The Dignity Gap

Who thought it was a good idea to send ATR teachers from school to school from week to week? How does that help anyone? The stories I'm hearing and seeing would be beyond belief it it weren't for the fact that, under such an agreement, they were virtually inevitable.

A female ATR was instructed to do secretarial duties.  For those unfamiliar with the concept of contract (for example, the administrators who issued this instruction) secretarial duties are to be performed by secretaries. The teacher declined, saying she was a teacher and wanted to teach. The administrator's conclusion?

"This is why none of you guys are able to get a job."

How outrageous that a teacher would want to do her job. Another ATR was instructed to do hallway duty. He was upset, but the administrators insisted that the halls were a mess, and that they needed patrolling. The school looked to be in pretty bad shape. "Don't you have any kids who need tutoring?" asked the teacher.

Apparently not. Helping kids with academics was not the way this school wished to use teachers.

In my own school, an ATR teacher who cried to me the other day came to visit me. She actually thanked me for speaking to her, strongly suggesting there were people in other schools who did or would not.

Tell your colleagues, but for a whim of fate or a stroke of a pen, we are all ATRs. Should the UFT ever give up their contractual employment protections, you'd better believe that the DOE will make tens of thousands of ATRs, causing teacher jobs to be no more worthwhile than those in McDonald's or Walmart. That's the long-cherished goal of the "reformers" who monopolize our news media, and they will stop at nothing and leave no billion dollars behind to achieve it.

If you meet them, offer them the support they should be getting from everyone else. There, but for the grace of God and our own determination to prevail, goes each and every one of us.

Issue 2: Why Are Cops and Firefighters More Convincing Than Teachers?

In a move that comes as a relief to many public sector workers, Issue 2 won by a landslide in Ohio on Tuesday. Issue 2 is the ballot question that repealed the stripping of collective bargaining rights from public employees, including teachers and, more pointedly for the Issue at hand, police officers and firefighters.

Don't get me wrong, this public servant is pleased at the outcome, for Ohio public workers and for public workers around the country whose collective bargaining rights are under attack. But some commentators have observed that a series of advertisements that featured firefighters and police officers stating (correctly) that the law would have prevented these workers from, for example, organizing for staffing increases to more effectively prevent and fight fire and crime, persuaded many voters to decide for repeal. And that's great.

But I wonder why the appeal from uniformed heroes was necessary. I wonder why an appeal from teachers was deemed somehow less effective by, say, the AFL-CIO or the DLC. After all, the law would also have prevented teachers from bargaining for smaller class sizes or bigger supply budgets, issues that are just as crucial to the common good, if not perhaps as immediately dramatic.

Maybe we should just be glad that the repeal is happening. It really is good news. But I do wonder why teacher voices weren't heard.

A Lesson for Joe Nocerra

There are a lot of things you can do if you don't wish to investigate a situation beyond whatever you hear on the news. You could continue watching your TV and believe whatever it told you. You could join a cult, perhaps. Of course, a far more desirable option is to get a column with the New York Times, the paper of record, and spout whatever gibberish happened to catch your fancy.

To Joe Nocerra, Steven Brill's book is revelatory, Never mind that it's largely billionaire-sponsored nonsense. The important thing, as Mr. Nocerra sees it, is that Brill's goals can be easily achieved by courting former part-time UFT President Randi Weingarten.

I don't doubt he's correct. After all, Ms. Weingarten decided to make Bill Gates the keynote speaker at the AFT convention. Can you imagine the conversation that led to that?

Weingarten: I have a great idea. Let's have Bill Gates be the keynote speaker at the AFT convention.

Toadie #1: Love it, RW!

Toadie #2: I love it more, RW!

Toadie #3: You are a genius, RW!

Weingarten: The motion is passed.

The spectacle of those who disapproved being ridiculed at the podium by Weingarten was an absolute disgrace. And Gates thanked her and the AFT by attacking teacher pensions the following week. If I'm not mistaken, he soon came out for higher class sizes, echoed by Arne Duncan.

More recently, Weingarten actually hosted a party for anti-union, anti-teacher Steven Brill. I'm proud not to have made the invitation list. Brill suggests in his book that Weingarten should be chancellor. No doubt he's thrilled about the piece of crap contract she managed to shove down the throats of UFT members in 2005. Thanks to that contract, 1200 teachers are running all over the city like gypsies, week to week, place to place. I met one today who cried to me. I've had ATRs email me, for years now, of the discouragement and depression this placement has caused them. One wrote that she was moved to resign, no doubt a big victory for folks like Bloomberg, Gates and Brill.

Joe Nocerra knows little or nothing about what really goes on in schools. He knows, like Rod Paige before him, that Randi Weingarten never met a giveback she didn't like. He knows that she's a new kind of union leader, the kind that doesn't worry about getting more money or better working conditions. Unfortunately, what America needs is not worse conditions for teachers, but better conditions for everyone.

And while I don't expect someone as incurious and sloppy as Mr. Nocerra to bother reading Diane Ravitch, or any reality-based education writers (Nocerra prefers to call anyone opposing "reforms" status quo, and to quote blatantly stereotypical nonsense from KIPP, another outfit he can't be bothered researching.), there is something for the UFT to learn here.

In a nutshell, appeasement doesn't work. Gates thanked Weingarten by stabbing her in the back, and Brill, who trades in pushing a billionaire point of view, is hardly likely to help working people. After the 2005 contract, the tabloids praised the UFT for about five minutes before going back to trashing us for our cushy jobs and lavish lifestyles.

There is no point in giving these people anything, They are parasites. They claim to put "Children First, Always," but cut their budgets, overcrowd their schools and overload their classes without a second thought, They allow ten percent of their teachers to disappear by attrition and take responsibility for nothing. They allow schools to close, because they "failed," but the failure is never, ever attributable to them. And the abundance of high-needs kids in those schools, the ones who either don't make the charters or are "counseled out," are sheer coincidence.

Never sell out the ATRs. Don't give them an evaluation system they can manipulate, just as they've manipulated the one in the "transformation schools."  Don't do anything, ever, to get the fleeting approval of the NY Post editorial board.

I don't have high hopes for Nocerra. But if we don't learn, we may as well pack in the union, sign ridiculous contracts like the one at Green Dot, and give up altogether.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Prouder

Miss Eyre had to go home sick a few days ago, something that throws quite a bit of a monkey wrench into one's day when one is a teacher. At an office job, most likely you'd just tell the boss, send an e-mail, maybe cancel an appointment or two, and be out the door. But here's my "oh God I can't take it anymore I HAVE to go home" routine:

1.) Send a note to the secretary to see who's available to cover;

2.) Hide anything interesting in my classroom;

3.) Track down two reliable students from my afternoon classes to serve as student aides for the unfortunate ATR who had the pleasure of covering my classes;

4.) Figure out how to get the computer lab keys returned;

5.) Post incredibly detailed instructions on the whiteboard for my students to cope in my absence;

6.) Print extra copies of seating charts and handout; and

7.) Be on my cell phone to my doctor begging for an appointment WHILE trying to explain the relationship between a claim and a counterclaim to a confused but dogged young lady rewriting an essay for the third time.

Well, nevertheless, I made it out the door, fretting, as usual, about what would happen in my absence. As it turns out, I didn't need to fret. When I spoke to my student aides, one excitedly asked me, "But can I scream?"

"Um, what?" I asked.

"Can I scream," she said. "You know, if they're not doing their work. Can I yell at them and tell them to do it?"

"Oh sure," I assured her, much, I imagine, to the chagrin of my colleague next door. "Scream away."

Whatever she did must have worked, because I got a nice note from the sub and an e-mail box full of work that the students sent me.

Awwwwww.

Governor One Percent Discreetly Pulls a Scott Walker

by special guest blogger Reality-Based Educator

Governor Andrew Cuomo was all smiles last week with the news that PEF, the Public Employees Federation union, had agreed to his contract offer that gives employees furlough days, 0% salary increases for most of the contract, and much higher health insurance premiums after he threatened to lay off thousands of them if they didn't take the contract. 

PEF members had rejected the contract the first time, but the PEF leadership, along with Governor Cuomo, redid one or two things in it (not making it any better, IMO), and this time around, the PEF members agreed to it. 

I know one PEF member and she voted for it the second time because she felt she had to or she would see many of her co-workers laid off.  (I would have voted no, btw, but that's me...)

This is the second contract negotiation Cuomo has won by threatening to lay off thousands of state employees if the unions did not agree to huge concessions.

CSEA, the Civil Service Employees Association, also agreed to a contract with huge concessions after Cuomo threatened layoffs

Here is how Governor Cuomo did his victory lap for the PEF vote:

"This shows that collaboration works," Cuomo said at a news conference after the vote. He drew a contrast between New York ‘s labor negotiations and those in other parts of the country that have been more contentious. “This is slowing people down, providing the information, removing the emotion and cooler heads prevailing for a better outcome for all.” 

Oh, yeah - there's nothing "contentious" about threatening to lay off thousands of employees unless they take your garbage contract offer that will cost them thousands of dollars a year in lost pay and extra health care costs.

That sure sounds like "collaboration" to me.

Tell me how "cool" it is to threaten to lay off thousands if they don't agree to concessions?

Cuomo is smarter than some other union-busting governors around the country because he has gotten the shills running the unions to not peg him as the union-busting oligarch that he is. 

But make no mistake, Andrew Cuomo is no different than union-busters like New Jersey Governor Chris Christie or Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker or Ohio Governor John Kasich.

He is defending the 1% of this country on the backs of the 99%.

Cuomo has made ending an income tax on millionaires and billionaires the signature achievement of his administration, he has happily (and greedily) gone after the unions to take huge concessions or face layoffs, he has slashed the state budget for education and health care for senior citizens even as he has opened up the state to polluters in the gas industry who want to hydrofrack.

And if you don't like what he's doing, well, Cuomo doesn't want to hear from you.

Not at all.

A protest group modeled on Occupy Wall Street has sprung up in the state capital.

They call themselves Occupy Albany.

The Occupy Albany group has turned their protest to Governor Cuomo, who they have dubbed Governor 1% for his refusal to keep the millionaires' tax in place even as he slashes the state budget to the bone. 

They call their encampment "Cuomoville."

Cuomo, famously thin-skinned and vindictive beyond belief, wanted the Occupy Albany folks arrested and displaced from their place of protest.

He called on Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings to have the protestors arrested and the protest ended.
The mayor tried to do Cuomo's bidding but was rebuffed by the police chief of the city who said he would not use any police officers to

"monitor, watch, videotape or influence any behavior that is conducted by our citizens peacefully demonstrating."

In addition, the Albany DA said he wouldn't prosecute any protestors arrested for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Cuomo, not used to losing political battles these days and certainly not used to have people under him like an Albany County district attorney or police chief tell him that they're not going to do his dirty work for him, backed down from the confrontation.

In public, Cuomo's people say the story about his demanding Occupy Albany arrests was not true.

I guess they're trying to "save face."

But make no mistake, Governor 1% backed down when students, middle aged parents and senior citizens protesting his policies in Albany didn't run from him, didn't agree to concessions or give him his way.

Here is how the NY Times viewed Cuomo's "defeat" by the Occupy Albany protestors at Camp Cuomo:

"Perhaps, as the governor’s men now say, Mr. Cuomo never sought this conflict and his aides never pressured Mr. Jennings, who they suggest may have suffered a failure of will. Or perhaps a willful governor watched others take a step back, and despite himself acquired a dose of wisdom."

Perhaps.

Or perhaps Governor Cuomo, like all bullies around the world, backed down when somebody stood up to him.

Which is  exactly what PEF and CSEA should have done in their contract negotiations.

Bill Gates Leading the "Reform" Movement

Spamolicious

Every few days our comment section gets spammed. Sometimes the spammers choose posts from years back, perhaps thinking I won't notice. The spammers who love this site best are those who are selling term papers. Here's one of their most recent comments:

It is absolutely an fantastic advice and gives abundant advice about education. Thanks for providing such affectionate of advice with us. Thanks for sharing.

You have to wonder who would want to buy a term paper from someone who wrote like that. I suppose you'd have to be not only pretty desperate, but also naive enough to believe the person who wrote it was a native English speaker.  Sometimes the spammers try flattery:

This is a really good read for me. Must agree that you are one of the best blogger I ever saw.

I suppose they think that will persuade me to leave their ads up. It seems to me, though, that if I don't make money from this site, they shouldn't either. Sometimes they get really enthusiastic:

HEY; congratulations a lot for brilliant performance; really
you guys performed fairly well; all the very best to your all; keep continuing
as like.

Wow. Thank you very much. Miss Eyre and I had tears in our eyes when we zapped your comment. Here's one from some outfit pitching high school diplomas:

I have heard so many things about NYC Educator and suddenly came across this blog. The information is very informative and thanks for sharing such kind of things to us

You know, with that degree of specificity, I have to wonder whether the writer ever got a high school diploma. Well, with Bloomberg and his stats, and NY State grade inflation, it's entirely possible. Here's one from a first class essay service:

The more you are growing up, the more such things make you feel embarrassed. Kids are so ... "look I'm so bossy here", I don't know how to explain it.

Of course you don't. So naturally, I'm willing to shell out my hard-earned bucks to have you write an essay for me. If I'm lucky, my teacher won't actually read the essay. Now that's entirely possible. I once had a young student whose essay landed on the desk of our department office.  She got an A, from an AP no less. I took one look at it and knew it was 100% plagiarized.

I went to the girl's classroom.

"You're not going to tell Ms. Braindead!" she protested.

"No I'm not," I told her. "But if I can see it, so can a whole lot of other teachers. So don't think you'll get away with this forever. I'd fail you if you tried that with me."

I wonder whether she bought it from one of these outfits. If she did, they certainly bought it from someone else. It's amazing they can't find spammers who can write competent English.

Until they do, I'm gonna keep zapping their comments. And when and if they do, I'm gonna zap their comments anyway.

"That's Just Mean": Bullies at the Heritage Foundation

Usually, after a trying day with the children, checking in with the adult world has the effect of, if not cheering me up, then at least keeping me real. Reminding me that I do not have to base my self-worth on the evanescent opinions of 15-year-olds is, generally speaking, a healthy exercise. And, hey, there's politics and humor and literature out there in the adult world with which I can engage and remind myself that my work is to prepare my students to engage with those same things, so I have to keep myself fresh with that wider universe as well.

So after my last class, I'll often take a few minutes to read, say, the Times, Education Week, GothamSchools, Slate, Gawker (granted, not the best example of "adult media," but still), or similar. And again, this is usually a nice part of my day.

Usually.

Because yesterday, just before I sat down with my colleagues to grade an exam that we gave jointly, I read Slate and found this odious little gem. You see, a study by the Heritage Foundation finds that not only are teachers overpaid (yes, you read that right!!!), but actually, we're paid far too much for the far lower quality of thoughts in our dull teacher brains. Teachers, so they say, "have lower cognitive abilities than those private sector workers with similar educational backgrounds."

Something about that really hits below the belt for me. First of all, how on Earth was this research finding compiled? Why, by noting that grade inflation is a problem in education programs. Now I'll grant you that one, I really will. My education courses in grad school were, as a rule, not as challenging as my undergrad liberal arts courses. But this stupid English teacher is smart enough to point out that a person's grades in an inflated degree program do not necessarily prove anything about his or her cognitive ability. I did very, very well in college. Very well to the tune of summa cum laude, if you must know. And I work with people who are also across-the-board high achievers. So just because people get high grades in education classes doesn't mean they wouldn't do well in other classes--and it also means that, rather than assume that teachers have "lower cognitive abilities" (and again, OUCH), education schools need to be more practical and rigorous, something with which I imagine many teachers who find themselves underprepared for the day-to-day challenges of teaching would agree.

Despairingly, I showed the article to my colleague, also an honors graduate of a prestigious university. "That's just mean," she remarked. "Why would they write something like that?"

Why indeed. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that, as Kim Anderson of the NEA remarks, "The study is funded by the very same groups that are trying to eliminate the right of workers to have a voice in their workplace altogether."

No. That couldn't possibly be it.

As Stupid Does

A friend at Long Island City High School contacted me a few weeks ago, expecting a whole new schedule. How can they change your schedule two months into the term, I asked. That's nuts. Oh no, said my friend, it's not just my schedule, it's everyone's schedule--every kid, every teacher, everyone who actually has a schedule.

I couldn't believe it. How could anyone even contemplate anything so utterly stupid? I kept it to myself, but when I read about it at the Times I figured, wow, they're really going through with it. LIC is a "transformation" school, so the alleged goal is to improve it one way or another. Apparently, the geniuses entrusted with this task felt causing abject chaos was the way to go.

They apparently had a lot of vacancies, but didn't see fit to hire replacements. They thought having kids sit in the auditorium for a few months was a better way to "transform" the school. When that didn't work as well as they'd anticipated, they simply killed the small learning communities and electives programs.  After all, courses that don't culminate in standardized tests won't get you a better grade from the DOE and are therefore useless.

Some kids still have holes in their programs. Under the new paradigm, you might find a kid attending periods 1-11, with four free periods but no math. Teachers met with the principal, who in true DOE style, appears neither to have listened nor addressed their concerns.  I'm told the network leader (Where would we be without network leaders?) showed up and helpfully suggested the problems were the fault of the teachers.

Imagine a school full of thousands of kids who've already received textbooks, but not from the teachers they now have. Imagine the task of collecting books from 170 kids who may just be anywhere. Imagine the empty bookrooms staying that way until the teachers, already nuts from dealing with their new schedule, track down those 170 math books.

I first started teaching in mid or late October 1984. One of my biggest problems was overcoming the resistance of a group of kids whose teacher had simply walked out on them on her retirement day. This is ridiculous, thought the kids. They knew there was no continuity, that something was wrong. And they knew that this was the time to test me, their utterly inexperienced teacher.

Kids test teachers all the time. That's kind of their job. For me, at least, by this time it's largely over. They know what to expect from me for good behavior or bad. That's because I've put quite a bit of energy into responding to their tests. I'm very glad so many are over and done with.

But for every teacher and every kid at Long Island City High School, it's back to square one. What can I get away with in this class? Will this teacher really call my house if I throw just one cheeseburger at her? My last teacher was a pain in the ass but maybe I can do whatever I want here. What the hell. If the people running the school gave a golly goshdarn about me or my education they wouldn't have let me spend two months wasting my time with classes that are now completely meaningless. Why did I do all that homework? Should I really waste my time with more? How do I know they won't change us again come Thanksgiving?

Kids are pretty smart. They may not say these things outright, but they certainly know what's going on. And they're certainly going to react, one way or another. Any principal not cognizant of this has likely not spent the Leadership Academy's requisite five minutes as a teacher.

Happy November! Time for Parent-Teacher Conferences

Well, happy November, which means one thing for many of us: time for parent-teacher conferences! Just like on The Simpsons, we'll be preparing for Let's Share the Blame Fest Fall 2011 for the next couple of weeks as the first report cards see the light of day and the honeymoon period concludes (if it hasn't concluded for you already).

My own parent-teacher conference season has started off with a bang, as one set of parents has already blown off two (!) appointments I made with them. It seems that perhaps they don't share my sense of urgency about a child who is failing every class and has missed fourteen days of school (so far!, but the year is young!!!).

This year, I'll be keeping a Google Translate tab open on my web browser next to my online gradebook for my substantial percentage of non-English speaking parents. I also resolve, as always, to do less talking and let the students dig their own graves explain the situation for themselves and propose workable solutions. I've gotten much better at this with meeting one-on-one with students; let's see how well I do when other adults are in the situation.

Here's a link to my old post on parent-teacher conferences for complete novices. And here's my previous year's reflection on student-centered conferences. As always, please add your own tips, fears, irrational anxieties, and horror stories in the comments.

Class in a Box

The ATR agreement, negotiated last year by the UFT and the DOE, has proven to be a money-saving bonanza for city high schools. For example, it appears schools no longer need to invest their precious budget dollars on art teachers. In fact, one high school now simply gives a box of assignments that can be handed out to kids by any ATR teacher--art, English, science, or whatever.

The teacher distributes the assignment, and the kids do it. Or they don't. Or they copy it from a kid who does do it. Or whatever. When they're finished, the assignment goes into the magic box. From there, all that happens is someone, somewhere, checks off a name, and Voila!  Instant art credit!

Think of the possibilities. Why should this process be limited to art? We could "teach" math, science, foreign languages, or whatever this same way. Why screen kids for AP classes? We could just put out the box, have them fill out the papers, right, wrong, whatever, and ZAP! Our kids now have college credit. And there'll be none of this nonsense about whether or not they're college ready. They'll already have the credit.

In fact, there's really no need for any teachers whatsoever under this system. We could simply pay anyone 8 bucks an hour to pass out the papers and dump them in the box. Think of the money this could save Mayor Bloomberg and his buds in taxes. Governor One Percent will be thrilled, and the Koch brothers will have even more money with which to decimate that pesky middle class.

Is this the goal of the "reformers?" Judging from the agreement that sends ATR teachers from school to school, from week to week, it's tough to dispute. It would be one thing if the ATR teachers were simply covering for absent teachers. But the fact that a system like this even exists indicates that vacancies are meant to remain vacant. Ask ATR teachers just how many kids they've met who haven't had a regular teacher since September.  Then ask the principals who've allowed the vacancies why they haven't hired ATR teachers.

After all, under this system, they get a full five days to watch them teach subjects they've probably not certified in before committing to retain and pay them for a full year. Or, after draconian budget cuts, they could save tens of thousands of dollars by leaving the positions vacant and hoping for the best. Who would be cynical enough to think many principals have opted for the latter, simply because many principals have opted for the latter?

I suppose the answer is---anyone who's watched this system in action. This is most certainly not a product of anyone who puts, "Children First, Always." Heads would roll, justifiably, if such nonsense were practiced in nearby suburbs. But Mayor4Life bought that law change and third term fair and square, has staked out his absolute power at the PEP, and can do pretty much whatever the hell he wants until and unless mayoral control is repealed.

In America Today

Inscrutable

Our copying machine has been humming along for some time now with no problem. We also have a Risograph, which enables us to do higher-volume copying. Sadly, the English Department next door has had no such luck. Consequently, they're always visiting us and our happy little machine.

Last week, a new machine appeared in our office. In fact, it was so new it was covered in plastic. Naturally, an expert from the company arrived to install it. It worked fine. Just like the old one.

The old machine was then placed in the spot the new machine had occupied, and one of my colleagues had an idea.

"Why don't you bring the old machine to the English Department?"

"Oh, we couldn't possibly do that."

"Why not? Theirs is broken and this one works."

"Well, they're not scheduled for a replacement."

"Doesn't it make sense to let them use it while they wait?"

"No, we've got to bring this machine back. That's the way we do things."

Further discussion yielded nothing. That's the way it's done, and it has to be done that way. So I guess the English teachers will be visiting us more frequently.

Sometimes I weary of things that make absolutely no sense whatsoever. But when you live in Mayor Bloomberg's New York, the best advice is to get used to it.

This Week's Pic

Running late this morning. Overslept after Open School Night. Leaving you with this profound image for now, but more later.

When You Gotta Go, I Hope You're Not at Science Skills High School

One of my own biggest pet peeves as a high school student (back in the Dark Ages) was the disgusting state of my school's bathroom. Smoking was more popular when I was in school, so the bathrooms were usually smoky, as well as filthy and smelly. At one point in my school career, I had gone two entire years without using the bathrooms at my school. That's how bad they were.

Having popped into the bathrooms at TMS2 once or twice in need of paper towels or to investigate some yelping, I can say with confidence that the bathrooms here are a significant improvement over what I had, not that it takes much. Still, I can't say I was shocked to hear about the state of affairs at Science Skills High School, where 634 students were limited to one bathroom.

Surely this violates some kind of health and safety standard? Or if it doesn't, isn't it just an insult to human dignity? God knows I spend far too much of my career policing kids' bathroom usage, but still, there has to be a better solution than limiting 600+ students to one filthy bathroom. Those are the kind of conditions that would cause prison riots. Guantanamo Bay has a better sanitation situation.

As you may know if you're a regular NYC Educator reader, the school bathroom is a minor obsession of mine. And sure, it sounds funny to joke about. And I roll my eyes a little when the Freire disciples rant about the inhumanity of public schools. But I start to wonder if maybe they don't have a point when I hear stories like this. Where are we as a school system if we can't even figure out how to keep bathrooms clean and safe?

Notable and New

Check out The Traveling ATR for school ratings based on firsthand experience, as opposed to the torturous, convoluted and incomprehensible Tweed formulas.

Governor One Percent

NY Governor Andrew Cuomo does not much care for those who'd occupy Albany. So he directed the police to arrest them. No namby-pamby First Amendment tolerance for him. Oddly, the police, perhaps cognizant of the fact they are working people, decided it was a bad idea, and declined to follow up. The protesters moved and police decided provoking a riot might not ultimately prove beneficial, despite the Governor's druthers to the contrary.

Why is Governor Andy so miffed with the protesters? Well, it could be their new nickname for him, Governor One Percent. After all, Governor Andy has taken a principled stand against taxing the richest one percent, opting instead to cut schools, services for the poor, and cap salaries for people who actually need to work. After all, how will he get tens of thousands of dollars from the Koch brothers if he stands up for those unwashed working people?

It appears, though, that Governor Andy is a sensitive guy. He doesn't much care for people disagreeing with him, you know, democracy and all. If he could just lock up those darn protesters, maybe those local newspapers would stop covering them! But darn it, when he gets involved, they just keep, you know, writing about it. That damn freedom of the press thing has got to go, if Governor Andy is to govern in the style he chooses.

And this is curious, because then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo stated politics had no place in policing. The thing is, though, with ruthless opportunists like Governor Andy, neither politics nor principle can get in the way of an overriding philosophy like, "I'm me, I can do what I want, how I want, whenever I want."

It's pretty scary when people with such juvenile mindsets attain positions of such power.


Thanks to Reality-Based Educator

The Only Progress Report That Matters

So the high school progress reports were released yesterday. The principal here at TMS2 was, justifiably, excited about our results and sent out a warm all staff e-mail as soon as he got the report. Whatever you may think about the progress reports, and they remain controversial, no one's going to argue much with a good one, and doing well on it does typically mean less harassment from the higher-ups.

Anyway, when I got the e-mail, there were a few students in my room working on papers and reading, and I said to them, "Hey, our progress report came out. We did really well."

They asked how well, and I told them, having just talked about percentile ranks with them in regards to their recent taking of the PSATs. They knew, then, what the number meant.

"So we did really well," I said to them again.

They looked at me, mildly bemused. "Well, yeah. Duh. We know this is a really good school. Like, we complain about it and stuff, but it's good here."

And that, my friends, is the only progress report that really matters.

One Week

ATR teachers are now being rotated faster than the speed of light. Five days here, and ZAP! They're off to another school. This was a by-product of the agreement the UFT made with the DOE that precluded teacher layoffs (until next year).

UFT sources at the time told me they did not think the DOE had the wherewithal to carry out this plan. After all, they're inept. They hired Cathy Black. They can't give a coherent rationale that anything they do will actually improve education, if you actually look at, well, statistics, studies, reality, or any of that other stuff that Bill Gates and Arne Duncan can't be bothered with.

But now that the DOE is actually doing this, I'm hearing now that this will give principals wider exposure to ATR teachers. In a way, that's true. Last year, your school got only a handful of ATR teachers, but this year you can factor that by up to 40. So there's a wide assortment. You have to wonder, though, how many principals actually have the time to run around observing those teachers passing through their halls. After all, principals already have others to observe, sometimes in the hundreds, and it's possible that an extra 50% worth of observations may not be precisely what they're looking for.

On the other hand, last year the principals didn't have to pay ATR teachers out of their school budgets. This year, if they want to keep them around more than a week or two, it appears they do. With their budgets slashed for the last few years, principals may not be jumping on that ATR bandwagon so quickly. Thus, in the city that places "Children First, Always," the Spanish class might well be taught by the science teacher who doesn't speak a word of it today, and the English teacher who doesn't speak a word of it tomorrow. Maybe they'll have a real Spanish teacher next week, but the week after that? Are you kidding?

And then there are the ATR teachers themselves, wandering week to week, school to school, program to program. They're largely precluded from having regular classes, from developing meaningful teacher/ student relationships, pretty much from doing everything or anything that brings joy or professional fulfillment. And on top of that, they're now precluded from long-term friendships with peers, going into some strange lunchroom every day and leaving by the time they get to know anyone.

You'd think the DOE was trying to discourage them, demoralize them, and make them quit.

Gee, would Mayor Bloomberg really do such a thing?

Pic of the Week