School Safety Officers Will Stay at the NYPD, Says Mayor Bill

Mayor Bill de BlasioJohn Lamparski/NurPhoto via Getty Images

As if the coronavirus pandemic panic wasn't enough, now New Yorkers must deal with the Mayor changing his mind every day about what to do today and in the future. Today, he is not moving forward with putting the school safety officers - Local 237 - into the New York City Department of Education.

Yesterday, the school safety officers were moving to the NYC DOE, and many people were furious, including Greg Floyd, President of Local 237. I wrote some of his speeches. He's a good man.

Teamsters Local 237 President Gregory Floyd (Bryan Smith/for New York Daily News)

Union chief blasts proposal to switch NYC school safety oversight to Education Dept., warns it’s already been proven ‘disastrous’

See also:
NYC schools see deep cuts, last-minute program restorations after tense budget negotiations
This is outrageous, and I've used that word several times on my blog in the past couple of weeks.

I hope that someone writes a book about Mayor Bill so that future generations can study what not to do.

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
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NYC school safety agents to remain with NYPD, countering budget cut claims

By Nolan Hicks, Julia Marsh and Kenneth Garger, July 2, 2020 

It’s funny math!

City Hall will keep the $326 million school safety tab on the NYPD’s books for at least one more year, even though Mayor Bill de Blasio made the division’s transfer to the Department of Education a key part of his promise to slash $1 billion from the police budget.

The disclosure was buried in a budget analysis published by the Office of Management and Budget on Thursday, two days after the future of policing — and promises of reform — took center stage in the City Council’s debate and passage of Hizzoner’s $88.2 billion spending plan.

The revelation, first reported by Politico New York, may further undercut de Blasio’s credibility with civil rights activists and protesters who have demanded significant changes to the NYPD in the national furor that followed the death of George Floyd, who died the custody of the Minneapolis Police.

A spokeswoman for City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said the mayor told the Council that school safety officers would be diverted out of the NYPD’s budget this year.

“We will hold the Mayor to his word,” Johnson’s spokeswoman said. “The Administration’s response raises serious alarm bells about their commitment to this time frame. This is unacceptable.”

Critics of de Blasio’s proposal — including Johnson — had already charged that Hizzoner used accounting “tricks” to try to inflate the size of the cuts he would impose on the NYPD to $1 billion, a key demand of many local activists.

City Hall promised it would get to hit that goal by slashing overtime at the NYPD by $325 million, nearly in half.

The second major line reduction came from transferring the city’s 5,500 school safety agents from NYPD back to the Department of Education, which ran the program until then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani moved it in the 1990s.

Before the $88.2 billion budget was passed early Wednesday, when de Blasio and Johnson presented the NYPD’s cuts, Comptroller Scott Stringer said the spending plan was loaded with “gimmicks,” “tricks” and “manipulated math.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also jumped into the fray on Tuesday, declaring, “Defunding police means defunding police.

“It does not mean budget tricks or funny math. It does not mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education’s budget so the exact same police remain in schools,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a press release before the budget passed.

The budget office had still not released the city’s main budget book where this information would typically be found as of late Thursday.

A de Blasio spokeswoman on Thursday night said that the mayor “has been clear that there would be a two-year transition” of the control of school safety agents to the DOE.

“This will require extensive planning and training, and adjustments in future financial plans,” the spokeswoman said. “Over a two-year period the funding will shift from NYPD to DOE, which will be reflected in future plans.”

Six Teachers Ousted From Cobble Hill HS Claim Grade-Fixing Retaliation By Principal

Costas Constantinidis (left) and Anna Marie Mule.

Six NYC teachers ousted in ‘witch hunt’ over alleged grade-fixing

Susan Edelman, NY POST, June 27, 2020
Cobbie Hill High School ousted six of its 34 teachers Friday in a bloodbath staffers called retaliation by Principal Ann Marie Mule over embarrassing leaks involving alleged grade-fixing, The Post has learned.

Several of the teachers who were notified by letter that they had been “placed in excess” previously filed Equal Employment Opportunity and retaliation complaints against Mule.

Some of the booted staffers have also reported alleged grade fraud to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, saying they were pressured to pass students who did not meet requirements.

“This is clearly retaliation for staffers who stood up against the principal,” one of the removed teachers said. “And it’s sending a warning to the remaining teachers that they’re in danger if they challenge the principal in any way.”

he six teachers — including two Latinos, one Asian and one African-American — received the same letter stating, “I regret to inform you that you have been placed in excess from our school for next year.”

The letter, signed by Acting Principal Costas Constantinidis, instructs the teachers to start looking for jobs elsewhere in the DOE.

Excessed teachers with tenure remain DOE employees. If they are not re-hired by other schools or programs, they go into the Absent Teacher Reserve, a pool of substitutes without permanent jobs.

Mule, the longtime Cobble Hill principal, took a one-year position as a “new principal coach,” but is set to return in July. Staffers say she has kept in touch with school administrators.

“Mule has been on a witch hunt ever since the audio was leaked,” another teacher said, referring to secret recordings of a virtual staff meeting in which Constantinidis said too many students were failing remote classes.

“If a child is engaged, if the child is doing work, but somehow the child doesn’t get it, gives you the wrong answer, but the child is doing something, checking in with you, doing work … I would have passed the child,” Constantinidis said in the meeting.

After The Post aired the audio, Cobble Hill administrators called in faculty members one at a time to quiz them about the leak.

Mayor de Blasio and teachers’ union president Michael Mulgrew have warned that teachers would be excessed due to looming school budget cuts, but none had been announced so far.

DOE officials denied any retaliation by Mule or other Cobble Hill administrators, adding that “no final excessing decisions have been made yet.”

“Those notified of potential excessing are not necessarily officially excessed until school starts in September,” said spokeswoman Danielle Filson.

Betsy Combier
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Give the NYPD More Money So That They Can Reform Their Practices

    Torn down barriers at East 7th street of Caton Avenue in Kensington,
Brooklyn. (Paul Martinka)

Large Numbers of the NYPD Leave Their Jobs After Calls For Defunding Get Louder

Defund the police? This is crazy.

Reform the police? Yes, absolutely. And give the NYPD MORE money for training that meets the ideals of the public in the areas of respect for all, equality, zero tolerance for bias, hate crimes, intentional harm, intimidation, or false claims. Open the records and hold anyone who violates these rules accountable with punishment equal to the crimes they commit, just like anyone else.

Defund the police? No, but make each officer accountable for his/her actions, and Do No Harm unless in danger of being killed with a lethal weapon. Keep all body cams on at all times, have the public give input on what happened. Give the public a voice, hear what people say, act on it.

We were walking our dog down second avenue about two weeks ago at 10:00pm when we saw two cars roll up to the Verizon Wireless store across the street. About 6-8 men rushed out of the cars, ran to the glass windows of the store, broke the glass, entered the store through the broken windows and grabbed all the telephones and other equipment on the walls and on the tables, and then jumped back into the waiting cars and took off. Police were called and there in 4 minutes, blocking off the sidewalk from pedestrians (and their pets) so no one got hurt.

We were glad that they came.

Defund the police? Who takes their place? Where will funding for the newbies come from?

This issue is so hot, our Mayor has no idea what to do:
De Blasio and lawmakers in budget stalemate over NYPD cuts, layoffs
Betsy Combier
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272 uniformed NYPD cops file for retirement after George Floyd death

Dean Balsamini, NY POST, June 27, 2020

Cops are hanging up their handcuffs in huge numbers.

The flurry of Finest farewells began after the police-involved killing of George Floyd on May 25, with 272 uniformed cops putting in retirement papers from then through June 24, the NYPD says.

That’s a 49 percent spike from the 183 officers who filed during the same period last year, according to the department.

An NYPD source suggested the recent departures could signal a coming crisis for the 36,000-member department, which also faces a $1 billion budget reduction amid the “defund the police”  furor.

“We are worried about a surge in attrition reducing our headcount beyond what we can sustain without new recruits, and are afraid the City Council has not taken the surge into account,” he said.

Police Benevolent Association president Patrick Lynch said cops are “at their breaking point, whether they have 20 years on the job or only two. We are all asking the same question: ‘How can we keep doing our job in this environment?’ And that is exactly what the anti-cop crowd wants. If we have no cops because no one wants to be a cop, they will have achieved their ultimate goal.”

Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, said an “exodus” from the NYPD has begun. He said nearly 80 of his members have recently filed for retirement, and that morale is “at the lowest levels I’ve seen in 38 years.”

The fiery union leader added, “People have had enough and no longer feel it’s worth risking their personal well-being for a thankless position.”

“There is no leadership, no direction, no training for new policies,” he said. “Department brass is paralyzed (and) too afraid to uphold their sworn oath in fear of losing their jobs. Sadly, the people of this city will soon experience what New York City was like in the 1980s.”

Outrage over Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests, and some NYPD officers see themselves as collateral damage.

“It’s an all-out war on cops and we have no support,” said one veteran Brooklyn cop, who is retiring next month. “I wanted to wait for my 30th anniversary in October, but the handwriting is on the wall.”

Many men and women in blue are fed up, feeling targeted and frustrated that they are expected to fight crime with fewer tools than ever, while getting no backing from politicians, injured in protests, and constantly scrutinized, according to agitated officers and angry police unions.

The weary rank and file also wonder if one bad decision on the job could get them arrested and charged with a crime.

“If you have your time in and have an opportunity to do something else, get out while you can,” advised Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.

Giacalone said he’d received three emails in “the past week or so” from students asking for advice about changing their career choice. Giacalone said he has not gotten “these kinds” of emails since the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.

He said he “never discourages anyone” about the job, he just “lays out the pros and cons” and also reminds students there are federal law enforcement jobs.

On Thursday, The Post exclusively reported that Bronx NYPD precinct commander Richard Brea is quitting to protest the department’s handling of police reform and anti-brutality protests. The Deputy Inspector, who led the Bronx’s 46th Precinct, will retire after nearly three decades on the force.

NYPD Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives Matter, which formed after NYPD officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos were assassinated in 2014, claims close to a dozen cops per day are putting in their papers. Imperatrice believes the number is “noticeably higher” than usual and due to the “anti-police and anti-criminal accountability” climate.

Imperatrice contends the number of cops leaving the job since the end of March is “approaching the 700 to 1,000 range between COVID and the anti-police narrative.”

“I feel sorry for the cops who just began their career and have 20 years to go,” Imperatrice said. “Morale across the nation for anybody who puts on that uniform is at an all-time low … Officers are showing up to work putting on their uniform and within a few days thereafter being put into handcuffs.”

He said one “fed-up” Manhattan detective, a 22-year-veteran with a wife and kids, is just waiting to hear back about a new job and then he’s putting in his papers and moving to Arizona. He believes the city is “going down the tubes quick and it’s not going to turn around anytime soon.”

Imperatrice said the heartbroken mom of an anti-crime unit cop killed in the line of duty recently contacted him, “beside herself” because the NYPD disbanded the unit and thus “disbanded the legacy of her son.”

“The politicians are spitting in the faces of families of cops killed in the line of duty and now they’re handing over the keys to the city to these criminals. This is insane,” Imperatrice fumed.

“Of course, if a police officer is acting criminal or abusing their authority, they should be held accountable. But the majority of incidents we are seeing do not warrant officers losing their job and being locked up.”

Said John Jay professor Giacalone: “We are living in the Twilight Zone — where the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys. No bail, no jail, selective prosecution — unless you’re a cop, then game on.

“People have lost their collective minds.”

De Blasio’s ‘open streets’ rapidly vanishing, causing fights among neighbors

UFT Refuses To File Grievances For Teachers After COVID-19 Blunders By The DOE

Throughout New York City there is fear. Fear of the virus- COVID-19, the coronavirus. Fear of strangers. Fear for relatives and family members who have health issues, or are above a certain age. Fear of the unknown and known data. Fear for the future, the future of your own children, your business, employment, going anywhere.

And then there is the scary realization that our New York State and City governments lie to us, and deliberately or at least negligently put our lives and the lives of those we love, in danger. This realization is frightening.

Fear can motivate you or incapacitate you, depending on your personality, culture, social/emotional environment and mix of life experiences/perceptions.

I have found that most educators who teach at the New York City Department of Education are angry at the NYC DOE for what looks like complete disarray and even confusion by the Department as to what to do to fight COVID-19 inside the city's schools and how to do it. The anger is fueled by the realization that lives are at stake. Your life. If, as assumed, you are going to be forced to go into your classroom anytime soon.

Of course, there are avenues to remedies for educators if you don't like what the Department is doing, right?

No.

Teachers are going to the UFT, their Union, to grieve the harm that has taken a toll already on their lives and careers and they are hearing that the UFT will not file a grievance.

This is outrageous.

We are with you, MORE, as you proceed with your PERB complaint and beyond.

Betsy Combier
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Members file improper practice charge vs. UFT for lack of representation during pandemic by morecaucusnyc

After schools finally closed in mid-March, United Federation of Teachers members trying to file grievances about the DOEs mishandling of COVID-19  were shocked to find the union telling them their right to grieve was halted indefinitely.

As a result, more than 200 members who grieved on the grounds that the Department of Education was in violation of UFT contractual provisions on health and safety during the weeks of March 9 and March 16 were prevented by the UFT from pursuing these grievances.

Now, some of these members, including Chapter Leaders at three schools, are filing an improper practice charge against the UFT with the New York State Public Employees Relations Board for violating its duty of fair representation.  The full text of the charge is available here.

By keeping schools open and requiring staff in the buildings until March 19, the DOE endangered the lives of thousands of employees. Over 70 DOE staff have died due to COVID. By preventing members from filing grievances in response to the DOE’s culpability in endangering school-based staff, the UFT is failing to do it’s most basic job—represent its members.

Since the grievances were filed in April, low-level union staff have been telling grievants the grievance process was “paused,” “frozen,” or “in abeyance” until further notice.  This leaves UFT members without any recourse if their rights are violated. The lowest-level union staffers, the District Representatives, have been telling grievants that when the process “reopens,” they may submit their grievances.  This has not been acceptable to grievants, because any delay in handling grievances allows a continuance of abusive treatment.

Equally seriously, grievants are concerned with contractual time limits on how long they have to file grievances. Absent agreement from the Department of Education waiving timeliness restrictions, when the UFT finally resumes handling members’ grievances, the Department of Education can simply deny them as “untimely.”  This is unacceptable.

The charge at PERB is that the UFT has taken away members’ right to grieve, and so at best delaying their chance to correct unfair treatment. Additionally, the claim that grievances will be eventually accepted as timely, without any proof of an agreement on the part of the employer agency, constitutes a lack of good faith and honesty on the UFT’s part.

As we consider reopening plans without a clear Memorandum of Agreement on either remote or blended learning, it is imperative that the UFT restore the grievance process and the DOE waive the timeliness requirement for grievances.

New Dorp AP Deborah Morse-Cunningham in Trouble For Facebook Comment

New Dorp High School assistant principal Deborah Morse-Cunningham

All educators should be careful about what they post on social media. Speech is not free from consequences.

Betsy Combier, betsy.combier@gmail.com
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DOE to probe Staten Island assistant principal for racially charged Facebook post

By Ben Feuerherd

, NY POST, June 21, 2020

The city says it’s launching a probe into a Staten Island assistant principal after a racially charged screed against people who wear $200 sneakers while living on public assistance was posted to her Facebook page, The Post has learned.

New Dorp High School assistant principal Deborah Morse-Cunningham will be investigated for the racially charged comment that appeared on her social media account, asking “what is privilege?”

“Privilege is wearing $200 sneakers when you’ve never had a job. Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance,” read the post, which has since been removed.

“Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don’t have a water bill, where rising property taxes and rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table,” it adds.

A “concerned parent” saw the post and started an online petition to have Morse-Cunningham removed from her post, where, according to city records, she makes more than $130,000 a year.

“As someone responsible for the tutelage of our youth, this is especially troubling and problematic rhetoric to say the least,” the petition reads, calling the statement “anti-black.”

“This leads me to question what kind of practices she’s instilled in the culture at New Dorp High School, and what kind of environment our children are learning in, especially Black youth,” it adds.

The school’s minority enrollment is 49 percent, but 60 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News and World Report.

In a statement, the New York City DOE said the post was reported for investigation.

“The DOE stands against racism and schools must be safe and inclusive learning environments,” press secretary Miranda Barbot said.

“Teachers and staff have a responsibility to uphold those values, and the principal reported this incident for investigation,” Barbot added.

A woman who answered a call placed to a number listed as Morse-Cunningham’s said she didn’t know her.

A New Dorp High School assistant principal is under investigation after she allegedly
made a Facebook post that is being criticized by hundreds of social media users.
 (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)

Staten Island assistant principal under investigation after alleged ‘anti-Black’ Facebook post

By Annalise Knudson | aknudson@siadvance.com

Updated Jun 21, 2020; Posted Jun 21, 2020

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A New Dorp High School assistant principal is under investigation after she allegedly wrote a now-deleted Facebook post that concerned parents are deeming “anti-Black.”

The Facebook post, allegedly posted by Deborah Morse-Cunningham, an assistant principal at New Dorp High School, is being criticized by hundreds of social media users.

A Change.org petition -- which has more than 1,700 signatures as of Sunday evening -- was created by a “concerned parent” calling for her removal from her position at New Dorp High School. The concerned parent said Morse-Cunningham “decided to use her platform and social media presence to post anti-Black messaging during this time,” according to the petition’s description.

“The DOE stands against racism and schools must be safe and inclusive learning environments,” said Miranda Barbot, a spokesperson for the DOE. “Teachers and staff have a responsibility to uphold those values, and the principal reported this incident for investigation.”


The now-deleted Facebook post is circulating on social media via screenshots. The creator of the petition said the alleged post details “vicious stereotypes and racial profiling directed at the Black community.”


“As someone responsible for the tutelage of our youth, this is especially troubling and problematic rhetoric to say the least. This leads me to question what kind of practices she’s instilled in the culture at New Dorp High School, and what kind of environment our children are learning in, especially Black youth,” the petition said.


According to screenshots on social media, the alleged post reads: “Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance. Privilege is having a Smartphone with a Data plan which you receive no bill for. Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don’t have a water bill, where rising property taxes and rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table. Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worrying about calling out of work and the consequences that accompany such behavior.”




As of Sunday, Morse-Cunningham’s Facebook page was no longer available, including the Facebook post. An attempt by an SILive.com/Staten Island Advance reporter to reach her by phone on Sunday was unsuccessful.


The alleged Facebook post was made as Black Lives Matter marches are occurring across the United States, including peaceful marches on Staten Island, following the death of George Floyd who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Video showed a cop kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes before his death.
In recent weeks, hundreds of protestors have marched on the NYPD’s 120th Precinct in St. George, the 121st Precinct in Graniteville the 122nd Precinct in New Dorp and the 123rd Precinct in Tottenville, stretching from the southern to northern tip of the borough.


LETTER SENT TO PARENTS


Principal Deirdre DeAngelis sent a letter to parents and guardians about the post, which was shared on New Dorp High School’s website.


“I am writing to you to inform you that we were made aware of a highly inappropriate social media post that was allegedly posted by a school employee,” the letter said.


DeAngelis said in the letter that the matter is being taken very seriously and has been reported to the appropriate investigatory office -- which was confirmed by the DOE.


“We want to assure you that New Dorp High School does not stand for or condone language that promotes intolerance of hatred of any kind. The words contained in the post go against the beliefs and values of our school and do not represent us in any way. New Dorp High School will continue to work extremely hard to establish a supportive, uplifting, and caring community that prides itself on inclusion, understand, and acceptance,” said the letter.

MORE Caucus Demands That The UFT Files Grievances For Members

The UFT Won’t File Grievances

Posted bymorecaucusnyc

June 18, 2020Posted inContract, Observation Report for UFT Leadership, remote learning

If Educators Can’t File Grievances, Do We Have a Union Contract?

Over the week of March 9, it became increasingly clear that schools needed to close in New York City. Schools were already closed or closing in many states and Greater New York, as the most densely populated metropolitan area in the country, was at a higher risk of rapid spread than anywhere else. 

By the end of the week, the UFT leadership began its ‘fight’: vowing to file a labor complaint, considering a lawsuit against the DOE, and eventually claiming it would file an injunction with the Supreme Court (as if they would care more than De Blasio). 

Meanwhile, rank and file UFT members were organizing to protect themselves and their students. Job actions such as sick outs, walk-ins, and walk outs were discussed and planned in many union chapters across the city. De facto sick outs among educators and families alike were already happening for the entire week prior, and it was obvious the time to shut the schools had already passed. 

At this point, UFT leadership and rank-and-file members agreed on the problem, but not the solution. 

On Sunday March 15, facing rock bottom student and teacher attendance the next day, Mayor De Blasio finally closed the schools. Analysis since then has come to the consensus that it was the militancy of rank and file members, not the abstract legalese of the UFT leadership, that forced the schools to close. 

Nevertheless, from March 17-19, public educators were told to report to school in order to transition to remote learning for the foreseeable future. Why was it necessary to ask educators to travel across the city to meet physically to learn how to teach remotely? No one knows, and no one remembers any valuable training happening. Two months later, over 100 educators have died, 16% of students still do not have access to remote learning, and about 50% overall do not actively participate. It’s as obvious as ever that the DOE and UFT were unprepared and incompetent in this crisis. 

Now, the UFT doesn’t have the backs of its members. In April, almost 300 rank-and-file members filed grievances against DOE administration, citing violations of contractual provisions related to health and safety, as the DOE clearly violated health advisories from federal, state, and its own city government in allowing schools to remain open during the weeks of March 9 and March 16. The grievants wanted paid sick days added for all members, both those who reported and those who stayed home in order to protect themselves.

Instead of fighting for these members’ rights, UFT district representatives repeatedly told UFT rank and file members that grievances could not be filed. However, no written agreement between the UFT and DOE stipulates this. Further, there is a statute of limitations for filing grievances; if the DOE has not agreed to waive these limitations, the DOE could reject the grievances, as the time for filing those has already expired. Rather, the UFT was refusing to pursue these grievances, and by extension refusing to fight for the dignity of members who were put in harm’s way in March. 

The UFT leadership has gone from an incompetent adversary of the DOE to a willing accessory in direct violations of educators’ health and safety. The message regarding grievances is that they are closed and indefinitely suspended. 

Immediately, the UFT needs to do the following: 

• file all grievances for teachers remotely, the same way teachers are teaching remotely
• negotiate a  strong contract for online learning similar to that of the United Teachers of Los Angeles
• establish a specific and thorough safety plan for re-opening schools
• prepare rank-and-file for potential work actions in the fall, through political education and reorganization of the union to democratize it and maximize rank-and-file voice and action

During this time, more than ever, the UFT needs to be active, militant, and transparent to organize membership for fights ahead. This is no time to let the grievance process lapse. These actions towards members by the  UFT leadership show bad faith in representation and a lack of basic solidarity. The time to show resolve and strength is now. We’re fighting, we’re watching what our union leadership does, and we’ll remember it. 

by Derek Hafner, David Price, Caroline Sykora, Marian Swerdlow, and Andrew Worthington, all rank-and-file members of the United Federation of Teachers