One in eight teachers leave within two years of getting tenure?
Michael Mulgrew was interviewed on NY1, and the video is up at Edwize. 17 minutes or so. Worth watching. Just a qualitative evaluation (no data) – he opens a little tight, stays a bit closer to “message” than he needs to, but gets better as the cameras roll.
Anyhow, good stuff, some new data. The interviewer asks about everyone getting tenure, and he corrects the misconception. (I wonder where his numbers are from. They sound better than the numbers we used to throw around, but it would be good to have the source.)
34% don’t make it to the end of year 3. Of the 66% who get there, 97% get tenure. That’s about 64% of those who start.
More interesting, 45% don’t get past year 5. So 55% do.
Get this. Of every 64 who get tenure, only 55 are left teaching 2 years later. In other words, 9 of 64 disappear between Year 3 and Year 5.
Brutal system. So much for lifetime employment.
Former Bronx HS UFT Rep challenges school closings
[Lynne Winderbaum, retired ESL teacher from JFK, longtime Chapter Leader, and through most of the Bloomberg years, our Bronx UFT HS District Representative, responds to the announced school closings. Lynne left this as a comment at Gotham Schools, and asked that I post it here]
All those suggesting that resources should have been put into helping the high-needs students at existing high schools such as Columbus must know in their hearts that this misses the intention of the DOE. There has been a relentless march to close large high schools for several years. They have been replaced with small schools providing varying quality of education, some of which are also on the failing list.
…would someone please look into the “credit recovery” schemes…?
While DOE officials such as Shael Suransky create charts showing that the number of ELL and Spec. Ed students in small schools is equivalent to that in schools of 1000+ students, the data is not disaggregated. The large schools’ ELL population is disproportionately non-English speaking and have several times the number of ELL students who are also classified as Special Education. Schools like Columbus work hard to serve the needs of students in these categories.
Where did the other 700 ELL students go?
Many of the new schools opened by Klein and Bloomberg do not provide mandated ELL or Special Education services and often refuse to admit students in these categories, being “screened” schools. A review of the DOE High School Directory that I did two years ago for the Bilingual Education Task Force of the UFT showed only 56 out of 391 city high schools offered mandated bilingual programs. Of these, only 18 were not traditional large high schools.
A review of the “Master Schedule Final” of a large number of high schools offering ESL services show that ELL students are often grouped into single classes regardless of their level of English acquisition. Some offer no classes dedicated to the beginning English students or transitional classes. This is a violation of Part 154 of NYS Ed law.
Self-contained special education classes mandated on IEP’s are often changed to place students in CTT classes in small schools that do not have the critical mass of these special-needs population to make proper services feasible.
Schools like Columbus are trying to educate all of our students.
Two years ago, I received a call from John Berman of the NYC Comptroller’s office asking me if I could account for the fact that there were about 200 ELL students in the Roosevelt Campus whereas there were 900 in the old Roosevelt HS. Where did the other 700 go? Where did the special education students from New School for Arts and Sciences go after that school was closed? They were the model of the Wilson Reading Program for the Bronx, located in the high-need Longwood section. They received almost 90% of their incoming students reading at Level 1 or 2 and graduated the majority of them reading at Levels 3 & 4. Will the schools that replace Columbus show success working with such populations?
If graduation rates and credit accumulation are the metrics used to determine the statistical success of a school, would someone please look into the “credit recovery” schemes used at many schools to allow students who failed classes to make them up in as few as three days? Or the Regents grade changes that are reported to the state which then refers them to the DOE’s own Office of Special Investigations who in turn does a cursory investigation rarely resulting in any charges.
Chancellor Klein has said that a dropout will be destined to a life of failure. Schools like Columbus are trying to educate all of our students. The schools that replace them, while possibly graduating a high number of students, too often have not educated them but simply granted them diplomas based on credit recovery, teaching to the test, and dubious statistical acts. There is a political will to show failure of certain schools in NYC and the students who now attend these schools and want to remain there will be the losers.
Saturday odds and odds
1. Where does anti-reform sit within the ed-reform universe? Tom Hoffman made a graph (xkcd-style hard to eat vs tasty), and in the comments (read them) I’m wondering if I fit.
2. Feeling better after a cold that socked me Tuesday. I was borderline coming in to work, especially Thursday and Friday, but after a drink last night I slept in and woke up with what are clearly the remnants. I treated myself to cold just-short-of-rotten papaya this morning, and will further reward myself with a little winter walking…
3. Columbus HS is where I got my start. It got chopped into mini-schools, leaving a rump to absorb the most challenging kids, and now Bloomberg and his Chancellor plan to shut the last part down. Christine Rowland, from the Teachers Center at Columbus, gives a thorough and spirited response at Gotham Schools.
Carnival of Mathematics 60 up at Σdiot
I should really be writing about school closings. Bloomberg and his Chancellor, busy disrupting the system, have announced 20 school closings (4+4+9+7+3≠22, unless I missed a few). But
- the list is now complete (according to multiple rumors, which makes it seem that someone in the DoE is talking, privately)
- we need to start helping schools to organize, and to start organizing solidarity from other schools
- I don’t know how the demonstration at Maxwell went yesterday afternoon
- I got sick, and need a day or so to catch my breath
So, today, vanilla math blog post – a link to the newest carnival.
But it’s not vanilla. Carnival of Mathematics #60, dedicated to its massively abundant factors, is light, punchy, quick. It’s worth going just to read about the number 60.
The host is Σdiot. For those of you less math-inclined, that first letter Σ is a capital Greek sigma, which mathematicians use to mean “sum” (as in, add up this group of numbers, your answer is the sum). So we read that as Sum Idiot (and in fact his url is sumidiot: http://sumidiot.wordpress.com ). So math folks chuckle at “sum” and “some” sounding the same… You’ll just have to trust me, it was funny when I read it…)
School Closings – media’s feeling numb?
[Update – a media outlet wrote to say that the DoE made no announcements yesterday, and would not even confirm what everyone already knew. -jd]
Eight last week. Nine Monday. Overload?
Alfred E Smith was announced today. And one of the little schools that replaced Monroe. That’s the Bronx, my balliwick. Who else in other boroughs? I dunno.
But nothing on Gotham Schools. Not in the Daily News. Post. Forget the Times. NY1. 880. I give up.
If the evil is repeated enough, will we stop paying attention? That’s what Bloomberg and Klein are hoping for. Let’s make sure they are wrong.
Mulgrew on DoE’s failed strategy
At the last Delegate Assembly, a speaker asked if he could call Mulgrew “Mike.”
“No,” answered the union’s president, “it’s Michael.”
Today Michael Mulgrew said a few things that needed to be said, and need to be heard:
“We have had eight years of relentless focus on test prep for the state examinations that has led to sharply rising scores on those tests. But the NAEP, the most respected test, shows that our students have actually made very small gains,”
“It’s time to admit that the DOE’s education strategy is not working. The system is letting down a whole generation of kids.”
For just a second, my knees buckled…
At the UFT Executive Board tonight, I wanted to ask about showing solidarity for closing schools, but during the open mike I’d heard Nick Licari from Norman Thomas say that the DoE came to his school today, to announce they planned to close it. I didn’t know that.
So before my question, I asked something else: which schools did they announce they were closing today? (there was nothing on Gotham Schools when I checked) Strange, there was a little scramble. Evelyn DeJesus, Manhattan Borough Rep was going to answer, but she only had Manhattan. Finally Leo Casey, HS Vice President, came to the microphone behind the dais. He would recite the list from memory.
- Columbus
- Global Enterprise
I was already having trouble keeping up. Exhale slowly.
- New Day
- Norman Thomas
- Choir Academy
What happened to four a day? I lost track
- Beach Channel
Audible gasp from the crowd. Probably not the Chapter Leaders from closing schools who had come to speak, but Exec Board members. Dave, the BCHS Chapter Leader is a well-known and well-liked Unity guy. Stand up. He’s always peddling his free Chapter Newsletters at whatever event he comes to. Audible gasp.
- Paul Robeson
- …. middle school in Brooklyn. I wasn’t focusing and missed the number (334).
- And didn’t hear the last. (Metropolitan Corporate Academy)
I moved away from the mike, shook my head a bit. Moved back to ask about organizing solidarity. I started a speech, sort of, and Mendel stopped me. I nodded ok, or said ok, don’t rightly recall which, and as I tried to continue, my lips couldn’t quite get a word out, and for a second, my knees buckled, just a little. I think Michael said “it’s ok” and motioned that I should take a breath.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
In 1997 I began my Board of Ed career as a substitute teacher, at Columbus HS. The APO, Gerry Ambrosio, liked me (I showed up) and used me to cover math and science classes (my two license areas).
A math teacher was suspended, and the acting AP or Coordinator, who cares about the title, of mathematics, Michael Contente, plugged me into the slot. I had four miserable weeks, trying to teach, and getting more than nothing, but not much more, done. I remember those 4 classes (2 were a 7/8 split). I think I was in 437 for the semi-double, 439 for the late period single (very low attendance. I remember a boy named Malik who was small and quiet, and a boy named James who was tall and quiet, and Edwin something or other who the other kids called No-A__ Edwin” and Erika Acosta, and there were only 10 regulars in a repeater class of 25 or 30, and I can still see the faces. The midday class was in 448, where I had my first visible problem – a kid tossed some of the red striped Amscos out the window while I “taught.” I remember a girl named Natasha, and a boy whose last name was Berisha, but there were more in there. It was mostly a quieter room. The split classes were not repeaters, they were freshmen, and they were tough. I could reel off a fistful of names from each… but the easiest would be Charlyn and Crystal, who used each other’s names and were impossible and made some days awful. That was May 1997. I now see Charlyn fairly regularly; we smile, chat and say hi.
I joined the UFT while I was still a sub, and signed my COPE card. Columbus stopped calling (ie, Tony Brito stopped calling) and told me just to show up each day. And they hired me for the Fall.
I have such mixed emotions about the place. They gave me, to start, horrible classes. And they never followed rotation in anything close to the spirit of the contract. There was an old-boy network, west of chester, if you know what I mean, and I was not in it. On the other hand, there are people in that building who taught me to teach – who took a reasonably intelligent (I say kid but really) young adult, with no presence, and turned me into a pretty good math teacher.
At first, I couldn’t handle a classroom. I couldn’t stand the kids. Those two things, they changed pretty much together. By the end I adored some of my classes, and liked the others. And it was good to feel liked, to feel needed in return.
I became a UFT Delegate at Columbus. And a deputy chapter leader. I fought in a math war while I was there, and won.
By the end, I liked the kids (mostly) and the teachers (well, more than half), but I watched the safety incidents rise, listened to a principal avoid responsibility (“my hands are tied”), and looked closely at the UFT Committee with only one 25 period/wk teacher, that wasn’t willing to take him on. I helped my best friend transfer, and then, the following year, I transferred as well.
Three reactions: Senior teacher: Good move. Student who adored me: I knew you’d leave us! (I still cringe). Principal: Just never tell anyone you came from Columbus. (No, Gerry, sorry)
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
So here I am, UFT Exec Board. I’ve been out of Columbus for eight and a half years. And it still feels like I got the wind knocked out of me. How about teachers who got the bad news last week? Or today? Chapter Leaders from three closing schools showed up, and I’ll discuss what they said some other time, but each made a clear, passionate appeal. Could not have been easy. I applauded each.
My question was about organizing solidarity from other schools. I managed to ask it.
Please, please, those of you in schools that are safe, for now. Understand, at least a little, what these teachers are going through. I know there are a lot of schools that will be looking for help, and I know it may be tough to help them all. But some. Offer to help make phone calls, or come to a demonstration, or carry petitions. Do something. Let them know we are with them.
There is nothing many of us can offer, exept solidarity. And there is no less we should offer.
How should the UFT react to school closings?
Last week the DoE announced plans to close 8 schools. I expect anywhere from 10 – 30 more announcements this week.
Last week’s closures were: Maxwell (Bk), Jamaica (Q), School for Community Research and Learning (Bx, Stevenson Campus), Academy for Collaborative Education (M, middle school, D5), PS332 (Bk K-8, in Bushwick), Academy of Environmental Studies Secondary School (M, Harlem), Frederick Douglas Academy III (Bx, MS grades only), KAPPA II (M, middle school, Harlem). The potential list includes 38 more high schools. I don’t know how many middle schools or elementary schools might be targeted. The list of potential high schools (as best I can calculate) is at the bottom of this post.
The primary targets are the remaining large schools in the poorest neighborhoods, and vocational schools (CTE), and a handful of newer small schools. The Bronx, where so much damage has already been done, could see all but one large or medium-sized school broken. Now, not all the schools on the list will be closed. I don’t expect Truman to be the last big school standing in the Bronx. But we don’t know how far they are planning to go.
There is the possibility of two types of campaign to defeat the closings. (And, yes, we should help schools, fix schools, make schools better. No, we should not break them up, destroy them, scatter kids and teachers. Construct, Build, Improve. Not Disrupt, Tear down, Marginalize)
1. A school-by-school campaign would involve a strategy whereby each targeted school would create its independent case for not being closed. I understand the desire to do this. If I was in one of the schools, I would try. But I see the danger that school could be pitted against school. And I notice that this approach does not bring the strength of the entire union to bear. And what if I’m in the school whose chapter is not so much on the ball?
2. I think we should offer a different approach, a centrally-coordinated approach:
(1) discredit the Progress Reports
(2) forge alliances with community, neighborhood, parent and alumni groups, and elected officials.
(3) Mobilize:
+ Demonstrations
+ More creative interventions
(4) Engage the membership in the rest of the UFT to rally in support of the closing schools. Start small, with things that are easy to do. But start now. People have to be woken up BEFORE we need a large demonstration of support.
(5) Get organizers into all the schools, building concrete solidarity
(6) Prepare a committee to coordinate this work (media, alliances, logical progression of demonstrations, mobilizing unaffected schools).
Mulgrew’s already questioned the Progress Reports out loud. They are gameable, they reward principals who cheat and encourage them to cheat, they change the cut scores arbitrarily, they used last year’s peer indices, they penalize schools multiple times for the same problem, they do not distinguish between mainstreamed special ed kids and self-contained special ed kids, etc, etc.
Teachers are already angry about Bloomberg in general, about the grading, about tenure, and about the closures. Let’s tap that energy, and use it for something productive.
The DoE is acting so quickly, which creates some urgency here. They are planning to run the public hearings next month, fulfilling the letter of the requirements of the new governance law (while thumbing their thumb at the spirit of the law). This will be likely be the largest round of closings we have seen. They are running it like a lightning round:
One day, probably this week, a DoE team shows up at the door and starts by meeting with the Principal, the cabinet, Chapter Leader… Then a Faculty Conference. The next day they make arrangements to send a letter home to parents. And then the third day, or soon after, a parent meeting. Then they wait a few weeks (cowards are using Christmas break to reduce the number of work days), hold an open meeting with the SLT, accept comments. And that’s it. Except for the formality of a PEP vote.
The following high schools have had 3 successive grades of C or lower, or in some other way met the DoE’s selection criteria. They are potential targets for closure.
Some schools on this list will be phased out.
They threatened that some may be closed immediately (but I don’t believe them. They often lie.)
Some may have administrators changed.
And some will be left alone.
But all will go through the worry of wondering who is going to show up, and what fate they will serve up.
The DoE is looking at schools on this list. We do not know which ones they intend to close.
Some schools on this list will be ok.
Brooklyn
Science Skills Center HS for Science Technology and Creative Arts; International Arts Business School; School for Legal Studies; Boys and Girls; Maxwell; FDA IV; Metropolitan Corporate Academy HS; Secondary School for Law; Robeson; FDNY HS; HS for Civil Rights
Bronx
Peace and Diversity; Columbus; Monroe Academy for Business Law; Grace Dodge; New Day; Gompers; Clinton; Smith; JFK; Jane Addams; Global Enterprise; Community Research and Learning
Manhattan
Norman Thomas; Murray Bertraum; Choir Academy of Harlem; Academy of Environmental Science; University Neighborhood HS; Legacy School for Integrated Studies; Washington Irving; Chelsea Career and Tech; Coalition School for Social Change; Graphics; Leadership and Public Service
Queens
Beach Channel; Business Computer Applications and Entrepeneurship; Jamaica; John Adams; Grover Cleveland; Math Science Research Magnet; Richmond Hill
Teaching math: A question that worked well
Algebra 2 and Trig this year are a little tricky in NY State. How do you teach a rich course, but also prepare kids for a state test? If you’ve never seen the state test? If you suspect the test will cover way too many topics, and do so poorly? And did I say, also teach a rich course?
So, this teacher squeezes in extras. Go off topic, and onto other topics of value. Challenge questions that preview what they’ll see in a few weeks. And better, challenge questions that help their analytical skills, without practicing current topics (math class is for thinking and doing and performing!). A little extra graphing to tie topics together (more on that, later. Who’s going to teach me to take screen shots from the TI?)
And some days, I just squeeze so I have time for something else. And yesterday’s lesson, how to handle 
Model A:
Add:
Model B:
Multiply and simplify:
Try:
A2.
A2.
B1.
B2.
B3.
B4.
B5.
So they’re buzzing. I’m checking homework and walking around a bit. And I decide to use a question I’ve played with a little:
“What’s a question that someone else might get wrong?” followed by “Explain.” And then I got another kid to comment, or to answer the question, or to explain how to avoid the error. And back for another “question that someone else might get wrong?”
I ran, back to back, two of the best five minute discussions I have had all year.
Educators are under attack
New Action position paper on the current situation. Published here.
Puzzle: Who am I? (Teacher Edition)
[updated to correct a typo in b, and clarify d] [and d, again]
So I gave a three digit number to five of my friends and they all told me two facts about it. Unhappily each person gave me one correct fact and one incorrect fact. What was the number?
a1: It is the difference between two squares
a2: It is not the sum of two cubes
b1: It is an even number
b2: It does not have exactly two prime factors (it is not semiprime; ie, not of the form a*b where a and b are both prime)
c1: It is the sum of two squares
c2: It is both a square and a cube
d1: It is a product of three primes, not necessarily distinct
d2: It is prime
e1: It is the sum of a square and a cube
e2: It is the sum of three squares
Please do not leave answers in the comments section! But do leave questions or discussion below.
If you have an answer, click here to share your solution.
Source: I think Bertie Taylor from compuserve’s old SCIMAT forum. I don’t know where Bertie took his puzzles from. I posted it on this blog a few years ago, under the title Fallible Friends.
Puzzle Answers: Who am I? (Teacher Edition)
[updated to correct a typo in b, and clarify d] [and again, to refix d]
This is the right place for answers to the Teacher Edition of “Who am I?’ For discussion and questions, click here.
So I gave a three digit number to five of my friends and they all told me two facts about it. Unhappily each person gave me one correct fact and one incorrect fact. What was the number?
a1: It is the difference between two squares
a2: It is not the sum of two cubes
b1: It is an even number
b2: It does not have exactly two prime factors (it is not semiprime; ie, not of the form a*b where a and b are both prime)
c1: It is the sum of two squares
c2: It is both a square and a cube
d1: It is a product of three primes, not necessarily distinct
d2: It is prime
e1: It is the sum of a square and a cube
e2: It is the sum of three squares
Source: I think Bertie Taylor from compuserve’s old SCIMAT forum. I don’t know where Bertie took his puzzles from.
New Action: solidarity against Bloomberg on tenure
Reacting to Mayor Bloomberg’s stated intention to unilaterally tie tenure to test scores, starting this year,
New Action called for a “united stand” and for extending “our hands to all to join us in this fight.”
About the mayor: His goal is “to tie student test scores to teacher evaluation, to attack tenure, to close more schools and open more charters, to go after ATRs, and to unleash hundreds of Leadership Academy principals…”
About our leadership’s mistakes: “We will need to talk about the mistakes … endorsement, governance, term limits, but another day. This is not the time for recriminations.”
Read the complete statement at http://newaction.wordpress.com.
Puzzle – Who Am I? (Single statement pair deduction)
So that “Who Am I?” puzzle was fun. (Summary: there are a few pairs of statements about a number. Each pair contains one true and one false statement. Figure out what the number is)
Part of what made it so was the need to weave back and forth between the pairs. A major simplification would be to make deduction possible from some pair on its own.
For example, what if one pair said: I am a multiple of 3/I am even. Now we would know that the number should be even or a multiple of 3, but not both. Listing: 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16,… A kid might express this strangely, but he will get it: the number is congruent to 2, 3 or 4 mod 6.
Another example: I am less than 10/I am less than 20. Since we need one true and one false, anything 20 and up fails (both false) and anything under 10 fails (both true!). Looks a lot to me like (x-10)(x-20) < 0. Neat.
Another: I am two digits/I am three digits. Just a simple idea to control the search.
Another: I am a multiple of 3/I am a multiple of 9.
So we might try:
1a. I am less than 45
1b. I am less than 16
2a. I am a 2-digit number
2b. I am a perfect square
3a. I am a multiple of 5
3b. I am a multiple of 10
Puzzle: Who am I?
I must have posted this once before, but I forget. And two classes worked this last week. And had fun. So I’ll share:
There are five true and five false statements about the secret number. Each pair of statements contains one true and one false statement. Find the trues, find the falses, and find the number.
1a. I have 2 digits
1b. I am even
2a. I contain a “7”
2b. I am prime
3a. I am the product of two consecutive odd integers
3b. I am one more than a perfect square
4a. I am divisible by 11
4b. I am one more than a perfect cube
5a. I am a perfect square
5b. I have 3 digits
Can you solve this? Can you use it in your classroom?
In mine, I let kids flounder for 10 – 15 minutes (seems like an eternity), quietly dropping little hints… Finally (and finally in one class means after two kids stumbled into the answer, in the other class none had), I said “look, there’s not so many possibilites” and I began listing them (vertically):
| a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a |
| a | a | a | a | a | a | a | a |
| a | a | a | a | b | b | b | b |
| a | a | b | b | a | a | b | b |
| a | b | a | b | a | b | a | b |
Now, I was doing all the work, but saying it out loud, until one, then a few, then half of them were jumping in ahead of me. Every once in a while (and I created four of these, this starts aa, next ab, next ba, next bb) every once in a while I stopped and asked a quiet kid “what next?” — it’s hard to turn off teaching.
And then I asked them to start eliminating impossible variations, and they did. One class got down to 3, the other 4, and then they went back at them, with all this gained knowledge (and technique!)
I tried to keep them (fairly successfully, thank you) from telling each other the answer. And for the next two days I had a trickle of kids finding me in the hall and shouting the answer at me, excited that they’d gotten it.
If I could get the same enthusiasm for adding rational expressions….
Math: Belated Carnival and Math Teachers at Play
Posts here were inconsistent the first two months of the school year. And I completely lost track of the Carnival of Mathematics and Math Teachers at Play. Both were published over the last few weeks, and I’d like to point you towards them.
The Carnival of Mathematics #59 was out longer. Very nice edition. And hosted at The Number Warrior, who does an excellent job.
Math Teachers at Play has scaled back slightly, and the upshot was a nice jump in overall feel. Even though I haven’t been contributing, they included me, which I appreciate (that sum of consecutive integers problem was a good one). And there really is a nice range, and lots of good stuff. If you haven’t visited Math Teachers at Play #20 go take a look now.
Notice, it is “math teachers” but it has not become just elementary, or just high school, or just anything. MTaP has kept some good breadth. And it is lively, and well-illustrated. MTaP is more than the sum of its links: it is a good read in its own right.
No thanks, no thanks, no thanks, no thanks
Family, teaching in NYC, foreign policy, and family again.
Thanksgiving should be a good day. For everyone, yes, but certainly for me.
In my mother’s extended family (my uncles and aunts, their kids, their kids’ kids, minus her father for decades, and her mother, my grandmother, for just the last three years) – it is the single annual event that we all come to. In my forty odd years, I missed Thanksgiving once – I was in the middle of two months in Turkey – and even then I made a long, long call from Antalya, saying hi to a bunch of those gathered. Likewise, a younger cousin was missing yesterday – but she is working as an au pair in France, and she called.
It is a gathering. Some come early and help cook. Around 1 the rest arrive. Conversation – kids play – a snack or two. We eat, break for more kids playing… some of us go for a walk. Dessert. Games. Turkey soup… We straggle out late. It’s the gathering. It’s our tradition. It’s our day. And my sister tried to make other plans. Ouch. Did some opportunity come up? Maybe, but…. whatever it was, it didn’t happen. But she quietly announced that she would miss next year. Forty years is enough. It’s not that there is something else, it’s that she’d rather be anywhere but. Nasty. I feel worst for my mother.
Thanksgiving was also the day we got to mull over the salvo Bloomberg lobbed at the teachers of New York City. The timing was perfect.
And Thanksgiving also gives us a chance to reflect on the troop build-ups Obama’s about to announce for Afghanistan. More stuff to not be thankful for.
But back to the meal. Our tradition has been to gather. That’s it. And, thinking about it, that’s really perfect for us – a collection of mostly non-practicing Jews, with spouses with a variety of backgrounds, probably the group in its majority agnostic, but a few of us, me included, not superstitious at all. The gathering has been it.
But a few years ago my sister (practicing) got her kids to give thanks at the table. Then she added that each of us should say thanks in turn. I’ve reluctantly participated, or taken a pass. It feels like mandatory prayer, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to be coerced into that. (Damned if I do… that’s kind of funny?) Who am I supposed to thank? Anyway, it’s coming up, and I whisper over that I’ll excuse myself, and she says no, I should just pass when my turn comes, and I sit through 20 uncomfortable benedictions, and I’m last and I pass and my she whines at me, out loud, that I should just say something. And she prompts a kid or two to join in.
Having one’s beliefs ignored, and by family? It was hard to put away the bad feeling and relax. I left earlier than I have ever left Thanksgiving before. Awful to say: I won’t miss her next year.
UFT November Delegate Assembly
For years I took notes at DAs. What was the point. But I regret not taking notes last week. What follows is from memory. The “quotes” are really paraphrasings.
This was, before I jump in, one of the more discouraging President’s Reports I’ve heard… because we are facing tough times. But it was also one of the most heartening, maybe the most heartening President’s Reports I ever listened to, because the new guy seemed in touch with reality (no matter how tough it was) and showed a willingness to… well, you’ll see.
“How are you this evening/afternoon?” In a few months or a few years, this question will get old. But Michael Mulgrew asks this of each speaker from the floor, and each pauses, decides it is a real question, and answers. It is disarming, humanizing, personalizing.
1. Motion to Authorize our Negotiating Committee to Declare Impasse
This was the biggest item, but almost a non-item. It was not a declaration of impasse, but more like a vote of confidence that the negotiators have been trying, and that the City has been difficult, without filling in any details. Will we declare impasse? I don’t know, but the option is there, and has the support of the DA, if it becomes necessary. Debate was handled well. The objections (look what the fact-finders did to us last time) are real… and must be taken into account. It would of course be better if we were so strong that it was the City that was running looking for assistance. But given the balance of forces, and if negotiations stall, we may need to take this route. At that point, if we get there, we should look at what other options we have (delay a contract, concede on non-concession issues) and make the decision. And we can do so with the confidence of the Delegate Assembly.
2. Race to the Top
I wish I had taken notes. Mulgrew says, we would like the money, but we’re not going to give up core principles to get it, we don’t absolutely need it. I wish I had the wording. In short, he says that if the money comes poisoned, we should pass.
3. Data/Progress Reports
Mulgrew got HS delegates with A’s and D’s to raise their hands, said that teachers in both groups of schools were working hard, mentioned that the DoE was manipulating its own scores by changing cuts, questioned the quality of the data, etc, etc. The Chancellor talked earlier that week about how the schools he created were doing better than the other schools, and Michael’s comment was good, quotable from memory “They are all your schools!”
4. Special Ed/ No Excuses
Update from Carmen Alvarez. Real push for more reporting of violations.
5. Thompson
UFT leadership got called to task for not endorsing Thompson. Fifty-thousand votes in NYC is pretty close, and I can’t promise that the UFT could have made the difference, nor can you tell me that a UFT endorsement would not have made a difference. We could have made it damned close.
So Mulgrew’s response, essentially that the race was not close enough, was wrong. The underlying idea, that we should only endorse winners, was wrong.
But this is the Delegate Assembly, which is sometimes the theater of the Bizarre.
Mulgrew was being challenged on our failed endorsement policy by a leader of ICE – which along with Unity and TJC, did not endorse Thompson.
Only New Action (my caucus) endorsed Thompson, and that was back in June.
Bloomberg declares war on tenure
And also declares war on discussing policy with the UFT.
“As it turns out our lawyers now tell us after a very close reading of New York’s law, the current law does not actually stop us from using student data to evaluate teachers who are up for tenure this particular school year, because the way it was written it covers only teachers hired after July 1st of 2008, and those are not up this year.”
“So today, I’ve directed our schools Chancellor, Joel Klein, to ensure that principals actually use student achievement data to help evaluate teachers who are up for tenure this year. It is an aggressive policy…”
Negotiations: What Matters Most
A raise, and no harm. Read here.
Top referrers
Taking a look at where readers come from – the primary answer is – IDK. Wandering in? Search engines? Readers? E-mailed links?
But a chunk, maybe 10-20%, leave a trace, and wordpress keeps count. Here’s the top ten all time blog referrers to this site:
| edwize.org | the UFT’s blog |
| pissedoffteeacher.blogspot.com | a math teacher in another borough who won’t retire |
| gothamschools.org | NYC ed site, with good newsclipping, funded by a charter advocate, with a predictable slant. |
| chaz11.blogspot.com | Experienced teacher. Advocates for senior teachers getting victimized by Bloomberg/Klein. |
| threesixty360.wordpress.com | Cool group math blog from a far-upstate college. Lots of accessible-for-regular-people math. And for godzilla. Really. |
| vlorbik.wordpress.com | Defunct there. Reopened here Community College math guy. Good guy. |
| mildlymelancholy.blogspot.com | NYC teacher. Then charter school teacher. Then photographer. Then sub. Then permanent sub. Then… another charter? Wow. Writes nicely. |
| preaprez.wordpress.com | Fred, my blogging comrade. Teaches little kids in a Chicago suburb. Progressive. Active. Outspoken |
| arsmathematica.net | Real math. They linked a math carnival once, and swamped me. Nothing comes from there anymore. |
| scienceblogs.com/goodmath | Great math blog, lots of explanation things, from a guy in cs. Working in cs. Same like ars… linked once. Flood. Now a trickle |
| nyceducator.blogspot.com | NYC teacher. Opposition type. Writes well. |
Rethinking Afghanistan
The people who made the video also run a website: Rethink Afghanistan.
Steve Barr resigns from Green Dot – going national?
Story here. I have done no background reading, showed no diligence. Just thought you might like the fast heads up.
(this is the kind of thing that twittering must be good for)
hat tip / link Ken Libby / Schools Matter
Does a new president make a difference?
This is about the United Federation of Teachers, not the United States. And I’ve started writing this post four or so times since July. Each time would have been different.
In July I would have said that both the old and the new presidents were chosen by the same caucus, so while they look different, there wouldn’t really be much difference. Oh, symbolically a good move putting a teacher in charge.
By the end of August I would have sounded the same tune, but with a little refinement. The new guy has a straightforward way of speaking; you get the sense that you don’t need to run his words through some sort of filter to figure out what he really means. I don’t think I’d have said ‘blunt,’ but certainly ‘direct.’ And he seems to have a better sense of the sentiment in the schools. (Even if that doesn’t translate into policy, it does translate into empathy – and that matters).
After the September DA I would have concentrated on stylistic differences, but ones that I think matter. Meetings start on time? This is going to change how I’ve done business since I first became a delegate. It’s a little annoying to need to adjust, but the positive, having my time, our time, treated respectfully, that is much greater. And it was shocking after all these years. The auditorium buzzed with surprise as the meeting started. And then there was the way he handled questions/complaints: when a delegate in deep left field objected to the debate and vote being held while other delegates were standing outside the room, the president just asked them to come in. And then asked staffers to give up seats to delegates. The objection was angry, but the response was calm and respectful. And there was another round of muttering: this was a teacher running a room, and running it fairly well. Not to say there wasn’t unfairness here and there, or mistakes here or there. But 1) this is a huge meeting, and it is tough to get everything right, and 2) anything that was wrong was no worse than what we had before, and 3) a whole lot was better.
October’s DA didn’t change what we saw, but confirmed the style stuff. He handled disagreement in the same way. It looked like his disarming “How are you today?” had become a fixture. Side note: I know it uses up precious time, but I enjoy the reaction, from those who are shocked (how can you be shocked, he asks everybody) to those who pause and answer thoughtfully. He doesn’t get mindless “fine thank you”s in response. Now, he was wrong on the Thompson debate, his whole caucus was. The first time I saw him get flummoxed was when someone tried to call the question before he’d had a chance to call on a Brooklyn CL with prepared comments, but his predecessor handled the same problem in the same way loads of times. And when he went for a pro-Thompson comment and a delegate made a marginally relevant speech instead, he looked for another pro-Thompson comment. Extremely fair (there, unfortunately, was not precedent for such a fair move.) So he let some discussion run, and he kept a good tone in the room. I wanted to write then, but hesitated. I was pretty sure that what we were seeing was real. But after just two DAs….
So I’m leaving out this week’s DA, saving some of that for another post. And I’ve concentrated on style. And on style alone, big improvement. The DA’s are manipulated? Sure. Like before? Not even close. Is our time being better used? Yes. Has the level of respect risen? Absolutely. These things are real, and they matter. And now – and I’ll add in some November stuff – now most of us sense that these changes are real. It’s a small change in culture, and it is completely welcome, completely positive.
But does this translate into changes in the work of the union? Are there other changes going on as well? Policy? Follow through? Practice?
We need to come back to this.
The Precedented Scale of Race to the Top
borrowed from Tuttle SVC – a great education blog by Tom Hoffman from Providence (if you like this, go and read more of his stuff)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tennessee — eligible for $150 – $250 million from RttT: The city school board is expected to sign an agreement today with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that will funnel more than $90 million to Memphis for a plan to change how teachers are hired, placed, evaluated and retained.Pennsylvania — eligible for $200 – $400 million: In what officials said would be the largest grant ever made directly to the Pittsburgh Public Schools, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has offered the district $40 million for sweeping initiatives to maximize teacher effectiveness.Florida — eligible for $350 to $700 million: TAMPA — The finish line is in sight for the Hillsborough County School District, which agreed Tuesday to accept a $100 million teacher effectiveness grant if the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation offers it.And remember… AUSTIN – For the $300 million spent on merit pay for teachers over the last three years, Texas was hoping for a big boost in student achievement.But it didn’t happen with the now-defunct program, according to experts hired by the state.
Second verse, same as the first…
JD2718 