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Topics in the News:
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Pedagogues — teachers, guidance counselors, school secretaries, psychologists, social workers and lab specialists — injured or made sick on the job are covered by the Injury-in-the-Line-of-Duty provision of the UFT-DOE contract.
Alarmed by Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to reduce the Department of Education’s current obligations to report on class sizes and temporary classrooms, the UFT on May 14 gave written testimony to the City Council registering its opposition to the mayor’s recommendations.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew joined civil rights activists and union and elected officials at a press conference at UFT headquarters on May 15 in calling for an end to the controversial stop-and-frisk policy employed by New York City law enforcement.
Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly love to tout New York City’s declining crime rate as something that should make all New Yorkers feel safer, and they are right on that point. But they give a great deal of credit for the decline to the city’s “stop-and-frisk” policy, which critics say amounts to unfair racial profiling of young men of color by police.
After refusing the union’s suggestions for two years, the city had a surprise change of heart on May 17, announcing that it will offer “generous” buyouts to teachers who have spent a year or more in the Absent Teacher Reserve. Negotiations over the terms and amount of the buyout will begin in the next several weeks, UFT President Michael Mulgrew said.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed a Republican-supported bill forcing school boards to use teacher performance along with seniority in layoff decisions. Dayton slammed the bill as one more legislative session initiative that was “anti-public schools, anti-public school teachers, or anti-collective-bargaining rights.”
The number of teachers working in the Absent Teacher Reserve without a permanent position is at its lowest point in several years, according to new data from the Department of Education.
We have almost reached the finish line and all our families and friends are cheering us on that we finish the year in good health! Many ATRs are restricted from teaching their speciality, but they do the best they can under the circumstances.
After waiting for nearly two years, the UFT on April 3 filed suit in New York State Supreme Court to compel the city Department of Education to release documents first requested by the union under the state’s Freedom of Information Law in May 2010.
Mayor Bloomberg was more than happy to comply with news media requests for the public release of Teacher Data Reports. So what if the release unfairly stigmatized and humiliated educators, demoralized school communities and needlessly alarmed parents? At least the mayor could insist that the integrity of his effort to maintain transparency in government was intact.
If you want a new opportunity, wish to be closer to home or have been placed in excess, the Open Market Transfer Plan gives you the chance to apply for a position at another school. You can view vacancies citywide and submit online applications via the Department of Education website during the Open Market Transfer period, from April 15 to Aug. 7.
Probationary teachers filled the meeting room at the UFT Staten Island borough office on March 20 for the seminar “Developing a Teacher Portfolio,” to get information about the new tenure framework.
After five rounds of budget cuts and a reduction in force of more than 5,000 teachers over the last three years, class sizes may have reached a tipping point. Teachers surveyed by the UFT last fall said their classes were so packed that students were suffering.
The UFT on March 5 issued a subpoena and deposition notices to compel former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and 11 other Department of Education officials to testify about the DOE’s failure to live up to its promise to provide resources and support to the threatened schools.
The UFT asked the Public Employment Relations Board on March 6 to compel the Department of Education to negotiate in good faith after the DOE refused to return to the bargaining table to develop a teacher evaluation system for 33 restart and transformation schools.
Lisa Capece scored an enormous victory against the bullying, harassing and intimidation practices performed by Diane Gordin, the principal of PS 1 in Staten Island. I taught in New York City for more than 35 years, more than 20 of those at PS 1. My last year there, 2003-2004, Gordin became my assistant principal with Terri Rosenberg as principal.
Teachers reacted with dismay and anger when they returned to school on Monday, Feb. 27, after the release of deeply flawed Teacher Data Reports that ranked them against their colleagues based on student test scores.
Anyone wondering why teachers need a fair appeals process when their livelihoods are threatened should consider the case of Lisa Capece, an untenured teacher on Staten Island whose principal unfairly terminated her four years ago. The injustice was so blatant that a state judge ordered the city Department of Education to rehire her with full back pay, interest, tenure and seniority.
A state judge ruled on Feb. 10 that an untenured Staten Island teacher was unfairly fired in 2008 after becoming the target of the principal’s “abuse, harassment, discrimination and disciplinary actions” within days of becoming the school’s chapter leader. The Department of Education was ordered to rehire Lisa Capece with full back pay, interest, tenure and seniority.
Teachers unions in Connecticut have locked horns with Gov. Daniel P. Malloy, a Democrat, over his sweeping proposals to overhaul education, particularly the provisions that deal with tenure and certification
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