Playing the Stereotype Game with Teachers

Another day, another story about how terrible it is that teachers get due process. Evidently two teachers are in jail and still drawing salary. How exactly that works I don't know. I'm pretty doubtful they let you leave the jail to go and teach. Maybe they're using their sick days. Who knows? A telltale clue to the validity of the story is the fact that it bemoans the drop in teachers up for termination. Evidently, last year there were 392 candidates while this year there were only 381.

The need to make an issue out of a drop so plainly insignificant suggests to me borderline desperation for something to talk about. This, coupled with the prominent use of Mona David, who started some sort of parent group whose membership is a mystery, who went on an anti-tenure crusade after being dumped from UFT payroll, and also a Students First shill for anti-teacher quotes, suggests to me there's not a whole lot of "there" there.

We're talking about a total of two cases. Many readers of this piece will draw conclusions about all of us because two jailed teachers are temporarily on payroll. That smacks of stereotype, to say the least. To suggest that tens of thousands of teachers have too many due process rights because of this is faulty logic, to put it generously. And make no mistake, there is another side to this story that did not make the article.

I've seen administrative abuse all over the city. I know teachers on the verge of stress-induced breakdowns. In my own building, which is very good relative to others, I've seen some of the most positive people I've ever met walk out rather than continue dealing with the nonsense that passes for an evaluation system. I've seen members have dangerously high blood pressure,  minor cardiac episodes, and even outright heart attacks in the corridors as a result of administrative abuses.

Elsewhere it's worse. Principals run rampant and utterly ignore the contract. There are schools full of newbies, none of whom have the due process rights that would protect them from being fired for no reason. Lately I've been writing a lot about the incredible staff and community at CPE 1. Over there, if you criticize the principal you're up on charges. The chapter leader is up on charges. The delegate is up on charges. Others are up on charges.

Now it's possible they ran around and committed heinous crimes, but we don't even know what most of them are accused of. Given what we do know, though, it's much more likely they're being intimidated and punished for speaking out against an abusive and power-hungry administrator. And hey, not every administrator is as bad as this one. But there's something that happens when you give a little person a little power, and just about every teacher in the city knows what that is.

It could be just a little thing. For example, I was pretty good friends with a former APO. But when she got the administrative job, she changed. She was no longer friendly. I had to make appointments to see her. She was not abusive or cruel. She was just a little aloof. When I had real issues, she gave me real assistance. So she wasn't bad or anything. She was just changed, and in my view, not for the better.

But other things happen too. You may have read the continuing saga of Boy Wonder on this blog. Boy Wonder is every abusive administrator in the city. He's every young and incompetent person climbing to the top on the backs of the people he's hired to support. And make no mistake, he is everywhere, somewhere in just about every school in the city. And despite that, he isn't yet quite as outrageous as the principal of CPE 1, empowered by Carmen Fariña and the DOE to not only make teacher lives a misery, but also ruin one of the most visionary schools I've ever bumped my head upon.

There will always be a handful of outrageous stories about teachers. I know some that the reporters will never hear. But judging all of us by the actions of a few is blatantly stereotypical. People like Mona and the Students First hack might be happy to enact regulations based on stereotypes, but American history is full of such nonsense, and it benefits no one. In fact, I'm sure there are guilty people who've been exonerated in court. Personally I'd rather see that than innocent people convicted. Yet there are plenty of innocent people convicted. How often do we read of people on death row exonerated because of DNA evidence? How often have people been executed for lack of it?

While stories like this one are sensational, while even I can't help but read them, the implications are disturbing to say they least. I doubt any arbitrator will rule in favor of teachers jailed for abuse of children, but who knows? If they do, and they're wrong, I'd determine it's the fault of the arbitrator, not the law.

I'd like to see some paper write a story about some murderer who got off, and then determine that we ought to do away with trials so as to preclude this in the future. Because when I read stories like this one, that's pretty much what I see. I'm completely persuaded that, given unfettered power, Monika Garg would have fired the UFT chapter leader and delegate, among others. In doing that, she'd have destroyed an extraordinary school. I have no doubt that many other administrators would fire many other teachers for no good reason if given half a chance.

It's important we not give them that half a chance.

Update--Two jailed teachers are now off payroll, but new story complains that a teacher charged with assaulting a student is still on payroll.  Holy guilty until proven innocent, Batman!

Christie, Cuomo, and Teachers

I don't read Jersey Jazzman's blog as often as I should. He's got very sharp analysis of all things Jersey, and often goes beyond. He's gone in depth over the massive failures of merit pay, and the fact that politicians continue to believe in it, rely on it, and impose it despite a 100-year history of abject failure. His most recent blog is on Chris Christie's public criticism of a system he himself negotiated and passed. This is, in fact, exactly what Andrew Cuomo did, before revamping it to make it even worse.

In New Jersey, there is a case of a teacher who was late 111 times over a two-year period. His case was brought to an arbitrator, and the teacher wasn't fired. Now I'll go on record, as did JJ, to say that if you're supposed to be in at a certain time, or course you should be in at that time. And I'll also agree that 111 latenesses over two years is pretty outrageous. That's why it's got such attention-grabbing potential on Twitter.

The power of tenure: New Jersey teacher who was late for work 111 times keeps job http://t.co/MIPG8IERSi via @YahooNews

— Errol Louis (@errollouis) August 27, 2015

Wow, those teachers can get away with anything, huh? It's awful. Who needs any further detail before we pass judgment? Does it matter that most of the latenesses were only two minutes, or that he had to actually stand on a line to clock in every morning? What if, as I read in an ensuing interview, he never missed a moment of class? Does it matter that he was, in fact, rather severely penalized? He will be on unpaid leave until January. Could you afford to be without income or medical benefits for half a year?

In any case, as JJ points out, it was the arbitrator's call. As sad as it is, Christie sometimes has to follow the rules he helps make. I mean, it's tough to do that, just like it's tough to have to pay the state portion of the pension. After all, wouldn't that money be better used in the form of tax breaks for Christie's wealthy BFFs? But I digress.

The thing that I found most egregious about the clarion calls against tenure was that it took one flashy case, and painted all of us with it. For example, I was not late 111 times over the last two years, yet my tenure is being condemned on the basis of one person who was. That, dear readers, is what is known as a stereotype. For example, I'm kind of upset with Iowans this week, as they have an undue influence on who becomes President. If I find one Iowan drunk on the street, shall I condemn them all as a bunch of drunks? If one of them is cheap, or dumb, or promiscuous, or crazy, shall I do the same?

That particular paintbrush is indispensable in the bigot's tool kit. I won't rehash ethnic stereotypes, but they're all based on the same old thing. I grew up with stereotypes. I didn't much like them when I was a kid, but I understand them a lot better now. My job entails dealing with kids from every corner of the earth. Few things upset me as much as one kid refusing to cooperate with another, because she comes from here or there, because she's this or that religion or color, because her accent is harder to understand than yours, or whatever. I tell the kids someone hates each and every one of us in this room just because of who we are.

I have patience for children. Bigotry has considerably less charm when it comes from adults. Adults are supposed to know better. I'm sorry, Chris Christie, that when you make agreements even you have to follow them. I realize how inconvenient that is. But I won't label all governors juvenile crybabies simply because it applies to you and Governor Cuomo. Because that would be a stereotype, and stereotypes are the refuge of the small-minded.

It's pathetic when politicians have to resort to such nonsense. You'd think, by 2015, we'd be past that. Sadly we're far from it.

On Keeping Young Teachers

Our school's a relatively good place. I'd argue that most of the administrators aren't even crazy. Yet the maniacal footprint of the reformies is everywhere, and there's no escape for a working teacher. This is brought home to me by a few of the people who've left us this year. And no, I'm not talking about retirees.

I was recently contacted by a teacher who stayed late every night writing lesson plans, not the first such teacher who's contacted me. I remember the last one I knew, who happened to be in my department. Because I'm chapter leader I keep very strange hours and stay late for all sorts of reasons. But this young woman stayed for hours after work each day, plotting out lesson plans in excruciating detail. I could not persuade her to do anything differently, and eventually she left. Perhaps she's a reluctant workaholic. Who knows?

What I keep hearing from teachers in trouble, from teachers not in trouble, from teachers who don't care one way or the other about trouble is that they're tired of being in a fishbowl. They're tired of thinking the boss could walk in at any moment and catch them doing something less than Danielson-worthy. They're tired of being constantly auditioned for a job they already have.

The teacher who just contacted me is taking a job elsewhere, and I often hear from teachers who are considering jobs elsewhere. It's heartbreaking to me because I think this is the best job there is. Don't get me wrong, I hate the new gotcha system as much as anyone. And given this blog's been up over a decade, I probably complain more than just about anyone. But the classroom and the kids inside of it aren't the problem at all. (This notwithstanding, I also know a bunch of other teachers who've left without sharing detail with me.)

Yesterday I heard a young teacher who I'd deemed almost a Renaissance man had left. This guy was conversant in multiple subjects, and had perhaps the most relentlessly positive attitude of any person of my acquaintance. I was certain the kids loved him, because it appeared everyone else did. Last year he surprised me by confiding how unhappy he was under this new system. I was shocked. He was the last person I'd have expected to complain about anything.

To me he's a bellwether of sorts. If a guy like this can't make it in a school like mine, how is any teacher to make it anywhere? Sure there will be a lot of young teachers who persevere and push through, but at what cost? Do we seriously want the people who are to be role models to our children to be constantly walking a tightrope and hoping for the best?

Even now there is a lawsuit to strip us of due process and render us at-will employees. Who the hell is going to speak up when special ed. kids are poorly served if they can then be fired for a bad haircut? Who's going to report safety hazards? Who's gonna bother calling the union about the moldy trailers? And for goodness sake, who's gonna want to take an already crazy job like chapter leader?

A former student of mine just took a teaching job in my school. This is a very, very smart and capable young woman. Will she make it, or will she wither under unreasonable pressure? I hope for the former, but I'd understand the latter.

We really need to make this job one worth having, not only for the teachers who come after us, but also for the kids they'll need to serve. People who believe Campbell Brown represents the children we serve are laboring under a serious misconception, and will need those reformy broomsticks surgically removed from their asses at the earliest possible opportunity. I only hope they have health insurance adequate to the task.

Really Bad Things and the American Way

Campbell Brown makes me sick. Her method, picking out a few stories and tarring all of us with them, is simply reprehensible. Doubtless she'll be out today with some story saying the allegations against the Brooklyn Tech teacher mean none of us should ever get tenure again. That's a preposterous argument.

In fact, the accused teacher is in police custody, enjoying the hospitality of the state while he awaits trial. There's no one bickering over whether or not this man ought to be placed in a classroom tomorrow. I'd argue that anyone who sleeps with students has fundamentally broken the trust we place in them as teachers. There's simply no defense for such actions. People who do things like that belong in prison.

Nonetheless, in the United States of America, people charged with crimes are entitled to trials. They're entitled to defend themselves against those who charge them, and face their accusers. That's a necessary step, because sometimes their accusers are incorrect. If that's the case, they ought to be able to prove it.

It's the American way.

It ought to also be the American way that we refrain from firing people without cause. Teachers have been fired for their political beliefs, their sexual orientation, and even the offense of getting pregnant. Were it not for tenure, such things would be happening right now. I've no doubt Campbell Brown and whoever finances her would jump for joy. The history of countries that have targeted teachers is not a particularly proud one.

It's certainly true a lot of Americans are "at will" employees, and can be fired for a bad haircut. People will ask why teachers need special privileges. I'd argue that we shouldn't have special privileges, but rather everyone should have some degree of due process. I'd also argue that it behooves us, as role models, to speak the truth and act in our students' best interests. To do that, we have to challenge a lot of the mythology that passes for educational philosophy.

We're living in interesting times, where hedge funders exploit the system, corporations often pay no taxes, and teachers are public enemy number one. Only in a system like this could a parasite like Campbell Brown thrive. If we really do bad things, there ought to be consequences. But they ought not to be meted out by our accusers, as Brown seeks. If we break the law, we ought to face the consequences there too. But even teachers are entitled to a trial.

Regardless, painting all teachers by the actions of one, or a few, is not only absurd, but also unforgivable and downright bigoted.

Due Process or Dictatorship?

There's a war on Twitter, stoked by Campbell Brown's recycled mish-mosh of NYC tabloid articles in the Wall Street Journal. The new manufactured crisis is that of so-called perv teachers. The only remedy, according to Campbell and the tabloid editorials, is to give Michael Bloomberg's mouthpiece, Dennis Walcott, absolute power to fire teachers who independent arbitrators have sent back to the classroom. Some state senator has proposed a law to enable this.

Walcott now reviews U-rating appeals, and rejects virtually 100% of them, so we have a pretty good idea what he will do if we give him further absolute discretion. Bloomberg and his fellow "reformers" will do anything to have the unfettered authority to fire as many teachers as possible, and that's certainly what this is all about. It follows his failed turnaround, and there's little doubt in my mind this brouhaha is less than coincidental.

This is a very cute plan. If we oppose them, the talking point will be that we defend sex offenders working as teachers. That, in fact, is what Brown's ridiculous headline implied. Of course that isn't true. If you accept as fact the accusations in these cases, perhaps the teachers in question should not have been sent back. Personally, I'm familiar with only one of these cases, and in that case the accusations were total nonsense. Thus, I'm not at all convinced the other cases have any substance either.

The push is for a change in the law, and the rationale being offered is the UFT gets a voice in choosing the arbitrator, who is therefore biased. However, the DOE gets a voice too, so that's ridiculous. If the DOE does not approve of any arbitrators, they ought not to nominate them in the future.

Sex offenders belong in prison, where they can meet others who share their interests. No one wants sex offenders working as teachers. And yet, in the United States, people are innocent until proven guilty. It's unacceptable to make Bloomberg, Walcott, or anyone from DOE judge, jury, and executioner.

And it's incredibly ironic that a push to do this comes from Students First NY, a group set up by Michelle Rhee. Rhee boasted of how she taped her students mouths shut, and told a group this amusing anecdote, chuckling over it. Rhee herself is unfit to teach, let alone lead a movement.

If indeed these arbitrators erred, they ought to be replaced, as judges who make bad judgments ought to be replaced. I've never seen anyone argue that our judicial system made a mistake, and we therefore ought to place all judgment into the hands of a single billionaire, or even a non-billionaire politician.

Yet that's what the paid hacks from Students First are arguing. We've never had a king in these United States, and we don't need one in New York City either. Those who make these arguments do not care about the kids. They care about the tax rates of people like Mike Bloomberg, and depriving our kids of decent jobs when they grow up.

We don't need a dictatorship. We've seen firsthand how dictatorship works in our fake school board, the PEP.

Expanding it is unconscionable and unacceptable.