High School Classes Continue. High School Buildings Open. | JD2718

High School Classes Continue. High School Buildings Open. | JD2718

High School Classes Continue. High School Buildings Open.

Tomorrow is the day. High schools finally …..

Reopen? Bullshit.

High schools have been open since September. Even then, the bulk of our teaching was via zoom and other remote platforms. Tomorrow, the bulk of our teaching will be via zoom and other remote platforms.

In fact today more students will be fully remote than back in September.

Because they chose to be remote.

Something ridiculously high in high schools – what, 70%? More?

In fact high schools are reporting additional families switched to remote instruction since the de Blasio/Porter announcement.

So what’s happening?  

Tomorrow all high school buildings are opening, and some minimal version of “blended learning” will engage 10-20% of high school students. Over 90% of classes will remain on-line.

All buildings will open. With 15% of students. With less than 10% of classes. de Blasio will be talking about buildings, not students or classes.

Tomorrow de Blasio is making a great show out of opening the buildings. That’s all. It is a show. Instruction will continue for most students and most teachers on  CONTINUE READING: High School Classes Continue. High School Buildings Open. | JD2718

Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year! | Class Size | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year! | Class Size Matters Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year! | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year!

Class Size Matters and NYC Kids PAC are advocating for  one billion dollars of the approximately $2.5 billion that NYC schools are due to get next year and the year after to be invested in smaller classes,  for NYC students who will need them more than every before.

This is a chance in a lifetime opportunity to ensure that enough funding is spent the right way to make a huge opportunity for NYC kids.

If you agree, please sign our petition here; and sign up to speak at the Council’s Committee on Education preliminary budget hearings next Tuesday March 23; public testimony via video starts at noon.

You can sign up here  at least 24 hours beforehand and/or send your testimony to testimony@council.nyc.gov  up to 72 hours after the end of the hearing.  Please copy the email to your own City Council member; you can find their names and emails by filling in your address here.  Feel free to copy us at info@classsizematters.org

Here is sample text you can use, but please add any language you like:

Hello, my name is ____ and I have a child in the ___ grade in [name of public school.]

Please allocate one billion dollars of the federal funds for next year to class size reduction so that students can have the benefit of both social distancing and stronger academic and social support, which they will need next year more than ever before.   Please make sure that happens,  for the sake of my child and the other children in the NYC public schools.

Yours sincerely,

Name, address, email

Thanks Leonie

Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year! | Class Size Matters Urge the Mayor and the Council to use a big chunk of the federal funds to reduce class size next year! | A clearinghouse for information on class size & the proven benefits of smaller classes

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics

Richard Carranza, the New York City School Chancellor unexpectedly announced he was leaving his position.

The cognoscenti were not surprised, for months the chancellor and the mayor have been dueling; it was only a matter of time before the chancellor packed it in.

Highly effective leaders select subordinates and give them the authority to carry out their role. Interestingly a number of the mayoral hopefuls had major roles in city government: Kathryn Garcia was the NYS Sanitation Commissioner, Sean Donovan the HPD (Housing Preservation and Development) commissioner and Maya Wiley, the mayor’s counsel, all served with distinction. Micromanaging schools has a sad and long history; mayors claimed credit for positive education news and blamed and fired chancellors to deflect bad news.

Unfortunately from day one the mayor attempted to keep a tight rein on the Department of Education. He selected Carmen Farina, a retired Department deputy chancellor and friend to temporarily fill the job; she stayed for de Blasio’s entire first term. Farina’s one major initiative, the Renewal Schools, pumping mega dollars into the hundred lowest achieving schools was a dismal failure. Read here.

Renewal’s ideas were untested, and, almost from the start, the program was hobbled by bureaucracy and a tight timeline imposed by a mayor eager to show on a national stage that schools could improve without censure, CONTINUE READING: NYC School Chancellor Leaves: The Toxic Intersection of Mayoral Control and Mayoral Politics | Ed In The Apple

NYC Educator: Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

NYC Educator: Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is absolutely sure schools will open at "full strength" in September.  That's great to hear, of course. I, for one, am growing tired of looking at computer screens rather than live students. 

On the other hand, Mayor de Blasio has not proven particularly adept at predicting the future. I'm sure you recall his ridiculous presidential campaign, the one in which he garnered no more delegates than my dog. (In fairness, my dog is far cuter than the mayor.)

Of course, that's not the only example suggesting this mayor's clairvoyance is not to be relied upon. Mayor de Blasio held on to keeping buildsing open way too long last March. He never wanted to close them, and he was ready to open them at a moment's notice. Look at the process we went through in September. We delayed and delayed. We had to threaten a strike in order to enable testing. If we hadn't done that, the results could have been dire and deadly.

Like all the various cheerleaders for school openings, Mayor de Blasio seemed to believe the numbers were going to stay low. I read op-eds from people saying the positivity rate was below 1%, so we ought not to fret over Covid. Just send everyone back and hope for the best. Back then, the state was saying we should  CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Bill de Blasio and His Magic 8-Ball

NYC Educator: Desperation, Thy Name Is De Blasio

NYC Educator: Desperation, Thy Name Is De Blasio

Desperation, Thy Name Is De Blasio

In the face of an exploding epidemic, and in the face of a new more virulent strain, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has decided that quarantine needs to be cut rather than extended. The mayor just decided that rather than quarantine for 14 days, as recommended by CDC, he will cut it to ten, because they said it was allowable. It's remarkable in this day and age to find a politician who can unite both left and right, but we've got one in our current mayor.

The fact is that, no matter where on the political spectrum you may fall, you almost certainly hate Bill de Blasio. People on the right contend he's the second coming of Fidel Castro, while those of us on the left wonder how we ever counted him as one of us. And whether left or right, if you haven't drunk deeply of the Trump Kool Aid you know that deadly disease is a bad thing, and its spread ought to be avoided by any means possible. 

We're learning that the new strain tends to affect younger people more, but that doesn't bother Bill de Blasio. After all, his kids aren't in school anymore. And why should he worry about UFT? After all we didn't support him in the primary, opting for some guy who told the NY Daily News the city couldn't afford the raise NYPD and FDNY got. Is he still mad at us for that? Does he think by making us go out and risk our lives and those of the kids we serve CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Desperation, Thy Name Is De Blasio

NYC Educator: What Is De Blasio Waiting For?

NYC Educator: What Is De Blasio Waiting For?

What Is De Blasio Waiting For?

School buildings open tomorrow, despite an explosion of COVID in Fun City. You look at this and you have to ask yourself why exactly it's so important. There are a number of possibilities.

The most obvious is that the upper middle class white community has leaned on him to keep schools open. I am, frankly, shocked at some of the people who have clamored for building openings. A few months ago, they were indignant about it. Positivity is below 1%, they bellowed. Those of us who opposed opening buildings were ridiculous. We were hysterical. 

What are the open building advocates saying now? Who knows? Have they got a shiny new rationale? Are they just hoping none of us recall what they were saying back in September? It doesn't much matter, because the mayor is still persuaded. Why is that?

My pet theory is that he thinks, by keeping schools open, he makes himself a hero. No other city has done what NYC has done. Mayor de Blasio believes, perhaps, that this will resuscitate his burnished reputation. Maybe people will forget that last year he walked off his job for months in a self-indulgent run for President, an effort in which he garnered no more votes than my dog. 

Maybe teachers, by being forced to teach masked children six feet apart, will fail to notice it's something straight out of Black Mirror.  Maybe we'll forget that just weeks ago de Blasio tried to steal a billion dollars from us. Maybe CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: What Is De Blasio Waiting For?

NYC Educator: Mayor Bozo Ready to Lower Standards Yet Again

NYC Educator: Mayor Bozo Ready to Lower Standards Yet Again

Mayor Bozo Ready to Lower Standards Yet Again

If you're a teacher, you constantly hear talks of standards. The standardized test is the Bible, the Holy Grail, and the Ten Commandments all rolled into one. If your student gets 64 on the NY State English Regents, she is unfit to graduate. However, her classmate who gets a 65 is college and career ready. That's because this instrument is so precise and absolutely reliable it cannot be mistaken, even if some who've studied it contend it's an unreliable piece of crap. 

On the other hand, who needs standards for a deadly disease? Mayor Bill de Blasio has been running a clown show ever since his pathetic bid for the presidency. He failed to close the schools when the pandemic had us in dead in its sights, and had the chancellor demand 108,000 signatures from epidemiologists before bending to what was obvious to the whole world, save City Hall and the White House. 

Then came September. We're opening. We aren't opening. We'll open next week. No, the week after that. No we don't have to test anyone for COVID. Well, if the UFT is going to strike, maybe we will do a little testing. We'll make it mandatory, but if students don't consent, we'll ignore it and hope for the best. And if Cuomo says we'll close at 5%, we'll do better. We'll close at 3%, because we have higher standards than the state.

But once the mayor followed through with that promise, it turned out that there was public sentiment against him. Evidently, some of the 35% of families who chose in person learning a day or two a week were upset. How dare this mayor deprive their children of the opportunity to sit socially distanced and masked far away from one another? How could they lose that opportunity?

And what a system it was. We had a hybrid. It was sometimes in person and sometimes on line. The way it worked was this--if one third of the students were in school, two-thirds were online. And because there weren't actually enough teachers to do this, he'd hire some more. You can teach 12 kids in the school, and I can teach 56 others online. But that wouldn't be so bad because there would be a virtual content specialist planning the CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Mayor Bozo Ready to Lower Standards Yet Again

NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

Things are at a new level now, yet agaon. Every time you think the DOE has outdone itself, it does something else to show you that the last thing was nothing. The NY Post reports that UFT members who don't consent to testing will be removed from payroll. That would be surprising if it weren't for the fact that this was agreed to back in September. 

While people all discuss the low incidence of COVID in schools, compared to the population at large, it's important to note that the city has not, in fact, followed its own programs for months. Not only was UFT supposed to consent to testing, but all students in buildings were supposed to consent as well.  I recall reading somewhere that so far, only 15% of students had agreed to testing.

As if that's not enough, I've heard that in my school and others, there was a quote the testers were supposed to reach in a building, and once they reached it through volunteers, they didn't bother compelling anyone. This means that many if not all results from schools resulted from self-selection. I don't have to be a statistical expert to see that isn't random. 

So now the DOE is saying publicly that it will enforce an agreement it made three months ago. But there are quite a few holes in it. Mayor de Blasio is planning to have students up to grade 5 in attendance tomorrow, but it looks like they haven't quite caught everyone.

Students in 3-K, Pre-K and Kindergarten are exempt, but others have to bring parental consent forms on Monday. Those without parental consent or a valid excuse will be CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: Sense, Nonsense, and de Blasio's DOE

NYC Educator: What Parents Need Now Are Threats, Says Mayor

NYC Educator: What Parents Need Now Are Threats, Says Mayor

What Parents Need Now Are Threats, Says Mayor

Given that students can't fail, don't have to hand in work, and are given an extra year to catch up on classes, it's odd to see Mayor de Blasio out there making demands of parents. The mayor is eager to get some of his woefully overcrowded schools open five days a week for the 35% of city students who've opted into live education. So he's saying if you don't show up, you lose your place.

This is very odd, to me at least. For one thing, he's suggesting these places are so prized that people can't wait to grab them. But just weeks ago he was saying that anyone who didn't sign up already has no chance to do so this year. Of course, contradictions are a way of life for this mayor. He holds press conferences and doesn't show up until hours later. He seems to be late for everything. I'm glad he isn't in my class.

Why would students miss school? Well, maybe they have coronavirus. That's a damn good reason to stay out. Maybe they're quarantining for safety. There's a good two weeks right there. Maybe someone in their family is sick. Maybe they have relatives in the hospital. I have a student in Asia right now due to a death in the family. But she comes to my virtual class every day, and that's a minor miracle.

Should the mayor, who generally bends over backwards to accommodate student needs, be out there saying screw you, you lose your place?  Given that everyone else is shut out already, who's gonna take that place? Is he taking a page from the Moskowitz Academy playbook? (Just to be fair, all Moskowitz Academy students are CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: What Parents Need Now Are Threats, Says Mayor

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst

Over the last nine months Bill de Blasio has gotten a lot wrong. Almost every announcement has been late, off-base, and off kilter. He kept schools open when they should have been closed, he canceled break when students and teachers needed it, he announced policies without consulting teachers, families, principals, he came up with half-assed “models,” he insisted schools were opening on time, he announced without notice that opening was delayed a few weeks… His pattern – late, without consultation, lacking details, winging it, and – for the most part – wrong, without careful consideration, without real planning, without forethought.

That makes today’s announcement at least a little different. There were a couple of elements that were not completely wrong.

• Elementary schools come back 12/7. D75 comes back 12/10.

So, those dates are arbitrary. And maybe 3% was a low trigger, maybe not, but all the precents are higher today, and rising. My neighborhood, middle of the pack, is at 4.5%. My school’s neighborhood is over 6%. Announcing return dates now is – I don’t know. Really dumb? But it’s political. He got scolded by the governor and the Times’ education writer, and he’s showing them – full stop. Instead of making the best decisions for our schools, families, teachers, students, he’s showing them. Really dumb.

• High schools and middle schools are not coming back for now.

Ok, so that is more interesting. Treating different grades differently is something that needed to be CONTINUE READING: In a twist, de Blasio’s latest screw-up is not his worst | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem

Wind the clock back eight months. Friday the 13th. Of March. Bill de Blasio, bluster and fury but no conviction, insists that schools are staying open. It was the wrong decision (soon to be reversed). And, because it was last minute, with a last minute reversal, disruptive. The time for planning was harried and disorganized, and our schools suffered all spring as a result.

Today. Friday the 13th. He’s really still mayor? Parents and teachers and schools should “be prepared” to go remote for a short period of time.

We just finished, by the way parent-teacher conferences. Which came after “Fall Fest” activities (mostly remote) for our students. That was today. November 13. Friday.

Thinking back, our last parent-teacher conferences came after our last “Spring Fest” activities (in person). That was March 13. Friday.

I’m not complaining about moving to fully remote. I think it is necessary. I am complaining about last-minute decisions. I am complaining about the mayor’s lack of planning, and the negative effect that lack of planning has on schools, students, teachers.

I’m also repeating – none of this was necessary. Many of us, probably most of us, knew that the “blended learning” models were a mess. We knew that safety would be an issue. Some of us knew that the quarantining and spread around the Thanksgiving Holiday would be insurmountable.

Blended learning is disruptive. Shifting between in person and remote is disruptive. We need less disruption. We need careful planning. We need a mayor who plans.

And we need to move to remote – Monday sounds good. And we need to stay there until things are actually safe.

de Blasio’s Friday the 13th Problem | JD2718

Lump Sums Delayed, on Average, 4 1/2 months | JD2718

Lump Sums Delayed, on Average, 4 1/2 months | JD2718

Lump Sums Delayed, on Average, 4 1/2 months

Thursday, two days ago, Bill de blasio announced NYC would not pay UFT members the lump sum payments owed them on time. Michael Mulgrew announced that the UFT would fight – by going straight to arbitration.

The arbitrator, on Friday, ordered the city to pay half the amount in two weeks (October 31 instead of October 15), and the other half July 1, 2021.

The payment was the last and largest chunk left over from when Bloomberg refused to negotiate fairly with us. When de blasio came in we got a new contract, but some of the money owed us was pushed forward. And instead of being retroactive, it was made into “lump sums” – more about that, later.

This affects members who worked 2009-11. We should be aware that for the many members hired after that, they experienced the events of the last few days as a fight between City leadership and Union leadership, just as they have experienced much of the news from the last seven months. Does anyone know how many in service members have no financial stake in this? I am guessing 40-50%, but I could be wildly off.

In my school only 5 or 6 members are not due a payment – but we are probably not typical. At the other end of the spectrum, members who are paycheck to paycheck, or who had spent the lump sum in advance, or who had upped their TDA without backup, they still will hurt – but now they are looking at CONTINUE READING: Lump Sums Delayed, on Average, 4 1/2 months | JD2718

Robbery in Broad Daylight | JD2718

Robbery in Broad Daylight | JD2718

Robbery in Broad Daylight

Bill de blasio walked up to NYC teachers – on a weekday this time.

Think about that. Through this whole pandemic he has saved his announcements for Friday. After the work day is over. Or over the weekend. He is a coward. Schools closed? Sunday. Vacation lost. Friday. Zoom banned. Friday. Passover and Good Friday stolen? Friday. He skulks in the shadows.

But not this time. He walked right up to us and stole money, in front of the whole world. It is a brazen, daylight robbery. Or at least an attempt. It is Trump-worthy.

Over a decade ago, under that slimeball, Mayor Bloomberg, teachers worked under an expired contract. He wouldn’t negotiate fairly. And we were not going to sign yet another concessionary deal. Teachers were still smarting (and still are) from the massive concessions that Weingarten and her lieutenants made on our behalf in 2005. So when the contract expired in 2009 we kept working….

When Bloomberg left we negotiated with de blasio. In 2014 we completed an ok agreement – the raises started right away, but de blasio complained that he did not have the money in hand to pay the back CONTINUE READING: Robbery in Broad Daylight | JD2718