1000 Chicago Public Schools' Employees, Teachers, and Support Staff Are Laid Off

In New York City the Mayor and Chancellor hide their mass layoffs.

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice

The CPS layoffs. We are a target and it’s bad management practice.

AUGUST 6, 2016 / FRED KLONSKY

Part of the list of 1,000 CPS employees, teachers and support staff that were hit by layoffs yesterday.

I always have to explain to visitors that there is an everywhere except Chicago rule in the state of Illinois.

When I taught and was a union leader in Park Ridge, a Chicago suburb, if the district was going to lay-off a teacher due to low-enrollment or budget issues, they needed to do it 45 working days before the end of the school year. This is state law.

The law gives teachers time to find other employment and it prevents massive disruption. The kind we are seeing now with 1000 CPS employees fired a month before school begins.

But in 1995 the law was changed by an amendatory act that excluded Chicago teachers and CPS from that protection. It is the same law that keeps us from having an elected school board even though every other district in Illinois has an elected board.

For whatever reason – because our system is poor, because we have mostly students of color, because we have militant union and activist teachers – Chicago has a target on its back.

This morning veteran teachers with 15 years of experience are trying to figure out what they are going to do now that they just found out that their job is gone.

Students and families have to figure out what they are going to do.

Teachers are programs. A school with only one music teacher now has no music teacher and no music program. A shop teacher who spent last year recruiting students from around the district to his one-of-a-kind program is out and the students are left hanging.

The list of disruptions is long.

CPS Layoffs By School

Contacts with the Chicago Teachers Union tell me that they have battled the everywhere but  Chicago rule all the way through the courts, losing finally in 2010.

The Illinois law that sets a time-table for what we call RIFs (Reduction in Force) is a good rule for labor and management. It works everywhere in the state.

If it is good for everyone else then we have to say that either Chicago is a target or it is bad management practice.

Either way.

CPS lays off more than 500 teachers, another

 500 school-based workers

Juan Perez Jr.

LINK

Almost 500 teachers being laid off by CPS will be eligible to apply for jobs in the district, which has
about 1,000 teaching vacancies, officials said.

 (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Public Schools is laying off more than 500 teachers and another 500 school-based staff members, the district said Friday.

The teachers being laid off will be eligible to apply for jobs in the district, which has about 1,000 teaching vacancies, officials said. The majority of affected personnel are expected to be hired into open positions at other schools, CPS said.

In past years, about 60 percent of teachers who have been laid off have been rehired in full-time positions in the district, CPS said. The layoffs and rehirings occur regularly at CPS as principals respond to changes in enrollment.

The district said 273 of the 500-plus district-run schools will have no teacher or staff impacts in the coming year.

The layoffs broke down this way: 314 elementary school teachers and 194 high school teachers for a total of 508, and 378 elementary personnel and 143 high school support staff, for a total of 521.

Many of the staff reductions are related to enrollment, according to numbers distributed by CPS late Friday, especially at high schools that are projected to lose large numbers of students. However, some schools projected to see higher enrollment and more funding still lost staff.

The Chicago Teachers Union criticized the layoffs, saying in a statement that "the gutting of experienced educators and other school employees only weakens schools and puts children at a disadvantage."

The district says the $2.8 billion it has budgeted to spend at schools this year is about $140 million less than schools got last September and reflects unprecedented midsemester budget cuts CPS made in February.

While CPS has said budget adjustments are driven by enrollment, about 70 schools are set to receive less money compared with what they were left with in the middle of last year despite increased or flat enrollment.

Funding reductions for some of those schools are quite small, but district data show about 30 schools with flat or growing enrollment are projected to lose $50,000 to $200,000.

At the same time, about 50 other buildings with enrollments projected to decline or stay flat actually received more money compared with what they spent after the midyear reductions.

Chicago Tribune's Jennifer Smith Richards contributed.

jjperez@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @Perezjr

Why I Resigned by Peggy Robertson

Resignation, Red Tape, Renewal

Posted August 3, 2016 by Peggy Robertson

I am voluntarily	X	Resigning
as an employee of the Aurora Public Schools for the following reasons: My position at Jewell was eliminated. In addition, Jewell no longer is a healthy working environment (for teachers or students) and I would not be able to work there unless we were able to return to our previous work as an inquiry-based democratic school.  We are now a Relay Leadership School which focuses on teach to the test practices that are not good for children.  Relay Graduate School is run by non-educators and lacks pedagogy – it is an embarrassment to the teaching profession. It is unfortunate for Aurora’s children that APS has gone in this direction. It is also unfortunate for the teachers at Jewell who were forced to implement 100% compliance models of discipline with continual teaching to the test and skill/drill. The teachers at Jewell this year (2015-2016) were the most unhappy teachers I have seen in my 19 years in public education. They wanted to file a grievance against the principal but were afraid for their jobs. I no longer can work in such a toxic learning/teaching environment. Aurora unfortunately seems to be going in the direction of “no excuse” charter models which do not develop or support the growth of problem solving citizens. Rather, these charter models, which Relay supports, promote racist practices specifically directed towards black and brown children in urban diverse schools. These charter practices promote the school to prison pipeline. I joined APS four years ago with great hope and excitement because the professional development and respect for the teaching profession in APS has always been excellent; that is no longer the case. I am sorry APS has chosen this path. I will miss my colleagues and the children.

And so there you have it. I submitted my resignation this summer. If you are unfamiliar with my story check out my blog at www.pegwithpen.com. All future postings by me will be funneled through BustED Pencils – together we are stronger.

I’ve been MIA this summer via social media and pretty much any methods of contact. And I feel I owe quite a few folks in explanation – so here it goes.  On May 1st I received a phone call that my mother had fallen and broken both wrists. A social worker at the hospital proceeded to tell me that my mother would undergo surgery the following day and then be placed in rehab. My father would be placed in assisted living. My oldest sister (52) with special needs would be placed in a group home. I said  – no way in hell.

I got on a plane to Missouri and remained there all of May taking care of my family. One day I was completing what I believed would be my last year of teaching (actually testing) in the public schools and the next day I was officially done, prematurely, with my teaching career. There were no goodbyes. Just a void.

In June I returned to Colorado with my family and cared for them in my home with the help of my husband and my boys until early July. I know a lot about home health care now. I also know a lot about systems – systems to support my special needs sister, systems to help the elderly, the injured, and those with dementia.

Let me give you one example of  my new learning. I attempted to enroll my sister in a day program here in Denver because she is accustomed to working full-time in Missouri. We had done our  best to fill out the appropriate paperwork. Upon trying to enroll her they told my mother she had not done all the paperwork. Many of the items she needed to complete the process sat 12 hours away in a lock box in Missouri. As a result, we would have to pay a hefty daily fee if my sister was to attend. We decided to try one half day because she desperately needed the socialization. I dropped her off, and an hour later had a phone call from one of the staff members stating that my sister had flipped off the staff and tried to run away. Remember the kindergartner on the first day of school? Sometimes they throw a fit? This was the scenario in a sense. She was not invited back. If we had the paperwork done, they would have been required to adjust and evaluate how to help her transition into the program. Instead, with a very cold tone, I was politely told by the director not to come back.

There is red tape everywhere you go. Much of this red tape is harmful.

In rehab if my mom did not work hard enough, they said she would have to leave early. If she worked too hard, they would then release her early. It was a dance via insurance to keep her in as long as necessary to allow her to recover.

Red tape, connected to money, connected to systems, speaks to a much more powerful entity, called capitalism, a system that many of us truly do not understand – specifically in re: to its methods of madness during a crisis. Trying to muddle through the red tape requires education, money, and privilege. And this system does not place human beings first. Money and power rules.

Sound familiar?

Families living in poverty often get tripped and slammed to the ground via this red tape.

And now it’s August.  And today would be my first day of work at Jewell Elementary if my position had not been eliminated.  Legally, I had the option of taking another position that they would “place” me in – ha – no thanks.

But my adventure, a new life, is just beginning. I have a lot of plans actually. I can finally write during the day rather than at four in the morning or midnight. I can continue the tutoring I have done this summer in which I actually get to teach in a developmentally appropriate, ethically, morally, passionate, engaging, kind, way. I really wouldn’t even call it tutoring – I’m simply helping children become empowered as readers and writers in a world that desperately needs democratic problem-solving citizens. I will continue my work as an education activist. I am no longer working with United Opt Out National. I actually have some new activist ventures I am focusing on that I believe must happen if we have any hopes of regaining public education for this country – mind you, I anticipate it will take two generations to get there. It will not be in my lifetime, nor in yours. But I plan to do my part to keep things moving. We will lose before we will win, this much I know. But when we lose, and the masses wake up, the ground work will be done to rebuild. I will do my part. I will be blogging at BustED Pencils now – the only progressive, revolutionary ed. news media site out there currently – I hope to make their voice even louder.

I have a lot of feelings about a lot of things right now.

There’s something gut wrenching about having your entire family’s life turned upside down, while also realizing how lucky you are to have been able to keep the family intact. Imagine how many families are uprooted as mine almost was? In a blink of an eye an entire family can be separated. And privilege is a large part of what saved my family from that catastrophe.

I have a lot of emotions about my career coming to an end. I am happy to never have to sit silently and listen to leadership spout bullshit that we have to swallow. I’m ecstatic that my voice can ring loud and clear now, without getting shoved down to my feet and making its way back out in violent explosions. I am angry at a system that is immoral, racist and cruel to children and teachers. I am sad that there was no way to make the headway I hoped to make in Aurora, working inside the system. I am giddy at never having to sit in a room listening to a bullshit agenda at the beginning of the year that includes crap data about nothing of value. I mourn never getting to work in a school community environment again, as a member of the staff. It was an honor to be a teacher. It was such an honor to work with such amazing children, parents, and staff.  I’m f%&#ing thrilled to never give another test. As a literacy interventionist, I taught about 1/3 of the year in 2015-2016 (as did the teachers). The rest of the year I tested, getting shuffled from room to room, carrying all my testing material on an old rolling yellow chair from the 70’s.

I am incredibly grateful to be with my family more, as between teaching and activism, my family lost me for many hours and many days.

I’ll return to social media at some point. And I’ll have more to share about my new ventures as well. First, let’s get this election done. I am, of course, voting for Jill Stein. I won’t say I told you so re: Bernie. I think Chris Hedges sums it up best.  I won’t say anything about ESSA right now either, but I have a lot to say – that will come later.

Meanwhile, it’s simply August 3rd. It’s still summer for me as I am not at what should have been my first day of work.  I plan to go outside and work in the garden, tend to my chickens, take my youngest son to the pool, and maybe I’ll do some writing tonight. For all of that, I am grateful.

Job Posted For Attorney To Work At the Teacher Performance Unit

Somebody out there looking to prosecute "bad" teachers at 3020-a hearings?

Attorney – Teacher Performance Unit

NYC Department of Education

New York City, NY, USPosted 6 days ago

• 

63 connections work here

Apply on company websiteApply to New York City Department of Education . on their website

Job description

(Those who previously applied need not re-apply)
Position summary: Under the direction of the Office of the General Counsel, with wide latitude for independent action, the Teacher Performance Unit Litigation Attorney serves as a legal representative of the Chancellor, performing sophisticated legal work on disciplinary matters and providing training and counsel to school leaders. This team of attorneys will be assigned to handle special disciplinary proceedings as part of a teacher quality initiative and will have the opportunity to work on key policy initiatives in conjunction with the Office of Labor Policy. Performs related work.

Reports to: Executive Deputy Counsel

Direct Reports: N/A

Key Relationships: Acts as liaison to executives within the Department and to members of other City agencies.

Responsibilities

• Handles legal issues and cases including recommendations concerning determining the soundness of charges, preparing specification of charges, coordinating the gathering of evidence, and briefing witnesses.
• Manages legal cases that are complex and high-profile in nature.
• Represents the New York City Department in Education on Law 3020-A proceedings and hearings pursuant to Section 75 of the Civil Service Law.
• As part of a team of attorneys, helps devise strategies for providing improved support and training to school leaders around evaluation and discipline, and for spurring the improvement or removal of poor performers.
• Provides support, counsel and training to Superintendents, Principals, and their designees on disciplinary procedures, with an emphasis on documenting incompetence and poor performance.

Qualification Requirements
Minimum
Admission to the New York State Bar AND three (3) years of progressively responsible United States legal experience subsequent to admission to any state bar.

Incumbents must remain Members of the New York State Bar in good standing for the duration of this employment.

Preferred

• Minimum three (3) years litigation experience.
• Excellent research, analytical and communication skills.
• Ability to rapidly learn provisions of applicable law and regulations.
• Ability to write clearly and concisely.

Salary: $85,000+

Please include a resume and cover letter with your application.
Applications will be accepted until position is filled.
NOTE: The filling of all positions is subject to budget availability and/or grant funding.
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, national origin, alienage and citizenship status, age, marital status, disability, prior record of arrest or conviction (except as provided by law), sexual orientation, gender (sex), and to maintain an environment free of discriminatory harassment, including sexual harassment, or retaliation as required by civil rights law. 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

Resign Too Early For Retroactive Pay? Too Bad, You are Out of Luck. Sorry. Morton v Mulgrew

I am re-posting here the case of Morton V Mulgrew which I originally posted on January 29, 2016, because I am asked so many times how educators forced to resign, can get their retro-active pay under the new UFT MOA.

You can't.

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice

Decision (2015) in Morton v Mulgrew Concerning UFT Members Who Resigned After Nov. 1, 2011 and Were Denied Their Rights in the New UFT MOA

January 29, 2016

Dianna Morton

One of the many things I never understood, is how NYSUT lawyers get away with screaming and yelling at  tenured teachers (UFT members) charged with 3020-a, to get them to "irrevocably" resign.

Too many people have reported to me these tactics.

MY OPINION - and remember, this is my opinion - is that NYSUT lawyers know that each and every case brought to 3020-a has so many procedural and substantive errors that the best way to get the tenured teacher out of getting the UFT and DOE into trouble is by forcing the charged educator into signing a Stipulation of Settlement that gets rid of him/her permanently, and also prohibits the educator from ever suing the DOE for any reason up to the date of signing.

NYSUT does this, knowing that a resignation will stop the charged employee/UFT member from getting the retro-active pay due. This is deliberate malfeasance. However, according to Judge Mills, no one can sue for this:

Decision (2015) in Morton v Mulgrew Concerning UFT Members Who Resigned After Nov. 1, 2011 and Were Denied Their Rights in the New UFT MOA

January 29, 2016

Can a teacher who left the DOE before the date set in the UFT contract to obtain retroactive pay maintain a class action against the union based on the union’s failure to represent this group of teachers fairly? by edlawfaqs

No. Under the terms of the Memorandum of Agreement (the Collective Bargaining Agreement) entered into between the UFT and the DOE provisions were made for retirees and currently employed teachers to obtain retroactive pay for the period between the last day of the previous contract in 2009 and the new agreement. No provision was made for teachers who resigned during this period and were not actively employed on the contract date.

Four teachers who neither retired nor were terminated but resigned their positions during this period sought to maintain a class action against the union for its breach of its duty of fair representation.

Donna Mills, Justice of the New York Supreme Court, found that the teachers had no legal basis to maintain the case in State court but rather the teachers had a right to maintain an improper practice charge, under the Taylor Law, before PERB.

N.B. Given PERB's short statute of limitations it is doubtful whether the teachers could maintain such a proceeding in PERB.

2015 NY Slip Op 31363(U),DIANNA MORTON, GRANT TEDALDI, CARLY MASSEY, and JOY BEIDER, Plaintiffs, v. MICHAEL MULGREW, as President of THE NEW YORK UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, LOCAL 2, AFT, AFL-CIO, Defendant. Docket No. 652211/2014, Motion Sequence No. 1. Supreme Court, New  York County. April 21, 2015.

edlawfaqs | July 26, 2016 at 11:59 am 

New York State Gives Out-Of-State Teachers a Chance To Teach in the State, Faster

Kinda makes you think that this rush to bring in more teachers from outside of New York State
was pre-planned to resolve the problem of getting rid of too many teachers........

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, The NYC Public Voice

Amid teacher shortage, New York amends rules to attract 

out-of-state candidates
LINK
By Christy Landry-Pitcher Jul. 12, 2016

ALBANY, N.Y. - Faced with a teacher shortage, New York education leaders are making it easier for out-of-state teachers to work in the state.

The policy-making Board of Regents on Monday amended rules so that experienced teachers certified elsewhere who meet citizenship and training requirements can qualify for an initial certificate in New York state.

Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia says the changes will help ease the teacher shortage while upholding high standards.

The changes also apply for certified school leaders.

"New York’s teaching shortage is real,” said Board of Regents Chancellor Betty A. Rosa. “In some areas the shortage is severe, and it will continue to get worse if we don’t do something about it. I am confident that today’s action by the Board will encourage well-qualified, out-of-state teachers and leaders to share their skills and knowledge in New York’s schools and school districts – and that’s good news for our students.”

“Too many communities are unable to find qualified candidates to teach their students and run their schools and school districts,” said State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. “The rules adopted by the Regents today will help ease New York’s teacher shortage while upholding the highest standards for entry into the profession.”

The amendment makes three significant changes to New York’s out-of-state endorsement provisions:

Candidates certified as a school district leader or school district business leader seeking to qualify for certification in New York will now be required to have three or more years of experience teaching in the subject area of their valid certificate or acting as a school building leader or school district or school district business leader within the five years immediately preceding their application for endorsement; prior rules required the three years of experience to have occurred within the preceding 10 years.

Endorsement candidates will now be required to provide satisfactory documentation that they received evaluation ratings of “effective” or “highly effective” (or the substantial equivalent of such ratings) in their three most recent years of experience in a public school.

Certified out-of-state teachers and leaders who have demonstrated effective experience in the certificate title sought will no longer be required to take and pass New York’s certification examinations.

Under the new criteria, the Commissioner will endorse the out-of-state certificate (or equivalent authorization) and issue an initial certificate to practice in New York to individuals with the following qualifications:

Certified teachers from another U.S. State or territory may qualify for an initial certificate in New York if they meet the following requirements:

Have a valid teaching certificate that is equivalent to the title and type of the certificate sought and has no limits or restrictions;

Meet New York’s general certificate requirements, including citizenship, training related to child abuse identification/reporting, school violence prevention/intervention, harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention/intervention, and a criminal history check;

Have at least three years of satisfactory experience in a public school in a position requiring an initial or professional certificate within five years preceding the application date or equivalent experience; and have had effective or higher evaluation ratings in the three most recent years of employment; and

Hold a bachelor’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or higher education institution that the Commissioner deems substantially equivalent, with a 2.5 cumulative GPA or higher in the program leading to the degree.

Certified school district leaders, school district business leaders, and school building leaders from another U.S. State or territory may qualify for a school district, district business, or building leader certificate in New York if they meet the following requirements:

Have a valid school district/district business/building leader certificate that is equivalent to the title and type of certificate sought and that has no limits or restrictions;

Meet New York’s general certificate requirements, including citizenship, training related to child abuse identification/reporting, school violence prevention/intervention, harassment, bullying and discrimination prevention/intervention, and a criminal history check;

Have at least three years of satisfactory experience in a public school in a position requiring an initial or professional certificate within five years preceding the application date or equivalent experience; and have had effective or higher evaluation ratings in the three most recent years of employment; and

Hold a master’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited institution or equivalently approved higher education institution as determined by the Department, with a 2.5 cumulative GPA or higher.

The amendment adds an endorsement pathway for school building leaders. Previously, no such out-of-state endorsement pathway existed for school building leaders.

For more education news, visit http://www.wktv.com/news/education

- See more at: http://www.wktv.com/news/education/Amid_teacher_shortage_New_York_amends_rules_to_attract_out-of-state_teachers_.html#sthash.H5JKQWuh.dpuf