Resolution in defense of ATR educators

Oct 15, 2008 1:14 PM

WHEREAS, in the 2005 contract, the United Federation of Teachers negotiated job security that protects the employment of New York City public school educators excessed from their schools – a unique protection among large city school districts around the country; and

WHEREAS, in the same contract, the UFT negotiated two additional contractual rights for excessed educators who did not find new positions [ATRs] – [1] the priority right to be sent to open positions for interviews before other candidates were interviewed and [2] eligibility for a voluntary buyout program whose amount must be negotiated and which must be offered to anyone excessed for a year or more; and

WHEREAS, the NYC Department of Education has failed to faithfully implement the 2005 contract, has introduced financial disincentives for the hiring of ATRs and a new budgetary formula that discourages the hiring of more experienced teachers, has closed scores of schools and has irresponsibly hired thousands of new teachers at a time when experienced competent teachers already on payroll were available;

WHEREAS, these DOE actions have created a growing pool of ATR educators – totaling nearly 1,400 at the start of the 2007-08 school year – who have been denied the opportunity to work as regular teachers, guidance counselors, social workers, school psychologists and school secretaries;

WHEREAS, these ATR educators are hard-working, caring educators who have dedicated their professional lives to the schoolchildren of New York City and who have found themselves in the ATR pool through no fault of their own — and in fact despite their efforts to find positions; and

WHEREAS rather than fulfilling its contractual obligations and its responsibility as employer and steward of its human resources by working to match ATR educators with regular positions, the DOE and its subsidiary New Teacher Project have launched a reprehensible campaign to scapegoat the ATR educators, falsely portraying them as unsatisfactory and incompetent educators in an unprincipled attempt to eliminate their job security; and

WHEREAS, 400 of the educators in the current ATR pool achieved tenure under Chancellor Joel Klein; and

WHEREAS, in response to the DOE’s campaign against ATR educators, the UFT has begun a vigorous campaign in their defense, using all contractual, legal, collective-bargaining and public relations tools at its disposal, including bringing an age discrimination case against the DOE, filing grievances for the DOE’s failure to send ATRs on interviews, proposing a hiring freeze until ATRs find positions; and holding two press conferences to counter the negative myths about ATRs promoted by the DOE; and

WHEREAS, the DOE’s misguided attempts to recruit new teachers has created another pool of unassigned teachers, new hires called RTRs, who are also now being threatened with termination as of December; be it therefore

RESOLVED, that the UFT affirm its determination to vindicate the rights of ATR educators and restore them to regular positions; and be it further

RESOLVED, that in these times of economic crisis and budgetary cuts, the UFT calls upon the DOE to immediately institute a hiring freeze of new educators in any and all license areas held by ATR educators; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT calls upon the DOE to honor the collective-bargaining agreement it entered into by immediately sending ATR educators for priority interviews of open positions and by negotiating and implementing the specific terms of the contractual voluntary buyout for ATR educators; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT calls upon the DOE to eliminate the financial disincentives for the hiring of experienced teachers in the ATR pool that it has created, and to provide instead positive incentives by charging schools that hire ATR educators the cost of a starting teacher’s salary and to prevent future difficulties for experienced teachers by charging schools the same citywide average teacher salary for every teacher regardless of his or her actual pay; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT calls upon the DOE to provide financial and other supports for ATR educators who are in a position to obtain recertification in shortage license areas; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT pursue all contractual and legal options to stop the DOE from laying off new Teaching Fellow hires who have not been able to secure a regular teaching position [RTRs}; and be it

RESOLVED, that to counter the DOE’s and New Teacher Project’s campaign of disinformation against ATR educators, the UFT ramp up its “Let Us Teach” public relations campaign by using paid and free media as well as the New York Teacher, the UFT Web site and the UFT blog Edwize to portray ATR educators accurately as dedicated, hard-working professionals who want to teach and serve New York City public school children.

Passed at the October 15, 2008 Delegate Assembly.