When teachers stand together and refuse to be bullied by the powerful, they deserve our commendation.
The teachers in the Hamburg Central School District in New York voted overwhelmingly to reject a bad deal on teacher evaluation. In the plan at issue, the school superintendent would have been the sole arbiter on any appeals of a teacher’s rating. The teachers held out for an independent arbiter. They voted 217-82 not to accept the deal.
They will be hammered and told that they are costing the district $450,000 in Race to the Top funds, but they know not a penny of that money may be spent to reduce class size or hire social workers or guidance counselors or librarians or anything else that would meet the needs of students.
They also know that New York State has an untried evaluation system designed by AIR, whose researchers warned that value-added methods are not ready for high-stakes uses, such as determining the fate of teachers.
Someday in the future, people will look back on this era of teacher-bashing, this insatiable thirst for metrics, and wonder if our society succumbed to collective madness.
Thank you for your courage, teachers of Central Hamburg.
Stay strong.
Your colleagues support you.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
There is, of course, a distinct difference between Hamburg and New York City, to wit, rank and file actually get a vote.
Congratulations, Teachers of Hamburg!!!! Stay strong!!!
“Someday in the future, people will look back on this era of teacher-bashing, this insatiable thirst for metrics, and wonder if our society succumbed to collective madness.”
That “someday” has to be “now”. We cannot wait for history to write the story. We must inform people “now”, and not wait for them to get it on their own!
Congratulations Hamburg. You are truly blessed to have a faculty that is deeply devoted to your students and what is right in spite of the threats and browbeating. Stay strong!
Only two ways to fight this thing now. 1. Like the school near Seattle, refuse to administer the tests. 2. Encourage parents to opt-out of testing.
The APPR in New York State is a done deal, folks. If Hamburg survives the rest of this year without approval, it will be a miracle. The public and the Boards of Ed. simply cannot understand the ramifications of refusing the $$$$. Then, the punishment phase will begin, teachers will start losing jobs, students will do without specials, etc.. The union rank and file will then weaken when their colleagues begin to suffer. The union will be demonized by the public and told they are not “doing it for the children”. This is a scenario that has been built into the process by the DOE via Race To The Top money. Union members will be living in fear and will begin to cannibalize each other. Deformers will be laughing all the way to the bank.
I wish you well, Hamburg. You may be the poster children of strength. Kudos from a Buffalo Public School teacher. You have graciously taken the heat off of us in the News for a NYC minute! However, I have yet to see your union leadership demonized publicly to the extent that Phil Rumore has been. 🙂
Peace and Strength.
We have already Been beaten down. We are facing our FOURTH year of cuts. We have 50 less teachers than we did in 2008 BUT with the same number of students! It is time for parents and communities to fight for what is best for kids! The average middle school class sizes are around 27-30, is this what’s best for kids to compete in a global market. I am sick of being afraid of loosing my job, after 18 yrs of teaching, because of the decisions of politicians!
Now if only the UFT would follow suit. Maybe they forget who pays their salaries!!
Diane, Thank you for sharing the brave actions of my colleagues.
One clarification: The $450,000 is a state aid increase held hostage by wannabe Presidential Candidate NY Governor Andrew Cuomo. He is blackmailing teachers and districts into accepting a plan that places more emphasis on high-stakes tests or their district will not receive the aid. You are correct, there is no guarantee as to how the money would be spent.
Districts in my area are cutting teachers and counselors while maintaining or increasing administrators to keep up with the “data” from student testing and teacher evaluations. None of this will help students whatsoever.
Well said, my friend. And best of luck with whatever turmoil this may bring. My best wishes to you and my former fellow Hamburg educators.
Deb Weaver
I would like details on how RTTT dollars are spent (or how districts are mandated to spend them). My impression is that often, that $$ raced for by agreeing to subject your school to the shackles of new tests and bureaucracies is then sent and spent on those new tests and bureaucracies. I am generally not so cynical to think public schools would be coerced and marched to their own demise like that. I want to make sure.
Kudos to Hamburg! They are a town in the suburbs of Buffalo, NY.
The other side of this story is there is an incredibly strong anti teacher sentiment in our area (yes, all over America, but particularly nasty in western NY). We are a one newspaper town and that newspaper prints a constant barrage of anti union, anti teacher, one sided stories. I’m sure they are ready to string up the Hamburg teachers, just like they’ve been doing to the city of Buffalo teachers for the past several years.
Stay strong Hamburg teachers!
Yes, in the future people will look upon this period as a time of educational madness, and the states and citizens that did not fall for it will stand proud.
Bravo Hamburg!
Standing firm for fairness is a true American principle that we all support.
Standing firm in the face of threats is patriotic.
Standing firm for what you believe when offered bribes (state aid) is a shining example of what that “city upon the hill” is all about.
Folks you are witnessing a new era in real education reform provided by the teachers of Hamburg!
Teachers owe allegience first and foremost to their union and their brother union workers.
Teachers are paid ONLY to follow union approved teaching plans NOT something some pointed headed “expert” thinks they should teach.
When I worked in unionized schools, I was never told by the union what to teach or not to teach. Provided that I followed my contractual obligations and the law, I could be my own pointy-headed expert as far as curriculum and instruction.
And my allegiance, whether in a unionized or non-unionized school, is to the well being of my students and to the intellectual integrity of my academic field.
Thanks, Terry, needed that bit of satire on a cold rainy wintry mix Saturday evening while listening to Radio Rio on KDHX and trying to imagine myself being on a beach somewhere.
Before you sounded angry and confused, now you just come off as stupid. Your post is ignorant on so many levels. You are clueless and unhappy. Please seek counseling.
Again, are you serious? I have never gotten lesson plans from my union. Do you have any understanding of what teaching is about? You keep playing your one-note trumpet. Please learn a little bit about this profession before you spout nonsense. Spend a week volunteering in your neighborhood school. Then maybe we can have a serious talk about education.
Hamburgwatchdog.com has all the info about this situation.
So you are saying that union teachers are on the union payroll and not paid by their districts? So the districts are embezzling the funds listed as teacher salaries on their annual reports? Way to blow the whistle! Go see the AG and get whatever percent of the recovered funds you are due as a whistle blower, and make sure you wear your best tin foil hat for the photo op!
Diane – THANK YOU for supporting us, the Hamburg Teachers. We are a group of dedicated, hardworking, student-centered teachers who LOVE our jobs, our students, and our community. We THANK YOU for standing with us and sharing our story with your readers.
Hang in there Christine and all other teachers in Hamburg … its a cold winter, which I am sure it often is for you all, but your inspiring actions make many places seem a tad warmer …. you will be reviled, you will be mocked, but you have chosen to stand for what you know is right for educating students …. BRAVO ….. bravo ….
Thank you, Sue, for your kind words. I will pass them on to my fellow teachers, who I am sure will find them to be a source of encouragement. Quite contrary to the season, and perhaps prophetically, it was a gorgeous, sunny 59 degrees today. For the first time in a long time, I feel invigorated!
Go, Hamburg!
Just received an email form Michael Mulgrew (head of NYC UFT). In the email, he says that the current evaluation system is broken. Where he gets this information I don’t know; but apparently not from the teachers he supposedly represents. NYC is currently under a mid-January deadline (enacted by Governor Cuomo) for instituting a new teacher eval system or we will lose 250 million. As the 250 million will go for copying ridiculous letters to parents from our school chancellor, I say we can stand to forfeit it.
Go to hamburgwatchdog.com
As a parent in the Hamburg School District, I support you and wish you luck. I appreciate how hard you work for our kids every day in the face of job threats which obviously must effect you in a very negative way. It was a simple request/change you had. With good communication and a reasonable negotiation process this should have been resolved in your favor. Good luck to you all and thank you for your hard work.
I am a Hamburg teacher. I am so very grateful to read the comments of support from all of you. At the same time, I am at the point where I feel completely demoralized as a teacher and professional. I no longer have the strength to endure the constant teacher bashing, particularly from ignorant people. I no longer feel joy in what I do and I do not feel proud of the district that I fought so hard to be a part of because I knew what a special place Hamburg CSD was. I am very seriously considering leaving teaching to pursue another profession that is not constantly under attack. I just don’t know what to do anymore.
This is hurting our children, quickly and severely. My son and my nephew (2 diff ages and schools in Hamburg) have been broken by whats going on here. We have traveled quite a bit over the last 3 1/2 years since their father passed away, and my kids ages 11 and 7 have been in 6 different schools throughout their short lives so far- different areas in WNY & even out of state. This year my older son entered Hamburg Middle School, and is now ending it with me putting him in therapy, severely depressed and broken. I have never seen such chaos in a district nor have my child so negatively affected in all of these schools combined compared to Hamburg. The kids are without any support within that school at the age they need it the most, and bullying is happening on a severe level and they have nowhere to go to seek safety. The teachers have so much on their plates their heads are spinning, and can’t even give their students the care they need, and the kids do not have the resources they deserve BY LAW. This is a result of when teachers arms are shackled, the kids suffer on levels so deep that they are getting hurt when they go to school here. Next year will be worse- but to our Hamburg Teachers… We got your back and will be rising up for YOU and our kids.