This budget bill includes very detailed provisions that determine how teachers and principals in New York state should be evaluated. Needless to say, it was written by non-educators. Have any of them ever evaluated a teacher? Doubtful. Some of the details of implementation will be turned over to the State Education Department or the Board of Regents, but some features are clear: No teacher can be rated effective if he or she is rated ineffective on student performance (test scores). The state will require that every teacher be evaluated by an independent person who does not work in the school. How many thousands of evaluators will be hired? What will it cost? Who will pay? No one knows. It is not in the budget. What value is the opinion of someone who observes a teacher or principal for an hour or a few minutes? This is a bill that is written to oust teachers. It reeks of disrespect. It shows Governor Cuomo’s rage against the people who work with children in public schools every day. This bill is his payback to the teachers’ unions for not endorsing his re-election after he declared himself the lobbyist for charter students (3% of the state’s enrollment). Ironically (or not), many outraged teachers are blaming their union leaders for not fighting this bill. To be sure, it would not have passed without the votes of Assembly Democrats, many of whom said they were voting for it “with a heavy heart.” Just how heavy their hearts were cannot be measured, sort of like trying to measure true learning and true education. Enrollments in teacher education programs are collapsing, in New York and across the nation. Those who enter teaching today are either woefully uninformed of the politicians’ hostility towards them or are prepared to fight a long battle for their children and their profession. What kind of society makes war on its teachers?
The unions (including AFT) should have supported Teachout.
They chose not to.
They are not outside of the circle of blame here.
Yes. Eugene Debs said “I would rather vote for what I want and not get it than vote for what I don’t want and get it.” Our union leadership has rolled over and should not be surprised the politicians have no respect for them or their followers, and so they are fed scraps like the tame dogs they are.
When will teachers finally demand that their leadership represent them and their interests or be replaced with leaders who will? When will teachers finally wake up to the fact that, with very few exceptions, democrat politicians, like republicans, do not deserve our contributions and support. A new Progressive Party, in the Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. Addition is sorely needed to take back our country from the wealthy who now own and control it.
I support Bernie Sanders in 2016.
Yes the union leadership, for too long, claimed that their seat at the table was more important than organizing, educating, agitating and creating waves. They did not educate their membership about unionism. They became a service union rather than an organizing union. Too many of the union leaders at the local level also refused to educate and lead. They also led their local members to believe that their only responsibility was to pay union dues, in exchange for contract negotiations every few years and personal representation when an issue with administration might go through the grievance process.
The big question of course is what the union leadership will do now? If they plan a bold action to counteract the attack on their membership, will the membership agree to take the risk? Would the local leaders rally the troops or would they argue amongst themselves and stand in the way?
One thing is certain. If the teachers do not stand together and fight back now, thousands of good teachers will be picked off one-by-one. Teachers seeing that happen to their colleagues, will become more fearful and less willing to stand together as a union. They will rightfully wonder why they are paying close to one-thousand dollars a year in union dues for a weak and ineffectual union. They still will not understand what being a union member means and they will agree to the destruction of their union.
If I were the leader of an army of teachers, I would not allow thousands of my troops to be slaughtered without a good fight. That means going on the offensive now, not waiting to mitigate the wounds when the first casualties are being carried off the field.
Why would the union leadership fight when its survival, and their paychecks, are guaranteed by the state? The Taylor Law was amended in 1977 to include the dues check-off provision. When that happened the loyalty of the union leaders switched from its members to the political leaders of the state. Prior to 1977 the check-off was implemented for only those who joined the union. After 1977 all teachers were subjected to the check-off of dues whether they joined the union or not. There were two strikes under the Taylor Law prior to 1977 with one strike occurring under the 2-for-1 pay penalty for days on strike. After the 1977 check-off provision was added there has never been a call for any type of job action since that would suspend the check-off. I realize that a strike is difficult (I’m retired) but I was for that while working after that 2005 contract that gave up seniority and created the ATR pool. I think the union could get teachers to do an occasional one-day job action which would get a lot of press attention. Until the union leadership’s loyalty switches back to its members nothing serious will happen.
But it’s the same problem in “Right to Work (for less)” states like mine. In the early 1990s, the NEA affiliate in Utah had a state-wide one day walkout to support my district, which had been working for a full year without a contract, and to protest poor education funding. It helped to some extent, but the media jumped all over it and made the teachers out to be the bad guys. Today, the “professional organization,” as it is called in Utah, is all but worthless. I was a building rep for years, and I was SO tired of going to meetings and hearing that we needed to not make waves because we “needed a seat at the table,” and, “It could have been worse.” I have begged the union for years to stand up for us. They will not. And most teachers today have bought into the idea that if we fight back that we will be seen as “greedy” or “not in teaching for the kids.” We have more power than we realize, but a lot of us are afraid to use that power.
What Churchill said about Chamberlain applies to our union leaders – they chose dishonor and they got war. Blitzkrieg, in fact.
Ultimately the teachers voted to re-elect Weingarten and later Mulgrew. I fully expect Mulgrew will be re-elected again.
AFT is no longer just a teachers union. Health care professionals are now included, which means that one profession could like a certain leader while the other does not. And the issue is further clouded if retired members have a say via the vote.
Maybe teachers should consider decertifying the UFT and form a new union. Not likely.
If this could happen to our profession by passing a budget, it is not out if the realm of possibility that things will be fine to people’s pensions. Nothing is written in stone and teachers are seen as the enemy who need to be punished. I would be very worried if I am depending on that pension. Notice no other civil service group is being asked to give up job protections. Decertify the union and let’s start over.
What kind of society makes war on its teachers?
This rhetorical question chilled me to the bone.
Me too. It horrifying.
Didn’t Mao do so during the Cultural Revolution?
Pol Pot, Stalin, and many other tyrants.
Except that I don’t believe it is “society” making war on the teachers, but a select few, with enough money to control an evil and corrupt governor with too much power! Society does not want this!
Then society needs to SPEAK OUT more, because the media and the powers that be are the only one at the microphone right now. When we teachers speak out against what is happening, we are accused of being “greedy” or “not in it for the students.”
Sadly, the media is owned by big corporations. They are not our supporters as they are controlled by the very entities rallying against us.
How sad it is that political maneuvering and expediency have enabled this punitive collection of regulations aimed at teachers. It is my hope that New York State Boards of Education and Superintendents of Schools will speak out about this huge, inefficient collection of threat-based rules. No good will come of Cuomo’s empty victory against public school teachers.
This is a sad day for New York, for teachers for students, and for democracy. How much more ridiculous can this get before it falls of its own weight?
It will not fall of its own weight unless pushed.
Sadly, it’s the kind of society that has long been treating teachers, along with most workers, with utter disrespect. The idea that teachers and other workers should be listened to and treated with respect has long been an alien concept to most supervisors and of course so also to those higher up the feeding chains of this and other societies. Whatever gains were made by workers in the first two-thirds or so of the last century, both through their own hard collective struggles, and from the global rise of socialism and whatever that provided of both motivation and enlightenment — most of these have been in the process of being reversed. Our compliant, collaborationist union leaderships, along with those who control the direction taken by the Democratic party over the past several decades, have been following the lead set by the Republicans in this regard. The media, as ever serving the moneyed interests, has also been used to divide the workers along many lines into a fractious mass that has been rendered largely ignorant, politically and historically unaware and brainwashed into voting against its own interests. There are bright spots of awareness and resistance still in this darkness, but they are under siege.
In the schools, it is not just the testing mania, horrible as that is, that is the problem. If we look at the Daniellson framework, and the 15-minute drive-by observations that evaluate teachers based on this framework, one is hard put to say which is worse for teachers and so also for their students — the teacher-evaluation by student test-score part or the teacher-evaluation by observation and more part. Together, they create a perfect hell for any teacher who is possessed of head and heart, and has some remnant still of integrity — things that have all long been sorely lacking in the educational hierarchy, at least from what I have seen of it in the NY City school system, which I entered into 27 years ago, after having earned my doctorate in physics. Looking back, it was a big personal mistake on my part. But then, looking at the plight of the adjuncts in the universities and colleges and where these institutions also seem to be headed, I wonder if what has been going on in the public schools is only the raw edge of the apocalypse that is overtaking what’s left of the better things of civilization in this country and surely also elsewhere.
The realization has been slow in coming, but should now be publicly broadcast, that those at the top of the educational hierarchies, and of course also the politicians, have little or no clue about what truly ails the schools, or, for that matter, have any regard or even recognition for the basic, common sense elements and requirements of teaching and learning. Add to this the fact that basic integrity and courage has been lacking at all levels of the educational hierarchies, with no place in it for honest feedback from the classrooms, and too much of a place for superficiality, obfuscation and fear, and you have all the ingredients you need for any barbarian bully to do his/her work of destruction as the hierarchy bows and complies.
Amen brother. Until teachers start demanding respect and autonomy, the rest is “silence.”
What kind of society makes war on its teachers?
This should be our mantra. Billboards, promo materials, protest signs, t-shirts.
Let the uninvolved ask us what we mean. Give them an earful. Light a fire. Start a conflagration.
NPE needs an online store.
What kind of society makes war on its teachers?
An oligarchy. One in which money is the be-all, end-all in every decision that the wealthy control. One where cashing in on kids is blindly perceived as the path to the White House. Where a Governor who never attended a public school has a mentality of “those kids and those teachers,” rather than “our kids and our teachers.” A society where those with money do not care about democracy because it isn’t useful; it is easier to pay for what you want. Every society in history that has ever been that meets these parameters and fails to make public education a priority ends with one destination: we are headed right down the toilet. Unless we gave a revolution first.
Diane please post the names of those “heavy hearted” democrats who voted for the bill so we can vote them out of office next time around. Here’s a few to start with:
Who not to vote for:
Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, a Democrat from Rockland County
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, a Democrat from Ithaca
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, a Bronx Democrat
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto
Assemblyman Charles Barron, a Brooklyn Democrat
Add Cathy Nolan
There are many in the senate and assembly that should be named and shamed.
As a New Yorker, I can say loudly that New York State politics is altogether a shameful business.
The budget is a deal between Democratic politicians in the Assembly, Republicans in the Senate, and the Governor.
The 2015 budget consequentially was supported by Republicans in the Senate and Democrats in the Assembly, with only a few exceptions.
In the Assembly, Democrats who went against the grain by voting “No” were:
Clark, Barron, Brindisi, Cahill, Englebright, Goldfeder, Hikind, Kearns, Santabarbara, Skoufis, Steck, and Woerner. There was also an error in Clark’s vote.
In the Assembly, Fitzpatrick was the only Republican voting “Yes.”
In the Senate, where Republicans have control (with the help of a breakaway group of “Independent Democrats”), every Republican voted “Yes,” and Democrats voted “No,” except for the so-called “Independent” group.
Democrats voting “Yes” in the Senate:
Avella, Carlucci, Diaz, Felder, and Valesky.
What kind of society makes war on its’ teachers?
Just take a look throughout history to find out. Seems to me that we’re on the same path, unless we stand up, stop talking and actually DO something about it.
Staying in our lane is NOT the answer……
Excellent comment, Joan. Look at history, indeed!
There are over 200000 teachers in NY. I feel we have forgotten what a union is. We are so concerned about not appearing heavy handed that we allow the heavy handed government to destroy our schools.
What if everyone called in sick on the day of the test? What if we all went to another school and handed out opt out documentation just off school grounds? What if we all went to Albany when the union requested it instead of the 1000 or so of us who weren’t too busy keeping our heads down and attempting to teach these ridiculous standards? What if we did something to get this in the news? The local news station spent 28 seconds on the teacher evaluation system followed by 90 seconds about abused pit-bulls on the day after the budget passed. I love dogs, but are they more important than our children?
The tweets from our union were, it is a sad day, but we must continue fighting. So we just take this unfair change that hurts teachers and children and contains not a shred of research to support it? If we are never going to put our foot down, then we are just going to be steamrolled by legislators who know that the spotlight will quickly be off them when they screw schools and back onto some abused puppy or car that drove into a pond or house somewhere in the country.
Why doesn’t every local union make a statement about their opinion of the law and publish it to the local paper so parents know how bad we feel it is? I feel like I am on a plane as a hostage and there is one terrorist with a pen knife holding 150 people hostage. The hostages could easily overpower the terrorist, but they fear personally getting hurt, so they sit there as he executes the hostages 1 by 1.
I am older and ready to retire, but I am terribly worried about the future of public school in this country. Mad enough to do something about it rather than just say, oh well, we lost that one and all 200000 of us will have to do what these non educators told us to. I would go down fighting, rather than grumbling under my breath. I implore my union to do that too. Where are the picket signs in NY?
Finally someone who gets it. That is exactly what is required. However, there are far too many cowards in the profession who are frightened to take such actions and by not doing so, they are allowing the enemy (reformers) to have their way without even having to fight for it. The Union will never endorse these actions because they are working in tandem with the very people who are destroying the profession. Teachers must form their own Union and eliminate the corrupted middle men from the bargaining table until then, you will see much of the same and hear nothing from the silent so called Union.
I am retiring in June after 30 years of teaching children, not standards. It is time. I totally agree with your comments, NY teacher. I am deep in consideration of how retired teachers can unite, stand up, speak out, and fight. We don’t have the fear of consequences that our still working colleagues have. I’m in Ohio.
“. . . said they were voting for it “with a heavy heart.” Just how heavy their hearts were cannot be measured, sort of like trying to measure true learning and true education.”
Bingo Bango Boingo! Give that lady a Kewpie doll!!
Leadership from all education advocates in NY State has been ineffective–even timid. It is not just union members being sold out–the NY State School Boards Association and their Executive Director have been Timid and almost invisible. The Council of School Superintendent have failed to take strong stands on any key issue. The PTA has left parents on their own fighting the nonsense coming out of Albany. Cuomo has imposed his will even as a wounded unpopular leader because none of these organizations have been worth the money people pay them as dues! They have chosen to stand with the “insiders” hoping to maintain influence–rather than become insurgents–willing to flex some muscle and take on the political power structure. IN the absence of pre-education leadership the agenda was taken over by Cuomo and his hedge fund buddies–throw the current losers who run these groups out!
The politicians haven’t had to sacrifice a thing. Nada. They are like a young couple playing house without consequence. They go through the motions. Say one thing, do another. Hey, I really didn’t want to cut your throat, but I was in the minority, so I had to go along with it. Cuomo is like a giddy pup right about now, wringing his filthy greedy hands and snickering. He is the king, and let everyone else eat cake.
What kind of society wages war on its teachers? The type of society that is in decline wages war on teachers. It is a corrupt society that does not value its future and seeks to destabilize the profession that can elevate it.
The way this deal was made sets a dangerous precedent. If the governor can leverage the operating budgets of districts against getting his way, he may come back next year after teachers’ pensions. The same spineless crew will fold and he knows it.
I’ve spoken to many young teachers who are really down and even thinking about new jobs. The constant churning of this profession is getting to them.
“What kind of society makes war on its teachers?”
The same kind of society that makes war on its children.
The same kind of society that makes war on its poor, on its elderly, on its homeless, on its veterans and on anyone who would question the policies of those in charge.
The same kind of society that wages wars of aggression against innocent peoples in many countries (Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Somalia, Libya, to name a few recent ones) in the world.
The same kind of society that perceives itself to be “a shining light on the hill”.
The same kind of society that is overly Christian while covertly doing the devil’s work.
Great post Duane–also–The same type of society that accepts increasing income inequality and a social structure that is beginning to resemble a caste system!
While I am sad about this, I really do blame Weingarten and the NYS union leadership. They had a chance to be against Cuomo from the beginning- and rolled over. This took away any bargaining power they would have had.
He was very clear during his campaign and previous term that he would not negotiate at all on this issue. Instead of endorsing Teachout, Weingarten chose to stick with Cuomo. Not surprising at all that he put this evaluation plan forward without the support of the unions. They already supported him by robocalling for him, and choosing not to endorse someone else.
Read on capitalnewyork.com about how tisch wants to exempt high performing schools from this evaluation plan.
The promise of exempting high-performing schools is a ploy to tamp down the opt out movement. A strategy of divide and conquer.
“With Heavy heart”
With heavy heart
And heavy ax
I did my part
In hack attacks
I did my part
In war on teachers
With heavy heart
Beneath the bleachers
someone said on Twitter that those who voted for this budget had a “heavy heart” because they had no spine.
Or maybe it’s because they keep their wad of $100’s in their shirt pocket over their heart.
“No teacher can be rated effective unless he or she is effective on student performance (test scores).” Since only 30% pass this exam does that mean 70% of teachers will be labeled ineffective?
Can we recall this governor?
Can those “heavy heart,” weak-minded democrats write a bill to repeal this piece of the budget? What will they do to fix this? It is going to be a mess.
This is definitely an attack on teacher and children.
Is there a link to see who voted for this budget?
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2015/04/8565369/tisch-exempt-high-performing-schools-new-evaluations
How do you read this move, Diane?
Ted, this is an effort to divide and conquer, to encourage some districts to think that they can escape the Governor’s axe while others get the treatment. It also shows great fear of the Opt Out movement. Clearly there is a decided effort to mollify parents in high-performing districts and persuade them to let their children take the tests. It would be a huge embarrassment for the “reform” movement if significant numbers of students opt out. In Montclair, New Jersey, 39% of the students opted out. New York officials are terrified of seeing the same result.
I agree. It’s divide and conquer.
Diane please write a separate opinion blog about this so we can post it on facebook. Some Long Island teachers are hoping their schools will get preferential treatment. They need to see this for what it is–as you said, an attempt to divide and conquer.
As a New Yorker, I can say loudly that New York State politics is altogether a shameful business.
The budget is a deal between Democratic politicians in the Assembly, Republicans in the Senate, and the Governor.
The 2015 budget consequentially was supported by Republicans in the Senate and Democrats in the Assembly, with only a few exceptions.
In the Assembly, Democrats who went against the grain by voting “No” were:
Clark, Barron, Brindisi, Cahill, Englebright, Goldfeder, Hikind, Kearns, Santabarbara, Skoufis, Steck, and Woerner. There was also an error in Clark’s vote.
In the Assembly, Fitzpatrick was the only Republican voting “Yes.”
In the Senate, where Republicans have control (with the help of a breakaway group of “Independent Democrats”), every Republican voted “Yes,” and Democrats voted “No,” except for the so-called “Independent” group.
Democrats voting “Yes” in the Senate:
Avella, Carlucci, Diaz, Felder, and Valesky.
To all of you – including me – who are reading this post by Diane:
Don’t get angry, don’t get pouty, don’t get weakened, don’t get indifferent, and don’t get martyred;
GET EVEN!
Get even by permanently and relentlessly hounding your elected officials and unions.
This is par for the course, and I say that knowing full well that I could become a casualty of this war launched against public education. The legislation has passed and is written in stone.
But stone breaks down, can be sculpted and molded, and cracked into many little pieces.
The legislation has passed.
But the fight will continue 10 times stronger than before; this was the adrenaline boost we may have all needed. The adrenaline is giving rise to fight and not flight . . . .
Robert Rendo,
The legislation is not written in stone. It was passed and it can be repealed, if we all fight hard enough to replace legislators who passed this atrocity or persuade them not to destroy public education.
Diane,
Well, EXC-U-U-U-USE me . . . .
🙂
You are right!!!!
What you just stated was suggested by my metaphor about stone and my practical advice about hounding key people. I need to communicate more clearly. A writer I am not.
Stone can get broken down, ground up, recycled, and turned into some other product.
My own assembly woman, Sandy Galef, voted in the affirmative. When does it EVER end?
I’m with you, Diane et al, all the way. . . .
Stay tuned; I am trying to find the definitive list of who voted which way in the New York State legislature.
My NYS Assemblyperson is the minority leader and voted against the bill. I want to nominate him for Governor next time around.
Love him!
Get to work, y’all, and pick up the phone to start hounding. Here is the list of all who voted in the affirmative in NY State on the budget bill, which centered upon Cuomo’s draconian and destructive public education policies:
It’s obvious that standardized approaches to testing, for both students and teachers, has detrimental effects. The reality is that students can’t control for the numerous externalities that impact student performance on standardized scores. It’s absolutely tragic that despite this, teachers are held completely responsible for the performance of every single student. Additionally, the blog illuminated the reality of MANY observers being hired in order to properly evaluate the immensity of public educators in New York. How many of those tax dollars could go to improving urban schools in New York? This epitomizes poor financial planning and the distorted sense or priorities we see across the country. Yes, teachers should be held accountable, but not near to the extent of the NY law.
What society makes war on its teachers?
Beginning at least with the Greeks who had Socrates drink his hemlock. The poison which destroys its best educators will eventually destroy that society which gives them their own version of “hemlock”.
When one destroys the thinkers in education it becomes like the proverbial lemmings mad dash to the sea and it is only time until the “sea” is reached.
Plutocracy now prevails, not democratic idealism.
“What kind of society makes war on its teachers?”
The answer is Communist China under Mao during his Cultural Revolution 1965-1976. The public schools were totally destroyed and millions of teachers took their own lives to escape the endless persecution from the Little Red Guard.
If you want to read what it was like, I recommend the 1992 New York Times Notable Book of the Year, “Red Azalea”, a memoir by Anchee Min, that also won the Carl Sandburg Award in literature. The book is still in print and Asian Studies departments in the U.S. still use it as a text.
http://www.ancheemin.com/
But after Mao died, Deng Xiaoping ended Mao’s Cultural Revolution that waged war on China’s teachers and schools. It took most of the 1980s and 90s to rebuild China’s public education system that had been destroyed under Mao, and China is still working on that goal. Today, China supports its teachers—and the (three only) high stakes tests in China are not used to fire teachers and close schools. The tests are used to see who gets to go to middle school, then high school and eventually college where there are seats for about 10% of the children who started in kindergarten.
By the way, if you want to teach and you have a credential to teach English, China hires hundreds of thousand of foreigners annually because learning English is mandatory in Chan’s public schools.
Cross-posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Here-is-the-New-York-State-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Cuomo_Democrats_Diane-Ravitch_Education-150402-113.html#comment539675
with this comment which has important embedded links at the site.
What kind of society makes war on its teachers? asks Diane Ravitch.
and THIS is why
http://citywatchla.com/8box-left/6666-lausd-and-utla-complicity-kills-collective-bargaining-and-civil-rights-for-la-s-teachers… the oligarchs are ensuring that teachers are ’employees at will” like Walmart employees, and can be fired at will.
It keeps the budget low, and ensures that our schools fail and can be replaced by charter schools in which HEDGE FUNDS ARE HEAVILY INVESTED. Read and learn why your NYC public schools are disappearing New York Hedge Funds Pour Millions of Dollars into Cuomo-Led Bid to Expand Charter Schools http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/11/new_york_hedge_funds_pour_millions
As Diane Ravitch pointed out, George Joseph in The Nation has written a sharply researched article about the nine billionaires who have been planning to impose their ideas on New York state since at least 2010http://m.thenation.com/article/201881-9-billionaires-are-about-remake-new-yorks-public-schools-heres-their-story
I wrote THE INSANE WAR ON TEACHERS A DECADE AGO after I discovered that due process, which was the only thing valuable that TENURE offered, was OVER!
Read this…every word is true. http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
Submitted on Thursday, Apr 2, 2015 at 1:14:20 PM
They voted for it with the same heavy heart they already B.S.ed us with when they originally took the Federal bribe back in 2009. MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY. To increase funding we will sacrifice human beings….students and teachers alike.
I’m very surprised that you would include unsubstantiated comments from the “Perdido Street” in your blog post. These comments did not seem to reflect what actually happened. They were speculative, at best.
I love this post and share your anger.
Only days left for parents to make the move and OPT OUT.
Hopefully this madness will encourage dissent.
WHAT IF THEY GAVE A TEST AND NO ONE CAME????
Reblogged this on Confessions of a Pop Culture Fanatic and commented:
This is the tragedy of education in NY -Who will want to teach now?! I love my job – just let me do it.
A very simple solution….get the government the hell out of education…SIMPLE!!!
Just turn everything over to Pearson! You should see the ridiculous Edtpa that is now required to teach. What a joke.
Watch as fewer and fewer qualified people enter the field of education. When there is a shortage, the pendulum will swing wide again and maybe, just maybe, we’ll return to some common sense.
I’ve thought a bit more about how many NYS legislators said they voted “Aye” with a heavy heart.
Maybe this isn’t a sign that they have no backbone.
Maybe this is a very public cry for help.
Have any of you ever been bullied? I experienced significant bullying in elementary school AND in my first year as an elementary teacher.
This vote wasn’t a lack of conviction.
This was a cry for help.
Let’s reach out to our heavy-hearted legislators and ask them what we can do next to fight back.
Bullies expect us to misplace our anger.
Please take the time to reach out to the legislators who voted yes and listen to their stories.
You may be surprised by how many of our rank-and-file legislators feel bullied and disrespected.
I heard back from two people who voted Aye on the budget within 30 minutes of reaching out to them. They are willing to collaborate with parents and teachers to fix this mess.
Even better, they’re ready to fight back with us.
Let’s stand up to the bully together.
This is a calculated attempt to weaken the teacher’s union. One of the strongest and last unions in the nation that speak out for social justice and against political infringement on its citizens. I would also go on to say it is an attempt to discredit teachers and the union to make way for charter schools/corporatized educational businesses. If teachers object to the governor he will take control and institute his own brand of educational overall to benefit the wealthy patrons who whisper in his ears. The education system is not broken. What politicians don’t want to address is the real issue in education, the rampant poverty in our country which effects our neediest students.
What do you think the FEE will be to re-register as a teacher in NY every 5 years?
Perhaps the Gov will propose that a set percentage of each teacher’s salary be the fee, that way he will get a larger fee from the better paid teachers, all the while claiming fairness since it’s a flat-rate fee for all.
Prediction if he goes that route? A percentage between 1 and 5 percent of a teacher’s salary.
It is very difficult to support a governor who needed 3-4 attempts to pass the bar. Who is he to impose anything regarding education? He is the failure in education. Fix what is broken Andy and stop balancing the budget off the backs of teachers, students, senior citizens and the developmentally disabled. Man up and get out!
Diane, do these new regulations all start in the 2015-2016 school year?
Meanwhile, nobody evaluates the destruction made by the 2nd floor political hack. How was Larry Schwartz or Howard Glazer evaluated? How about Joe Pescopo the butler, driver and hence man for the gov. how is he evaluated? How is it that Cuomo didn’t even send his own kids to the local public school, has never sat with parents local and even had a focus group or public forum somewhere in the state. If any place in NY needs evaluation it needs to start with ALL the Commissioners/hacks running the state of NY.
We just need to remember the legislators that went along with Cuomo and voted “yes” for the next election.
Like everything in Albany is railroaded through. This is not what the public wanted, but as usual that doesn’t count. Just a little note about charter schools. How they get high ratings. If a student doesn’t do well the first year. He or She will be removed from the charter school.
In answer to your question…a greedy society which sees dollar signs where commitment used to be. It,all breaks my heart. My district wrote letters, called legislators, held rallies, met with our public and we got these results! Being a retired teacher on the BoE I dread having to renegotiate contracts for APPR’s which were agreed to just 2 years ago. These evaluations are patently unfair and invalid. I wonder how we can get it overturned or the Govwrnor recalled!
As a former teacher I understand the concern over unnecessary testing and poor leadership from a school’s administration. However, the call for changes in education come from school’s that have been falling behind our counterparts in the Western World and Asia.
Until the unions stop protecting ineffective teachers through seniority based layoffs there will be a continued push for charter schools and evaluations based on test scores.
New York State spends more on education than any other state on a per pupil basis, but the state does not even rank in the Top 10 for education. It is a broken system, but the only solution I have heard from the union is to maintain the status quo.
Provide some ideas for how to increase our students abilities in Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology and you will have a place at the bargaining table. If NYSUT does not provide some bold ideas, the current changes will only intensify. My wife and I are the only people we know, outside of other teachers, who even remotely support the positions expressed on this board. You need support from the general public and it can’t come from the far right who wants to end all government involvement in education to promote social conservative views in the curriculum of local schools. Good luck and I look forward to hearing new ideas on how to use the money for education more effectively and efficiently in the future.
Joe,
Half the states don’t have collective bargaining. Who do you want to blame in those states? The three highest performing states have strong unions: Massachusetts, Néw Jersey, and Connecticut. What conclusion do you draw?
Joe,
The claim that the so-called problem in our alleged failing public scrolls is caused by ineffective teachers and that the Teachers’ unions are responsible is BS. There is absolutely no valid research from a reliable study that pins a number on how many teachers are ineffective and no studies that those alleged teachers are responsible for to alleged failure of our public schools.
Because of the lack of evidence from respected and valid research, even the TWO witnesses used in the sham of the Vergara trail in Los Angeles could only allege—guess—how many teachers were ineffective based on observations they had made over the years while visiting classroom.
That guess was 1% to 3% meaning if the guess from those two witnesses is correct 97 to 99% of teachers are not ineffective. And if that guess was correct, then California has more public schools then ineffective teachers meaning some schools have not even one ineffective teacher.
The teachers’ unions are not protecting those alleged ineffective teachers. What the teachers’ unions are doing is making sure that the districts that want to fire these teachers prove they are inn-effective with evidence through due process rights that protect teachers from being fired for any reason at all. And teachers do lose their jobs all across this country when through due process districts prove their allegations.
For the facts, you might want to reads this piece that appeared in Forbes in March of 2011:
“For those criticizing this process, would you deny Francisco Mendoza the right to appeal his termination? Mendoza was a 25-year veteran of the Chicago public schools, widely acknowledged as an excellent teacher. He took sick leave when he was diagnosed with cancer, and when he returned home he found a termination letter. Apparently the year of remedial work was overlooked in this case. Indeed, for every anecdote of bad teachers not getting fired, we can find others to show how excellent teachers were fired.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/03/04/firing-teachers-with-due-process/
Diane,
I agree with you and I support collective bargaining and a strong teacher’s union. That is why I left teaching so I could move back from Florida so my son could go to school in the Northeast.
My comment focuses on the advertisements and information surrounding education reform in the 2015-206 budget. The public generally does not like increased standardized testing and has slowly moved against the Governor. However, I have not heard a strong argument on what changes should be made.
What can be done to hold parents accountable, to improve administration in school districts and individual schools, to improve nutritional option for students in schools to help with brain development and focus, and to help teachers embrace researched-based best practices in the classroom.
The complaints in the message board focus on the weakening of the union rather than the strength of its teachers. Most New Yorkers will pay taxes for services that are important and not wasteful. My comment was meant to drive a discussion about how NYSUT can provide clear ideas on how to improve the education system in New York. Be on the offensive moving forward and not the defensive.
I have seen so many commercials about the evil of the plan, but no counter solutions to the main concerns by New York citizens and businesses. That is what I want to see so I can defend teachers without hearing from people who just want to bad mouth the union.
I really look forward to hearing solutions moving forward. If the democrats are leading with these type of changes you can only imagine what would happen with a Republican governor.