The crack team here at SBSB had recently gained access to New York Post reporter Carl Campinale's computer and was able to pull from it a story he has been working on and which will be published any day in the Post. This is an exclusive first look.
It seems that teachers have another perk in their contract that not only costs the taxpayer money, but takes instruction time away from students.
According to the UFT contract teachers are afforded a 50 minute lunch each day. This perk, as a DOE official has shared with the Post on deep background, has been around for almost several decades. "The teachers are just lazy and greedy in wanting this 50 minute lunch," said the DOE official. "They are stealing 40 minutes of instruction time a day from students, 200 minutes a week, and 122 hours a school year, which translates into almost five days of instruction students are not receiving."
The DOE official, supplied the Post with a report written by Mayor Bloomberg's top education deputy Dennis Walcott, that studies have shown that lunch can be eaten in ten minutes. In fact the study goes on to suggest that lunch can be eaten while teaching, much like in the corporate world where dedicated employees eat lunch at their desks.
Reached for comment Mayor Bloomberg replied, "This just goes to show how self absorbed teachers truly are. I brown bag it everyday. I Bologna sandwich on white bread, a banana, two Oreos, and a juice box," The mayor went on, "I eat at my desk everyday, and look how important I am."
When reached for comment, UFT President Mike Mulgrew retorted, "This is a contractual issue that the city has long agreed to. Teachers do need to eat. However, I will take this up with my executive board and the delegate assembly and see if we can capitulate."
Outside The South Bronx Academy for Implied and Perceived Excellence charter school, parents said that the teachers at their school only took a five minute lunch break. "Ain't no reason for these teachers to take 50 minutes for lunch," said a parent who wished not to be named, "These teachers are dedicated."
I'm not quite old enough to remember the early history of the UFT, but from what I understand the story isn't so far fetched. Long ago some overenthusiatic Principals discovered that if they divided the school day into 12 or 16 periods and gave teachers one period for lunch they could cut way down on the time allocated for eating. Thus began the stipulation for a 50 minute lunch.
ReplyDeleteThis story isn't far fetched because recently I've met teachers working 35 periods. One worked in a middle school threatened with closing with an 'academy' Principal and he had never heard of the idea of five preps and five administratve periods.
While one looks for blame in such a situation, the blame belongs entirely to Michael Bloomberg. Reforming school governance law was one matter, but trying to develop an effective DOE under that law was a difficult task. Doing it with bankers and lawyers and leaving out educators was an egregious error that even the diminutive mayor with the giant ego should have seen. This DOE is like the Wild West, and Bloomberg continues to exacerbate the situation with his hired guns and gunslingers' academy.
We ought to take a lesson from the nuclear industry before the total meltdown of our schools. Laws and rules exist for many reasons, not just to serve corporate managers. Laws and rules that are ignored at any level will lead to disaster. When Bloomberg and his corporate schills realize how much of what they have ignored is destroying the fabric of schools then there might be some hope.
I recently went to a public meeting in Brooklyn, and the consensus there among parents is that Michael Bllomberg's goal is the destruction of public education. I'm starting to appreciate that point of view. After eight years of 'Mayoral Control', our schools are more out of control than ever and Mayor Bloomberg calls that progress.
Very funny and I wouldn't be surprised if good ole Carl thinks it is true.
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