ATR = Absolutely Teaching Ready

Below is a leaflet that has been prepared by the GEM-ATR Committee, to be distributed at the UFT meetings for members of the ATR.  NYCATR humbly suggests that every teacher who attends those meetings should read this leaflet first, and use it as ammunition during the meeting.  

We Are ATRS: Absolutely Teaching Ready –

but denied the opportunity by the Department of Education.

They’ve closed our schools, reduced the student population through charters, excessed us through outrageous budget cuts and made it illogical for a principal to hire us because we are experienced, well trained adults who insist on respect and are more than a few steps up the salary schedule from new graduates.

Demand Respect & Justice for ATR Teachers

The "hiring" freeze was not a freeze at all: ATRs must be placed before any new teachers are considered with no salary penalty to the school: The DOE claim to lift the hiring freeze this summer was bogus as principals were only required to interview 2 ATRs and then were free to hire newbies and less experienced teachers. Ex: one large HS in Queens has 5 newbie math teachers.

2,000 excessed teachers have swelled the ranks of the ATR- teacher pool as ATRs are obligated to waste time at Job Fairs that for the most are exercises in futility. This is an injustice that:

• Is unprofessional, disrespectful, demoralizing and humiliating to teachers who have dedicated years of satisfactory service to our school communities. Both a “no layoff/firing guarantee” and a permanent classroom job are what all teachers deserve.
• Is an unconscionable waste by the DOE of taxpayer money in these lean budget times, costing the city from $80 to $100M yearly.
• Discriminates against students, parents, and schools by denying adequate quality staffing.
• Foments larger class sizes and a deterioration of the quality of teaching.

The attitude that "We are lucky to have a job" is not acceptable

ATRs demand that the UFT:

• Insist on no new hiring until all ATRs are placed.

• Call for ATRs in "obsolete license areas" (like Reading) to be allowed to recertify in a new license or get the summer crash course that TFA and TFs get to allow them to fill vacancies shortage areas.
• Create ATR Chapters with elected CLs in each borough to provide fair representation: ATRs shifted from school-to-school do not have a permanent Chapter Leader to represent their interests.
• End the agreement that forces ATRs to be wandering substitutes at different schools each week: parents, especially women with young children will face child care issues due to unpredictable assignments. The UFT must recognize that the DOE aim is to drive many to the brink of quitting.
• Publicize the plight of ATRs to all teachers and the general public in all media.

Every teacher is a potential ATR through excessing, closing schools and charter school growth. We refuse to be swept under the rug by the DOE and the UFT. We need to organize ourselves since the UFT refuses to do so. We need an outreach campaign to our fellow teaching non-ATRs (but possibly soon to be) to get them on our side.

Our strength is growing. The bigger we get the better the chance the DOE and the UFT will be forced to respond in a positive manner.

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What you can do: Attend meeting we are calling for ATRs on Oct. 20, 5PM at Skylight Diner (34th St. and 9th Ave)

• Attend one of the UFT borough office meetings and distribute this leaflet and ask people to join this committee.
• Join the GEM ATR Committee sponsored by the Grassroots Education Movement: Email - gemnyc@gmail.com.
• Follow updates and post your stories at: nycatr.blogspot.com & ednotesonline.blogspot.com.
• Support and sign the resolution at the UFT borough ATR meetings (see reverse side on some leaflets or check the blogs).

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Long-term demands:

• Restore rights of excessed teachers lost in 2005 UFT/DOE contract when ATR pool was created: bring back guarantee of right to vacancy in license area at another nearby school. Put an end to current open market "principal choice."
• End fair funding formula: schools get charged for teacher salaries giving principals incentives to NOT hire higher salaried/senior teachers.
• Protect LIFO (Last In First Out), seniority and tenure contractual rights: Privatization advocates are pushing hard to eliminating tenure/seniority rights guarantees as they've done in Chicago (ATRs get 9 months) and Washington, DC (ATRs get 6 months) before they are fired.
• Fight for a diverse teaching force: ATR ranks are filled with a high proportion of Black and Latino experienced teachers. Last year, the UFT passed a resolution to protect and promote “diversity in the NYC teaching force”. Ensure that the UFT uphold the spirit and letter of that resolution.
• Stop the charter-privatization of our schools: The nation-wide and local City drive to dismantle, close public schools and replace them with non-unionized charters helped precipitate this massive ATR pool. End mayoral control of schools: none of the above happens without turning the system over to the mayor.

NEXT STEPS: ATRs will gather October 20 at 5PM at the Skylight Diner (34th St and 9th Avenue)

RESOLVED:

• No new hiring until all ATRs are placed.

• Publicize the plight of ATRs to all teachers and the general public in all media.

• ATRs in "obsolete license areas" (like Reading) get the summer crash course that TFA and TFs get to allow them to fill vacancies shortage areas: (If a newbie can walk into a classroom after a five-week crash course, then wouldn't a seasoned veteran be able to do at least as well, probably better?)
• Create ATR Chapters with elected CLs in each borough to provide fair representation: (ATRs shifted from school-to-school do not have a permanent Chapter Leader to represent their interests.)
• The UFT conduct an investigation of the DOE Open Market and Excessed Teacher website and find statistics on its use in hiring by principals.
• The economic advantage of hiring new teachers must be eliminated to level the playing field.
• The UFT shall carefully investigate and publicize complaints by ATRs about their hiring experiences.
• The UFT leadership shall make a solemn commitment to seeing that ATRs are hired and that no concession be made to the city to eliminate ATRs.

Sign the petition below if you agree with these demands

Name (print legibly) Signature Email (not DOE)

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The Ronin Teacher predicts pusillanimous prevarications at UFT-ATR meetings

Marc Epstein, otherwise known as the Ronin Teacher, looked into his crystal ball and predicted what will happen at the meeting between the UFT and the ATR teachers next week.  We hope he's wrong.

A Japanese palmreader at work

The UFT will do everything in its power to convince the ATRs that they have their backs and that they won the LIFO War with Bloomberg.

Mulgrew - Casey- Mendel can't explain why: 

a) the hiring freeze was lifted in August just as the ATR pool was growing;

b) they agreed to allow ATRs to be moved from week to week--it's a mystery.

ATRs that have per-session jobs like coaching might find it impossible to do those jobs as they are shifted around a large borough like Queens and Brooklyn. 

The ATR agreement really handed Bloomberg a LIFO victory by calling it something else. As if the life of a Ronin weren't bad enough, they threw in the right to move them around weekly.

The UFT is complicit in these terror tactics, or they are remarkably stupid. Perhaps it's a combination of the two.

Picture credit: http://lukehalliwell.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/japanese_fortune_teller.jpg?w=300&h=224

Attention ATR’s – What’s REALLY going on here?

Below is the text of a leaflet that was distributed at the job fair for ATR teachers that was held on Tuesday, September 13, at the Armory in Washington Heights.  It was written and distributed by members of the GEM ATR Committee.

Attention ATR’s – What’s REALLY going on here?

Help fight off the destructive actions of the DOE done in the name of "school reform," as well as the poor decisions of the UFT leadership resulting in the loss of job protections and the unwarranted closure of over 100  high schools (& middle schools) over the objections of parents, students, alumni, teachers, community, etc. The Bronx & Manhattan has been particularly hard hit - we've lost every community high school with the exception for DeWitt Clinton, which survives only due to their powerful alumni association. Many of these high schools were around for 75-100 years educating generations of New Yorkers.

Bloomberg developed a "final solution" to purge the system of senior teachers: close large community middle and high schools, eliminate seniority transfer, require principals to consider salary in making staffing decisions. These actions created a large pool of ATR's (unassigned teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve). A critical component of this strategy is the repeal of LIFO ("Last In-First Out" state civil service seniority protections) which would result in the firing of ATR's who are unable to secure regular teaching positions on the open market. Despite Bloomberg's vigorous efforts, the state legislature did not abolish LIFO, thus creating the unusually large pool of unassigned ATR's. With the failure of this strategy, the DOE is trying figure out what to do with all these, mostly senior ATR's. The current strategy appears to harass them by using the unassigned ATR's to cover absences, in lieu of the day-to-day subs. In October they will be moved around each week to different schools. Expect a new assault on LIFO this year.

If your only sources of information are the D.O.E dispatches from Tweed, the UFT newspaper or the compliant mass media, you are not getting the whole picture. Please check out blogger "NYCATR"--with lots of useful information for ATRs: http://nycatr.blogspot.com/. Also, look into the list of other teacher activist blogs on the right sidebar for more insights. An excellent blog for ALL teachers to get an overview of what's really happening is "Education Notes Online: ednotesonline.blogspot.com

The Grassroots Education Movement, a group of educator activists, has formed a committee for those working as ATR’s. Our goals include providing information to people in this position and organizing this very vulnerable group. We expect to hold a meeting soon. Contact: The Grassroots Education Movement at gemnyc@gmail.com

Civil War Brewing in UFT Ranks

The following observations were sent to NYCATR by Marjorie Stamberg, a UFT delegate and long-time activist.  They are a call to battle with the DOE--and with the UFT.    

Below are some notes based on conversations with teachers who have been living in the surreal world of ATRland. According to the UFT’s latest figures, some 1,500 of our colleagues are caught in this limbo, where their rights are trampled on. 

In the 2005 contract with the NYC Department of Education, the UFT agreed to allow principals to select the staff at “their” schools. It was also agreed to abolish the UFT job transfer list, where a teacher whose school was closed, or who wished to change schools, could transfer to an opening on a seniority basis, by license area. 

Many of us opposed this at the time as a dangerous attack on teachers’ job security. The upshot was the ballooning of the Absent Teacher Reserve consisting of teachers who have been “excessed” through no fault of their own, as the DOE capriciously shuts down and reorganizes schools as part of its program of charterizing, corporatizing and privatizing public education. 

Teachers in the ATR pool have been made into scapegoats by the media which claims that they are “bad teachers” who should be fired and are supposedly costing NYC taxpayers millions of dollars to sit around doing nothing. These claims are bald-faced lies in the service of a union-busting agenda. 

In fact, as a recent audit by NYC Comptroller John Liu’s office shows, 95 percent of all ATRs are working in schools, three-quarters of them are teaching, and almost half of those who have been in the ATR pool for two or more years have been assigned to the same location for at least two consecutive years! (“Audit Report on the Department of Education’s Utilization of the Absent Teacher Reserve Pool,” September 6, 2011). They are only in the ATR limbo because principals don’t want to pay their salaries. 

Our ATR colleagues need the support of all teachers. As every teacher knows, “If You’re Not an ATR Today, You Could Be Tomorrow!” 

Last spring it was urgent to fight against Mayor Bloomberg’s threatened layoffs of thousands of teachers. Due to our fight-back, the mayor was unable to change the “LIFO” (“Last In First Out”) seniority rules which are a basic union protection. Bloomberg had to back down on his layoff threats which would have paralyzed the schools and been disastrous for students. 

Today we must demand that the more than 800 school aides and other staff who have been laid off be returned to work. And we need to come to the aid of our ATR colleagues under attack, out of elementary solidarity and to protect the jobs of all teachers and staff. 

At recent so-called “job fairs,” ATRs turned out in the hundreds, but the principals refused to even bother to turn up to interview or hire. This profound contempt for ATR teachers is part of an organized media campaign instigated by the DOE. 

Starting on September 15, principals have been told to place ATRs in all vacancies and long-term absences in the schools. So one thing we can do right now is to report all vacancies to the union chapter leaders, especially where there are ATRs in the same school. 

According to the citywide agreement, after one year ATRs who have provisional positions should be offered a permanent assignment if the principal and the teacher agree that there is a “good fit.” However, many principals don’t want to hire an experienced teacher, conscious of his or her rights, when they can get two new hires for the same price. There are many ATRs who have been working in the same position year after year, and yet the principal still refuses to give them permanent assignments. 

ATRs who are not given provisional positions are to be treated as subs, and moved from school to school wherever there is a need. Clearly this is an agenda to harass these teachers out of the system! 

Back in 2008, when the DOE recklessly reorganized the GED program in District 79, “excessing” hundreds of teachers, we demanded that every teacher in the ATR pool must be given a permanent position. We must continue to demand that today. After the 2008 fight in D79, including a demonstration of more than 200 UFTers in November of that year, the ATR issue has not gone away, despite the toothless “Side Agreement” with the DOE. 

The UFT must insist that: 

Schools place all ATR teachers before any new hires are placed. 

ATRs should be given permanent assignments with full rights. 

There are also a number of things that the union can and should do, now. 

There should be regular citywide UFT meetings for ATRs to discuss together, and to get the latest information from the UFT leadership. In addition, we call on the UFT to form a special ATR functional chapter so that teachers placed in this terrible situation have representation and advocates to demand that they be placed and their rights be respected. At present there is no body in the UFT that has this task, and ATRs are mostly left to fend for themselves. 

Even within the framework of the present contract, the union can and should provide oversight and encouragement to principals to request the ATR be kept in the school, and not bumped from place to place. This requires advocacy on a case by case basis. It is obvious that this is only good pedagogy to have a teacher familiar with the school administration, the faculty, the students, and the individual curricula. 

In addition, ATR teachers have raised a number of the many unresolved questions about their situation: 

What provisions are being made for ATRs to express their rights as full dues-paying UFT members?  Where are their voting rights in the UFT chapters? This is particularly acute if these teachers are being moved from school to school. 

If ATRS are in numerous schools throughout the school year, how will they be evaluated? It is hard enough to be in a single school without a permanently assigned classroom; but when one is never in a school long enough to develop rapport with the students as well as collaboration with a principal, the other teachers and the school staff, how can a teacher possibly get a satisfactory rating? 

Many teachers do not have direct deposit. What is the procedure for receiving their paychecks in a timely fashion? Who is responsible and where will the bi-weekly checks be sent for pick-up? 

What evidence is there for assuming the statistics will be any better by June 2012? It is clear that principals still have huge economic pressures on them which forces them to go for the lower-paid and lower-seniority teachers. There is also evidence of systematic age discrimination which the UFT has not directly fought. 

Overall, we must make clear:

With the budget cuts, there has been much talk about larger classroom size. There is no need for overcrowded classrooms with almost 2,000 teachers available to fill full-time positions. There is talk of lack of space. Again, except for certain districts in Queens where the DOE has failed to build new schools despite plenty of forewarning, this is an artificial shortage, created by the DOE’s campaign to hand over available classroom space to charter school “co-locations.” 

Even though thousands of students and parents, particularly from the African American, Latino and Asian communities most affected, have loudly (and repeatedly) denounced this attack, Bloomberg and his minions at the DOE keep up their school-wrecking operation. But they can be stopped if we use our power and act together. 

Picture credit: http://www.soldierstudies.org/images/webquest/civil%20war%20soldiers.jpg

Job Fair Tales, by Life in Limbo

Our ace contributor, Life in Limbo, reports about the DOE's job fairs, where thousands of ATR teachers have wasted millions of hours. 

One of the singular privileges of being an ATR teacher is the opportunity to attend “job fairs” hosted by the Teacher Hiring Support Center (THSC). Usually held at the Brookyn Museum, they are a type of speed-dating where ATRs walk around, resumes in hand, and stand on line for interviews with schools with vacancies in their license area, while admiring fine art.

The first of today’s job fair stories begins in late May. I had realized that I hadn’t gotten any emails from the THSC recently and decided to check the their website myself. After a considerable amount of digging, I found a calendar of four job fairs, none of which had been brought to my attention! Two of the dates had already passed without my knowledge that these events were happening! I read further and saw that these events were by “invitation only."  

No problem, I thought, I’ll just request an invitation. I emailed the THSC of my intention to attend the next job fair and requested my invitation. I checked my contact information in the website (all correct) and waited. The following day, I was sent an email by THSC stating that my qualifications were being reviewed and that the event was by invitation only; should THSC feel that I am a good match for this event, I would certainly receive an invitation. The invitation never came. When I asked the THSC why I never received it, I was told to “Watch your email for invitations to future events!” 

Apparently, I was not the only ATR who was not notified of this event, as fellow blogger Chaz has noted.  I also heard from a UFT representative that this fair was for Teaching Fellows only, and that there would be separate events for ATRs over the summer. This made me wonder why the new hires were getting first crack at vacancies while ATRs (who are ALREADY DOE EMPLOYEES) were being forced to pick over the crumbs after the newbies got first crack at the jobs. My borough UFT office said they’d look into this and get back to me. I am still waiting. 

The second of today’s job fair stories begins a few weeks ago, in early July. I was up at my UFT borough office on a simple, unrelated errand. My eye wandered to a stack of handouts on a table bearing the THSC logo. I picked one up and saw that it was a flyer announcing five summer job fairs for ATRs, some by borough, others for schools throughout the City. Since the flyer stated that ALL ATRs would be invited to attend, I took a copy of the flyer and began checking my email for the invitations. No invitations ever came. 

I was able to attend the job fair last Tuesday, however, and did gain entry by having the representative at the check-in desk look me up on the computer. (What happened at the job fair is another post for another day.)  But the question kept nagging me: Why is it so difficult to get invited to job fairs that are allegedly being held FOR YOU?? And how many other ATRs who, like me, WANT to find permanent placement, are not being told of these events? Why would the THSC, and by extension, the DOE , NOT want us to attend these events they go to the trouble and expense of organizing? Is it possible that they do not WANT us placed? I think so.

If we are not aware of these fairs and do not attend them, the Post, then News, and every op-ed piece will focus on the lazy ATRs who didn’t bother to show up for the six job fairs the DOE so painstakingly organized JUST FOR THEM. This, in turn, strengthens their position that the ATRs should be the first to go during layoffs and that seniority rights must be eliminated to make this happen. After all, they must be lazy and unmotivated if they can’t be bothered to attend six job fairs held in their honor. 

Are we being used as pawns in Bloomberg’s “End LIFO” battle and set up to look lazy and unmotivated?  It certainly looks that way from here.  

By the way, I requested an invitation to the next job fair. Anyone want to guess how it turns out?