Comments on UFT Sellout of Teachers on Leave Re: Retro

I understand Mulgrew stated the city didn't want anyone on leave to get retro, that the city wanted continuous employment. Wasn't it his job to tell the city, "no?" Did Mulgrew explain why he didn't fight when he learned the city wanted to withhold money from any member who already earned it? It could be argued that members on a childcare leave need that money the most while they are caring for a baby with no income. Perhaps Mulgrew has a good reason for not fighting for these members. I'd like to know what it is. 
I desperately needed that money BECAUSE I am on a childcare leave.
The DOE doesn't allow staff to earn ANY part-time income while on a leave. At the same time they are withholding money we've earned when we need it the most, when our children need it the most. It makes no sense. That money is mine. I earned it and it could make a real difference for my family and my son.

Darren Marelli has left a new comment on your post "Mulgrew Against Moms: Jia Lee/MORE Raise Reso at DA

This comment from my good friend Darren Marelli brings home the outrage of what occurred during the DA and how the UFT negotiated the contract.

Darren played a major role in making our movie -http://theinconvenienttruthbehindwaitingforsuperman.com/watch-the-film/ - along with his wife Molly Bruhn. After the birth of their son, Max, they are taking turns with childcare leave.

Darren makes as strong a case as I've seen.

Roseanne McCosh also commented:

To the Maternity Leave Liaison Unity hack from Queens: How about those out with a serious illness? Should they have re"considered" that kidney transplant or cancerous tumor removal and post op care? Should they have "decided" to forgo medical treatment and opt for death? Death isn't even a viable option bc Unity negotiated a deal that gives our families NOTHING of the retro we already earned if we drop dead. We "got to handle our own business?" I assume you meant we "have to" not that we we "got to" or had the opportunity to. We didn't negotiate this piece of crap in our contract -- you and your Unity crew did. And "our business" includes OUR MONEY. So hand it over already. Shame on Unity for blaming people on approved leave for not "handling their business." Unity is seriously out of touch with the concerns of their membership. ...... Roseanne McCosh PS 8x

Those Wasted UFT Commercials

Does anyone know the cost of the TV commercials the UFT has been running?

A non-UFT member - an activist parent - asked this question.

And followed with:

These commercials, in which a bunch of smiling teachers and students assert that they are unified, ends with UFT President Mulgrew telling how NYC teachers do wonderful things.

Which they do.

But I do not believe that these ads, which must cost tens of thousands of dollars, will convince anyone of that, except their own members.

Of course - these commercials are as much for the membership - it is a UFT election year after all -- as the public.

I think that money could be much better utilized by devoting it to hiring additional parent organizers.

How about teacher organizers and support for schools with awful principals where parents are also affected?

UFT borough parent organizers do wonderful work, but they cannot possibly cover many schools with the frequency that is needed to engage parents in the battle against the dividers and privatizers.

Yes, I know some of these organizers. But among the wonderful work they do, they also are selling the UFT line on common core and testing -- and against opt out. I've witnessed it myself. In essence they are agents among parents of ed deform.

That battle will be won only by engaging parents where they are at.

It will be lost by aping a TV commercial campaign, many of which are useless, as even advertising execs know.

The early retail store magnate John Wanamaker stated: 50 % of the money I spend on advertising is totally wasted; I wish I knew which 50 %.
The UFT doesn’t know either, but gamble in that casino.

 Gamble with our money of course.

 

Mulgrew Against Moms: Jia Lee/MORE Raise Reso at DA, Rejected by Unity

A Unity Caucus member, who is the Maternity/Child Care Leave Liaison for the Queens UFT office, spoke against our resolution. “I explain to those going out on maternity leave they need to be on payroll  to get retro -- eventually they will be made whole. You decided to take your leave, you got to handle your own business, you have to consider things before taking leave”... MORE Report from the UFT Delegate Assembly

Translation: You decided to have a baby. You know that is not allowed under the new order of ed deform, which we support, which punishes mothers with children. Fuck you!

James Eterno, who wrote the resolution for MORE, has a full report on the ICE blog:  MULGREW'S UNITY MAJORITY TELLS PARENTS AND SICK MEMBERS ON UNPAID LEAVES TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES


NYC Educator lead his report with this:

DA Notes--UFT Unity Declines to Consider Helping Members On Leave

Here is an excerpt from a comment left on NYC Educator from Mary Ahern:

Like many of us, when I heard Greer(?) speaking against the motion I was outraged. At one point when she was lecturing on personal responsibility for planning I blurted out "How condescending!" to which Mulgrew pointed his finger at me and said "Stop it!"
After the DA, I was so mad I didn't even bother talking to Mulgrew but he came up to me on the way out and said, "You're just like me." I then gave him an earful. I said, "Maybe people choose to have children but nobody chooses to get cancer or serious illnesses or injuries and those members as well as those on maternity leave need this money more than we do!"
I'm still disgusted by the way Greer spoke against this resolution and I let her know how I felt. These are the people that UFT puts in place to "help" our members? Really??

More from MORE

Jia Lee, Chapter Leader of The Earth School, raised a resolution (see below) at tonight's UFT Delegate Assembly calling for the city or UFT to provide a no-interest loan for those UFT members who are on unpaid maternity, family, or medical leave and did not receive their first lump sum payment this week. Because they are not on active payroll the members who most need this money will not get it until 2017 at the earliest. If they never return they may never see their own hard-earned money. UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus which dominated the DA voted the motion down. They voted against our members who are mothers, caregivers, or who are sick and need to be out on leave.

Ms. Lee said "in my school we have moms who are on leave to take care of their children and we, as a union, need to find a way to get them the money we all got. If you read the resolution we are asking for no interest loans to the members who need it the most.” 

“Medical distress should not be financial distress.” Mulgrew said earlier in the evening in regards to the skyrocketing costs of prescriptions for our members. Ms. Lee referred back to that sentiment and said “I feel the same and that should apply to retro for our members on leave."

A Unity Caucus member, who is the Maternity/Child Care Leave Liaison for the Queens UFT office, spoke against our resolution. “I explain to those going out on maternity leave they need to be on payroll  to get retro -- eventually they will be made whole. You decided to take your leave, you got to handle your own business, you have to consider things before taking leave”.

Eterno also had a report on the full DA:

ICEUFT Blog

DELEGATE ASSEMBLY REPORT (unabridged live blogging)
 

MORE Moves Forward on UFT Election Choices

MORE Caucus is moving toward choosing its candidates and building its platform for the upcoming 2016 UFT elections and I expect a presidential candidate will be announced in the next 2 weeks. People involved pretty much know who it will be - a rather obvious choice. But the process of voting and process in an organization like MORE has to be played out. You know - that messy democracy thing.

One of the reasons I was against running last spring was some questions as to whether MORE would be distracted by an election that is often inconsequential from doing the kind of long-term building in the schools needed to ultimately challenge Unity Caucus at its core - in the schools where it has so much control - often through its use of the roughly 45-50 district reps to control the chapter leaders.

As I've often said, chapter leader elections, always held the year before the general UFT elections, are more important than the general election. Unity moves fast to co-opt the new CLs elected into the caucus to keep them from working with the opposition. That process is going on now through their weekend training sessions where they vet people.

I pushed for MORE to hold its own chapter leader training in early July and we had about 60 people, many new CLs, come out. That doesn't mean some don't end up joining Unity anyway because Unity has just a little bit more to offer in perks.

It was clear after my debate with Mike Schirtzer last May - The Great Scott-Schirtzer Debate: Boycott UFT Elections  that people in ICE and MORE wanted to run. Mike claimed a slam-dunk victory: Mike Schirtzer: Why MORE Will Run In The 2016 UFT ...

I said, like NFL drafts, it takes years to judge - and after the outcome next spring we will decide who won that debate based on whether MORE falls into the same election trap that all the other caucuses in the past have fallen into - including ICE.

If MORE runs the same kind of campaigns that ICE, TJC and New Action have run, it will find itself in the same place it started this year - with no growth and possibly shrinkage as people get disappointed in the process and the outcomes. But if MORE uses this opportunity to expand its local networks, there is hope for the future.

I posted the announcement send out by Karen Arneson regarding the MORE downtown Happy Hour, a continuing event that went on all last year as an example of the continuation of the kind of fundamental organizing work that must be done before, during and post-election cycles. That's how we met Karen in the first place about a year and a half ago. She came to a MORE happy hour and then jumped in with some of her colleagues. Karen and others like her are the key to building up a school-level force to challenge Unity. Her own school voted to replace a Unity chapter leader who shilled for the contract with a MORE supporter.

And this happened at a bunch of other schools.

I know, I know, these are relatively small drops in the bucket. But if MORE sticks to an organizing plan and doesn't fall into the UFT election trap cycle as so many others do, over time there will be changes. You will know when schools start showing up at the Delegate Assembly to challenge Unity.

MORE is holding a conference on October 24 with lots of amazing people. We decided on holding this conference back in the summer. And also decided to hold off on major election stuff until that takes place. So look for announcements after that date.

EIA, Antonucci on Union Hypocrisy on edTPA Partnership with Pearson

edTPA is a high-level collaboration between the education establishment and the poster child for corporate education reform. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on which side of the fence you occupy, but let’s not pretend it isn’t exactly what it appears to be.... EIA, The Continuing Saga of edTPA

Mike calls a spade a spade. The NEA and AFT are in up to their ears with the ed deformers no matter how they equivocate. Until we get union leaderships that refuse to cross the line, public education is behind the 8-ball.

What Mike doesn't do is spill the case against edTPA, which is about filtering certain people out of teaching, not improving the quality of teaching. The outrageous costs alone associated with teacher certification in edTPA leaves a certain class of economic people out -- you know that ed deform wants those Ivy League TFA types as the model, not people like those I taught.

The Continuing Saga of edTPA

Posted: 13 Oct 2015 10:27 AM PDT

Sympathy or schadenfreude – you can take your choice when it comes to the edTPA predicament in which the teachers’ unions find themselves.
edTPA is a performance assessment system for teacher candidates and it has all the education establishment pedigree you might want. It was developed by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE) and Linda Darling-Hammond. It is supported by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). NEA and AFT officers sit on its policy advisory board, and the assessment was “purposefully designed to reflect the teaching tasks that are represented in the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) as it pertains to the skills and competencies attained as part of teacher preparation.” The unions have promoted national board certification since its inception.
Portfolios and video-taped lessons require a sophisticated scoring system and staff to operate it. The options for edTPA were limited, and why not choose the same folks who score submissions from national board candidates? Alas, those folks work at Pearson.
Pearson is part of the Axis of Education Evil, so a large group of union activists oppose edTPA, either not knowing or not caring how deeply involved their own organizations are in keeping it going. NEA has responded to this opposition with a number of contortions, and now the administrators of edTPA are in the unenviable position of trying to distance themselves from the people scoring their assessment.
edTPA just released its latest administrative report and came to the conclusion that edTPA is working great! It’s this kind of congratulatory self-assessment that led to the obsession with standardized tests in the first place.
But I’m not qualified to judge edTPA as an assessment system. I only want to read what they say about Pearson, and they come off pretty defensive about it.

SCALE is the sole developer of edTPA, and Stanford University is the exclusive owner of edTPA. The university has an agreement with Evaluation Systems, a unit of Pearson, to provide operational support for the national administration of edTPA.
…The design framework for edTPA and constructs assessed were established prior to the partnership with Evaluation Systems/Pearson and were informed by earlier work led by SCALE staff (National Board and PACT). Evaluation Systems was chosen as the operational partner to ensure that edTPA assessment development built by the profession and supported by foundation funds could be scaled up for national use. That is, the Evaluation Systems/Pearson group has no authority or decision-making role in the design and development of edTPA.

Translation: Our assessment is untainted by Pearson. Alternative translation: If you hate our assessment, you can’t blame Pearson. In any case, it is clear that Pearson is absolutely indispensable to edTPA:

Stanford University/SCALE engaged Evaluation Systems, a group of Pearson, as an operational partner in March 2011 to make edTPA available to a national educational audience. As the operational partner, Evaluation Systems provides the management system required for multistate use of edTPA, including the infrastructure that facilitates administration of the assessment for submission, scoring, and reporting of results from both national and regional scoring.
…Pearson (through edTPA.com – the candidate-facing program web site) provides operational assessment services associated with registration, scoring, and reporting of edTPA scores. Assessment services include use of the technology platform which registers the candidate, receives the portfolio, coordinates the logistics of scoring the portfolio, and reports the results to the candidate. Additionally, a faculty feedback feature is available through the Pearson Portfolio system, allowing candidates to request formative feedback from a designated faculty member based on SCALE’s guidelines of acceptable support. Assessment services also include the recruiting and management of qualified educators who serve as scorers, scoring supervisors, or trainers. Scorers are trained using a training curriculum developed by SCALE, specifically for use with edTPA rubrics. Scorers use standardized scoring procedures and are calibrated and monitored during scoring. Pearson also works with EPPs and state agencies to securely report candidate scores as appropriate. Through the ResultsAnalyzer tool, stakeholders are able to review and utilize their data sets as provided on each reporting date.
…Pearson uses a well-established and reliable software platform to screen submissions for originality of content.

edTPA is a high-level collaboration between the education establishment and the poster child for corporate education reform. Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on which side of the fence you occupy, but let’s not pretend it isn’t exactly what it appears to be.

Eva and Success Academy Charter Exposed by John Merrow on PBS

Oh what fun when former charter fans like John Merrow finally get the picture. Watch Eva's face. We have been exposing the Eva scam since the day she started 9 years ago. Our movie 4 years ago did the kind of work that should have alerted Merrow and the rest of the press - suspend kids who might score low until their parents pull them out. Drive down the numbers of kids between kindergarten testing grades -- that is the way to beat the lottery which might lead to some low scoring kids slipping through.

The kid in the video who left Success is now in Jia Lee's school. She left this comment on Facebook:

Have to share this for so many reasons - I'm incredibly proud of Jamir, who attends our school in the East Village. His teachers, like all of my colleagues at the Earth School, believe in supporting the whole child. How we want to feel at school is discussed as a community and we develop, together, with our students, the strategies to help each other feel happy, supported, calm, engaged and safe. A code of conduct, like the kind described here, developed by an outside entity can be equated to a form of colonialism.

Jose Vilson has been doing some great stuff around this issue. I'm on the run but want to do a lot more on Jose's work in future posts.

Check out Diane's post with comments:

John Merrow Tangles with Eva Moskowitz over Suspending Kindergartners!

Links to the 9-minute video: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/kindergarten-young-suspend-student/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVfCMwLbiEs

Is kindergarten too young to suspend a student? At the largest charter school network in New York City, strict academic and behavior standards set t...

Message from MORE: Nearly 90% of Your Retro Money Is Being Withheld

We were told in 2014 that it was necessary to delay retro payments to avoid a city financial crisis, a budget shortfall that has since evaporated.... When your own union has to sell you on the deal, you know it's not good. Our friends in other city unions look at us and shake their heads.... MORE, http://morecaucusnyc.org/

I posted on this yesterday - Retro About Retro Pay  - with a link to Kevin Prosen's Jacobin piece from May 2014 about why we should have voted NO on the contract. MORE and others pointed out that the entire retro fiasco was - well, a fiasco. People who worked for the money but are not teaching at this moment don't get money. Then we hear about bumps in union dues - not clear what is going on there -- but Unity made sure to remove voting for dues increases many years ago and automated the process -- before a Frierich decision comes down from the Court Unity might want to think about how this will play out.

I think there may be a delegate assembly today where Mulgrew will probably give some responses to the retro issue. Check Arthur Goldstein's NYC Educator blog later today or tomorrow for a report.

Here is today's MORE Post - and note about our State of the Union all-day conference on Oct. 24 - I and Michael Fiorillo are doing a workshop on union democracy - or lack thereof - and will present some ideas on how to change that.

Nearly 90% of Your Retro Money Is Being Withheld

UFT members will be receiving only 12.5% of what is owed to us from 2009. We will not receive our full retro until 2020. Our fellow UFT members who are on maternity leave, family leave, or medical leave will be getting zero. This is nothing to celebrate, yet Mulgrew and his unity caucus leadership sent out a happy message with the piggy bank image you see above. We were told in 2014 that it was necessary to delay retro payments to avoid a city financial crisis, a budget shortfall that has since evaporated. We deserve what every other union received, we deserve the full back pay that is owed to us.

When your own union has to sell you on the deal, you know it's not good. Our friends in other city unions look at us and shake their heads. Look at our brothers and sisters who are Firefighters, they received 8% raises from 2008-2010 that we did not and will be receiving their full retroactive upon ratifying their contract. They don’t have to wait for 5 installments of money that is rightfully ours.  We constantly settle for less than others and then are told by Mulgrew to be thankful for what we have. New York City will have a 6 billion dollar surplus. but we were told they were broke. It was a lie. Our members are educated professionals and deserve to be treated as such. It is time to tell the truth.

Just to add one more layer of complexity: The numbers 12.5%, 12.5%, 25%, 25%, 25% are also not accurate because in reality they don't add up to 100%. Consider the fact that we are still accruing arrears from the city and will continue to do so until 2018 because the 8% raises will not be fully phased in until then. That means that the total lump sum owed to us will be higher in 2017 than it is in 2015 (especially considering that teachers will continue to go up steps, accrue longevities, and earn differentials). That means that the 2017 12.5% payment will not be equal to the 12.5% we get in 2015. The final, 2020, payment will not actually be 25% of all the arrears. It will be whatever we are still owed. For most of us that will be somewhat more than 25%.

Let’s be clear this money is ours, we worked for it, including those who are on leave to raise a child or because of health issues. Mulgrew should not have sent out celebratory letters, instead they should be using the full force of our union to demand that ALL members who are owed money get that money now. If you believe like we do that it is time for new union leadership, one that negotiates on behalf of all members, and ensures that we get treated with the respect we deserve, please join MORE now 

The UFT officer elections are in Spring 2016 and we want to hear from you. Please join us at our State of The Union, State of Our Schools Conference.
Register Here


MORE-UFT
http://more.nationbuilder.com/

Retro About Retro Pay and UFT Election Implications Plus Kevin Prossen on UFT 2014 Contract - Why VOTE NO?

.... our union president has said “the cupboard was bare” — that retroactive pay is not a “God-given right,” and that we should be satisfied with this money being further delayed. If workers have not won the right to be paid for the labor they have already done, then the labor movement has fallen very far indeed...
Kevin Prossen, Jacobin magazine on May 12, 2014. 

Jia Lee: A must read for NYC Educators! Kevin Prosen published this piece before the contract was voted in, and at this time, it gives us cause for reflection. 

I agree with Jia. Kevin, one of our most dynamic organizers and chapter leaders, wrote the piece for Jacobin magazine on May 12, 2014.

More from Kevin:

This is money that we are owed, and that those of us who are those mid-career teachers that will have to leave the system in the next few years — who can’t continue working for these wages — will never see. The proposed pay increases fall below the rate of inflation, our rents continue to spiral upward, and every year the conditions of life for working New Yorkers gets worse. We’ve been told by our union that if we vote this down we will go “to the back of the line” — that we could be waiting for years for a contract. We were told that if we could just wait out Bloomberg, we would be richly rewarded. Yet here we are, still waiting.

Before we get back to Kevin's must read piece, a few points.

MORE took a strong stand against the contract. Unity has been ridiculing MORE for its stance in the puny little handout they give out at DAs.

The current retro pay snafu, as reported by James Eterno at the ICE blog, is, you'll excuse the expression, a tip of the iceberg. James emailed:

...please check out the ICEUFT blog where a simple post about the 12.5% retro pay stub being online is getting a significant number of comments.  We haven't seen comments in these numbers since the contract came out in 2014.

• PAY STUB WITH RETRO IS ONLINE (Updated Three Times)

There has been lots of internal buzz inside MORE about this issue. I've been out of town and can't follow that closely but there is talk of the UFT dues increase in the midst to a retro snafu and other stuff - so go check it out at ICE.

James continues to point out that Unity battered people to vote YES on the contract in order to keep the city from going broke when there is in fact billions of surplus - after we signed the contract. Our union leaders are not stupid - they know where the money is but sold us a lie.

Yes, when I was leafleting at the contract vote DA I actually had Unity people tell me I was crazy to push the city into bankruptcy.

Mike Schirtzer left this rant:

This week 80,000 are going to be looking at some BS money- while the city withholds about 90% of what's due us. This week my friend who worked the last 9 years like I did, is sitting home taking care of her sick child, without a paycheck and without retro payment to help her-pay her free healthcare (copay after copay).

Roseanne McCosh informed us that "BX UFT is taking our grievances over Oct first retro delay.  Taking them and stuffing them in a drawer is my guess but who knows maybe they'll surprise us."

I replied that I think they will take this grievance for show and PR. Watch Mulgrew announce this at the DA to demonstrate they are "fighting" - I would call it whimpering. You know, they negotiated and signed and shilled for the contract. If it is grieveable then make a big deal about that. But that they would have to grieve it makes them look oh so stupid.

Wait until the health care shit kicks in - but that won't happen until after this year's UFT election - intentionally on the part of the DOE/UFT alliance - which I believe I pointed out at the time (just too lazy to find a link). You all will find out the REAL BAD NEWS sometime after Mulgrew gets re-elected.

The contract was voted on by about 92% of the 108,000 UFT members eligible to vote. (Retirees and non-DOE employees do not vote). I was at the vote count to observe. About 25% of the classroom teachers - roughly 16,000 - voted NO. 47,000 voted Yes. About 20% of the non-teaching staff voted no.

These are interesting numbers vis a vis the upcoming UFT elections. Can these 16,000 classroom NO Votes translate into general election votes for MORE/New Action?

James broke the numbers down after the vote: THOUGHTS ON NEW CONTRACT AND THE RATIFICATION VOTE...

Look at the difference in NO vote numbers between the teaching staff (25%) and the other divisions which mostly topped 80% and indicates the significant control Unity exercises over these divisions. The battle inside the UFT can only be won in the schools, not the general election. I believe the contract vote totals for classroom teachers and non-teachers justifies my theories of concentrating resources on this biggest branch of the UFT and not on retirees or the other divisions - sorry if you are a secretary or para - you guys have to get into your UFT chapter and break Unity total control.

More on election implications of the contract vote in the future.

Back to Kevin's piece in Jacobin where he closes with:

If we vote “no” on this proposed deal, we will, of course, be attacked in the press as greedy labor aristocrats. But this isn’t only about the UFT, and we can’t talk as though it is. We must challenge the idea that we are somehow not deserving of a professional wage. But we also need to point out that this deal will set the pattern for hundreds of thousands of other city workers.
Saying no to this deal is about drawing a line for the entire working class of New York City — about saying there is a limit to what we will suffer and how little we will accept. Many of our students’ parents are city workers: they drop their kids off before making their way to operate buses and subways, to pick up our trash, to direct our traffic and clean the offices of City Hall. This is not only about us, it’s about solidarity with the rest of working New York. It is about making our city a more humane place for the people who love it enough to keep it running. That is the language we need to speak in.
A contract is a negotiated settlement on the conditions of exploitation under which you will spend most of your waking life. Don’t accept arguments that this offer is “the best we can get” from anybody who won’t have to work under its terms. Not from liberal mayors, not from union leaders making generous salaries on your dues money, not from newspaper editors; it’s your life under discussion, not theirs.
I hope you will join me and the majority of teachers in my school in voting no on this contract. By all means, do it for the money. But also, do it for love.

Kevin goes into the details of how the contract supports ed deform, as the UFT has all along. Read it all at:

A Letter to New York City’s School Teachers

New York teachers should vote no on the proposed union contract — for love and for money.

by Kevin Prosen

May 12, 2014

Jeff Bryant: The ugly charter school scandal Arne Duncan is leaving behind

How long before Arne takes a job with the charter industry? These people - and include Chris Cerf and Joel Klein among cast of thousands - are scum.

I love the work Jeff Bryant does. I had the pleasure of hanging at the press table with him at the AFT2014 LA convention.

Thanks to old UFT/school wars pal Julie Woodward for sending this along.


Sunday, Oct 11, 2015 07:00 AM EDT

The ugly charter school scandal Arne Duncan is leaving behind

Officials are raising questions about a $249 million grant to charter schools announced the day of his resignation

Jeff Bryant, Education Opportunity Network

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s surprise announcement to leave his position in December is making headlines and driving lots of commentary, but an important story lost in the media clutter happened three days before he gave notice.
On that day, Duncan rattled the education policy world with news of a controversial grant of $249 million ($157 the first year) to the charter school industry. This announcement was controversial because, as The Washington Post reports, an audit by his department’s own inspector general found “that the agency has done a poor job of overseeing federal dollars sent to charter schools.”
Post reporter Lynsey Layton notes, “The agency’s inspector general issued a scathing report in 2012 that found deficiencies in how the department handled federal grants to charter schools between 2008 and 2011″ – in other words, during Duncan’s watch.

 View full article at Salon.com

Teachers Rate Eva Moskowitz/ Success Academy Charters as "Toxic" and "Miserable Place to Work"

Don't even both applying. You might as well quit teaching...

They could barely get enough trolls...

http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Success-Academy-Charter-Schools/reviews

Success Academy Charter Schools

21 reviews

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Productive and comfortable work place

Enrollment Coordinator (Former Employee), New York, NY – September 3, 2015

SA was a great company to work for, everyone works as a team. Management is very helpful and coworkers are dedicated and enjoy working.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (1) – No (1)

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Miserable place to work

Teaching Assistant (Former Employee), Harlem – August 1, 2015

Pros: None

Cons: Bad hours, absurd discipline policies, awful culture

The modus operandi of Success Academy is to hire college kids right out of school. Hardly any of the "teachers" have any real experience or have any idea what they are getting into. The majority wash out within a year or two -- or get fired.

The atmosphere can best be described as Kafka-esque. The hours are long, and the kids are held to quasi-abusive standard of discipline. My 5th graders, for instance, were only allowed to go to the bathroom twice a day at predetermined times and are accompanied into the bathroom by a teacher. The students must remain silent during lunch. Special Ed students are quietly purged. Teachers are constantly being fired or quitting midway through the year, so expect co-workers to be mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again.

Most of the year, the children do nothing but practice taking standardized tests. Unsurprisingly, when at the end of the year the kids score well on standardized exams, Moskowitz points to this as evidence that the kids are being given fantastic educations. Unfortunately, the truth is that most of these kids can't do anything outside of a state test.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (15) – No (2)

Horrible Place To Work

Teacher (Former Employee), West Harlem – July 17, 2015

Pros: intellegent staff

Cons: Culture of fear as someone put it so perfectly

I would NEVER recommend anyone to work for this school! It has turned me off to all charters, which is a shame because many of them are great academies.

Don't even both applying. You might as well quit teaching

Was this review helpful?  Yes (10) – No (2)

All Work and No Life, So Run Teacher, Run!!!!!

Teacher (Former Employee), Harlem West Middle School – April 8, 2015

Pros: Free snacks and good medical benefits

Cons: Lil to no prep time, no lunch time

A typical day at success was 7 to 6.
The building opens between 6:30-6:45
7:00 -7:20 was a whole school meeting
7:30-8:05 Homeroom (which the teacher covers)
8:05-55 Electives (which you as a teacher have to teach)
8:55-9:50 Snack time, library time, vocabulary time, (which you the teacher had to teach and cover)
9:55-10-45 was my only prep or break of the day and sometimes they would take that away for a meeting or training

10:45-11:35 taught a class
11:35-12:25 taught a class
12:25-12:55 Advisory time which you the teacher lead and teach as well
1:00 -2:00 Lunch time (which you the teacher cover as well)

2:05-2:55 taught another class
2:55-3:45 taught another class
3:45-4:35 taught another class

4:35-4:50 dismissal (which you the teacher lead)
4:50-5:00 you must stand outside until all students are dismissed then you go back up stairs
5:00-5:30 All teachers were required to report to detention and sit with and talk to students
5:40-6:00 All staff team meeting

At 6 :00 you were free to do what you wanted
At 6:30 our building permit was up so half the time they would kick you out the building

WARNING STAY ANYWAY FROM HARLEM WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL AND POSSIBLY EVEN SUCCESS Academy in general!

The Ceo made a recent statement in the New York Times about former employees stating,
"As for the teachers who said they did not like the environment, Ms. Moskowitz said: “Most of the people who leave are a little angry, like they don’t like their work and they don’t seem happy teaching, and we really can’t have people who don’t love it.”"

Translation meaning that those who left success were not cut out for teaching even though you had success teaching prior to teaching there.

Really!

Was this review helpful?  Yes (47) – No (2)

April 16, 2015

I had the above schedule two times a week on Monday and Friday with one prep. Wednesday I had one prep as well. On Tuesday and Thursday I had the same schedule as above except I had two preps and four classes to teach. But these preps were taking away sometimes for meetings or to cover a class when people quit, went to a training, or they were absent. Mind you before Christmas we lost 8 staff members, then after we lost 7 staff members. This is the norm here because the first year in this school building we lost 13 staff members before Christmas, and the second year in this building we lost 12 staff members before Christmas.

Productive and extremely fun and friendly work environment

Human Resources Intern (Former Employee), New York, NY – February 23, 2015

Success Academy Charter School has one of the best attitudes towards improving education. Everyone works their hardest to improve the Academy, and the culture they have created is full of energy and diverse. Have been there only one summer, but I felt like a part of the team.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (3) – No (14)

Great professional development

Operations Department, Operations Manager (Former Employee), New York, NY – October 30, 2014

We worked over 55 Hours a week. My co-workers were great. Hardest part of the Job was dealing with the time and physical lifting. The greatest part is communicating with staff and children.
I learned more in managing projects in business and the science of a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (4) – No (17)

Avoid working here if you really care for kids

Middle School Math Teacher (Former Employee), Bronx, NY – October 18, 2014

Pros: salary and benefits are very cheap

Cons: idiot supervisors, no work life balance, barely any prep times, must teach electives

Success Academy prides itself with test scores and such but the kids don't know as much as they say they do. You can clearly tell the main concern is high test scores and not foundational learning. At the end of the day principals just care for the test scores so network isn't up theirs. They also say they love feedback but truthfully this is one directional. The principal I worked with was very u professional, lacked the ability to spell or proofread anything she sent to the staff members and had the nerve to tell kids they needed to do it. She never practiced what she preached and many of the school's you will find this. If you know your subject we'll find another place to work.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (53) – No (18)

Education

Operations (Former Employee), New York, NY – September 25, 2014

Associates are great to work with. Each day is different but does require a lot of paperwork.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (8) – No (10)

Not the best place to work

Operational Role (Former Employee), New York, NY – September 15, 2014

Pros: healthcare is amazing, free beverages and snacks once a week

Success achieves amazing results with educating inner city children. However, working there is miserable. There is incredibly high turnover for a reason.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (46) – No (2)

Fast pace house of learning

Office Coordinator (Current Employee), New York, NY – May 15, 2014

Pros: long hours

Cons: not compensation for overtime

Excellent for college graduates. Have been here for 5 plus years want to go back to my first love the Medical Community.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (21) – No (16)

Avoid phone interviews at all cost

Grants and Contracts Manager (Former Employee), Brooklyn – March 5, 2014

Cons: inappropriate phone interviews

Please be advised that phone interviews may be conducted with excessive noise in the background which crates a very tough atmosphere for you the applicant when delivering key points about your experience.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (73) – No (9)

Dedicated colleagues, supportive work environment with room to grow

Marketing (Current Employee), Network – January 25, 2014

Cons: transitioning from start-up mode

As a mission-driven organization Success Academy attracts dedicated, intelligent employees and fosters a supportive team environment. The organization is growth-oriented, and supports the professional development of all staff. Employees are recognized for hard work and achievements - if you care about ed reform and are eager for new professional opportunities, Success Academy is a great fit.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (19) – No (44)

Great workplace. Staff feels like a family away from home.

Lead Teacher (Current Employee), New York, NY – January 21, 2014

Pros: career development, understanding leadership, healthy snacks, tons of resources, great benefits

Success Academy is a great place to work whether you're fresh out of college or have years of experience under your belt. There are many career paths and opportunities for growth within the organization. Leadership as supports your career development. Many workshops and professional development days are offered. You can even request to take place in out of Network workshops that relate to your area of teaching. For example dance teachers can request Alvin Ailey workshops. The scholars are creative, and passionate. Most desire to learn which makes teaching there fun.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (16) – No (46)

The interview told me all I needed to know.

Interviewee (Former Employee), South Bronx, NY – December 28, 2013

Pros: helping kids maybe?

Cons: disorganized and rude administration, no work-life balance, horrible interview, low salary

I interviewed at this place several months ago for an administrative position and ten minutes after the interview I emailed to tell them I no longer wished to be considered for the position. It was that awful. When I arrived, no one seemed to have a clue why I was there and the three people who needed to interview me had other meetings and event scheduled at the same time, so my interview took place in bursts of about 2 minutes with each person rotating between obligations. No one had read my resume, which clearly indicated I was currently employed full-time and had graduated college two years ago. All of them asked me when I was going to graduate and if I'd ever worked full-time. I was asked my astrological sign during the interview process, and the woman said she was glad I wasn't a pisces because her two children were pisces and they were morons. Uh...great? At one point I sat alone in a room for 45 minutes because my interviewers were all busy. I should have just left because the disrespect they'd shown to that point had been enough to convince me I would hate working there. The work environment seemed horrendously scattered and stressful, and the people I spoke with were rude and frankly a bit loopy. When I mentioned that I mystery shop as an unpaid, purely voluntary side gig, my interviewer said, "If you work for us, you have to quit that. This job is 24/7 and we discourage any outside activities since you should be on call at all times for us. This is a career, not a silly job." This was a 180 from the job posting, which said it was a 9-5 that encouraged the separation of work and life and wanted people who held outside interests. The salary was appallingly low for a "24/7" job in the South Bronx. There were several other huge red flags. Like I said, I withdrew my application immediately after the 2.5 hour interview from hell. It didn't seem like I would have gotten the job anyway, and I'm really okay with that.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (170) – No (17)

Great place to work!

Recruitment Intern (Former Employee), New York – October 1, 2013

As a Recruitment Intern at Success Academy Charter Schools, I had the opportunity to play an integral part in the recruitment and development of incoming teachers and administrators. I felt challenged, supported, and valued as a team member. I worked alongside passionate and committed individuals. My responsibilities included reviewing candidates, research projects, outreach efforts, and administrative tasks. I was able to work hands on with the recruitment and teacher development departments, which taught me about problem solving as well as how to successfully work with a team to achieve long-term goals. This work has instilled in me a belief that all children deserve an equal opportunity to a quality education.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (19) – No (67)

Not good role models

Teacher (Former Employee), New york – May 10, 2013

Pros: high pay

Cons: fear of termination

If yelling and calling parents, snapping fingers and degrading students is your thing, HSA is for you.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (114) – No (31)

Fulfilling Work Environment with tons of Learning Opportunities

Network Employee (Current Employee), New York, NY – April 4, 2013

Pros: fun work environment, colleagues are mission driven, tons of learning opportunities, great professional development

Cons: long work days

I started working at Success Academy about a year after graduating college. In my time at the organization, I have been entrusted with key projects and allowed to reach my full potential. I feel confident in making recommendations and have had exposure to varying levels of management across the organization.

Everyone here is mission driven which is a huge plus. It isn't an easy job but the work environment is fun and there is fulfillment gained in knowing that your work is changing the lives of children across New York City.

This is a great place to work if you are a learner and want to consistently develop as a professional.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (29) – No (21)

Schools Policies and Practices Come At the Expense of the Kids

Teacher (Former Employee), New York , New York – March 12, 2013

Pros: clean environment

Cons: cold, not a diverse work environment, politics prioritized over principles

A work environment that is so rigid creates high turnover and frequent firing of teachers for no reason -- little room or respect for autonomy -- students suffer even more than teachers from this frigid revolving door of burntout well meaning adults. Special education students denied accommodations too.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (121) – No (30)

Opportunities for Growth

Manager (Current Employee), Schools – February 5, 2013

Pros: free lunches if you work in the school! big budget!

Cons: little work/life balance

This company gives you so much experience in other areas, there is a lot of opportunities for growth and professional development. You don't get stuck in the red tape of decisions or promotions. There are also great benefits, such as healthcare at no cost to me, and great bonuses.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (28) – No (32)

Fulfilling work environment with a great, growing team

Network employee (Current Employee), New York, NY – January 29, 2013

Pros: see efforts in action in real time. growth opportunities. every day is different.

Cons: long work day.

At SA, the team does wonderful, cause related work that really changes children's lives. You get to see your efforts in action in real time. It's a very fast paced work environment where the bar is set high. Working here you are required to be flexible and be the solution. Everyone pitches in and rolls up their sleeves. If you have a recommendation that would improve the organization, you're encouraged to speak up regardless of your role or level.

Constructive criticism is on going and in real time. You're constantly being encouraged to better yourself and given the feedback to do so. The hours are long, but the benefit of knowing you really are making a difference makes it worth it.

Was this review helpful?  Yes (20) – No (20)

Toxic Work Environment & Ambivalent Senior Leadership

Manager (Current Employee), New York, NY – August 1, 2012

Pros: smart people, great benefits package, advancement opportunities

Cons: low morale, high turnover, culture of fear

Success Academy Charter Schools has exceptionally low morale and exceptionally high employee turnover due to the utter disregard and even disdain with which the senior management treat the majority of the employees.

Members of upper management have been known to throw work at employees, make culturally insensitive comments (a huge gaffe considering the diverse populations we serve), and to suggest that employees must have deep-seated personal issues if they seek encouragement or feedback from their managers.

It is a truly toxic environment that burns out many exceptionally bright and talented people. This does, of course, create a lot of opportunity for advancement because people are constantly leaving the organization. For those that can stick it out, there is good pay for a non-profit organization and very generous benefits.

It is unfortunate because Success has an important mission and offers a valuable service to the communities that it serves. Hearing success stories from families whose children are reaching their full academic potential in our schools is a rewarding part of the job, but it is a bittersweet one when you know that our incredibly dedicated teachers live in a culture of fear where the threat of dismissal hangs over their heads constantly if test scores are not constantly and dramatically improving.