New York TeacherNovember 14, 2013
Volume LV, Number 4
Cover Stories
De Blasio’s agenda for schools and city fuels optimism
Camille Ratteray-Vann has high hopes for mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who won a decisive victory on Nov. 5. She’s an English and dance teacher at IS 126 in Long Island City and the chapter leader for Alternative Learning Centers in Queens for suspended students. De Blasio’s criticism of high-stakes testing resonated with her.
“I’m a proponent of portfolio assessment,” she said. “We’re not one thing. Testing is necessary, but now we teach to the test.”
Ratteray-Vann is just one of many UFT members who hopes de Blasio, the first Democrat to win the office in 20 years, lives up to his campaign promises on education and sets a different tone at City Hall, especially wi…
DOE's curricula not ready for prime time
Common Core curricula that schools across the city have adopted this year at the behest of the Department of Education are not ready for prime time, according to exasperated teachers who have been trying to implement the new programs.
Recovery of the few: a tale of two cities
The popular myth is that New York City has fully come back from the 2007–08 recession. But the reality is that only the very rich have come roaring back. The rest of us, the 99 percent who are the middle or lower income, actually lost ground. Here is how the “recovery” shaped up between 2008 and 2012.
Latest News
Breezy Point member: 'I couldn’t walk away — it’s my home’
Kerri Walsh had always loved living near the water. Her house in Breezy Point had once been her grandparents’ summer vacation cottage, and Walsh, the literacy coach at Channel View School for Research in Rockaway Park, had lived on the same block for nearly 20 years.So when Hurricane Sandy ripped through the Rockaways, Walsh was devastated.
Flatbush MS twice fends off charter seeking to co-locate
They say lightning never strikes twice, but it has at Andries Hudde MS in Flatbush which for the second time in less than six months has fended off a proposal to co-locate a charter school inside its building.
UFT colleagues went beyond expectations
Imagine returning to the house you’ve lived in for 15 years and finding it utterly destroyed. What would you do? If you were Fiorella Raimondi, a 2nd-grade teacher and the chapter leader at PS 20 on Staten Island, you’d dig in, rebuild and start over. And you’d do it with an amazing sense of gratitude toward your colleagues and neighbors.
Driving professional conversations in our schools
The new teacher evaluation and development system can help to empower us as professional educators to get the support that our classrooms and schools need.
New evaluation complaint form available
A new online form that went live on Oct. 28 provides a formal way to address issues that teachers may be facing with implementation of the evaluation system.
More in News Stories
Feature Stories
Fright and delight
It isn’t every day that ghouls, witches and the Bride of Frankenstein come together at the UFT, but they did on Sunday, Oct. 27, when UFT members and staff in the Bronx transformed their borough office for the ninth straight year into a Halloween horror show for the enjoyment of kids and parents alike.
More than 1,300 merrymakers — the most ever — braved the scary space, alternating between fright and delight as they took advantage of all the Halloween Family Fright Fest had to offer. The haunted house, which boasted cobwebs, bats and big red devils, was plenty scary, but there were lots of young Power Rangers on hand to tackle the monsters within. Superman and Spider-Man — in miniature version, of course — were on hand, too, as were pint-size clones of singers Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars.
[[nid:65633; undefined; styleName:small]]…
A taste of the future in Queens: District 75 culinary arts program
It could be a scene from any one of countless neighborhood delis or lunch counters across the city, but the employees here are 12 students in the culinary arts program located at PS 177 in Fresh Meadows, Queens, a K-12 school in District 75 for special-needs students.
Staff steps up for Bronx teacher
Shari Rothfeld, a District 75 high school at In-Tech Academy in the Bronx, was only 31 years when she was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer in October, 2012. When Rothfeld’s colleagues found out that she would need to miss many days of work for treatment, they stepped up to donate their sick days.
Member Spotlight
What I Do
What I do: Danielle O’Connell, Hearing Education Services teacher
Danielle O’Connell has been a Hearing Education Services teacher for eight years, the last seven in a self-contained classroom of 12 children in grades 3-5 at P4 at PS 109 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Around the UFT
UFT and Shanker Institute hold national CTE conference
The UFT and the Albert Shanker Institute hosted career and technical education experts from around the country at a two-day conference at UFT headquarters on Oct. 10-11.
Beautification project at PS 197 in Far Rockaway
Flowers bloomed and spirits brightened on Oct. 26 at PS 197 in Far Rockaway, where students, families and staff teamed up with Chelsea Clinton and the Clinton Foundation to breathe much-needed life back into the school grounds after Hurricane Sandy tore through the neighborhood last year.
NYCATA/UFT Artworks ‘13 conference
More than 200 UFT art teachers took part in for-credit professional development at the New York City Art Teachers Association/UFT Artworks ’13 education conference.
Community Health Academy of the Heights garden project
Although fall soon will turn to winter, an entire garden is springing up in Washington Heights, where the Community Health Academy of the Heights officially launched its garden project.
The president visits DeWitt Clinton HS, the Bronx
"They were trying to close you, but you’ve weathered the storm and DeWitt Clinton will not close,” UFT President Michael Mulgrew defiantly told the staff of the Bronx high school during an Oct. 30 visit.
More in Around the UFT
Your Rights and Benefits
Know Your Benefits
Maximizing your prescription drug benefits
Read on for some advice on how best to maximize your prescription drug benefit, whether you’re at a doctor’s visit or the pharmacy, or determining how best to order your maintenance medications.
You Should Know
Secure Your Future
Many in nation face insecure future ...
The country's senior population has for decades had one of the lowest poverty rates. But poverty among seniors is now rising slightly due to the combination of longer life expectancy and the decline of traditional pensions.
Opinions
President's Perspective
The end of an error
Bloomberg-style “drill-and-kill” standardized test prep has sadly become the norm for our students, and attaching high stakes to the tests has all but forced real teaching and learning out of our classrooms.
VPerspective
A new model for confronting challenging student behavior
With the encouragement and full support of President Mulgrew, I approached the Department of Education and Cornell University with a proposal to create a consortium to provide schools with a systemic and research-based approach to understanding, assessing and supporting positive student behavior.
Opinion
Charter execs: Pay up!
You would think that if Success Academy Charter Schools can pay Eva Moskowitz a salary of $475,244, they could also afford to pay rent for their space in public school buildings.
Opinion
A new day
Pat yourselves on the back, UFT members. There is reason for pride and celebration. On Nov. 5, the people were heard. We have a new mayor, comptroller, public advocate and many new City Council members who support our schools and respect UFT members.
Editorial Cartoons
Teaching Resources
Research shows
Poor children fall behind in language early
The gap in language skills between children from low-income families and those from affluent homes becomes evident when children are as young as 18 months old, new research shows.
Teacher to Teacher
Interactive writing in the high school classroom
After discussions with many students and teachers, I have come to believe that what often ends up being left out of writing instruction and yet is at the heart of teaching students how to write is guided practice – specifically guided practice in the form of interactive writing.
Building Your Career
Building Your Career
Who's reading what?
This "Who's Reading What" display chart is used for students to showcase what they are reading.
New Teacher Profiles
A leader at his school and in Sandy relief efforts
Michael Cestaro's advocacy as a chapter leader at Rockway Park HS for Environmental Sustainability took on greater meaning after Hurricane Sandy devastated his school building and the homes of his students and colleagues.
Retired Teachers News
Hanging tough against ‘the bad guys’
The so-called “Grand Bargain” is back in play. And in Republican hands that always means going after the Affordable Health Care Act, “Obamacare,” and/or entitlements. As the AFL-CIO warns, “for America’s working families, the Grand Bargain is a Grand Bamboozle.”