The Pain and Isolation of an ATR
One of the first people I thought of yesterday when I read the Daily News article with Chancellor Farina's hopes for the upcoming year was blogger Fidgety Teach.Fidgety was a highly regarded and loved pre-K teacher in Brooklyn when she got caught up in the evilness of her principal, Kristine Mustillo. One mistake, forever altered the course of Fidgety's career. One mistake, cost the children of Brooklyn a caring and loving teacher.
So what made me think of Fidgety when I read that article? I guess it would be this;
Fariña pledged to announce in the next two weeks a big reduction in the number of teachers getting paid despite not having steady classroom jobs. Earlier this month 114 of the roughly 1,100 teachers — known as the Absent Teacher Reserve — accepted $16,000 buyouts.Just an aside, should not someone at the UFT come out and say something about this? Should not someone from the UFT file a complaint with the NLRB? Shouldn't someone from the UFT just act pissed to placate the ATR's?
Fariña said the numbers would dwindle further as principals are taught best practices for writing up teachers and beginning the arduous termination process.
But back to Fidgety. I know how much she wants to teach. I know how much she wants to love what she is doing. I know how much she is hurting inside.
Fidgety wrote the following on her blog today. It will truly tear at your heart. It is very sad. You literally can feel her pain, her hurt, and her anger, anger at how the DOE has been enabled to allow this to happen.
You see an ATR in your school this week, say hi and ask what you can do.
Oh, and Fidgety really needs to blog more often. She is great!
After 20 years of teaching in the NYC schools, I have spent the last three years rotating on a weekly basis to and from 52 different school locations. While most professionals change jobs an average of 3 times at most in a lifetime, an ‘ATR’, aka a teacher belonging to the ‘Absent Teacher Reserve’http://www.southbronxschool.com: