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Topics in the News:
tenure
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.
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
Do you expect to be up for tenure? If so, become familiar with the Department of Education’s new Tenure Decision-making Framework. The new framework, which was introduced in the 2010-2011 school year, guides principals in making tenure decisions. There are important changes to be aware of.
I’ve noticed a few similarities between your current campaign and that of public school educators hoping to achieve tenure. Both are constantly attacked by movements designed to see them fail, such as either the school reform movement or the Tea Party movement in your case.
While Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott on July 27 touted a dramatic increase in extensions of probation as proof that the new tenure-granting framework that the DOE instituted in December was working, the UFT questioned how the decisions were reached and demanded that the pertinent information be released.
While Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott on July 27 touted a dramatic increase in tenure extensions as proof that the new tenure-granting framework that the DOE instituted in December was working, the UFT questioned how the decisions were reached.
In an impassioned report to the May 18 Delegate Assembly, UFT President Michael Mulgrew thanked delegates for the fantastic turnout at the May 12 rally, but told them that “if pink slips are sent out, we have to make last Thursday’s demonstration look like a leisurely jaunt in the park.”
When the city Department of Education enticed 500 Caribbean teachers to leave their countries for challenging new professional lives as instructors in New York City schools 10 years ago, the highly qualified recruits did not suspect that an offer from a legitimate government agency might eventually leave them in the lurch.
With the Department of Education now taking seriously its responsibility of granting tenure and introducing new tenure guidelines this year, it would seem logical to expect the DOE to meet its responsibility to inform and support the 6,000 educators up for tenure this year. But that isn’t happening.
The Department of Education on Dec. 14 released to media fanfare new tenure guidelines that it said would make it tougher for teachers to get tenure.
Department of Education officials announced on Dec. 13 new guidelines for school administrators making tenure decisions this year.
Department of Education officials announced on Dec. 13 new guidelines for school administrators making tenure decisions this year. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, "Every time the DOE needs a cheap headline, they make some pronouncement about teacher tenure, conveniently ignoring the fact that the process for granting tenure has always been within the DOE and the Chancellor’s control."
The UFT shot back at Mayor Michael Bloomberg after he complained on Sept. 27 that the process of awarding tenure had become “automatic” and announced that the city would tighten its requirements for earning tenure.
Mayor Bloomberg on Sept. 27 on MSNBC, as part of NBC’s “Education Nation” program, outlined a new education plan that included “ending tenure as we know it, so that tenure is awarded for performance, not taken for granted.”
Just two days before layoff letters from the Department of Education were due to hit the mailboxes of 4,400 teachers across the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg rescinded those notices and announced that there would be no layoffs. UFT President Michael Mulgrew applauded the mayor for calling off the layoffs. “I’m glad that he made the right decision to avoid massive disruption in the schools,” he said.
Colorado’s legislature approved teacher-evaluation legislation on May 12 that even Florida’s Gov. Charlie Crist couldn’t stomach when he vetoed a comparable bill in his state. Under the legislation, which awaits the governor’s signature, at least half of a teacher’s evaluation would be based on student test scores.
We have successfully negotiated an agreement on teacher evaluations that rejects the wrongheaded goals of the “blame the teacher” crowd. Their vision is one where schools are nothing more than test-prep factories, where we ignore the breadth of a student’s work during the school year and the challenges that so many students face outside of the classroom.
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