The one constant in all the hiring/firing/substituting/excessing is MONEY.
One of my favorite people in NYC is Eric, or 'Chaz', the writer and Editor of the blog "Chaz's School Daze", and the article below is one of his best. All his posts are terrific.
What I know is 3020-a. I know who the Attorneys are, who the arbitrators are, and why most of the charges are frivolous and should never have been placed on a table in the 3020-a hearing offices. I fight and assist educators and Guidance Counselors fix their careers.
With the DOE it's all about MONEY. OUR money.
Due to the fact that there are no senior transfers, so the only way that a principal can get a senior - read "expensive" - teacher removed from the school payroll is by charging the teacher/guidance counselor (GC) with 3020-a.
Because the purpose is to move the expensive teacher/GC out, the DOE (principal and 'legal' at the District office) set up the Respondent charged-employee-to-be so that anything they can make up becomes specifications with the goal being termination.
In every case, if the teacher/GC is exonerated, he/she goes back to the school he/she was charged at, and remains a full-time teacher. Therefore, principals must throw everything in the mud before it hits the wall, so something will stick, even if the teacher/GC is not terminated. If the penalty is a fine or suspension without pay even $1000/two weeks the teacher/GC becomes an ATR. This is still a success to the original principal, who now does not have you on the payroll....the goal was reached.
Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
President, Advocatz and The E-Accountability Foundation
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials
Friday, November 22, 2013
How The DOE's "Fair Student Funding Formula" Affects Hiring Quality Teachers.
There seems to be some confusion, deliberate or not, on how the DOE uses the "Fair Student Funding" (FSF) formula works. The theory behind FSF was that the money would follow the student with "high needs" with these students getting more money than schools with few "high needs" students. However, like many other programs the people at Tweed "perverts" the FSF and "picks and chooses" what parts of the FSF that support their ideology and that's where the confusion lies.
When it comes to hiring the DOE uses the FSF by using the "average teacher salary" of the school to determine the funding. The result is that principals have an incentive to hire the "cheapest" and not the "best" teachers for their schools. Let's look at some examples:
Large School = 120 teachers average salary is $80,000. The school hires a top teacher making $100,000. What will the average teacher salary be?
ATS = {$80,000 x (119/120) = $79,333) + ( $100,000 x (1/120) = $833} = $80,166.
However, $166 x 120 = a $19,960 increase in the school budget for teachers.
On the other hand, if the Principal hires a "newbie teacher".
ATS = {$80,000 x (119/120) = $79,333) + ( $40,000 x (1/120) = $333} = $79,666.
However, $333 x 120 = a $39,960 decrease in the school budget for teachers.
Small School = 30 teachers average salary is $52,000. The school hires a top teacher making $100,000. What will the average teacher salary be?
ATS = {$52,000 x (29/30) = $50,266) + ( $100,000 x (1/30) = $3,333} = $53,600
However, $1,600 x 30 = a $48,000 increase in the school budget for teachers.
On the other hand, if the Principal hires a "newbie teacher".
ATS = {$52,000 x (29/30) = $50,266) + ( $40,000 x (1/30) = $1,333} = $51,600
However, $400 x 30 = a $12,000 decrease in the school budget for teachers.
Mid-Sized School = 60 teachers average salary is $65,000. The school hires a top teacher making $100,000. What will the average teacher salary be?
ATS = {$65,000 x (59/60) = $63,916) + ( $100,000 x (1/60) = $1,666} = $65,582
However, $582 x 60 = a $39,350 increase in the school budget for teachers.
On the other hand, if the Principal hires a "newbie teacher".
ATS = {$65,000 x (59/60) = $63,916) + ( $40,000 x (1/60) = $666} = $64,582
However, $416 x 60 = a $24,960 decrease in the school budget for teachers.
As the reader can plainly see the Principal has a financial incentive to hire the "newbie teacher" and save some money in the process. The smaller the school, the greater the incentive. Its no wonder that there are over 2,000 ATRs rotating while "newbies" are being hired to fill the vacancies.
I hope the readers of my blog realize why principals hire the"cheapest" and are not interested in hiring the "best" teachers for their students. The principals can fool the parents of the students that they are hiring "quality teachers" to instruct their children but now you know better, its all about the money and not what's best for the students.
