VPerspective
It takes a village
Jan 17, 2008 12:31 PM
UFT Vice President Richard Farkas (left) discusses middle school issues with staff at IS 239, Brooklyn.
“You’ve been told during your high school years and your college years that you are about to enter the real world, and you’ve been wondering what it’s like. Let me tell you that the real world is not college. The real world is not high school. The real world, it turns out, is much more like junior high. You are going to encounter, for the rest of your life, the same petty jealousies, the same irrational juvenile behavior, the same uncertainty that you encountered during your adolescent years. That is your burden. We all share it with you. We wish you well.” — Tom Brokaw at Skidmore College
First of all, I would like to wish all of you a healthy, happy and productive New Year. As we enter this very important presidential election year, I thought the perspective of Tom Brokaw would be appropriate as we navigate the political minefields that the next 10 months will bring. Besides being very active as we seek to elect Sen. Hillary Clinton to the White House (more on this later), the UFT is pushing forward on a bunch of important initiatives.
Farkas with the group.
As 55/25 becomes closer to law (we expect that the Legislature and governor will act on this within the next couple of months), our union is moving forward on other priorities: class size, safety, respect and assessments.
As a result of the UFT’s CFE lawsuit victory, real class-size reduction is moving closer to reality. With our pushing, the Department of Education has finally taken steps to reduce class size in 72 of the most overcrowded schools in underutilized buildings. The Contract for Excellence that the Regents and the city agreed to in December required the city to reduce all 4-12 grades to an average 23 students over the next five years. While this is a start, the UFT feels that a cap — not an average — is what’s really needed in our classrooms.
We are now on a campaign to end abusive administrative practices in our schools. The actions of administrators who abuse UFT members have a negative impact on staff, students and schools. UFT members and the school community have a right to be treated fairly, respectfully and professionally in a safe educational environment.
The mayor and chancellor have stated that they are committed to moving forward in a spirit of collaboration and the UFT is working hard to make sure that this happens in all of our schools and modifying the behavior of those administrators who just don’t get it.
The excessive use of standardized testing, never-ending test prep, piles of assessment-related paperwork and a Department of Education accountability system that takes a doctorate in theoretical physics to understand has in many of our schools paralyzed education. The UFT knows that teachers and parents want to educate the whole child and that the emphasis should not be solely on test scores. Successful schools are more than a letter grade. Reversing this direction has also become a priority for us.
It would be naive to think that we can change all of this alone. Over the past few years the UFT has formed strong ties and coalitions with many community groups. Change in our schools cannot take place only with the efforts and support of our UFT members. And changes in No Child Left Behind and other issues that are important to us need a president who is supportive of labor, families and education, and has the experience and track record to get things done.
That is why the American Federation of Teachers as well as NYSUT has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. The New York Presidential Primary is on Tuesday, Feb. 5, and the UFT is urging all of its members and their families to cast their votes for Sen. Clinton.
