Helping an ATR

The following are real words and real life from a current ATR. The statement below was read to the UFT executive board on March 26, 2018. Her name has been redacted to ensure her privacy.

This ATR came to the attention of MORE. For several weeks people at MORE were supporting this ATR to no end. What was most important were the holistic measures in which the people of MORE went about in their support of this ATR. More or less in the way I had written back in January.There was no need to radicalize this ATR. There was no need to manipulate this ATR. There was no need to make this ATR even angrier. There was no need to tell the ATR to record and FOIL and be defiant. However, there was a need to help this ATR in the present and that is what was done.

MORE, working as a team, in fact working for this ATR, advocated for her to the right people. This advocacy would have been unsuccessful if not for reaching out to Mike Sill as well as others. If bridges were burned, this advocacy would have been for naught.

I'm not going to name names. It's not important who gets credit. The people at MORE who advocate for teachers aren't looking for credit, they're just looking to support and assist. It's a team effort.

This ATR has had her school changed to a place where she is much, much, happier.




Good Evening,

My name is XXXXXXX. I want to Thank You for the opportunity to speak at
tonight’s Executive Board Meeting. I have been an educator for 24 years; my goal has
always been to educate children and make a difference. After earning the respect and
support of my colleagues and administration, I never thought I would be subjected to
such a level of humiliation, emotional and career damaging behavior. After being
assigned as an ATR in March 2017, I wake up every day with a positive attitude for my
students despite the inability to build supportive relationship with my students,
colleagues and administration.

This school year I have been in 3 different schools and in that time, I felt only partially
supported in one. When an educator isn’t supported, it’s impossible to feel that you're
performing at your best. After being placed in a new district, I was amazed by the level
of respect that the administration showed the ATR’s and the classroom teachers. Just
as I was starting to build a relationship with my students and administration, I was
removed from that school and placed back into my old district. A member of the
administration by which I was targeted, was at this new school assignment where I was
covering a 1st grade maternity leave position. I was told that I was the third teacher
within 6 weeks. From day one, I felt the demands and pressure from the Administration.
An educator needs time to build trust with the children. Every day, I would start on a
positive note, speak with the children and then the distractions would begin. I had two
very difficult first graders who would fight with each other as well as the other children.
Repeatedly, I would call for support from the administration asking for the names and
extensions of the dean and or guidance counselor, she would just tell me to put the
difficult children with another first-grade class. I was never introduced to the support
staff nor was my class located near the other 1st grade class to escort the disruptive
students. As always, my goal was to educate children, which was nearly rendered
impossible as I wasn’t given the time or the support to build trust with them. I found it
very frustrating because of the demands of the curriculum and the work to be done. This
caused a lot of anxiety and emotional distress and my goal for educating children and
reaching their goals was increasingly diminished.

ATR’s are afraid to speak out as each new school is like starting all over again. I called
my district representative who I have known for many years and when I told him where I
was he said, “Oh my God, that principal is a **** well I would rather not repeat that exact
phrase, but let’s just say it wasn’t very flattering. To date, 5 people have already
resigned from that school this year. I have reached out to Michael Sill and explained the
situation at which time he asked that I put everything in an email. I have met many
ATR’s who are also in dire situations. I have asked many of these people to come today
but they are very hesitant. However, I needed to come here today to shed some light on
the struggles of the ATR’s. Given my educational credentials, and career experience, I
shouldn’t be an ATR. It brings me to tears to think how an administrator with less
educational and career experience was able to attend the principal academy and be
empowered to ruin a career vs strengthen one. I would like to propose that we set up a
meeting in my district with the ATR’s, so we can discuss ways to problem solve and
improve the current situation. Today, I began a new placement which means another
ATR is at the school I just left, this is a never-ending epidemic. Moving forward, let’s
meet to figure out how to improve this demoralizing cycle.