despised by some teachers, but also incredibly supportive - to teachers he respected) guy was one of the greatest achievements of my professional life. Unfortunately he transferred after the school year because he rightly felt he should have been made the principal. (I hear he went on to become a principal in Queens somewhere and I bet there are teachers out there who either loved or hated him.) Not having him around (Troll left soon after too) was instrumental in my decision to transfer at the end of my 3rd year and that turned out to be a wise choice. Following the subsequent history of the school right up to today, I can say that since the political decision around Jan. 1969 not to make Jehrenberg principal, PS 16 has still not recovered.

I learned more between Feb. and June 1969 than in any course. But there are few Norman Jehrenbergs and Elaine Trolls around today, if any.

Where's the Outrage?

Monday night I spoke at the UFT Executive Board meeting, asking, “Where’s your sense of outrage?” as I brought up the incident of the teacher who was arrested, de-arrested and yet is still facing charges by the DOE. Instead of the union getting the information from the police that proves her innocence, she has to do it herself. I compared that to telling Julius Ceaser to reach back, pull out the knife and go carve the turkey for Thanksgiving. (OK, so I was reaching.)

Oh, the UFT will provide representation as they will have a rep with the teacher today as she is questioned by a DOE investigator. And I'm sure he will do a decent job. I'm about to head over to wait outside (as I'm not allowed in) in case the teacher needs some advice. I may also have a reporter with me to interview the teacher.

The assistance the UFT gives basically stops there. The teacher did get a call from Victim Support and she said that is not what she or the rest of the teachers in the school need. They need the union to expose a Leadership Academy principal who has gone after numerous people (supposedly, 7 U-ratings last year in a small elementary school.) Some of the best teachers in the school have left. But the only response of the union is to look at things on a case-by-case basis.

Basically, the UFT provides the least restrictive (for them) support instead of doing the maximum.

How do the teachers at the school feel after the person almost half of them voted for as chapter leader in the last election finds herself in this position? Did the UFT district rep rush over there? Or any other official? Someone came to talk about school safety (this exit or that exit) when the real safety issue is that of people's careers. One teacher told me of (his/her) outrage that when questioned, the UFT official basically urges silence. A militant union would have rushed to the school and give the teachers the support needed to fight back. The principal can get away with this and never have to pay a price.

BloomKlein have a strategy to break the union at the chapter level. The UFT has none other than to hire a bunch of New Action retirees to go into the schools and whistle in the wind.

Effect of Students vs. Teachers on School Scores

Pointing to demographics is considered just another excuse by the right wing ideologues. In parts of west Williamsburg schools are undergoing a reverse of the situation below as richer white people move in. Most of them are young, so the kids are still at the pre-k- 1st grade level. I spent the last 5 years I was in the system at one of these schools before the changes began to occur. Historically, it was one of the lowest scoring schools in the district because of a high number of immigrant Spanish kids. As we saw the neighborhood start to change we joked how the school would rise to the top of the heap. BloomKlein will argue and give credit to their leadership and that of the principal (who is very young). Maybe even merit pay for teachers (when the UFT caves in on the next contract) and bonuses to supervisors. Some teachers find that some of the "new" parents meddle in areas that make them uncomfortable and seem to prefer the poorer group of parents.


The following was posted to nyceducationnews@yahoogroups.com
by Eugene Falik

There is a very interesting experiment taking place in [Union Free] School District 15 (Lawrence-Cedarhurst) on Long Island. This is an upper income area that has historically been a top district with Westinghouse/Intel winners, Merit semifinalists, etc.

There has not been any significant turnover by the professional staff, yet scores are lower each year. Of course, this has created many complaints and much soul searching among the local residents. The significant change appears to be the districts demographics. There has NOT been an influx (so far as I am ware) of any group that is disadvantaged, or might be expected to have poorer grades. On the other hands, there has been a withdrawal of students who may have been a catalyst for learning, in addition to contributing to higher grades. This is because the Jewish population of the area has changed. The Jewish population had consisted of Conservative and Reform Jews who sent their children to the public schools. It has become increasingly Orthodox, a group that sends their children to yeshivas rather than public schools.

The result is that the same teachers who appeared to be so good before now appear to be less competent. Is it really true that they are less competent? I don't think that a serious argument can be made for that position.