Letter to the Chief: Restore Teacher Eligibility

From the August 8, 2014 Chief-Leader:

The UFT contract has been ratified and hailed as bringing in a new era for Teachers. Yet many problems in schools have not been addressed. During the last decade under Bloomberg and Klein, Teachers’ rights have been diminished. Teachers can no longer grieve inaccurate observation reports. Hundreds of probationary Teachers in schools with abusive administrators were unjustly fired. Some of these probationers have other Principals willing to hire them but haven’t been given the chance because the Department of Education has declared them ineligible to work.

Large numbers of new Teachers have had their probations arbitrarily extended. Seniority transfers have been eliminated.

The new Chancellor and Mayor should look at these issues. They should also address the corruption in our schools that has gone on the last 10 years. Some of these Teachers were fired and the Principals hired their friends and friends of family members. This is a citywide problem.

These probationary Teachers deserve a strong fight from our union. We urge President Mulgrew and Chancellor Fariña to work together and do the right thing and restore these Teachers’ eligibility to work.

GREGORY DiSTEFANO New Action/UFT
MICHAEL SHULMAN Co-Chair New Action/UFT
JONATHAN HALABI Co-Chair New Action/UFT
PAUL MILSTEIN New Action/UFT