To Have and Have Not

There's been a lot of talk out there about charter schools. Bloomberg is for them. Arne Duncan is for them. Barack Obama is for them. Even Randi Weingarten is for them, despite the fact that she's being paid big bucks to represent public schools.

And I have to admit, charters have a lot going for them. For example, they have:

• The ability to 'cream' students, or choose the ones most likely too succeed.
• No nasty union contract.
• Freedom in hiring (and firing).
• Flexible pay and the ability to reward teachers for merit.
• More motivated parents (you have to sign kids up--that alone indicates more motivation).
• Longer school days and longer school years.
• Far fewer ESL students and special education students.
• Lots of seats and good facilities, often taken directly from public school kids--sometimes in a manner reminiscent of a daylight smash and grab robbery.
  

In fact, charters seem to have all the things that politicians say we need in order to make our schools a success. Of course, there is one thing that public schools have that charters do not:

• Success.

Yes, that's right. Despite all the so-called advantages mentioned above, public schools kicked charter school ass. We took their lunch money. On state exams, public school kids showed greater progress this year than charter school kids. Yes, the state exams that BloomKlein tout as the be-all-and-end-all of education.

Now, you know that Bloomberg and Klein love data. It wouldn't surprise me if they put little chunks of data in their boxer shorts before going to work every day. So this has to sting. Still, they are plowing forth regardless. As NYC Educator points out, far from admitting any error, BloomKlein appears to be doubling down on charter schools.

Nevertheless, it's time to rejoice, NYC teachers. We beat them at their own game. We did it despite them stacking the deck against us.

We rock.

A Lesson For Arah Lewis

There have been a lot of comments here about how we should all feel sorry for Arah Lewis, the prospective teaching fellow who cried on Klein's shoulder yesterday. I'll state at the outset that I do feel sorry for her, but I'd like to frame the debate somewhat differently than the Times and Daily News have. (Kudos to Gotham Schools for breaking this story.) I'd like to teach Arah a lesson that she'll need to understand if she ever does land that job.

Aim: To learn why Arah Lewis can't get a job.

Do Now: Read the following bulleted paragraphs.

• Michael Bloomberg and Joel Klein (hereinafter referred to as BloomKlein) are the ones who began shutting down schools for "poor performance". They did next to nothing to improve these schools. They did not lower class sizes or provide enough extra support--they just closed them down.
• These closings resulted in many fine, hard working, dedicated teachers being "excessed", which is a tidy way of saying they lost their jobs.
• In the past, these excessed teachers would have been able to find jobs on their own through the seniority transfer system. They would most likely all have been placed. BloomKlein and the UFT eliminated that system in 2005 and created a new sub-class of teacher, called an ATR, for Absent Teacher Reserve. These teachers can make 100K a year to be substitutes. The vast majority of them hate being subs and would like to return to teaching their subjects.
• When the seniority system was eliminated, the "Open Market" was formed by BloomKlein. This would supposedly allow all teachers an opportunity to go where they were wanted. BloomKlein, however, changed the funding system for schools so that principals had to pay teacher salaries from their own budgets, thus creating a disincentive to hire anyone but the newest teachers. There are now 2400 teachers without jobs.
  

Medial summary question: Given the above facts, who is to blame for the ATR mess that costs the city 40 million annually?

If you read carefully, you deduced that Bloomklein is mostly responsible for the problem, with a huge assist from the UFT. So let's continue:

• BloomKlein was given total control of the schools more than 7 years ago. Despite this, Joel Klein told you yesterday that “I don’t make the rules."
• BloomKlein also blamed the economy for the hiring freeze. The mayor is trying to buy a third term because of his alleged business acumen, and yet he could not foresee an economic downturn that was several years in the making.
• Despite knowing the bleak economic outlook, BloomKlein recruited you and others to be part of the Teaching Fellows program this past spring, just as they were about to impose a hiring freeze on teachers.
• You were promised a job by the principal of MS337 despite the hiring freeze and the knowledge that you could not be placed.

Homework Question: You now know that BloomKlein created the ATR mess and still lured you into becoming a Teaching Fellow despite having no jobs available for you in the foreseeable future. Given this, explain in a well thought out essay why the hell you'd want to work for these buffoons in the first place. Make sure you discuss why you think they wouldn't screw you as hard as they've screwed the 2400 ATRs languishing in teacher hell.

The Invisible Teacher

I really enjoy working on this blog. It's been very rewarding, and I've (virtually) met a lot of great teachers. The only thing I really don't like about it is the anonymity.

I have to scour each post to see if there are any traces of my identity in them, because I truly believe that the Stalinist regime of BloomKlein would find a way to fire if they knew I was doing this.

I tell the truth here, so technically I should have nothing to fear. Even when I voice opinions, they are genuine and my own. But I remain the invisible teacher, nipping at the heels of the higher-ups, hoping that if enough people read blogs like this (and the many fine blogs you'll find on my blogroll) then things might change.

And the real shame of it is, I now work at a school that I truly like, where the admins are generally quite good and the school is effectively run. And I really can't even talk about that, either, because it would link me to my previous school which was a model horror show. And that school would make for some interesting blogging.

I've got stories about who was in bed with whom and I could tell you what act was performed to get what perk. I could tell you the incestuous relationships between just about every admin in an entire district and how jobs were given only by applying severe upper labial pressure to the ass of one very powerful person who still rules the system. I could tell you about the made up allegations made against teachers by admins who had no compunction about ruining a teacher's life and reputation just to tighten their grip on the staff. And best of all, I could tell you the names, because I witnessed all these things. Those people are all still in the system.

Still, I'll stay quiet for now. When I retire in a few years, I'll be able to tell all. I can't wait to become visible again.