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Some Urgent issues for today – Funding

Published October 2, 2014 New York , New York CIty Department of Education , NYC Closed
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(from an updated version of the New Action leaflet distributed at the September 2014 Chapter Leaders’ Meeting).
For a printable version click: Fall 2014 Leaflet Front and back

Which costs more: hiring a brand new teacher, or placing a teacher whose salary is already being paid? Clearly, it is cheaper for the City to place the teacher whose salary is already being paid.

Fair Student Funding (FSF), though, perversely “charges” the principal pretend money, and leads most to avoid placing the teacher who is already on payroll!

Fair Student Funding leads to discrimination against experienced teachers, and costs the City more money!

Excessed teachers in the ATR pool will not be part of this calculation – but principals have become used to avoiding them and will continue to discriminate.

This can be easily fixed: School budgets should be charged the Citywide average teacher salary for each teacher, not school average.

Some Urgent issues for today – Teacher Evaluation

Published October 1, 2014 New Action , New York , New York CIty Department of Education , NYC , UFT , UFT Executive Board , United Federation of Teachers Closed
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(from an updated version of the New Action leaflet distributed at the September 2014 Chapter Leaders’ Meeting).
For a printable version click: Fall 2014 Leaflet Front and back

New Action has opposed the Teacher Evaluation System since its inception.

Rating teachers based on the Danielson model look like the “checklist” we used to decry. Tying evaluation to student test scores is inherently arbitrary and unfair.

Yet this is the system in place. What should we do?

The union worked with Fariña to creating additional observation options. The new contract reduced the number of items we are rated on. These are positive changes.

But we need more. State law linking ratings to student test scores should be amended. “Developing” ratings have consequences – including getting passed over for transfers. We need the right to appeal D’s. And we need a process for questioning the principal’s judgment BEFORE the final rating.

Letter to the Chief: Restore Teacher Eligibility

Published August 29, 2014 Abusive Administrators , New York CIty Department of Education Closed
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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

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Content of signed articles and comments represents the opinions of their authors. The views expressed in signed articles are not necessarily the views of New Action/UFT.
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