1,800 Teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve

SchoolBook has published a report with some important numbers regarding the ATR, plus a few typical innacuracies and insults.  Notice, for example, how they write about the city trying to "get rid of" teachers in the ATR.  That goes in the category of insult, not inaccuracy, because it is, unfortunately, exactly what the Mayor would like to do with every single teacher in the ATR. 

The last recruitment event of this year’s hiring season takes place Wednesday, as the number of teachers out of work more than doubled to 1,800 over the summer. 

The job fair, at the Armory on the Hudson in Upper Manhattan, is by invitation only and teachers must register in advance. 

Education officials said the pool of teachers looking for permanent positions spiked after approximately 1,000 teachers lost their positions at the end of last school year.

But the city is trying to reduce the annual ATR pool size and ultimately get rid of those teachers who are being paid for full-time work but are not actively looking for jobs, or can’t get hired. Last year there were just 800 excessed teachers on the city payroll, something both education and union officials said was the result of a new system of rotating teachers to different schools each week, giving them more exposure to schools that may want to hire them permanently.

Click here for the complete article. 

A House of Mirrors, in Which the Former ATR Finds Herself in a Different Kind of Limbo

NYCATR's star contibutor, Life in Limbo, has done it again: she's managed to get stuck under a low-lying limbo pole, with her poison pencil intact. 

To the regular ATR readers and Friends of ATRs, I hope your summer is going well. 

To the newly-minted ATRs, I hope that your fall down the rabbit hole provides a soft landing and there is a Mad Hatter waiting there with a very strong Margarita just for you (ask for a second, you’re going to need it). 

So, after two years in the ATR pool and a year in a REAL position (at a completely insane and out-of-control school, but let’s not mention that-- oops, too late), why am I here writing for an ATR blog? Good question. I mean, I am a fully appointed teacher who had a satisfactory year by all accounts, right? Life in Limbo should be, for all intents and purposes, out of limbo. Right?? 

RIGHT????? 

Wrong. Apparently, there is more than one type of limbo when you are in DOE Wonderland. 

Let’s turn the clock back all the way to… May. You know, when you get to fill out your preference sheet? Yeah, that time period. I filled out mine requesting a job in my actual license area first, then requesting the job I already had as my second. When tentative assignments came out in June, I was informed that I was (most likely) going to have the same assignment next year. Ok, I thought, this is as good as it’s going to get in this crazy place and I love my colleagues, so yeah, I can handle that. 

Teachers line up for a job fair in September, 2011. 

So I am happily going about my business this summer–schlepping my kids to camp, swim lessons, and basically going with the flow, appreciating that no mandatory, but useless, “Job Fairs” are in my future for the first time in three years. 

Then I get a text message. A colleague tells me that she stopped at school to introduce herself to the new (Leadership Academy) principal and that she got a chance to peek at the new organization sheet for the 12-13 school year. 

My name was not on it. This puzzles me. 

I did not receive an excess letter. 

I did not receive an e-mail, phone call, or smoke signal indicating that I am in excess. 

There was no indication that ANY excessing was necessary under our last principal back at the end of the year. 

HR Connect still lists me as appointed to my school and NOT in excess. 

An e-mail to my AP has not been returned. 

Now, you may be asking, Why not just call and ask? In a universe devoid of absurdity, that would make sense. But this is the DOE, and we all went through the looking glass the day we signed on. So the obvious becomes, clearly, the last reasonable option. 

IF I seek to correct the mistake, then I face being in a situation where I am dealing with a first-time principal with little actual teaching experience (I Googled) in a completely out-of-control school where there have been few, if any, actual consequences for disruptive behavior. I am facing a Leadership Academy principal who has never been a principal before, and who is likely in the building to perform one of two functions: to either drive the school in to the ground so it can be put on the closure list, OR, to get this school “under control” by beating up on teachers so the building can look like a “success” story. Neither scenario puts me or my colleagues in a winning (or even tenable) position. Seems like ten months of torture is on the menu regardless of which is true. 

So I am now tempted to keep this under wraps. At this point, traveling from school to school weekly seems like a better deal than ten months of torture under a Learning Academy principal and the Common Core. In an odd way, given the options, the ATR is the better deal. Now I agree, they both completely suck, but at least the ATR option doesn’t require all the extra hours, paperwork, and “accountability”. 

If my job is going to suck either way, I’ll take the suckage that requires less work.

This job fair was a mockery!

Barbra Nahoum, an ATR teacher in Brooklyn's District 21, attended the mandatory job fair that was held at the Brooklyn Museum on September 20th.  She enjoyed herself so much that she ran home and dashed off the following letter to Michael Mulgrew, the president of the UFT.

Dear Mr. Mulgrew:

The parking lot of the Brooklyn Museum
features a replica of the Statue of
Liberty.  Whose liberty, we''re not sure.

Today was a humiliating day for teachers who were mandated to attend the Teacher Recruitment Fair. When I arrived with my ATR friends at the Brooklyn Museum, we received a ticket at the gate and then drove around looking for a parking spot. The parking lot was packed with cars and many teachers had to turn around and look for a spot on the street. When I entered the museum there was a check-in counter to sign in. The room was packed wall to wall with people. Most of the people in the room, I have seen at other Job Fairs in previous years. I also met a lot of new ATR's from my district, and I was very sad to see that they are now going to be joining me as a nomad in a school district. It is very apparent to me that this new teaching position "ATR" is here to stay and the club is growing by leaps and bounds.

The room was set up with long tables all around this huge room and half of the tables were empty, due to no-shows of principals, I assume. After I walked the room and it was close to 3:00 p.m., I was given a letter confirming that I attended this job fair. We then left the building and proceeded to walk to my friend's car. We then had to wait on a long line to pass the front gate. As we were waiting, I saw teachers handing the attendant money. I thought to myself, "Why are they paying when the DOE was sponsoring this fair?" When we reached the gate the attendant said, "You pay $7.00 because your ticket is not stamped." We then asked, "where do we get it stamped?" The attendant said, "I don't know." Why wasn't there a sign notifying ATR's that at the end of the fair you must get your ticket stamped? When we received a letter verifying our attendance at the end of the job fair, the Division of Human Resources staff should have asked for our ticket and stamped it. They did not mention anything about getting a ticket stamped. Many teachers were in a rush to leave because they have families and other obligations after school. The majority of teachers paid the $7.00 because none of them were aware that they were supposed to get their ticket stamped at the Teacher Recruitment Fair. There were no signs or any indication that they had to get their ticket stamped in order to be exempt from paying the parking lot fee. It was very obvious that they didn't want teachers to get their ticket stamped.

This event has turned out to be a money making event for people who own this parking lot. It is bad enough that we had to attend this event that was nonproductive. It is so disturbing that middle aged, experienced teachers are subbing and will probably never be regular teachers again in the DOE.  These teachers have many years of public service serving the children in the City of New York and this is the thanks they get. We serve the most important people in the community (our children) and our farewell gift is to be treated with no respect and we are looked upon by our coworkers as if we are rejects in this system.

This job fair was a mockery!

  

Barbra Nahoum

cc: Judy Gerowitz [UFT District 21 Representative]

Howard Schoor [UFT Brooklyn Borough Leader]

Michael Mendel [UFT Secretary]

Photo credit:
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRT9vLM8LmVM6iSxL3gYp5C4CZXSytjXK_uxO-WSHdkVeFAV4uPS4ABzYObUQ

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

The Love Letter of Ms. R. ATR

NYCATR welcomes a new contributor, Ms. R. ATR.  We predict that she'll be a star. 

September 15, 2011

Dear DOE, 

Thank you so much for keeping me in the Absent Teacher Reserve. I am so looking forward to enjoying all my time this year, traveling from school to school, from job fair to job fair. 

It’s been so much fun hanging out with other teachers at the “DOE Recruitment Job Fair” at the Armory in upstate Manhattan. They have so much experience; so many years of teaching. Wow. We get to know each other so well as we wait in lines, wrapped around the Armory, waiting for those big burly security guards to let us get into another line. It’s fun to wait and talk. We talk about so many interesting things. My, but these teachers are so very bright. As we’re herded three flights up to another line, I think about all the students they have inspired. As I line up again and again to wait for an interview, I so appreciate this opportunity to learn about my colleagues. Why, this social studies teacher in front of me studied American history at Yale during her summer vacation. She wanted to learn more so she’d be a better teacher. On her vacation! This sweet fellow behind me spent much of his time after school, tutoring students who needed that extra attention. Lots of time he didn’t get paid for. I’m so moved. Dear DOE, it’s so nice of you to get us all together so we can share our stories in line after line. This is mad collegial stuff. 

Thank you also for assigning us to a different school each week. It should be really great to get around the city and meet new people. Every school is so different in its own way. Thing is, the classes we get to cover when a teacher is out are so much bigger this year. I’ve already substituted in a class with 37 students. It’s awesome to meet so many students at one time. When I was teaching in my regular position, our classes only went up to 25 students. That was certainly challenging for me–to make sure every student was seen, heard and given any special attention he or she may have needed to insure success. But 37 or 40 students in a class! That’s amazing! There are bound to be some pretty cool video games going on in the back of the rooms. 

There are about 1500 teachers in the ATR and they are all at the Armory today. Attendance is mandatory. I look around. Geeze….most of them are at least 50 years old. I guess younger teachers are still in schools. Gosh…there’s supposed to be a hiring freeze. But everybody on line seems to know about a new teacher who’s just been hired in their old school. How come? Oh, I get it. They must want to get more youngsters in the school. After all, they can hire two brand new spanking teachers for the price of one more experienced teacher. Can you blame them? Of course, most of these young teachers are like deer in headlights for their first year or so of teaching. 

Big classes? Not for sissys, lemme tell ya. But these older teachers, with their lifetime of skills, cost more money to keep. I understand. With less money in the budget, it must be hard to figure out who gets to stay and who gets to be “excessed.” After all, even you guys at the DOE must hate these cuts. I know some of you have been great educators and I’m so glad you’re still there. Maybe you could teach some of these administrative guys (who’ve never worked in a classroom) about the importance of keeping class size down. I mean, what if they volunteered to maybe a 5% cut in their own hefty salaries. That one little step might help reduce class size. But that’s probably asking too much. Especially if they just put that new addition on their country home. The marble floor’s being shipped from Italy. Boy does that cost money! 

Still, it’s nice to know you guys at the DOE are putting us older teachers together. Kind of preparing us for assisted living, I guess. That’ll be fun. I won’t have to do my own housework. But as I’m looking around this Armory, I’d guess most of these teachers average about 20 years each of teaching experience. 20 years times 1500 teachers. Wow, that’s 33,000 teaching years! Imagine that! 33,000 teaching years are standing in line here in the Armory hoping to find one out of maybe 10 jobs available. 

You know what was going on 33,000 years ago? I just looked it up. 33,000 years ago Neanderthals were roaming the Earth. Imagine that. I mean…and I’m just thinking out loud here…33,000 teaching years standing in lines at the Armory…Class size is swelling. Neanderthals. Teachers. DOE. Go ahead–you make your own joke. 

In a couple of weeks, you’re going to send us to a new school every week. That should be fun. I sure hope you have enough time and money to pay all your DOE employees to herd us around town week after week. That’s really going to cost you and I certainly hope it’s not too much of a headache. 

Have a nice Fall. 

Love,

Ms. R ATR

Picture Credit:  http://marylouisegibbons.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/honey.jpg

Latest ATR job fair is another dud

The following is the first offering of a new contributor to NYCATR.  His name is Angel Gonzalez.  He is a founding member of the GEM ATR Committee, and we hope he will continue to contribute his information and opinions to NYCATR.  

Sept. 13, 2011

Washington Heights Armory, 169th Street Manhattan 

Teachers line up outside the Armory, waiting to enter the job fair. 

Over 300 excessed teachers, members of the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) lined up for another DOE sponsored job fair today,  where most will not find permanent jobs.

It was another one of those summer mandatory futile job searches where ATR teachers are obligated to attend and where only a few will land a job. 

Most at today's job fair were clearly senior, veteran, higher-paid excessed teachers and over 50% were Black and Latino.

Principals generally will hire the younger inexperienced teachers who are paid less and tend not to know their labor rights--thus more compliant to the whims of administrators. Many of those young teachers are graduates of the Teach For America pool who are inculcated with anti-union and anti-veteran teacher propaganda. Principals, facing mounting budget deficits and cuts, would be foolish to hire seasoned teachers who earn salaries between $80 - 100K yearly when the bargain is to hire two at those prices! The deck has been unfairly stacked against older, higher-paid ATR teachers.

At thhis job fair today, some expressed the hope that maybe the city will offer them an early retirement buyout.

Others shared anger at the UFT leadership for abandoning them in the 2005 contract which bargained away their right to seniority rights transfer. Now, starting in October, those ATR teachers who can not find a steady classroom job will become substitutes who will be assigned weekly to different schools in their districts to cover for absent teachers. This agreement by the UFT with Mayor Bloomberg to turn ATR teachers into traveling subs might force many to quit due to the untenable and unpredictable situation. 

Bloomberg persists in seeking to eliminate tenure and the just "Last In First Out-LIFO" state protections. Should layoffs occur, without these protections, members of the ATR will surely be the first targeted for firings. 

Be on the look-out also for Bloomberg's allies in our schools--a nefarious group called E4E (Educators for Excellence). This group is aggressively organizing to win over the hearts and minds of our newer teachers in this deceptive anti-tenure and anti-experienced teacher campaign that unjustly and cruelly blames them, instead of government, for the problems in our public schools. 

In Chicago and Washington DC excessed teachers are given from six to nine months to find placements or else are fired. We can't let this happen here too. We can't allow our brothers and sisters to be dumped like collateral damage in this charter-privatization assault of our schools. Excessed teachers should be guaranteed a job elsewhere as was the case prior to 2005. As schools continue to be closed to be replaced with charters, hundreds more teachers will be excessed.  It is estimated that it costs the city today $100M yearly! 

As ATR teachers and as UFT members we will need to organize ourselves and mount the necessary political pressure to defend tenure and to restore seniority transfer rights.

Clearly no UFT officials or UFT organizers were present on the lines today to promote, defend and organize in the just interests of ATRs.

GEM ATR Committee organizers, were at today's job fair distributing leaflets and sharing our views.

ATRs R Us! Join the fight-back.

Be on the look-out for our upcoming meetings.

Contact the GEM-ATR committee at: GEMNYC@gmail.com

Job Fair Tale #3: Fine Art and False Hopes

                                                                                                        

artquotes.net

  By Life in Limbo

                                                                                                             

I wasn’t going to go. 

I’ve become tired of dancing to the same old song and, sorry, I was just going to sit this one out. And I’ve already seen all of the paintings in the European Masters room. While I love Rembrandt, THSC, could you please move the fairs to a different gallery? I think the Surrealists make a better backdrop for this, anyway. 

But my inner masochist had been looking forward to this all week, and she’s such a whiner when she doesn’t get her way, so off I went. 

The “job fair” was supposed to start at 2. I arrived at about 1:45 and the line to get into the museum was already snaking through the Brooklyn Museum patio. I ran into a friend from my original school and I mentioned that I had been unable to print my ticket. He told me he had the same problem (printer trashed due to hurricane flooding) and said to speak to the lady at the head of the line so I could go in to get a ticket. 

I walked up to the woman at the door and she was engaged in a friendly conversation with a colleague. I waited. She made it a point to ignore me, so I finally just went in and got on the line for my ticket. A few seconds later, she was behind me, shouting. “Move over here! Yes, YOU! I’ll speak slowly. MOVE…OVER…HERE."

I had no idea she was speaking to me until she got up in my face. I looked at her and she said, "Did you not SEE that there happens to be 100 people outside? Or do you think that you don’t have to wait like the rest of the world does?” I explained that I just needed to get a ticket and wasn’t cutting to get in. “You didn’t cut the line? Oh, you certainly did! I saw you – you walked right past all those people like they wasn’t even there and just come on right through that door like you don’t got to wait for nothing.” When I asked if I was on the right line to get a ticket and then RETURN to the BACK of the line, she said, “Wait on this line here,” indicating the line she had pulled me off of.

After getting my ticket, I returned to the BACK of the line, which was now to the edge of the museum property. It was snaking onto the sidewalk shortly thereafter. I looked at the people with me and was, as usual, amazed at how many teachers here were over 35. If seniority decides excessing, then there must be an administrative game afoot because in every school I have seen it’s the 25 year olds who are in classrooms while the rest of us go to endless “job fairs”. 

I soon made another startling realization. There was a conversation next to me between a THSC person and a teacher whose entry was questioned. The teacher was asking the THSC person for her name. She refused to tell the teacher her name. “Say you spoke to the Hiring Center” is what she said, but she would not give out even her first name. So I started looking at these THSC people and saw than NONE OF THEM have names. Their badges said, “THSC Support” or “THSC Placement Adviser”, etc, but no one had an actual name. As a matter of fact, NO ONE in the place had names except for the teachers – even the principals/representatives wore badges that said simply, “Interviewer”. It was like being interviewed by a big, nameless machine - you don’t know who anyone is; you are at a disadvantage because your name is in bold type for all to see.

I also noticed that the gallery was half empty. The entire back of the room was filled with empty tables, set up for schools that never showed. Plenty of teachers were walking around looking frustrated and sad. The newly excessed teachers look confused. I spoke to several Reading teachers, all of whom had between 10 and 17 years of experience, one with 22. So many others told me of being in a building 7, 12, 15 years and being excessed while brand new teachers have classrooms. 

The saddest thing I saw was a male teacher about my age, who had two kids with him, about the ages of my older two. His name tag said, “Technology and Computer Science” and his kids kept pointing to tables saying, “What about this one, Dad?” or “This is a high school, Dad, how about here?” and he kept answering, “No, they don’t want me, they don’t want me.” My heart broke for this man, and my anger flared at a system that throws people on the trash heap like day-old bread. 

There were others – the teacher who taught business electives at a closing high school, a drama teacher excessed because the dance room was being converted to a classroom in her overcrowded school, music teachers who were told there would be no band program for them next year, math teachers, science teachers, even more than a few experienced Special Ed and ESL teachers, who are supposedly in shortage areas.

But do you know who there was an abundance of? TEACHING FELLOWS! Brand new, shiny, sparkling Teaching Fellows! Everywhere! Even though the invitation e-mail specifically stated that this “job fair” was for ATRs exclusively. One of them was at the water station, complaining about the lack of positions in ELA and how this was a waste of her five weeks. I said to her, “There are about 2000 of us ALREADY in the system without positions. Until EVERY one of us is placed in a position, there shouldn’t be a SINGLE new teacher in this room, period. You think you wasted five weeks? Some of these people have put in 10, 15, 20 YEARS and this is what happens to them.” She said she had no idea that there were teachers already in the system without positions. Apparently, the DOE lies to the Fellows, too.

All in all, this “job fair” was just like all the others. I hope they consider changing the gallery for the next one. I have viewed all the paintings in this one. Do they have any by Dali or Miro?

Cock-and-Bull on Concessions (CBC)

                                          mychinaconnection.com 




The Citizens Budget Committee (CBC) is proud that the New York Times called it,  "A prominent organization that studies government finances."  As a person who does math on his fingers and toes, I will have to take the Times at their word.

When it comes to the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR), however, I don't take anyone at their word.  I know what it is, because I've been there. 

So when the CBC opined on their website that the recent concessions made by the UFT regarding the ATR are not really concessions, I stopped counting my fingers and quickly applied them to the keyboard to respond.  Here is what I wrote:

   

I agree that the concessions recently made by the UFT are not terribly severe; on the other hand, it is more than a bit galling of you to ask "What concessions?"

You feel that delaying a sabbatical is not a real concession? What if you had been working for that sabbatical for 14 years? No, a sabbatical is not a perk. It is a contractual provision that a teacher earns a sabbatical after 14 years of work; to delay it for a year is like delaying salary for a year.  And do you really think that after this year the DOE will ever agree to sabbaticals again?

Now, about reducing "restrictions for allowing teachers without classroom assignments to serve as substitutes":  It sounds so benign in the abstract, but so cruel and wasteful in the real world.  First of all, these "teachers without classroom assignments" are in that predicament due to one entity and one entity alone: the DOE.  The DOE has the right and responsibility to place every single one of these ATR teachers in a permanent position, but it has refused to do so.  Instead, it has sent them schlepping around to bogus job fairs where half the principals don't show up,and the other half only want to hire underpaid, undertrained, and underexperienced candidates from Teaching Fellows and Teach for America.

Further, these ATR teachers have already been serving as substitutes, some of them for as many as 5 years.  The concession recently made (not by them, but by the UFT) is that they can be moved from school to school on a weekly basis.  Not really a concession, you say?  Tell me something, CBC: do you work in a different office every week? Do you have to acclimate to a new set of supervisors every week?  Do you have to learn anew where the ladies room is every week?

We are not talking about untested college grads who are trying to break into a profession by working as temps. We are talking about proven, experienced professionals who found themselves in a school that needed to downsize--and because they had the least seniority within a particular area, they were excessed.

You write at the end of your article that you wish to see the ATR abolished. So do I.  This group of approximately 1,900 professionals should be immediately placed in schools where they can do their best to educate the children of New York City.  We could then save the millions of dollars that the DOE has wasted on recruiting newbies and on running pseudo-job fairs for the ATR teachers.

The Interview II, in which My Kids Become a Concern

ANOTHER  INTERVIEW  TALE

by Life in Limbo

Well, at least it didn’t last six hours. Nope, this principal managed to get me in and out in less than an hour. I must commend her efficient use of time. (Seriously.) 

This was the second “job fair” related interview I was recently invited to, and on the surface, it seemed like a good fit--the principal was engaging and expressed what appeared to be a genuine interest at the “job fair” and came pretty close to offering me the job on the spot. The school was a new school which required interested students to apply. At the “job fair,” the principal said that she wanted her literacy coach to meet with me before she offered me the position because she doesn’t like to appear to be ignoring the input of her advisers. 

As usual, I arrived at the school about fifteen minutes before my scheduled time and was escorted into the principal’s office shortly thereafter, and introduced to the Literacy Coach.  All was looking good until this principal mentioned that she saw on my resume that I have another skill that she imagined could possibly be the makings of an after-school club or activity. I responded that I would gladly consider this as a per-session assignment and that it would probably be more fun than work. 

Her entire demeanor changed as soon as I said, “per-session.” She said, “Now you know in these times that budgets are tight. I heard you say that you would do this per-session, but I am wondering if you would still be as enthusiastic about this if we could not pay you.” I went on to explain that I already do this activity after school and on weekends and that I am paid when I do. I told her that volunteering my time instead of being paid would impact my availability as I would be hesitant to give up a paying gig only to replace it with an unpaid one--this would be the equivalent of taking a pay cut. Her face froze at that point, and the temperature in the a/c-free room dropped by at least 20 degrees. 

She changed the subject abruptly and asked me, “As the parent of young children, I have to ask if your parenting responsibilities and child care situation would prevent you from being able to fully devote yourself to doing whatever it takes to move this school forward.” (I have no idea how she knew I have kids, though she may have seen my “Happy Mother’s Day” bookmark when she came to greet me. It was a gift from my 10 year-old.) I told her that I have always been able to do my job and get my work done while balancing my outside responsibilities. She pursued the topic, saying that teachers need to be “flexible” about working hours and willing to make the students at her school their first priority at all times, and she wondered how I could commit to that while parenting young children. I reminded her that I have always managed do quality work and that my family situation is really not relevant to the conversation at the moment. (Actually, it’s illegal to ask questions like this in an interview; I was trying to be polite.) 

The next topic was instruction. I was asked to describe a typical lesson. My last school used the Reading/Writing Workshop model. I sketched out the components of the workshop, including an Independent reading activity each day. She looked at me coldly and said, “Well, I guess we can say that we will have to work with you on your rigor. Our students don’t have time at the end of a lesson for any “independent work.” When I said that my last school specifically told us to include independent work in each lesson, she ignored it. Instead, she went on to say that the fact that I included independent work showed a lack of academic rigor on my part and that I would certainly need to be brought up to speed on what it means to have high expectations. (Sounded like she was setting me up for a U-rating right there--“You know Ms. Limbo, I had concerns about your academic rigor when you interviewed…” At the very least it was clear that I could expect a zillion snapshots to assess my “rigor”.) 

Needless to say, I was not surprised to get a phone call from the Literacy coach saying that they found a “better” candidate. Not “more suitable.”  Just “better.” Hey, I have to say she showed a bit of class there. Usually no one calls back. 

I find it curious that everything seemed to be going swimmingly until I hesitated to work after school for free and refused to discuss my child care situation with her. The fact that I knew that she can’t insist that I work for free or ask me about my kids/child care situation clearly ticked her off. 

The bottom line? I have a nagging feeling that I was denied this position because I am hesitant to give up a paid after-school job in order to do the same job at her school for free, and because my role as a parent made me less likely to stay late/arrive early in accordance with her whims. I love teaching, I really do. But I refuse to be anyone’s martyr.

Gothamschools.org does my job for me

Gothamschools.org has been kind enough to feature a few NYCATR articles, so we will now repay the favor.  The good folks at Gotham went to a DOE job fair yesterday and filed a golden report about a situation that is pure, putrid tinsel. NYCATR added nought but a bit of colored highlights and an extra link.

Schools are hiring, but veteran teachers say job outlook is grim

by Rachel Cromidas

With just weeks to find teaching positions before the start of the school year, recent college graduates rubbed shoulders with veteran teachers at a Department of Education job fair yesterday.

New teachers who attended the fair said they are optimistic about their chances of finding a school to hire them, now that the city has relaxed its two-year-old hiring restrictions.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be — a lot of my friends have already received offers,” said Arbiana Asani, who is looking for an English teaching position after graduating from Hunter College in June.

But pessimism was the prevailing mood at the fair among experienced teachers whose previous positions were recently eliminated. Those teachers said few jobs were advertised in their license areas and that some principals seemed to balk at the expense that would accompany their years of experience.

Caroline Schulz said she left the job fair with the sense that no schools would be hiring an art teacher so late in the summer. She has twice been excessed from art teaching jobs at a time when more principals are unable to fund full-time arts teachers. This will be her second time entering the Absent Teacher Reserve, the pool for teachers whose positions have been eliminated.

“The reasons were definitely the budget cuts,” said Schulz, who has been teaching for close to two decades. “In my experience, it’s always the arts that are hit first.”

Schools received their budgets from the DOE later this year than usual, forcing principals to cut positions over the summer. The department has not yet released information on how many teacher positions were cut.

Mary Smith, a science teacher, said she has scrambled to apply for jobs since she was excessed from a Brooklyn high school in July because she was the least senior teacher on staff. She also attended a job fair in Brooklyn at the beginning of the month. This week’s fair featured schools in the Bronx and Manhattan.

Smith said she got a grim sense of her job prospects from meeting with principals and teachers at both fairs. Some of them, she said, didn’t seem committed to interviewing all of the job candidates available.

“They talked, they were pleasant, but some of them packed up their tables and left by 4 o’clock,” Smith said. She said the job hunt has taken time away from her teaching duties.

“By now, August 16, I should be starting to put my lesson plans together, reviewing the Regents so I know my plan for next year. But I’m in limbo,” Smith said.

A new rule requires schools to interview teachers in the ATR pool but does not require that they hire from the pool [thus spake NYCATR, who still suspects that the UFT is sugarcoating the matter].

One social sciences teacher who asked not to be named said she worried principals viewed her 30 years of teaching experience as a reason not to hire her. “The principals look at our resumes, and when they see the date or how many years we’ve been teaching, they sum up that we cost too much. One looked at my resume and just said, ‘Oh, it looks like you’ve been teaching for a while.’” Meanwhile, she added, “They’re hiring brand new teachers who have never taught, they just got out of college.”

The teacher, who brought a book bag stuffed with portfolios of past students’ work to the job fair to show interviewers, said she was dismayed to find teachers and guidance counselors standing in for principals. “They’re sending a message that it’s not that important to fill whatever position, because the teacher doesn’t have the authority to hire anyone anyway.”

This will be her first year in the ATR pool. She lost her job after her school, M.S. 321 in Manhattan, closed due to poor performance.

Though her salary will not change this year even if she can only find work as a substitute, she said the DOE is not using her to her full potential. “Right now I would be giving my free time to setting up my library in my classroom, and writing introductory letters to parents and students, welcoming them to the school,” she said.

The Interview, in which the ATR Teacher Meets One of the New Bureaucrats.

INTERVIEW TALE #1

by Life in Limbo

Six hours. 

No, I am not kidding. 

My gift for hyperbole aside, I recently had a job interview that took up six hours of my day. 

This particular interview resulted from my experience at a recent Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) "Job Fair," and, unlike past interviews I have received, it was at a school that is a reasonable commute from my home and for a position that I, theoretically, would enjoy and find a good fit. 

I arrived about fifteen minutes before the scheduled time and was told to wait for the principal. After about half an hour, I was ushered into the office with the principal, the parent coordinator, and a faculty member. We proceeded to have a pleasant conversation and I felt that there was a chance that this could be a workable position – the principal seemed to be experienced and pragmatic (not one of those Leadership Academy sociopaths), and the faculty member and parent coordinator were pleasant, candid, and definitely people I could get along with. 

I was feeling like maybe there was something here and agreed when I was asked to wait a bit to interview with someone from the Children First Network (CFN)--so much for principal’s autonomy. I was placed in an empty office and made myself comfortable with my book. 

I waited in this office for about an hour, after which the principal came in and told me that the CFN person was on his way. Another ten minutes passed and I was told to come back in two hours as the CFN person was going to lunch. So much for the grocery shopping and pool outing I had planned for the afternoon. 

Upon my return, I waited another 20 minutes for the arrival of the CFN Human Resources Director of Talent (one of the new administrative positions recently created). 

This guy was an ignorant jerk. One of his first questions was, "Why have you been at a new school every year?" When I mentioned that this is what happens when you are an ATR teacher, he said, "Oh is that how it works? You go somewhere new every year? Why is that?" I had to explain to this guy what an ATR teacher is, and how the ATR pool works, even though I came to the interview by way of a "job fair" that was STRICTLY FOR ATRs. You’d think he’d have some kind of idea of how candidates were being selected for interviews. 

His next line of questioning focused on why the other two schools I was sent to hadn't picked me up. They didn’t have any vacancies in my area, I answered. His response? "Well, I have to wonder why they didn’t at least ask for you back." I explained that to ask me back would require placing me in a non-existent position, and he responded, "Well, I know that if you are as good as you look on paper that a principal can find a way to keep you."

"So why were you U-rated and made an ATR?" he asked.  I explained that I was never U-rated at any time and that I became an ATR teacher when the Reading department (four of us) at my school was eliminated, due to the fact that the Reading students all PASSED the ELA. He still persisted with, "I have to wonder why you haven’t been called back to your old school or either of the other two." I told him that he was asking me questions I could not answer, but that he was free to call the schools and ask the principals directly. 

He then commended me on my "honesty" and "candor" in being "forthcoming" about my ATR status and not lying or trying to hide my "situation." (As if somehow being an ATR means you did something WRONG.) Finally, he wrapped up with the following: "I have to say I have some concerns. After two years as an ATR, it bothers me that no one has picked you up and makes me think that there MUST be something wrong with you that you haven’t mentioned. It just seems like you are past your ‘sell-by’ date." I was escorted out shortly after by the principal, who had been noticeably quiet throughout my interrogation by the "Talent Coach," with the promise that I "will be hearing from" her. I am not holding my breath. 

Let’s keep in mind that this “Talent Coach” makes at least $81,000/yr and is NOT required to have any teaching experience--the job description specifies HR experience, not teaching or even administration.  The fact that he had no clue what ATR status means, how ATRs are assigned, or how one becomes an ATR is pathetic. On top of that, with all the talk about principal autonomy in hiring, I find it curious that his presence completely SHUT DOWN the principal and, apparently, overturned her decision regarding the position I was interviewing for. 

This charade lasted about six hours–most of it spent waiting–showing that the DOE has no regard for our time, regardless of the fact that I was there on my own time and of my own volition. These people had no qualms about hijacking my entire day, and did not even bother to ask if I had any other responsibilities or commitments later in the day. Apparently, if you are an ATR, you are to make yourself available to administration as they see fit, on their terms, and be prepared to stay until they no longer find you entertaining.

Job Fair Tale No. 2, in which the ATR teacher doesn't get any cookies

ANOTHER  JOB  FAIR  TALE

by Life in Limbo

I received an invitation to a job fair for members of the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) from the Teacher Hiring “Support” Center (THSC) about a week ago. After I overcame my shock at actually being INVITED to a job fair intended for people just like me, I figured, sure, I’ll go. I mean the “job fair” I attended last week was a complete waste of time and effort, so why not spend another day of my vacation engaged in yet another exercise in futility? My inner masochist could hardly contain herself. 

While this job fair was allegedly for Brooklyn and Queens only, I noticed that there were several schools from the Bronx and Manhattan in attendance as well, with the majority of schools being middle schools and elementary schools. There were very few high schools. 

So here are a few of my thoughts and observations: 

*ATR teachers were given blank sticky name tags on which to write our names and license areas. Teaching Fellows, on the other hand, were given pre-made computer-generated clip-on name tags in little plastic sleeves. Makes it pretty easy to separate the cheap, untenured newbies from the pack, doesn’t it? 

*I was at this fair for about three hours. I only got to speak to FOUR people. The lines for interviews were not particularly long, but the principals were speaking to candidates for 15–20 minutes at a time. I waited on line for an average of ½ hour for each interview, usually with only one or two people ahead of me. If anyone from THSC is listening, maybe a time limit for these meet-and-greets could be set, because I doubt any candidate could have met with more than 4 -5 principals in the four hours of the event. This is unfair. 

*There were MANY empty tables where schools had not shown up and many principals had sent representatives from their network to the fair instead of attending in person or sending an AP or two. 

*As I waited on line, I saw THSC people walking around serving plates of fruit salad and cookies to the interviewers (none of whom had their actual NAMES on their name tags–they just said, “INTERVIEWER”). The candidates, however, were only given access to two small water dispensers located in a far corner of the room. And no one ever brought me any. I just got it myself. 

*Many of the crowd of job-seekers (with the exception of the Teaching Fellows) were experienced, older (read: over 40) teachers and there were MANY Reading teachers seeking non-existent vacancies. I also spoke to math, science, ESL and Special Ed teachers who told me that they have been unable to find positions in spite of applying for many (some up to 100) vacancies. Others told me of vacancies in their license areas that they covered last year only to find that the job was given permanently to a newbie with a connection.

*My most interesting conversation, however, was with a very friendly UFT representative. I wanted to discuss my child care situation if I am sent to a school that requires a commute of over one hour. She suggested that I apply for a "Special Accommodation," which is usually reserved for people with disabilities, but might be worth a shot in my case. In addition, the UFT representative flat out told me that she does not think that they will really send teachers to different schools every week–the logistics of reassigning everyone are too complicated and the principals don’t want an “ATR of the Week” situation any more than the ATRs want to be in that situation. So now I have to wonder if the UFT knows something about this agreement that we “regular” people do not. In light of NYCATR’s post yesterday, I think it is possible. 

The results of this endeavor for your humble blogger? I had four interviews, one  with the school I was excessed from (listing an ELA vacancy). All went very well, with two showing what appeared to be genuine interest. I also received a call this afternoon and have an interview set up at one of the schools on Friday, so maybe it wasn’t an exercise in futility after all. But then, I have been down this road before, so while I will try to be optimistic, my inner pessimist will continue to give the finger to the powers that be who created this horrendous and degrading situation.

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?