An ATR Speaks Out at May 5 Rally

This one needs no comment, just a note that it includes a quote from a teacher who attended one of the UFT rallies on May 5.

On Staten Island, a large crowd assembled outside Staten Island Borough Hall in a spirited rally that highlighted the plight of teachers serving in the Absent Teacher Reserve.

Dan Singleton, an ATR working at PS 22 who lost his teaching position at PS 57, skewered the New York Post and the other city tabloids for maligning ATRs.

“I didn’t even know what an ATR was until I became one when my school lost 12 teachers,” Singleton said. “The newspapers are painting a false picture of who we are. I teach fifth grade every single day. I have 25 kids every single day.  I am under the same pressures that other teachers are under every single day.”

Staten Island Borough President Emil Pietromonaco noted that three-quarters of the ATRs in Staten Island are working in full-time teaching positions.

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