Renewal Schools Give New Job Opportunities To NYC DOE Higher Ups Who Have Proved Their Worth

At the New York City Department of Education, anyone who plays along with the prevalent policy of the day (policies change, and employees hoping to stay employed change with them without question) gets promoted, coddled, rewarded, and benefits+.

The renewal policy will be, I believe, the newest disaster to hit the health, safety and welfare of the children trying to get a good education in NYC public schools. 

 

Similar to the secret intent of the Workshop Model - namely to get rid of teachers - renewal is another name for "ditch the bad". Yes, all readers, it was our very own Carmen Farina who created and pushed the Workshop Model with its ridiculous scripts for teaching on the New York public school system, starting at PS 6 in Manhattan. Luckily, for purposes of having the right to say it doesn't work, I was at PS 6 when the Workshop Model destroyed the learning of the kids and the careers of the teachers.

I wrote an article about my youngest daughter's distress over TERC math, the fuzzy anti-learning policy also implemented also so that teachers and students could fail in higher order thinking in math concepts.

At PS6, what a group of parents and I did was to take the homework, work with our children to do the math in the traditional way, then put the hats over the numbers and scribble "work" onto the page that looked like we were getting the answers from literally fuzzifying the process. Our kids learned math the traditional way, but handed in fuzzy work to please the teachers, all of whom were told by Carmen Farina to punish any child not doing the homework the fuzzy way. (source will not be disclosed) Carmen ended the Gifted and Talented program at PS 6 because "all kids can learn" and a level 2 or 3 is fine.

At Stuyvesant High School, a separate curriculum was established for the kids who took fuzzy math in District 2, because they had no grasp of the traditional math concepts and had to be on a separate track.

We have posted before that the words "bad" or good", "properly" or "improperly", etc., are subjective opinions. When you hear the word “incompetent”, look at the person who is writing or saying it. The word itself is situation specific. For example, if a teacher is tenured and teaches chemistry for 10 years and then the Principal assigns this person to teach high school English literature, most people would say that perhaps this person would be “incompetent” to teach that subject. When you find out that a teacher was placed in a Senior calculus class but actually is certified in teaching global history, you know something is wrong. When you hear that a teacher is “incompetent”, the very next question should be “at what?”

But the UFT ignores the contract when a teacher is placed in a classroom outside of his/her licensed content area and then is observed and given "U" and/or discontinuance.

Shame on them.

Betsy Combier, Editor

Executive Director of Renewal Schools

Tracking Code

11232

Job Description

Please Note:  Position only open to internal NYC Department of Education employees. The filling of all positions is subject to budget availability.

Position Summary: The New York City school system is the largest in the country, composed of approximately 1.1 million students and 75,000+ teachers in over 1,800 schools. The school renewal program is a top-to-bottom evaluation to improve struggling schools. Renewal Schools receive supports such as transformation into a Community School, expanded learning opportunities, and increased professional development. 94 Renewal Schools have been identified; elementary, middle, and high schools in need of support based on criteria including low academic achievement (test scores and graduation rates) and low ratings on the DOE’s Quality Review.

The Executive Director of School Renewal will work intensively with each Renewal School community over the next three years, setting clear goals, and with support from central, hold each school community accountable for rapid improvement. The Executive Director oversees all existing and new Renewal Schools in New York City, serves as an advisor to the Chancellor, Executive Superintendent of Renewal Schools and DOE senior leadership, and liaises with internal and external partners to ensure that the Chancellor’s vision for Renewal Schools is realized. Performs related work.

Reports to: Executive Superintendent for Renewal Schools

Direct Reports: Director of Program Planning and Evaluation, Director of Data, Analytics and Renewal Accountability, Director of Programming, Director of Communication Strategy, Director of Operations and HR, Director for Renewal High Schools, Senior Coaches for Renewal Schools, School Renewal Program Director for High Schools

 Key Relationships: Superintendents, Executive Director of Community Schools, Directors of School Renewal, Principals, school staff, School Leadership Teams, DOE Central staff and Deputy Chancellors’ Offices

 Responsibilities

 ·         Provides direction, counsel, and support in a broad range of instructional, strategic, logistical, and  

          administrative areas to Renewal Schools.

·         Coordinates with Executive Director of Community Schools to deepen support for renewal schools within the community.

·         Oversees school needs assessments for renewal schools across all six elements of the Framework for Great Schools.

·         Manages the Renewal Team in building capacity for cross-functional roles by designing, implementing and providing tools and resources for professional development.

·         Identifies issues facing renewal schools, addresses road blocks, and ensures that issues are seen through to resolution.

·         Serves as an advisor to the Chancellor, Executive Superintendent and DOE senior leadership on Renewal Schools to set policy for renewal schools.

·         Manages a variety of special projects that require a high degree of research and analysis; evaluates results and presents recommendations to Executive Superintendent to be used as a basis for policy decisions.

·         Supports the Superintendents and principals and ensures that best practices are utilized in a seamless and coordinated fashion throughout the Renewal Schools. 

·         Oversees the design, delivery and implementation of workshops and professional development related to accountability, special education, operations, instruction, data, assessment, teacher quality and strategies that accelerate student achievement in Renewal Schools. 

·         Supports Principals capacity-building efforts around resource optimization, strategic staffing, and effective operational practices that impact and accelerate student achievement.

·         Support Superintendents in recruiting and selecting new principals/leadership.

·         Provides guidance and support to Renewal Team regarding management of their teams and meeting their goals and targets.

·         Works collaboratively across central offices to ensure consistent and effective application of best practices, developing key relationships to ensure the smooth flow of information and work processes for Renewal Schools

 Qualification Requirements:

Minimum

Must currently possess a New York State Certification as a School District Administrator (SDA) or School District Leader (SDL).

Plus

·         Prior successful school leadership experience in a diverse urban setting.

Preferred

·         Successful central policy making experience in managing a multifaceted complex organization.

·         Experience in supporting organizational change and school turnaround.

·         Excellent and effective communication skills, including the ability to organize facts and present information and figures in a clear, concise and logical manner, both orally and in writing.

·         Strong leadership, teamwork and influencing skills, with experience in managing project teams at all levels in a cross-functional, diverse and changing environment.

·         Experience in effective program design, development and implementation.

·         Strong ability to evaluate and provide feedback to ensure the alignment of program goals and DOE instructional priorities.

Salary: $144,315+

Please be sure application includes cover letter and your 6-digit file number

Applications will be accepted through August 12, 2015 at 3:00PM.

Please Note:  Position only open to internal NYC Department of Education employees. The filling of all positions is subject to budget availability.

 

AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

It is the policy of the Department of Education of the City of New York to provide educational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, creed, ethnicity, national origin, alienage, citizenship status, age, marital status, partnership status, disability, sexual orientation, gender (sex), military status, prior record of arrest or conviction (except as permitted by law), predisposing genetic characteristics, or status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual offenses and stalking, and to maintain an environment free of harassment on any of the above-noted grounds, including sexual harassment or retaliation.  Inquiries regarding compliance with this equal opportunity policy may be directed to: Office of Equal Opportunity, 65 Court Street, Room 1102, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or visit the OEO website at http://schools.nyc.gov/OEO

Job Location

NEW YORK, New York, United States

Position Type
Full-Time/Regular
New Posting
Yes
Readvertisement
No
Recanvass
No
District
N/A

School Renewal Program

 The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is partnering with school leaders, staff, families and community partners across the city to transform 94 schools through the School Renewal Program.

The School Renewal Program is a call to action. The NYCDOE will work intensively with each Renewal  School community over the next three years, setting clear goals and —with support from Central—holding each school community accountable for rapid improvement. The NYCDOE has selected as Renewal Schools those schools that met all three of the following criteria and four that were added per the Chancellor’s discretion:

1. Were Identified as Priority or Focus Schools by the State Department of Education
   Priority: The bottom 5% lowest-performing schools statewide
   Focus: The bottom 10% of progress in a subgroup
2. Demonstrated low academic achievement for each of the three prior years (2012-2014):
   Elementary and middle schools in the bottom 25% in Math and ELA scores
   High schools in the bottom 25% in four-year graduation rate
3. Scored “Proficient” or below on their most recent quality review

Building on the Chancellor’s vision, the NYCDOE is looking beyond test scores to determine where schools need to improve.

Key elements of the plan include:

1. Transforming Renewal Schools into Community Schools, with deepened support from and for families and community partners. Partnerships with community-based organizations will enable these schools to offer tailored whole-student supports, including mental health services and after-school programs.
2. Creating extended learning time – an extra hour added to the school day to give all students additional instructional time.
3. Supplying resources and supports to ensure effective school leadership and rigorous instruction with collaborative teachers.
4. Performing school needs assessments across all six elements of the Framework for Great Schools (rigorous instruction, collaborative teachers, supportive environment, effective school leadership, strong family-community ties, and trust) to identify key areas for additional resources.
5. Bringing increased oversight and accountability including strict goals and clear consequences for schools that do not meet them.

Here are the key next steps:

A needs assessment will be completed in each Renewal School by spring 2015 to identify specific focus elements from the the Framework for Great Schools and to develop goals for improvement.

Each School Leadership Team will work in partnership with NYCDOE leadership to create a School Renewal Plan and a road map for success.

NYCDOE leadership, school leadership, educators, families and the community must come together to support and accelerate improvement for students and staff of each Renewal School.

The NYCDOE is committed to working collaboratively as we strive to provide all of our students a high quality education to get them ready for college, careers and independent living.

List of Renewal Schools

P.S. 015 Roberto Clemente Henry Street School for International Studies P.S. 149 Sojourner Truth Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing & Visual Arts P.S. 050 Vito Marcantonio Renaissance School of the Arts Coalition School for Social Change P.S. 123 Mahalia Jackson P.S. 194 Countee Cullen P.S. 132 Juan Pablo Duarte High School for Health Careers and Sciences I.S. 528 Bea Fuller Rodgers School P.S. 154 Jonathan D. Hyatt J.H.S. 162 Lola Rodriguez De Tio Foreign Language Academy of Global Studies New Explorers High School J.H.S. 123 James M. Kieran M.S. 301 Paul L. Dunbar Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community Research Urban Assembly Academy of Civic Engagement The Bronx Mathematics Preparatory School Herbert H. Lehman High School The Hunts Point School Banana Kelly High School J.H.S. 022 Jordan L. Mott I.S. 117 Joseph H. Wade J.H.S. 145 Arturo Toscanini I.S. 219 New Venture School Bronx Collegiate Academy Leadership Institute I.S. 313 School of Leadership Development Bronx Early College Academy for Teaching & Learning Urban Science Academy New Millennium Business Academy Middle School DreamYard Preparatory School I.S. 339 Bronx High School of Business J.H.S. 080 The Mosholu Parkway P.S. 085 Great Expectations The Bronx School of Young Leaders Academy for Personal Leadership and Excellence The Angelo Patri Middle School Fordham Leadership Academy for Business and Technology DeWitt Clinton High School P.S. 112 Bronxwood Globe School for Environmental Research The Young Scholars Academy of The Bronx

School of Diplomacy P.S. 092 Bronx School of Performing Arts Peace and Diversity Academy Fannie Lou Hamer Middle School Entrada Academy Urban Scholars Community School Monroe Academy for Visual Arts & Design P.S. 067 Charles A. Dorsey Satellite East Middle School MS 596 Peace Academy J.H.S. 050 John D. Wells Juan Morel Campos Secondary School Foundations Academy Automotive High School Frederick Douglass Academy IV Secondary School Boys and Girls High School Upper School @ P.S. 25 M.S. 584 Middle School for Academic and Social Excellence Ebbets Field Middle School Brooklyn Generation School East Flatbush Community Research School P.S. 306 Ethan Allen Essence School P.S. 328 Phyllis Wheatley Multicultural High School Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory School P.S. 165 Ida Posner P.S. 284 Lew Wallace P.S. 298 Dr. Betty Shabazz Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School Pan American International High School Flushing High School Martin Van Buren High School P.S./M.S 042 R. Vernam M.S. 053 Brian Piccolo P.S. 197 The Ocean School August Martin High School Richmond Hill High School John Adams High School J.H.S. 008 Richard S. Grossley P.S. 111 Jacob Blackwell Long Island City High School J.H.S. 291 Roland Hayes I.S. 349 Math, Science & Tech. Academy of Urban Planning

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UFT President Asked AFT President Randi Weingarten To Donate To Mayor's Nonprofit Lobbying Arm While The UFT Negotiated a New Contract With City Hall

Bill de Blasio



But it's not a conflict of interest. Huh?

Betsy Combier

Mulgrew details union's gift to de Blasio effort

The teachers' union president says it was he, and not the mayor, who asked Randi Weingarten to make huge AFT donation to Mr. de Blasio's nonprofit lobbying arm while the UFT was negotiating a new contract with City Hall. Not a conflict, he insists.

By Chris Bragg Crain's

LINK

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, whose parent union donated $350,000 to Mayor Bill de Blasio's nonprofit in the midst of contract talks in April, says the mayor never asked for the money—and that accepting it wasn't a conflict of interest.

UFT President Mike Mulgrew

"He keeps the two things separate," Mr. Mulgrew said in an interview Thursday. "We don't bring the two things up at the same time."

The donation, on April 9, came less than a month before Messrs. de Blasio and Mulgrew struck a nine-year, $9 billion contract, which included back pay and raises. The same day the $350,000 flowed in, Mr. de Blasio's nonprofit, Campaign For One New York, which was running low on money, spent exactly $350,000 on politically helpful television commercials that celebrated Albany's approval of pre-K funding for the city.

Mr. Mulgrew said the prospect of the AFT making a donation did not come up at a March 8 meeting. Mr. de Blasio's schedule shows that he met with Mr. Mulgrew and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for a lunch that Saturday at Harlem's Red Rooster restaurant. They were accompanied by a top de Blasio aide, Emma Wolfe.

The meeting was a month before Ms. Weingarten's AFT made the $350,000 donation, and less than two months before the Mr. Mulgrew's UFT struck the $9 billion contract deal with the mayor. Mr. Mulgrew says the conversation focused on Mr. de Blasio's battle to win pre-K funding from the Legislature. "It was more about strategy," Mr. Mulgrew said.

Asked if Mr. de Blasio or his team had ever asked for a donation to the mayor's nonprofit, Mr. Mulgrew said, flatly, "No." A spokesman for Mr. de Blasio, meanwhile, said there was no talk of a donation at the Harlem meal.

"Absolutely not," the spokesman said. "This was a substantive meeting that focused solely on legislative strategy."

Two days after the pow-wow, in a March 10 appearance on "Morning Joe," Mr. de Blasio said he would be open to accepting pre-K funding from the Legislature without an income tax hike—a major shift in strategy.

Mr. Mulgrew did say that he had asked Ms. Weingarten, herself a former UFT president, to help with making a donation to Campaign For One New York. "Of course I asked Randi to assist on that," Mr. Mulgrew said.

One oddity of the donation's timing is that the state budget containing the pre-K funding passed in late March—and the AFT donation was not made until afterwards, on April 9. Mr. Mulgrew said the donation was not intended for any specific purpose other than to promote pre-K. "We were just donating to the fund itself," Mr. Mulgrew said.

Chirlane McCray

The $350,000, however, was immediately spent by Campaign For One New York on television ads featuring first lady Chirlane McCray touting the funding of universal pre-K as a "landmark win for New York City." The New York Times reported that the nearly $1 million ad blitz, which was made possible by the AFT donation, was meant to help the mayor "regain command of his political message as he approaches his 100th day in office." (Mr. de Blasio's poll numbers had been hurt, in part, by a multimillion dollar charter school ad campaign targeting the mayor.)

Mr. Mulgrew said it had simply taken time for the AFT to line up the $350,000—the biggest donation given to Mr. de Blasio's nonprofit since its creation following his mayoral election in November. He added that the money would be helpful for a "second phase" of Mr. de Blasio's pre-k push—urging the public to sign up for the program—and that Mr. de Blasio's $950,000 ad blitz made New Yorkers aware of the program.

Mr. Mulgrew said it didn't make sense for the UFT to stop pursuing this part of its agenda just because it was simultaneously in contract talks with the mayor. "We're very involved with pre-K," Mr. Mulgrew said. "That's a natural thing for us."

A charter-school group has called for a city Conflicts of Interest Board investigation into the AFT donation, and the New York Post called on Mr. de Blasio to return it.

YOUPS: A Look at New Jersey's Teachers Without Assignments

Kathleen Murphy-Butler is a Newark public school teacher without a permanent position for the fall

Pool for Unassigned Teachers Swells in Newark

City struggles with what to do with hundreds of teachers on the payroll who don’t have permanent assignments

LINK

By 

LESLIE BRODY

July 23, 2015 9:00 p.m. ET
 

As Newark school officials struggle to fix a long troubled system, one costly issue looms large: what to do with hundreds of teachers on the payroll who don’t have permanent assignments.

This pool of “educators without placement’’ rose to 453 people in June—or 15% of Newark teachers, according to a list from the Newark Teachers Union. Their total annual pay: $35 million.

Some are stuck in the pool due to poor ratings. Many are there because they balked at working longer hours in a school slated for an overhaul, or lost their positions when a school was revamped.

District officials say no one is idle; they work as substitutes, aides and other helpers. About 200 drew salaries topping $90,000, according to the union’s list. Some have lingered in this limbo for more than a year.

John Abeigon, President of the Newark Teacher's Union

 

Principals, who are required to hire from the pool to fill most vacancies, say they aren’t free to recruit the best faculty. Taxpayers are paying for staff that district officials have said could be cut. And teachers complain they don’t know where they will be put for temporary stints, and sometimes land in slots outside their expertise.

“The district has created a crisis,” said union spokesman Michael Maillaro. The pool “creates a bad situation for everyone.”

The pool grew out of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s efforts to make Newark a national model for education reform. The state-operated district has closed, merged or reconfigured dozens of schools over the past three years. Many teachers lost their posts as principals gained more autonomy in hiring and student enrollment dropped.

Recently departed superintendent Cami Anderson has said the pool served as a mechanism to avoid firing any high-performers: If the district had a reduction-in-force among teachers, seniority rules would protect tenured veterans and force her to cut newer staff, no matter who was most effective. So excess teachers were sent to the pool to avoid layoffs. She repeatedly asked for the state’s permission to “right-size” the faculty by waiving seniority rules. In the spring, she estimated that performance-based layoffs would save $10 million.

The pool has ballooned since March, when the district said it had 243 teachers. Ms. Anderson called it a burden on the $990 million budget, which was already strained by rising health-care fees and allocations to charter schools. On Tuesday, the district said that 92 clerks, security guards, custodians and others were being let go to help plug a budget gap.

Newark Teachers Union officials say most teachers in the excess pool earned good ratings and getting them lasting positions is a priority in contract negotiations. District spokeswoman Brittany Parmley said the district was taking steps to move them into classroom jobs and ensure all students had strong teachers.

But some school leaders say requiring principals to recruit from the pool can hurt children academically. Ms. Anderson reported in the spring that teachers in the pool were six times as likely to be rated ineffective as those with permanent spots.

Dominique Lee, founder of BRICK Academy, (pictured above) which runs two district schools in distressed neighborhoods, said it takes unique skills to nurture children facing hunger, inadequate housing and fractured families.

“In terms of finding the right teachers for our buildings, that population has diminished from the pool,” he said. “You want to give schools autonomy to find the right staff.”

The district’s new state-appointed superintendent, Chris Cerf, took charge this month and declined to comment on the issue, saying he was still reviewing it.

Some educators say the chaotic churn among faculty deprives children of caring adults who know them. Kathleen Murphy-Butler, an elementary school teacher and union official in the pool, said she used to have more than 200 parent contact numbers in her phone. Last year, she learned on Aug. 28 where to report in September, and started a temporary post at a new school without knowing any families.

“It puts the kids at a disadvantage,” she said. “In the inner city, parent support is the most important thing.”

The pool swelled recently due to the cyclical flux between school years; many teachers are expected to find jobs in the fall. Many teachers, however, are there because they balked at longer hours in schools slated for overhauls. Under a union-district agreement, teachers joined the pool if they didn’t agree to a stipend, typically $3,000, for working about an hour more daily, several Saturdays and two weeks in the summer. A union spokesman said some who kept to contract hours and left at 3:05 p.m. were derided by other staffers as “Three-oh-fivers.”

Some in the pool say they’re contributing as substitutes and that principals don’t hire them because doing so would shift their salaries from the central office’s budget to the school’s budget.

In certain ways, the pool resembles New York City’s Absent Teacher Reserve, where tenured teachers linger after school closures or disciplinary problems. In New York City, the education department said one out of 75 teachers was in the reserve in the spring. In Newark, by the union’s June count, about one out of seven teachers was in the excess pool.

Newark officials say all the excess teachers are given tasks so the pool is nothing like New York City’s notorious rubber room, where teachers used to sit idle while waiting for disputes over dismissals to be resolved.

Write to Leslie Brody at leslie.brody@wsj.com

Bigger than Bridgegate? Christie’s $25 million in no-show Newark school jobs

LINK

Christie: You gotta problem with wasting taxpayers’ money?

Gov. Chris Christie’s operation of the Newark schools wastes some $25 million a year in public funds to pay teachers who don’t teach–teachers who spend all day in so-called “rubber rooms” or at home, doing nothing to earn the money they are paid. It’s something he’ll never bring up in his presidential campaign trips to Iowa or New Hampshire–but New Jersey’s governor is OK with no-show school jobs in the state’s largest city.

This site has acquired a document, dubbed “Managed Choice,” that lists the names of 402 instructional employees who spend their days doing nothing and getting paid for it because they have lost their positions but cannot be taken off the payroll because most have perfectly good records.  Ninety percent of the instructors are tenured. They are called “educators without placement”–or EWPS. They did not choose to be idle and they hate it–but it was Christie’s decision to put them there.
At a conservative estimate of an average salary of $60,000 per teacher, that represents some $25 million a year in taxpayer funds flushed down the sewer of corruption and ineptitude that is Christie’s control of the Newark schools.  The figure is probably much larger because many of the EWPS teachers are experienced and at the higher end of the pay scale.
The list also does not include the scores of administrators who also have been transformed into “educators without placement”–or EWPS. That would add millions to the money wasted by Christie’s agent in Newark, state-imposed superintendent Cami Anderson.

Anderson’s administration faces a deficit of  at least $57 million this year, a fiscal hole the Glen Ridge resident managed to dig for herself and the Newark schools in her more than three-year tenure. Christie, who constantly praises what a great job Anderson does,  rewarded her wasteful spending and ineptitude this year by giving her another three-year contract. Christie owns the corruption in the Newark school administration. Unlike his claims about Fort Lee and the blockade of the George Washington Bridge, his stubby fingerprints are all over this scandal. He knows about this waste of public funds and he has encouraged it to continue.
One administrator EWP is Tony Motley, the former principal of the Bragaw Avenue School, an institution handed over to a privately-operated charter school chain whose principals have close business and personal ties to Anderson, former state Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf, and former Mayor Cory Booker, now a United States senator. Motley, a vice president of the union  representing school administrators, was one of five principals removed from their jobs early this year for raising questions about Anderson’s “One Newark” plan. He never got his job back.
A few weeks ago, Motley told me he did “nothing” in his EWPS rubber room at 2 Cedar Street, Anderson’s headquarters. At times, he worked on his doctoral dissertation, he said.
The EWPS list for teachers is dated July 31, 2014. Some of the names may have been removed from that list–others have been added.  Earlier this year, the Newark Teachers Union estimated that at least 300 teachers were EWPs so the number is apparently growing. No precise tally as of this date is available but hundreds of teacher and other school employees, through no personal fault of their own,  are drawing paychecks without working.
The document bears this warning  in, appropriately, red ink: “**Confidential . Internal use ONLY. Please do NOT redistribute** Internal Candidates – Available for Managed Choice.”

Hespe: “Rubber rooms? What a hoot!

It’s no surprise Anderson would want to keep this list confidential, a secret. It is evidence both of massive waste of public funds and her ineptitude–all on Chris Christie’s watch. Neither he nor his education commissioner, David Hespe, has done anything to stop it. They are complicit.
EWPS are not teachers who have been brought up on tenure charges–or suspended. Most of these educational employees are in good standing. The huge list of unused personnel is a direct result of what Cami Anderson’s backers in the media call her “bold and sensible” reforms–like, for example, so-called “Renew schools.”
Anderson is claiming “Renew schools” are doing well–and The Star-Ledger unquestioningly echoes the boast–but she refuses to release the statistics that would prove her right or wrong. What is known about “Renew” and other “redesigned” schools is that principals willing to back Anderson are given a free hand in firing teachers without cause and sending them to EWPS central. They hire their friends and the people they don’t like go off to rubber rooms and collect salaries without providing educational the services they are capable of doing–and licensed to do.
Worse, Anderson is committed to hiring scores of Teach for America (TFA) graduates–and, indeed, she has been hiring them while sending veteran teachers to EWPs centers. Anderson herself was a TFA executive and the organization supports her goals of closing neighborhood schools and expanding charters.
They can’t be taken off the payroll because they haven’t done anything wrong–they apparently just haven’t struck the fancy of principals who want to “renew” their staffs.
Anderson tried to rid the schools of these teachers last year when she sought to obtain a waiver of lay off procedures from the state education department. Hespe hid the request in his vest pocket, never accepting or rejecting it–but that doesn’t mean he won’t bring the waiver up again.
The expensive transformation of teachers into professional zombies hanging around the Limbos of schools and 2 Cedar Street reveals a pattern that proves it’s part of Anderson’s distorted policies. The dismissal of teachers is not random and is not spread equally among all schools in all wards of the city. Rather, many teachers have been let go from schools in the South, West, and Central Wards that have received the Christie regime’s special attention, while the North and East Wards generally are untouched:

• Louis Munoz Marin–25
• William Horton–25
• West Side–20
• Weequahic–18
• Newark Vocational–17
• Belmont-Runyon-15
• Speedway–14
• Barringer Arts and Humanities–13
• Newark Bridges–13
• Bragaw–12
• Louse Spencer–12
• Madison Street–12
• Central–12
• Shabazz–11
• Roseville–10
• Flagg–10

The types of teachers assigned to the rubber rooms also reflect what Anderson is doing to disrupt Newark’s neighborhood public schools.  By type of teacher, these are the most likely to lose their positions to “renewal” or “redesign”:

• Elementary school teachers–90
• Special education teachers–61
• Guidance counselors–23
• Physical education teachers–19
• Social workers–16
• Mathematics teachers–15
• Librarians–13
• Art teachers–13
• Technology coordinators–13

Some might also see a pattern in the rate of participation of assistant superintendents in the exiling of teachers to the EWPS gulag. Gary Beidleman presided over the most–with 79, followed by Roger Leon, 59, and Brad Haggerty, 51.

Bros in wasting taxpayer money

Anderson’s rubber rooms are only part of the story of how state control cheats Newark’s students and taxpayers from throughout New Jersey. Another side is the failure of Christie’s agent to provide appropriately licensed instructors for Newark’s children. In its next installment, this blog will introduce readers to a teacher who, after spending two years as a EWPS is now teaching outside his license–way outside his license.

'Youps': Newark's expensive, excess school staff

  LINK             

By Joan Whitlow/For The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
on February 26, 2012 at 6:55 AM, updated February 26, 2012

 

They are called "Employees Without Placement Sites," or EWPS, which is pronounced "youps," which rhymes with "oops," which is unfortunately appropriate.
The Newark school district is paying $8.5 million a year in salaries and benefits to 84 youps: tenured teachers, guidance counselors, social workers and other personnel, including two vice principals and two department chairs, none of whom could get a principal to hire them into the reconstituted public school system.

The 84 are there because of staff reorganizations that began in September, in part, to save $7.9 million for a district with a dwindling student population. With more such changes just announced, we're going to get more youps.

Newark schools Superintendent Cami Anderson calls it the "excess pool." Those in the pool, she said, must stay on the payroll until they retire or leave for jobs outside the district because of tenure laws and union contract provisions. They aren't just sitting around, she said. They have been assigned to be long-term substitutes, an "extra pair of hands" in special education classes. I've seen a list of those in the pool -- no names, just data -- and most of them have six to 30 years of service which, given salary increments, would make them very expensive teacher aides.

I'd work 'em hard, hard enough to either get some direct benefit for the kids, or work the youps right off the payroll.

I asked the district for an assignment list to show where the youps were working. Haven't got it yet.

There used to be more than 200 in the pool. Most lost jobs because replacing half a school's staff is one of the reform options under the federal School Improvement Grants that seven Newark schools received.

Principals are supposed to interview at least two from the excess pool before hiring anyone else, Anderson said. In many cases, people aren't hired because they don't fit the need -- too many English teachers, too few vacancies in English departments, for instance.

But I hear anecdotes, like the one about the principal who had open jobs and wanted to fill them to help students prepare for the coming round of standardized tests. The principal interviewed two youps and decided it was better to have vacancies than inflict those teachers on the students.
It would be foolish to think all those in the pool are bad teachers. It would be just as foolish to believe there are no bad teachers among those left behind.


Joseph Del Grosso, the Newark Teachers Union president, (pictured above) protested that he's seen the list and that none of the teachers on it has complaints or reviews on file that would trigger tenure charges or disciplinary action.
One of the problems, I've been told, is that principals don't always write up teachers the way they should, because of everything from friendship to a belief that nothing comes of it.

"Don't blame the union," Del Grosso told me.

He said there would be no youps if the district had gone strictly by seniority, letting nontenured teachers go first, then the tenured teachers, based on least seniority. That would have been within tenure law and contract language, and would have avoided creating the pool of tenured jobless that the district must still pay, he asserted.

Yes, but it might also mean good, energetic young teachers would be lost, while teachers who had burned out long ago -- or never had the right stuff -- would be retained.
DelGrosso said, and others also told me, they don't think the use of the youps pool has been well-planned.

Educators in the district pointed out that, since schools have lost reading coaches and tutors to budget cuts, why aren't English teachers (I counted eight) in the pool assigned to fill those slots? Can we put them to work after school? On weekends?

I'm all for reform. I've seen it come and go in Newark, too often with more unintended consequences than good, stable changes. I worry about the next phase of closings and consolidations proceeding, even though no one has done the analysis to tell the results of the first phase, other than youps.
They make excellent poster children for tenure reform, but is that enough educational bang for those 8.5 million bucks?

 

Los Angeles Teachers Left Without Jobs After a Loophole Appears in Reed v California Settlement

Laid off ‘Reed’ teachers accusing LAUSD of exploiting a loophole

Posted on July 24, 2015 3:10 pm by Mike Szymanski

LINK

More than three dozen teachers at some of LA Unified’s lower-performing schools say their contracts are not being renewed because of a loophole in settlement of Reed vs. California, a lawsuit that tried to curb high teacher turnover in some of the city’s most challenging schools.

The settlement, made in April 2014, was aimed at addressing inequalities at 37 LA Unified schools identified as those with high teacher turnover and student drop-out rates as well as low statewide test scores.

The loophole, some of the laid off teachers say, is that instead of signing probationary contracts last year, the custom for new teachers joining the district, the Reed school teachers were asked by the district to sign “temporary” employment contracts, which expired on June 30.

Without recognizing the difference, they later learned that the contracts were not being renewed, and the district plans to replace the teachers with displaced teachers from non-Reed schools. Displaced teachers are those who are moved out of their positions by virture of shrinking student population.

Repeated efforts to gain an explanation from the district were unsuccessful. Nor did the LA teachers union, UTLA, respond to a request seeking comment.

Arising out of a 2010 lawsuit that named for plaintiff Sharail Reed, the settlement involved the district, the ACLU and UTLA, and called for more assistant principals, counselors and special education support staff, greater professional development for teachers and administrators and bonuses to retain and recruit principals.

The move surprised some Reed school principals, pushing some to lobby the district to keep the teachers they were going to lose.

“I think if you ask any of the principals, they would say they would have preferred to keep the teachers who were on the temporary contracts,” said James Monroe High School principal Chris Rosas. His North Hills school lost two teachers this summer, and both were trained specifically to teach at “Reed schools.” The incoming replacements will have to be re-trained. “I would love to have kept my teachers,” he said.

The principal didn’t recall that the new teachers were hired with temporary contracts rather than probationary contracts and said he “thought they were safe.”

A principal at another Reed school who asked not to be identified said that school was also losing teachers who did not know they had signed “temporary” contracts.

Meanwhile, LAUSD will replace the “temporary” teachers from among the pool of 800 other displaced teachers, many of whom may not have experience with Reed schools.

“I guess I was an idiot when I signed the temporary contract, I didn’t think much of it at the time,” said Glenn Sacks, a social studies teacher whose contract was not renewed at Monroe High School. He is an experienced teacher, but new to LAUSD. He said he was surprised he got laid off.

“It seems like this is a loophole that the district is using,” Sacks said. “If it doesn’t violate the letter of the law, it certainly violates the spirit of the Reed school agreement.”

Sacks attended special Reed school training that took place over three days during the Spring break. It was a time he also had a huge stack of essays to grade during the holiday.

“I enjoy teaching at the school, I felt like I was having an impact,” he said. “We were teaching children of gardeners, hotel maids and cleaning women from families on the bottom of the economic ladder. Some of the kids did not speak English when they came to the school.”

Sacks said he chose to be at Monroe High. “I felt a challenge to impact those at the lower end of the socio-economic scale,” he said.