MORE Demands of UFT President Mike Mulgrew

I'm not at liberty to say who wrote this. This person is an indispensable member of MORE.

MORE plans on bring front and center in the demands of the rank and file during negotiations for our new contract. The rank and file and MORE will be heard!  Loudly, clearly, and succinctly.


Dear Brother Mulgrew,

Thanks to you and the Division VP’s for eliciting member views through the contract surveys.   I hope this is just the beginning of a local-wide conversation as we make the necessary preparations to defend our living and working conditions, and public education itself, in very challenging circumstances.

Here’s my gist on our upcoming contract negotiations:   

No Givebacks - No Zeros - No New Contract – No Work

Janus or No Janus we have a Democrat Mayor and Democrat Governor who are trimming their budgets to pass along the Federal budget cuts to the public-sector workers of New York.  No doubt de Blasio and Cuomo will point fingers at one another and the Federal government but where does that leave the UFT contract come November?  

If the Supreme Court rules as expected, the UFT will be preoccupied in the coming months to maintain its membership and financial solvency.  How does the SCOTUS ruling combined with trickle down budget cuts affect the bargaining position of the UFT?  

The best response to Janus and Trump et al is an informed and organized rank and file, in close alliance with other workers and our school communities.  The time to organize is now.

We must hold our local and state politicians accountable and demand a decent contract by November 2018. 

Does Science Teacher Anna Poole Have a Rabbi in the NYCDOE?

Yeah, the DOE does seem to be run by a bunch of imbeciles. So purports Chaz when he wrote about former Beacon High School science teacher Anna Poole. Anna Poole, you may recall, set several students ablaze in 2014 in a science experiment gone awry back in 2014.

Personally, Anna Poole used the resources available to her, as is her right, to keep her job. I do not have a problem with that. However I do have several issues.

If she had been a tenured teacher would SCI have gone harder on her and not left her discipline up to the chancellor? If this had been a tenured teacher is it not fair to say that E4esaid teacher would not only have been brought up on 3020-a charges but possibly criminal charges as well?

According to a commenter on Chaz's blog there were some irregularities in her right to representation. Is this not a right as teachers that we see as inalienable?

Again, Mona Davids (She's still around????) has to stick her ignorant nose where it should not be and as always without having full information to base her inane comments on...

“I think that’s outrageous and ludicrous. It’s actually insulting, but it’s typical DOE. That’s what they do, reward poor performance.”

Mona, while not condoning nor condemning Anna, there is a difference between an accident and poor performance. Mona claims she she's smart. Prove it.

The way the Daily News implied that she got rewarded with a raise...

...currently makes a $79,484 a year — up from $56,048 on the day of the explosion.

No, she got was was contractually due her. That is it. 

What I want to know is if Anna Poole has a rabbi within the DOE. Why did she get a nice cushy gig within Tweed? How did she get it? Why did she get it? I have speculated that she must be with Educators 4 Excellence or Teach for America. Maybe she's Teaching Fellows?

I have no problem with what Chaz wrote. I disagree with him somewhat, but I respect his opinion. What he wrote was on his blog. He was not going to the, for lack of a better phrase, through the MSM to bash a teacher (yeah, I know. I have done the same, but only to TFA, E4E, and other rats. Poole, as far as we know is not a rat). Chaz did not have to go through a reporter. He was adult enough to do it on his own. Some weren't.

It pained me to see another teacher, a teacher who purports to claim to be on the side of teachers, playing both sides of the fence.

Too many teachers have been brought up on BS charges for leaving pee on a toilet seat, to carrying a cup of coffee, to leaving the toilet seat up, to not passing gas according to the way mandated in Chancellor's Regulations.

I have no problem with Anna Poole staying employed by the DOE. I have a problem with how the DOE kept her. There is something just not right about this "promotion."

ATR UPDATE!!!! Kicked in the Head Whilst on the Ground

On February 20 I wrote this piece on yet another besmirchment on a fellow ATR. The results are in. No one is happy other than the field supervisor.

The ATR, who henceforth will be known as Schlomo , met with the FS and his DL on February 26. The meeting lasted about 10 minutes and basically he was verbally requested on November 29, 2017 to have lesson plans for each grade. Schlomo then showed the FS the lesson plans on December 21, 2017. Now, take that last sentence and don't forget it. I will get back to it in a moment.

On both dates that the FS spoke to Schlomo about his lesson plans there was a caveat. The principal wished to see the plans. OK, fine.

The FS, in the discipline letter, blabbered that it was requested that Schlomo show his lesson plans to the principal. Mind you, the FS gave notice to Schlomo of the discipline meeting on February 15.

However, the FS actually cast eyes upon the lesson plans on DECEMBER 21, 2017 A FULL 46 DAYS before notifying Schlomo of a discipline meeting!!!

Why, oh why, could not the FS have either a) Say to Schlomo, "let's go see the principal together and show your lesson plans", or b) say, I'll do you a solid and share with the principal that you have the lesson plans, or c) clearly state in writing that he was supposed to physically bring the lesson plans to the principal?

See, there is a hitch here. At no time did Schlomo ever receive anything in writing as to the subject of his lesson plans. All direction was done verbally. On Schlomo's part there he was not sure if the principal was to seek him out or vice versa in regard to the lesson plans. It was a mix up. Why not just give a counseling memo? Why have to proverbially kick someone in the head with a steel tipped boot while their down? Mistakes happen. He was not purposely insubordinate. He was not trying to pull a fast one. He did not put a child in danger. Geez, it was a misunderstanding!!!

The last two school years Schlomo received an S on his rating sheet. Thus far this year he is treading water.

In the fall the FS informally observed him with a Kindergarten class and guess what? It was unsatisfactory. Of course this brought out the dreaded PLAN OF ASSISTANCE. 

But it gets goofier. Just this week the FS did another informal observation, again with a Kindergarten class (Thank God it was first thing in the morning!). Let's see how this goes.

Anytime you meet with a FS and you do not receive anything in writing, take notes (or audio), and the minute you get home memorialize the meeting in an email and write something like this....

Dear FS, 

This morning when we met you told me to do X,Y, and Zed. Yada, yada, yada.

Thank you very much.

Love,

The ATR.

It's all about covering your buttocks.