The Ratt at PS 154 in the Bronx

It has been quite week for me.

On Saturday I got the notice for my NYS Unemployment appeal hearing (September 9, 9:45 AM 250 Schermerhorn St in Brooklyn). I attempted to have the NYU Law School Unemployment Action Center represent me (Can't school just started). I spent all day yesterday sending resumes to charters (YUCK!). I have a week left on my health benefits and Welfare Fund. Turned in the application for my son to have free or reduced lunch. And tomorrow, going into White Plains to Westchester County Social Services to apply for food stamps and Medicaid.

It's tough. My wife is on disability due to severe back issues (She will eventually need a fusion from L3 up to thoracic area of spine) and I am going to have to stop looking at charters for a job and start just accepting anything. I do have some income. I am tutoring at a chain tutoring center but the hours are shaky and the pay is not that much. But I shall prevail.

In my rejection of Unemployment benefits the NYS Dept. of Labor said that I...

"...should have known that my actions could've have led to a suspension."

Of course, they don't know the entire story.

When I picked up my file the other day to see what the DOE had written in their response to as why I should not get UI, one thing stuck out at me among many;

"...he failed to be at his assigned post..."

Wow. Yeah, that is what I one of the charges were and it was sustained;

"Respondent neglected his professional duties in that he failed to be at his assigned post in May 16, 2013."

Who made this allegation about me? Another teacher. A Ratt. Of course if I too had lived in the colon of DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 in the Bronx I would have been, at the most, taken aside and talked it out.

The story of this Ratt and how this Ratt came about to stabbing yours truly in the back (Several times that year) is somewhat long, but for brevity I shall hit on the high points.

In 2011-12 school year I was SAVE room teacher. The Ratt always would come and tell me how much The Ratt would love to have my job. So when preference sheets came around, guess what? Nice, huh? I have never ever put down for a position on the preference sheet for myself what another colleague wanted or had. Especially if that colleague had done a lot for me in the past.

When school started in September of 2012 I realized that The Ratt is plutonium and to stay far away from The Ratt. I decided that there was to be no communication between The Ratt and myself except for professional matters.

On May 16, a Thursday, The Ratt (Who at this time was no longer the SAVE room teacher but replaced a spec. ed teacher that had been targeted by DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 in the Bronx) was informed, as was I, that I would be covering The Ratt's class the last period of the day at 1:50 PM until 2:35 PM.

The class before had been picked up at 1:49 PM and I got things ready and then waited in the doorway for the arrival of The Ratt's special ed 3/4 class. When the clock hit 1:50 the class had yet to arrive.

The clock soon hit 1:55 PM. No class. 2 PM. No class. I peered down the hall way looking at The Ratt's classroom. The door was closed and the lights were off. I has assumed that the class was late coming from a mass prep in the auditorium (This would happen when teachers had PD).

At about 2:08 or so I felt the urge, a bad urge, to relieve myself (Metformin tends to do this). As I was taking care of business, over the PA it was announced for me to call the main office. I ended what I was doing and ran down there.

The school secretary, who is a wonderful person, told me that The Ratt called whining that I had never shown up to The Ratt's class for the coverage. I was puzzled. All cluster positions at PS 154 that year the classes CAME to the teachers, not the other way around. The Ratt was well aware of this being that I had her class two other days of the week.

I finally show up at 2:10 or so and the hell and whining I got from The Ratt was too much. Knowing how far inside the colon of DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 in the Bronx The Ratt was ensconced I decided to err o the side of caution.

I apologized profusely. I told The Ratt that I would make up the 15 minutes on my lunch time or a prep. The whining was incessant, "I lost my prep time." I really tried to make good. But to no avail.

This charge was sustained based on the secretary's testimony. The Ratt had never shown.

A month later on National Write-Up Day (I received about 5 letters to the file on one day) I found out that The Ratt did what The Ratt did. Ratted me out.

This is ironic considering all that I had done for The Ratt in the past:

Gave The Ratt rides home into Manhattan.

Under a previous administration I listened and supported The Ratt has The Ratt was whining and crying was going on that that administration was targeting and harassing The Ratt.

In 2010 when our school got a grant through Play Study Win to have Metro Soccer come into the school and start a soccer team for the 4th and 5th graders to celebrate the 2010 World Cup (The kids practiced for a month to play in a tournament as Costa Rica to play in an all day tournament at Floyd Bennett Field) we (Myself and the phys ed teacher) allowed The Ratt to particpate.

We also put up with The Ratt fawning all over the representative from Metro Soccer for 6 weeks.

The Ratt was invited to come to MLS offices with us.

The Ratt was involved in a traffic accident in which The Ratt was injured. The Ratt was in need of an attorney I gave The Ratt the number of our personal attorney and The Ratt was on the phone for an hour with him and never retained him. Nor was The Ratt charged for the consultation ($500).

When the entire school, save for a select few, would endlessly badmouth The Ratt, I stuck up for The Ratt.

And how am I repaid? By The Ratt finding the most little petty POS thing The Ratt can think of and being nothing more than a Ratt.

Hey but I am in good company. That special ed teacher The Ratt took over for? The Ratt was planted into his room by DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 in the Bronx into that class about two months before he got 3020-a charges. The Ratt was supposed to "help out" but it was really The Ratt reporting back from what The Crack Team was told.

But Karma came. The 2013-14 school year DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 turned on The Ratt. The Ratt was cast out of the colon of DR Alison Coviello; Principal and Ed.D. of PS 154 into the cold cruel world. The whining and crying were back. The Ratt left PS 154 after that year and now The Ratt is an activist for teachers rights. BARF!

Karma can be a game changer.