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A Charter Teacher, Fired for Trying to Organize a Union

By dianeravitch
July 8, 2015 //
19

I received the following letter from a teacher at a charter school, who was recently fired for her efforts to start a union.

 

Kate Connors writes:

 

I was excited when I accepted the teaching position at New Dawn Charter High School, in Brooklyn, NY. It was the 2012-2013 school year, the school’s opening year. The teachers reported to work in mid August for orientation. I immediately liked my colleagues and was happy to be working with them. During the orientation, we attended workshops led by the principal that addressed the school’s expectations, lesson planning, and preparing for the school year. At the end of one of these days, the principal told us to dress comfortably for the next day, that we had to get the school ready for the students. Because the school was brand new, the four-story building was still not furnished. On the first floor, in the cafeteria were all the school’s furnishings. The teachers were given the task of moving the items from the cafeteria to the room to which they belonged. The school has four floors and many, many rooms. The cafeteria was filled with desks, tables, file cabinets, bookshelves and more. The teachers worked together moving these large and heavy items. A hand truck was provided for the heavier items. It took a few days, and when we were finally done, the teachers’ desks arrived in flat boxes and in pieces. We were given tools and told to build them ourselves. We were also asked to help clean the building. We were given Windex and paper towels, we were told to clean the windows and lunchroom kitchen. The faculty began discussing amongst themselves how inappropriate this was to ask of the teachers. It was the school’s first year, and we did want to help it get off to a successful start, but this certainly was the start of a steep decline of morale and disappointment with our administration.

 

The students arrived in September, and I was happy to focus on teaching. I knew that our student population would be challenging, since we were a transfer school that enrolled under-credited and over-aged students. However, I did not anticipate the lack of disciplinary action taken by administration to address student behavior. The students were essentially running the school. There were thefts (phones and computers; all personal property of teachers), cursing and homophobic slurs launched from students to teachers, fights, marijuana use in the building, etc. The worst part is that the teachers began to have safety concerns about coming to work each day. Drug deals were happening outside of the building, a student was chased down the street by someone with a gun and non-students were entering the building. The faculty begged for security. We were told that the janitor would also be acting as a security guard. That wasn’t satisfactory, and we were insistent. They finally hired two security guards, and it was another fight to get the security guard to use metal detector wands.

 

Despite the unacceptable behavior of the students, the administration justified their inaction by standing by their philosophy that nothing was more important than keeping the students in the classroom and giving them the opportunity to learn. None of the teachers felt supported in or outside of the classroom. It became crystal clear that the administration did not have concern for our safety. During the week of Hurricane Sandy, the Mayor closed down New York City schools for the entire week. Traveling or even being outdoors was dangerous in such weather conditions — even the subways were not running. I was shocked when I received an email from the executive director, Sara Asmussen, telling us to report to school on Thursday and Friday of that week. No students were in attendance, but the faculty was expected to come in and stay in school during the normal 9-5 workday. The administration wanted to open the school for the two days rather than lose two days from our February break.

 

The faculty’s morale continued to plummet. We spoke about forming a union. We called a meeting of the teachers and had a serious discussion. We all agreed it was essential. However, we didn’t reach out to the UFT until the following year. The school year was coming to a close. I was interviewing elsewhere and had hopes of leaving; however, I could not find a position so I returned to New Dawn. Our math teacher, science teacher, social studies teacher and social worker had found positions elsewhere and resigned.

 

New Dawn is a year round school, so again, the teachers reported to work in the summer. We met with the new teachers who replaced those who resigned, in addition to the new staff members that were hired because we were enrolling more students. The summer was a repeat of the previous year. We were asked to take trash from the back of the school to the curb. There were month’s worth of boxes and bags just left there because the custodial staff left in June and were not replaced. We were given gloves and plastic aprons to use while doing these duties. I continued to search for open positions in other schools hoping that I could find something before September, but as I mentioned, it did not work out.

 

Come September, the students arrived, and similar behavioral issues ensued. Despite the horrible climate set by the administration, I was able to feel good about building a positive rapport with some of the students. I also feel that I made a difference in some of the students’ lives, no matter how small it may have been. I did my best to give to our students while I was employed at New Dawn.

 

Again came the discussion of unionizing. We had to act. I reached out to the UFT and was assigned a union representative. A teacher and I met with her after school. We outlined our grievances with her, and she advised us on starting a union. The senior teachers were on board right away. The new teachers were reluctant because they feared repercussions. In the end, all teachers signed a union card and we announced to the administration that we formed a union. After this announcement, the teachers’ fears became a reality. The administration responded harshly. Walking into the building, the executive director would not even make eye contact or interact with you. The principal canceled the majority of our after school professional development programs, and I received several emails accusing me of grievances that I did not commit, including not showing up to class and breaking a student’s confidentiality. A colleague had to speak with the executive director about his vacation plans to see his family, and he was told that the time might “not be available” to him. When asked why, the executive director pointed to the UFT keychain sticking out of his pocket.

 

We worked hard to motivate the faculty to keep their heads up. We attended board meetings monthly and requested that the school acknowledge that we were a union and to begin negotiating with us. Again and again, we were shut down. The simplest requests, such as changing the time of the board meeting to after-school hours so we could attend the entire meeting, rather than the last portion of the meeting, were turned down.

 

I wasn’t completely surprised when, at the end of the school year, four of the most vocal union supporters were terminated. It was no coincidence. The employee handbook discusses a progressive disciplinary plan, which begins with a verbal warning and proceeds to written warnings before a termination can take place. None of the four teachers ever received a warning that their employment was in jeopardy. We immediately filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB found our complaint valid and notified the school of the charges against them. It wasn’t long before the school settled the charge and provided backpay to the teachers and expunged all records of our termination. In addition to losing us, five staff members resigned. Unfortunately, the remaining teachers continue to work in this turbulent environment. On the first school day that the remaining teachers reported to work in early July, the executive director made a speech that was coercive and punitive. She reprimanded the staff for union activity and threatened them with legal action if they used the students’ contact information to speak with them about supporting the teacher’s union. This speech was recorded by a teacher and was presented to the NLRB, who filed another charge against the school. I hope that the conditions change for the sake of the teachers and the students, but I am doubtful that any change will occur.

 

Despite this negative experience, I have decided to continue my career in education. I am proud to say that I am now a teacher in a New York City Public School. The four terminated teachers, as well as the five teachers who resigned, all found jobs in public schools. Working in my current school is such a different experience. I am so happy to get up for work in the morning. I feel appreciated and supported by my administration. I am able to focus on growing as a teacher rather than protecting myself. I hope to continue in the public school system for many years to come.

 

Kate Connors

Categories Charter Schools, Teachers, Unions

A Teacher, Life Ruined by Pearson’s EdTPA

By dianeravitch
July 7, 2015 //
191

An email arrived from a woman of Hispanic origin. It speaks for itself:

 

I am a big fan of your blog. It is so insightful and relevant to what is happening with our educational system. I am a teacher candidate and I am so discouraged by the edTPA. I recently received my master’s degree in special education with a 3.475 grade point average and passed the EAS, ALST, Multi-Content Specialty Exams (which are 3 tests ELA, Math, Science) and CST Disabilities. But I can’t get my license because I can’t pass the edTPA. I have completely exhausted all my funds and can’t afford to take the safety-net ATS-W exam. I put my life on the line to enter a profession in which I am strongly pushed out of. I really enjoyed my student teaching and found it very challenging to work in an under served public school. I taught students who were homeless, in foster care or whose parents were incarcerated. The assistant principal commented how well the students responded to me and were actually upset when I left. After much thought and informal interviews conducted with my students, I discovered why they responded so well to me. I looked like them.

 

In public schools we push so hard for these students to rise from their neighborhoods and succeed in life. But this is why they don’t believe this goal can be achieved; they don’t see anyone who looks like them actually make it out of the neighborhood. All they know is that if they become an athlete or rapper they can get out of their neighborhood because those are the only role models they are provided with. When they go to school, they do not see any African-American or Hispanic teachers and because of that they cannot fathom the idea of continuing their education to college. With tests like edTPA and the rising costs of the NYSTCE exams, minorities are further pushed out of this profession. After student teaching for 4 months without pay and using what little funds I had on expensive exams, I was brought to financial ruin and nearly lost my house to foreclosure. No career path should bring you to economic ruin.

 

Not only did Pearson break my wallet they also broke my spirit. As much as I loved teaching, I don’t feel welcomed by the teaching profession. I tried applying for vouchers, but I did not qualify. The questions on the teaching exams are not biased. But when you make testing unaffordable and only certain kinds of people can afford them, that is when it becomes bias! NYS, I read your message loud and clear. You clearly don’t want me in this profession. No job should raise the requirements to a level that is almost unattainable and not have a salary to compensate for it. The state wants me to complete edTPA, which is like the bar exam for lawyers. However when lawyers pass the bar, they are offered jobs that pay from $80,000-$167,000 a year while teachers’ starting salaries range from $47,000-$72,000. If NYS wants teachers to become more professional, they should pay like one. Sorry for my rant but I felt you would understand my frustrations. No one else seems to agree with me. All I find on the internet is how great they think the edTPA is and how easy it was for them to pass and that all scorers are qualified certified teachers. Just because you are a certified teacher hired by Pearson does not mean you are a highly effective teacher. How do I know that the teachers scoring edTPA are highly effective teachers? This seems to be the question of the day and my dilemma.

 

Sincerely from a teacher candidate who will never become certified and have a MsED but can’t teach,

Categories Education Industry, Pearson, Teachers, Testing

Why We Are Losing So Many Dedicated, Experienced Teachers

By dianeravitch
July 5, 2015 //
31

Teachers have been the “collateral damage ” of the so-called reform movement. The reformers’ false claims and teacher-bashing is taking a predictable roll of some of the most talented teachers while discouraging young people from entering the profession.

This article explains why so many teachers are discouraged and how reformers disguise their nefarious intentions with lies.

Dora Taylor, parent activist in Seattle, writes:

“The self-designation of “reformer” by people who have never been in the classroom and have no actual training or experience in education is a smokescreen. What they are really after is profitability for their investor-owned charter school corporations that will deliver as little education for the buck as they think they can get by with.

“The public schools are losing well-qualified and experienced teachers who have made a commitment to our communities and dedicated themselves to teaching our children and and yet we are losing them in large numbers. Why?

“There are many reasons but for the most part has to do with the phrase “Education Reform”.

“The term encompasses charter schools and who teaches in those schools, the Common Core Standards, high stakes standardized testing, as well as the failed idea of merit pay for teachers….

“The teachers union is getting bombarded from two sides right now. First, by billionaires who would rather not see any unions in our country such as the Koch brothers, the Walton’s and corporate backed ALEC and from the other side by charter school enterprises who would love to have certified teachers but don’t want to pay a decent wage to hire them.

“With Race to the Top we had schools closing based on test scores and then many converted into charter schools and folks like Broad-backed Michelle Rhee who fired several hundred teachers, most of them minority women, basically on a whim.

“Then you have Common Core Standards and a battery of standardized tests, which make it difficult for a teacher not to teach to a test and thereby narrow their curriculum. This takes a lot out of a teacher who loves teaching, gets excited about their prepared curriculum, which is designed not only in terms of standard expectations but also to the students they are teaching. It destroys any creativity on the part of the teachers and students and makes teaching and learning a rote and tedious daily routine.”

Brett Dickerson of Seattle writes:

“For the last ten years now, a steady drumbeat of trash talk about teachers has made its way into the public comments about education. Experienced teachers are portrayed as lazy and incompetent, incapable of teaching students in any kind of adequate way.

“Teachers unions are pointed out as a telling sign that teachers know that they are no good and need “job protection” with tenure laws.

“None of these statements accurately portray the quality of teaching or the actual situation of most students who graduate from public schools. Why would these be circulated so widely?

“Not “education reformers”, but school raiders

“To understand the teacher brain drain we have to get the reality of what passes as “education reform” in the press and media. True reformers want to engage those who have the most experience in the classroom and in leading teachers as administrators.

“To achieve reform, there must be a collaboration and engagement of those who know what needs to be reformed the best. But that’s not what is going on, is it?

“That’s because those who call themselves “education reformers” usually are not. Instead they are those who want only to raid public funds taken by force as taxes and then converted to the wealth of investors who do not care about your children, only their own.

“The self-designation of “reformer” by people who have never been in the classroom and have no actual training or experience in education is a smokescreen. What they are really after is profitability for their investor-owned charter school corporations that will deliver as little education for the buck as they think they can get by with.”

Categories Seattle, Teachers

When Albert Camus Won the Nobel Prize and Thanked His Teacher

By dianeravitch
July 4, 2015 //
8

Albert Camus won the Nobel Prize in 1957. Days later, he thanked his childhood teacher.

 

19 November 1957

 

Dear Monsieur Germain,

 

I let the commotion around me these days subside a bit before speaking to you from the bottom of my heart. I have just been given far too great an honor, one I neither sought nor solicited. But when I heard the news, my first thought, after my mother, was of you. Without you, without the affectionate hand you extended to the small poor child that I was, without your teaching and example, none of all this would have happened. I don’t make too much of this sort of honor. But at least it gives me the opportunity to tell you what you have been and still are for me, and to assure you that your efforts, your work, and the generous heart you put into it still live in one of your little schoolboys who, despite the years, has never stopped being your grateful pupil. I embrace you with all my heart.

 

Albert Camus

 

(Thanks to Bertis Downs for finding this lovely gem.)

Categories Teachers

More of Rafe Esquith’s Former Students Reach Out to Andrea Gabor

By dianeravitch
July 2, 2015 //
11

Andrea Gabor wrote a piece referring to testimonials to Rafe Esquith by former students.

 

Now other Esquith alums have contacted her, and she reprints their reactions here to the LAUSD disciplinary actions against him. He has been suspended with pay, and his class trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was canceled this year.

 

One student writes about how Esquith changed her life; the other expresses his suspicions that administrators are out to get Esquith because he never followed orders. With all the national and international honors heaped on him, the LAUSD has conspicuously never celebrated his renown as a teacher.

 

 

Categories Los Angeles, Teachers

Corporate Reform Organization Seeks Teachers to Train as Voices for Common Core

By dianeravitch
June 30, 2015 //
54

An educator forwarded an email he received, inviting him to apply for a fellowship at Néw York Educator Voice-America Achieve. If accepted, he would gain training in writing opinion pieces, speaking at public forums, and becoming a voice for Common Core. The organization would help him to get invitations to national conferences as a speaker and to become a prominent voice for the profession, on behalf of Common Core.

Here is the invitation:

“Dear Colleagues,

“Happy summer!

“The application deadline for the New York Educator Voice Fellowship is this Friday, July 3rd. The Fellowship is a really great program for teachers and principals who are interested in education policy and looking to make a difference in their communities and across New York. Don’t miss this chance to help one of your favorite teachers take advantage of this opportunity.

“HERE is a link to our application website where you can learn more about the program and submit a nomination.”

The program offers to give teachers “voice,” but the voice must be used to support the corporate reform narrative. This is no voice at all; it is hiring teachers and principals to endorse someone else’s agenda.

The program is paid for by Michael Bloomberg, the Harry and Leona Helmsley Foundation (“queen of mean”), and the Gates Foundation.

Categories Common Core, Corporate Reform, Teachers

Big Phony News of the Day: New York Pretends to “Relax” Gag Order for Teachers

By dianeravitch
June 29, 2015 //
20

Imagine this great victory for teachers in New York: They will now be allowed to discuss test questions that have been released to the public!

 

Is this progress? No. Suppose teachers spot unreleased questions that are clearly wrong, poorly worded, confusing, incoherent. If they have not been released to the public, the teachers are not allowed to criticize them or call attention to errors.

 

Peter Greene wondered if the New York Times recognized the absurdity of its headline, which claimed that the state was going to “relax” the gag order.

 

He wrote:

 

 

See, now the state will allow teachers to discuss items on the test after they have been publicly released, whereas previously, teachers could only discuss test items after they had been publicly released.

 

The gag order protects Pearson. If the gag order prevailed, we would have never known about the nutty question on a Pearson test about “the pineapple and the hare.” That question was not publicly released. It became public not because of teachers but because students complained about it, and it leaked to the New York City Parent blog.

 

This “gag order” is insulting to teachers. It should be eliminated. Its only purpose is to protect the interests of the testing companies. They should release all their questions. No one will know which will be on future tests. If there are thousands of test questions available, students can use them to see what is expected of them. And if they are released, parents and teachers will have a chance to evaluate their quality. That may be what scares the testing companies most.

 

Take off the gag!

 

 

Categories Pearson, Scandals Fraud and Hoaxes, Standardized Testing, Teachers

Florida: Legislature Is Wasting Millions to Hire Inexperienced Teachers Who Will Not Stay

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2015 //
13

A reader posted these comments in response to Florida legislature’s passage of a law to offer a $10,000 bonus to new teachers with high SAT/ACT scores. The bonus is supposed to attract “the best and the brightest.”

Reader writes:

“Yes, districts will be able to lure in new teachers with higher SAT scores with $10,000 signing bonuses, but when the rigors of teaching every day sets in, Florida will see its $44 million walk right out the door. The biggest cliché at the moment is that one of the purposes of education is to create the lifelong learner, but why should students strive for higher education when their own teachers are not valued for achieving years of expertise, higher degrees, and national board certifications? What value is there to becoming educated and entering the teaching field when all you have to do is sit through a series of training sessions with Teach for America in order to teach the neediest and most demanding students who deserve the most attention? Once again, politics and government are wasting tax payer’s dollars.

“According to Education Week’s facts on Florida http://www.edweek.org/topics/states/florida/ there are 175,609 teachers in the state. The cap on this $10,000 bonus is 4,400 teachers in total which represents only 2% of Florida’s teaching population. If the program, goes over the 4,400, then each teacher will get less. The patient (public schools) is bleeding to death but don’t stop the bleeding – put a piece of toilet paper on a cut in the hope that this 2% will raise Florida test scores and graduation rates to new levels of achievement.

“I am in the process of getting my masters so that I can be even more effective as an ESL teacher despite the “stats” that the level of my education has no effect whatsoever on my students’ test scores. If that is true, why is Florida paying bonuses to draw in “smarter” people into the classroom with or without degrees? Why worry about smarts? If that’s the case, let’s just have any Joe Schmoe off the street teach our students. Maybe he will do a better job and not ask to be paid for his work and tax payers can keep their money!”

Categories Florida, Teachers

Florida Enacts $10,000 Bonus for Néw Teachers with High SAT Scores

By dianeravitch
June 28, 2015 //
43

Florida passed a proposal to award $10,000 bonuses for teachers who are “the best and the brightest.” The cost: $44 million.

The awards would go either to teachers rated “highly effective” in raising test scores. New teachers would get the bonus if they had high SAT or ACT scores when they were high school seniors.

Florida eliminated bonuses for advanced degrees and for National Board Certification

Categories Florida, Teachers

The Atlantic: Teachers Take to the Streets Around the World to Protest

By dianeravitch
June 27, 2015 //
20

The Atlantic has an interesting feature about teacher protests around the world. Most are about low pay, but others are about working conditions, lack of respect, and–in the United States, at least–the standardization of curriculum and testing that is eliminating teacher autonomy and professionalism.

What is interesting in addition to the substance of the piece is the fact that it appears on the website of The Atlantic. For many years, The Atlantic was firmly tied to the corporate reformers and could be counted on to give them plenty of space for their views. Recently, however, The Atlantic has published numerous articles that conflict with the privatizers’ well-honed narrative of failed schools that can be “rescued” by taking away teachers’ job protections or by adopting the Common Core or some other reformy nostrum.

I thought maybe the ownership had changed. It has not. It is still owned by David G. Bradley, who also owns the National Journal.

The Wikipedia page for The Atlantic contains this tidbit:

The Atlantic Media Company receives substantial financial support from the Gates Foundation through the National Journal ($240,000+) to provide coverage of education-related issues that are of interest to the Gates Foundation and its frequent partner in education policy initiatives, the Lumina Foundation.[37][38] Critics have suggested that this funding may lead to biased coverage and have noted the Lumina Foundation’s connections to the private student loan company Sallie Mae.[39][40][41] Gates-funding of the National Journal is not always disclosed in articles or editorials about the Gates Foundation or Bill Gates, or in coverage of education white papers by other Lumina or Gates Foundation grantees, such as the New America Foundation.[42]

According to the New York Times in 2010, David Bradley’s wife, Katherine Bradley, paid $100,000 for a public relations firm to help Michelle Rhee polish her image.

During contract talks earlier this year, Ms. Rhee turned to Anita Dunn, the former communications director for President Obama, to help with her image.

A gift of $100,000 toward her fee was paid by an education philanthropist, Katherine Bradley, the wife of the publisher David Bradley of The Atlantic Monthly and National Journal.

Now it is Ms. Dunn’s firm, SKD Knickerbocker, that is coordinating Ms. Rhee’s rollout of her new group. Whatever advice it may have given her to bring all sides together when she was a public official, she clearly feels unrestricted by that now.

Google Katherine B. Bradley and Michelle Rhee to see the many ties between them.

Yet The Atlantic is now publishing articles sympathetic to teachers. Very puzzling. Did someone at The Atlantic have a change of heart? Or mind? Or get informed? Would love to know more about how they switched their views, as expressed in what they choose to publish.

Categories Corporate Reformers, Media, Teachers
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