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Monday, June 4, 2012

The UFT Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff Is Where The Union Members' Money Is Going

Teachers and staff at the Academy of the City Charter School in Long Island City.

 

Isn't this the reason why the UFT is not fighting co-location and the 

closure of public schools...I mean, really fighting?


Talking isnt walking.

 

 




Charter school teachers vote to join UFT

By STEPHON JOHNSON Amsterdam News Staff | Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2012 12:00 am
This month has seen a flurry of activity from charter school teachers involving the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and its relationship with schools ultimately under the control of the Department of Education.
A couple of weeks ago, teachers at the Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem won an order from Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) Director Monte Klein, confirming their decision to join the UFT.
Initially, the teachers decided to join the union in 2010, but their school board didn’t recognize the UFT, saying that teachers on the school’s leadership team couldn’t join the union. The situation prompted Walter Sisulu’s son Max to write a letter asking the school’s trustees to recognize the union. Walter Sisulu is the anti-apartheid activist after whom the charter school was named.
The news of the PERB’s approval was music to UFT President Michael Mulgrew’s ears. “This is a good day for the teachers and students at Sisulu-Walker,” he said. “This will give the Sisulu-Walker teachers a real voice and the chance to create a better learning environment for their students.”
But that wasn’t the only news on the charter school front this month.
Teachers and staff members at the Academy of the City (AOC) Charter School in Long Island City have announced they too will seek UFT representation.
In a letter submitted to their school’s board of trustees, the staff stated that they needed to speak as one and represent their interests.
“We made this decision because we believe it is critical for us to establish a formal collective voice within our school community,” read the letter. “The recognition of the teaching and professional staff as respected partners of AOC is fundamental to the success of our school and to the realization of its mission to empower students.”
The staff also notified PERB that they’re seeking union representation. According to the UFT, if the school’s governing board doesn’t recognize the union as a bargaining representative within 30 days, the UFT can ask PERB to certify the unit on the basis of authorization cards.
“These educators want to share a voice and deserve the opportunity to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their students,” said Mulgrew. AOC now represents the 17th charter school staff group working with the UFT.

Teachers at Queens charter school vote to join UFT

Teachers and staff at the Academy of the City Charter School in Long Island City have announced they will seek to be represented by the United Federation of Teachers.
The educators submitted a letter to the school’s board of trustees, and notified the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) that the staff is seeking union recognition. If the school’s board does not recognize the union as the bargaining representative within 30 days, the UFT can ask PERB to certify the bargaining unit on the basis of the authorization cards.
The teachers wrote in a letter to the president of the school’s board of trustees, “We made this decision because we believe it is critical for us to establish a formal collective voice within our school community. The recognition of the teaching and professional staff as respected partners of AOC is fundamental to the success of our school and to the realization of its mission to empower students.”
First grade teacher Alice McNeil said, “Having a union at Academy of the City Charter School will give the teachers a strong voice in making decisions to best support the students.”
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said, “These educators want to share a voice, and deserve the opportunity to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their students.”
With the addition of Academy of the City Charter School, the UFT represents educators at 17 charter schools in New York City.
Academy of the City Charter School opened in September, and currently serves approximately 100 students in kindergarten and the 1st grade.



Keeping Authentic Education Alive in an Age of Standardized Tests

    • Saturday, November 20, 2010
    • 9:00am until 10:30pm

  • 52 Broadway, 2nd floor

  • Develop your skills as a professional educator and learn how to provide your students with the education they need to close the achievement gap! Join fellow charter school educators and expert scholars for a series of workshops planned by teachers, for teachers. 
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Invited speakers: 

    Ann Cook, Founder/Co-Director, Urban Academy Laboratory HS; Organizer, New York Performance Standards Consortium.

    Claire Sylvan, Founder/Executive Director, International Network for Public Schools; nationally recognized expert on educating English Language Learners.

    Presentations are followed by breakout workshops by grade level.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This is the first in an ongoing series of UFT ACTS professional development workshops for NYC charter teachers and staff. All workshops are free, and are developed by NYC charter teachers in partnership with UFT ACTS staff and the legendary UFT Teacher Center.You will receive a certificate of professional development participation. To check out more upcoming workshop dates and topics visit:

    http://www.uftacts.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=149

 

 

Family Court judge visits UFT Secondary Charter School


By Michael Hirsch
Family Court Judge Ingrid Joseph took the time to talk to students at the UFT 
Secondary Charter School in Bushwick, Brooklyn, about how she succeeded  
at a job she loves and how they can succeed, too.
Joseph visited four classes on May 9, telling students that her career climb 
wasn’t easy, but worth it.
“Choose what it is you’ll be happy doing in 30 years,” she told the students.
The youngest of five children of an immigrant Guyanese working-class family, the 
judge admitted the law was her second choice after being a ballerina. 
“That’s because I couldn’t dance, but I could talk a lot and I could argue both sides 
of an issue,” she said.
Her advice: “If you want to learn, no one can stop you. Be ready to drop friends who 
don’t share your goals, because friends who have goals work with you to achieve 
goals. Those who say ‘let’s cut school’ are not acting in your interest.”
On a related topic, she said, “You don’t have to hide the fact that you are smart or 
that you like books.”
Joseph also advised students that they reach long-term goals one step at a time. 
“Just make one goal at a time,” she said. “If you have a problem now, address it now.”
One of the first questions that an 8th-grader asked was, “Do you know Judge Judy?” 
But there were plenty of on-point questions, too, including what Joseph liked best 
about her job.
“I like solving problems,” she replied. “I also like it,” she said jokingly, “when I come 
in and everybody stands up. And my word is the last word … but I also know I can’t 
make everybody happy.”
Student Government President Selena Vargas appreciated how the judge “talked 
about life in general and not just about court procedure.”
The teachers said Joseph served as a valuable adult role model for their students.
“This is information that the kids really wanted. You can see they were engaged,” 
7th-grade teacher Miranda Meyerson said, pointing to the forest of hands going up 
to ask questions.
Sixth-grade teacher Thomas McDonald said, “A talk like this makes them think 
about their futures.”

Looking on as their students meet with 
Judge Joseph are (standing from left) 
guidance counselors Monique Davy 
and Daniella Goodwin, Coordinator of 
Student Activities Krystle Castillo, School
Leader Martin Weinstein, Executive 
Director of UFT Charter School Shelia 
Evans-Tranumm and Dean of Students 
Justin Davis. (Miller Photography)



This article originally appeared on 
 UFT.org on May 24, 2012.e.


Julie Nariman, Wife of Richard Bost, is Principal In The Bronx

Richard Bost was fired in June 2011 as Principal of Fordham Leadership Academy, after multiple complaints exposed his sexual harassment of the payroll secretary who dated a teacher in the school who ended up at 3020-a with bogus charges. The Bronx UFT would not help Mike Mullen, neither would NYSUT, who advised him to resign. He did. Then, he revoked his resignation and won his 3020-a in front of Roy Watanabe, with the help of his Attorney David Barrett. I was his paralegal.

Richard Bost
Now that Bost does not have his own school, isn't it nice to know that his wife does? Julie Nariman is Principal of the High School For Language and Innovation, also in the Bronx. I received an email about Mrs. Bost today, and here it is:

"Disgraced principal Richard Bost from the Fordham Leadership Academy in the Bronx has gotten his wife, Julie Nariman, her own brand new school that just opened this September with a freshman class. The name of this new school is Language and Innovation High School housed in the Columbus Campus in the Bronx, famous this year for Mr. John Chase's dismantling of the other new school that came into the campus. 
 
Ms. Nariman has no clue as to what she is doing and has hired several staff from her husband's school because they were promised new jobs if they did not protest against him. M.s Nariman does not even know that the entire campus knows her deal and her submissive staff members who Mr. Bost tamed.
This is the kind of crap that is coming in as principals. You have back door deals with SCUM! Two new schools came into the campus, one principal is GONE due to his sick behavior and the other is the wife of another sexual lunatic. The other media sources have yet to be told this information.
She is a nasty _________ who can't even control less than 100 students as she has now. She is the laughing stock and she's next to go. Her students are wild but her staff are mostly foreigners who obeyed Mr. Bost and have now come to her unit.
Do the research, you will see that this is true. The DOE should be so embarrassed! Then again, this is what's out there."


HS for Language and Innovation

Here is what Inside Schools has to say:

925 Astor Avenue 
Bronx NY 10469 Map
Principal: Julie Nariman
Neighborhood: Pelham Parkway
District: 11
Grade range: 09
Parent coordinator: Rosa Cordero

What's special:

Students learn English in every class every day

The downside:

Students don't leave the classroom except for lunch and phys ed

Statistics

Enrollment:
Attendance:

Insideschools review

The vision: The High School for Language and Innovation, opened in September 2011 with 80 students in the Christopher Columbus Educational Campus. It was created for students who are learning to speak English, who love to express themselves, and who want to become leaders. The goal, according to founding Principal Julie Nariman, is for students to double their vocabulary in every class and to improve their proficiency to a college level.
The reality: Students learn English in every class—including science and math. They read aloud, in unison, as a way to encourage quiet kids to speak up. Classes are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Friday, when the academic day ends at 2 p.m. and students choose from electives in dance, Tae kwon Do, art or theater. Korean is offered as a foreign language. Nariman, who was the assistant principal of English as a Second Language at Long Island City High School, also taught English as a Second Language in Korea.
Many students need an adjustment period to get past their quiet phase, because in their native countries they were taught to participate minimally when communicating with authority figures, a guidance counselor told us. Students stay in the same classroom, leaving only for lunch and physical education. The administrator we spoke to said that keeps the students safe. In its first year, 60 percent of the students were Spanish-speaking. Attendance is high, at 96 percent.
Admissions: Admission is open to students with low English proficiency who have lived in the U.S. for four years or less. Priority goes to Bronx students. Applicants will be interviewed by school staff. (Jacqueline Wayans, high school fair, October 2011)

Please post comments

  • Give specific examples. Tell us why “this school rocks” (or doesn’t)
  • No profanity. No racial or ethnic slurs. No personal attacks
  • Criticism is fine but don’t be nasty.
  • Flag inappropriate comments. (Hover your cursor over comments to see flag)

Julie and Richard evidently live on 100th street, according to Google:

Condo 158 E. 100th Street, Unit: 6R 
Buyer: Richard D Bost and Julie C Nariman 
Seller: East 100 Building Corp