Library Media Specialist Antoine Bogard Fights The NYC Department of Education On The Closing Of School Libraries

Parentadvocates.org
Betsy Combier, Editor
LINK
 
There is currently a lot of movement within the Department of Education to push and support school libraries to play a major role in linking information literacy with the curriculum and common core standards to accelerate student achievement. It is in this context, the principal made the very unfortunate and ill-advised decision to close the library. At a time when our students need more literacy, more information literacy instruction, not less, the closure of our school library makes this a sad school year for our students, our staff, our parents, and our community. It is of utmost importance and urgency for the PS 197M family and learning community to take up the conversation about the re-opening of our school library before the end of the year 2012.

October 19, 2012
UPDATE ON THE LIBRARY UFT GRIEVANCE

Grievance
Colleagues,
In the spirit of transparency, I just want to update you on the state of the grievance against the closing of the library this school year 2012-2013. Both decisions at Step 1 with the principal and Step 2 with the hearing officer representing the superintendent and the principal alleged that the Union failed to prove any contractual violations. They, therefore, stated that the library was closed for budget reasons. With that, we can say that this year proves to be a very, very sad year for our students, our staff, our parents, and our community. All the work we’ve done with the support of the PS 197M family was done on the basis of our deep-seated belief that our students deserve a school library that is up-to-date at all levels.

I picked up a dilapidating library 16 years ago that was closed for two years prior after the death of our beloved, Ms. Anna B. Hildebrand, the oldest colleague in our school back then. She managed this library with a lot of grace and the students responded to her with grace. After her death in 1994, the library was practically closed. People scattered books all over the place, on tables, and on the floor. This state of affairs concerned me very much. In June 1996, two years later, I requested to come and revamp the school library as a Teacher-assigned. My request granted, I immediately started going to countless hours of workshops on running the library.

I taught hundreds of students in the library and manually circulated books without an automation system. Then feeling that our students deserved more quality library instruction, in 1998, I enrolled in the Masters degree Program for Library Science at Queens College for three years. In 2001, upon receiving my degree and certification in School Library Media, the principal then, Ms. Sandridge, appointed me in place in September 2001. This was a major victory for our students and the school community because very few elementary school libraries had licensed, and certified school librarians.

For years also, I ran an early morning library club where students came to the library before school and started to read in the library. I ran Storytelling contests where our winners went on borough and citywide Storytelling contests and brought back trophies. The library played a leading role in advancing reading achievement throughout the school when the Renaissance program first started here at PS 197M. My leadership was significant in the systematic implementation of the principles of the program.
Our big break came in 2008 when I wrote a grant that brought $200,000 to the school for the renovation of our school library. With the completion of renovation in the 2009-2010 school year, our students and school community scored another major victory.

As a result of my activism in school library world throughout the city, our school was selected as one of 50 schools to participate in a Pilot Program with the New York Public Library as a Partnership between the New York City Department of Education Library Services and the New York Public Library. The Pilot Program offered our teachers an opportunity to check out book sets to support the curriculum and instruction in the classroom. All staff members and all students were provided with special New York Public Library Cards with special privileges. At first, NYPL shared its automation program with Pilot schools. Ultimately, after I made a request for a possible new automation system, NYPL said they were going to look into that. They did and offered to provide PS 197M with a new automation system, Destiny, for the school library as a Pilot School for free with a subscription value of $7,500 a year.

In addition to the spectacular improvement of the physical infrastructure of the library, my leadership empowered and inspired our students to do an extensive amount of reading and writing in the library. I have also shared a dynamic proposal with the current principal on moving forward with the library program. It outlined the next level, namely, a high level of collaboration between classroom teachers and me to integrate information literacy in the school wide curriculum and classroom instruction.

There is currently a lot of movement within the Department of Education to push and support school libraries to play a major role in linking information literacy with the curriculum and common core standards to accelerate student achievement. It is in this context, the principal made the very unfortunate and ill-advised decision to close the library. This unjustifiable decision takes us eighteen (18) years backwards when our students had no access to their school library and the books and resources of the library laid to waste. That decision to close our school library is a major setback and a major defeat for our students’ academic, intellectual, social and cultural needs and achievement historically at PS 197M. At a time when our students need more literacy, more information literacy instruction, not less, the closure of our school library makes this a sad school year for our students, our staff, our parents, and our community. It is of utmost importance and urgency for the PS 197M family and learning community to take up the conversation about the re-opening of our school library before the end of the year 2012.

In Solidarity & Struggle for our Students’ Education and Achievement,

Antoine Bogard, Library Media Specialist, MLS
& UFT Chapter Leader 

 The UFT, NYSUT and the DOE defamed Chris Asch, Library Specialist at Stuyvesant High School when they allowed former principal Stanley Teitel to lie about Chris at his 3020-a arbitration, to remove him from his job and close part of the Stuyvesant High School library.
 
Christopher Asch, Tenured NYC Board of Education Employee, Wins In the Supreme Court His Petition To Vacate The 3020-a Arbitration Decision

Betsy Combier

Philip Nobile: UFT Silent On ATR Rights and Representation

Printable Version >> CURRENT EVENTS "Why does Michael Mulgrew’s UFT persist in shafting ATRs by denying us representation within the union? Why hasn’t the Mulgrew established a bill of rights for ATRs? In contrast, Randi (Weingarten) arranged for rubber roomers to elect liaisons who met monthly with UFT Secretary Michael Mendel and Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr at 52 Broadway. She also produced a pamphlet on our rights. Surely, what was good for reassigned members in the past is good for ATRs in the present."                   UFT President Mike Mulgrew     UFT Silent On ATR Rights and Representation By Philip Nobile Why does Michael Mulgrew’s UFT persist in shafting ATRs by denying us representation within the union? Why hasn’t the Mulgrew established a bill of rights for ATRs? In contrast, Randi (Weingarten) arranged for rubber roomers to elect liaisons who met monthly with UFT Secretary Michael Mendel and Co-Staff Director LeRoy Barr at 52 Broadway. She also produced a pamphlet on our rights. Surely, what was good for reassigned members in the past is good for ATRs in the present.  The UFT disagrees. Instead of real representation the union has handed us crumbs, insisting that revolving (and usually invisible) chapter leaders are all the representation we need.  On Sept. 24, hoping to change hearts and minds, I emailed two questions to the chain of command (Mulgrew, Mendel, Barr, Amy Arundell, Brooklyn Borough Rep. Howie Schoor, and my Brooklyn District Rep. Tom Bennett): (1) Why hasn’t the UFT drawn up an advisory to CLs (Chapter Leaders) on how to handle ATRs? Or have I missed it? In the good old days of rubber rooms, we not only had elected reps (liaisons) and monthly meetings at 52 Broadway, but Randi produced a brochure on our rights. (2) Can you explain why ATRs in good standing get less respect than accused members in the past? There was no reply until October 9 when Bennett emailed me and said to give him a call. I preferred a written response and Bennett obliged in his fashion. Herewith the ensuing correspondence revealing the UFT’s contempt for ATR rights:  Oct. 10: Bennett to me Ok, written response it is. I dont agree with the premise of question #2 in your email, so, I cant respond in a meaningful way. As for #1, there is no specific handbook on ATRs for chapter leaders, but it has been addressed at Chapter Leader training and at monthly meetings. Professional courtesy, bathroom keys, no menial assignments, no 6th period, etc. have all been emphasized repeatedly. It has also been addressed in chapter leader weekly, as well. Sorry to hear you are in high dudgeon, but I think I am innocent of the charge of being unavailable. If I dont respond it is because I dont know the answer, or because your question is, shall we say, tendentious. But I have always taken your call. Let me know where you are, and Ill come by. Oct. 13: Me to Bennett et al:  Good to hear from you. Thanks for the info on the indoctrination of chapter leaders in the care of ATRs. In my experience it’s not working. The only CL to meet and greet me in Brooklyn and Staten Island all last year was the esteemed Bill Kalogeras at Automotive. If the union were serious about the least of its members, at the least you would establish a protocol whereby CLs welcome their ATR brothers on day one, maybe even get them a cup of coffee. Is that too much to ask? If you were an ATR, wouldn’t you like to be treated with such solidarity?  The premise of question 2, as you know, is the UFT’s refusal to grant ATRs the same rights as rubber room residents of the past. Nobody in the UFT, including you, has explained why ATRs in good standing are less worthy of direct representation than suspect resassigned teachers who had elected liaisons to guard their interests at monthly meetings at 52 Broadway with LeRoy Barr and Michael Mendel no less. This is what I meant by a dearth of respect. Once again, if you were an ATR, wouldn’t you prefer to have a representative fighting for you inside the UFT instead of depending on invisible chapter leaders? Nevermind the Unity line, tell me what you really think.  Thanks for your consideration. Oct. 16: me to Bennett et al. Let's stipulate that you're in a tough spot along with Amy, Howie, LeRoy, and Mendel. Apparently, none of you can explain (justify) denying ATRs in good standing the same representation (e.g., elected liaisons and monthly meetings at 52) once granted reassigned members in bad standing. So why not walk the golden bridge of retreat and give ATRs their due. Call it solidarity. Oct. 17: Bennett to me Thanks for the email. Your comments are very thoughtful, as always. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Oct. 17: Me to Bennett et al. How sad, even pathetic, that you won't express your personal opinion on the union's refusal to extend the same representation rights to good standing ATRs that were formerly bestowed on suspect rubber room members.  The UFT's refusal to deal with this disparate treatment is really shabby. But you know that. You just can't admit it. You've taken the Unity oath.  Posted by Norm @ ed notes online at 11:30 PM  Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook 5 comments: AnonymousOctober 19, 2012 12:45:00 AM EDT Hello!! The ATRs should file a suit against both the DoE and UFT for discrimination. Last time you did, it caught the attention of the media and then that caught Randi's attention. Stop writing emails that get you nowhere and get together and file a class action suit. Isn't the writing on the wall. The UFT plans to sell ATRs down the river in this next negotiation. Reply AnonymousOctober 19, 2012 7:07:00 AM EDT Important information for city-wide ATR's (ALL TITLES) Next week on Tuesday, October 24, there is a meeting for all ATR's at the UFT Bronx Office. Not surprisingly this meeting is buried on the UFT calendar: http://www.uft.org/events/atr-informational-meeting ATR's of all titles are invited to attend this informational Q & A session on ATR-related issues and to meet the representatives of the Bronx Borough Office. It has been suggested by an ATR who has assumed a leadership role, that ALL ATR's, including those on the GEM listserve attend the Bronx meeting in order to speed up the quickly moving organization of ATR's. Should the meeting turn out to be a performance by Amy Arandle whining, "you're lucky to have a job," then all attendees at the meeting can rapidly retreat to the parking area to exchange contact information which will further strengthen the ATR movement. It has been reported that a list of city-wide ATR's has recently surfaced. Hopefully, this list can be used to urge attendance at the ATR meetings.  Reply Replies AnonymousOctober 19, 2012 8:32:00 AM EDT I agree it is time to file the lawsuit Reply Angry ATROctober 19, 2012 7:26:00 AM EDT Bronx ATR meeting is on WEDNESDAY, October 24, 2012 Reply AnonymousOctober 19, 2012 8:29:00 AM EDT Several physically-challenged ATR's have hired a lawyer to file a lawsuit against the UFT. Many of these ATR's are forced to WALK long distances (Like 8-10 Blocks) from subway stations after ascending and descending steep staircases. When they arrive at their 3 to 4 floor "schools-of-the-week" they find that many schools lack working elevators. Then these educators are forced to demean themselves, pleading with a cold-hearted leadership academy principal for an assignment on one floor for the day! This situation is outrageous. Reply

Principal Michael Alexander Denies ATR Teacher His Rights

The principal of the School for Human Rights abuses his authority, denies human rights to an ATR

 

DAVID HEDGES

Dedicated To All ATS In NYC

LINK

As an ATR I reported to a high school in Brooklyn and was told that my program for the week required that agree to violate a UFT-DOE agreement.   I was ordered to teach four consecutive periods with no time for a bathroom break.  (In fact, I was ordered to teach five consecutive periods, because the school's extended time begins 40 minutes prior to the first period class. That adds up to 5.)  I am entitled to a bathroom break under the ADA and it is enforced by the DOE Medical Office, HR-Connect, and the Office of Equal Opportunity.   The principal, Michael Alexander, decided to ignore those agencies and insisted that his authority trumped all others, including common decency, I do not hesitate to add.  He justified his stance by claiming that a private arrangement he had made with a teacher on maternity leave preempted the rights of all UFT members, regardless of the Contract and ADA law.   Shame on you Michael Alexander!

The school's name is The School For Human Rights.

Mr. Alexander could have assigned a teacher to cover one class period to break up the four consecutive periods and he had both the time and the resources to do so.  There was an additional ATR who had not been assigned to a class, and there were teachers in the school who know the students and would have volunteered to do the coverage if they had been asked.

There is no excuse for the principal of a school that seeks to be a champion for human rights to deny a teacher the rights he or she is entitled to under ADA law, OEO and DOE rules.

October 15, 2012 (Sent via email MAlexan@schools.nyc.gov 
Principal of the School for Human Rights)

Principal Alexander,

After I alerted you to the fact that your private arrangement with a teacher in your school does not trump OEO and UFT requirements, you did not modify my program and comply with the Accomodation that I am entitled to under ADA law.  As a result of complying with your directive I became ill, since you saw to it that my entitlement to a bathroom break was ignored.  This was after we had presented the issue to the school's chapter leader!

Mr. Brewton from the OEO has responded to my complaint and has written that he will pursue the matter from his office.  You will hear from him.

As of the time of this writing I am unsure if my heath will permit my appearance in your school tomorrow.  

I would be remiss if I did not add that whatever your private arrangements with your staff are, they are of absolutely no relevancy to me, nor to my rights under the ADA law and the DOE/UFT agreement.  Your ardent indifference is, in my view, an irresponsible abuse of your authority.

Sincerely,

David Hedges

A copy of this letter was sent to OEO, UFT, and now to you, my dear readers.

Dennis Walcott Says There Are No Rubber Rooms. He Lies

From Betsy Combier:

I am an advocate who respects anyone of any gender and any sexual orientation. I was told by a classmate of Dennis Walcott that he was harassed and bullied in school for being the only gay guy in the class.

It seems to me that he is carrying around too much anger to be a true leader of children and young adults, and if he has some issues about homosexuality, he should admit to this, just like Randi Weingarten did, and move forward truthfully. C'mon Dennis, just come out and tell your story, no one will care whether you are gay or not, but Im sure that people care when you do not tell them the truth about something, whatever it may be.

Walcott's statement that there are no more "rubber rooms" belies the facts. The term "rubber room" has been around for a long time, and is the nichname adopted by people who are moved from their classrooms. 

Mr. Walcott, there are rubber rooms, and the people there are being framed and criminalized while they do nothing and their classes have no teachers. This is the fact of the rubber room process.

Dont harm people who do not deserve this treatment when it seems that you received more than your share of harassment when you were in school. 

Schools chief Dennis Walcott says don't call disciplinary offices for teachers rubber rooms

City says it did away with rubber rooms two years ago, but News reports there are 218 teachers making $22 million in salary that are banished from classroom

Comments (1)

BY BEN CHAPMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2012, 11:10 PM

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/schools-chief-walcott-article-1.1185234#ixzz29bexhhjZ

Don't call them “rubber rooms,” city Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said.

The Daily News reported Tuesday that more than 200 city teachers accused of wrongdoing are collecting their full salaries while sitting around waiting for a disciplinary hearing, but Walcott said it’s nothing like the infamous rubber rooms of the past.

“They’re not rubber rooms, let’s be very clear about that,” Walcott told reporters after a meeting with state education officials. “We have a number of offices throughout the city, and they provide opportunities for some type of work assignment.”

The city says it did away two years ago with the infamous rubber rooms, where as many as 800 teachers were once warehoused, sometimes for years, while their disciplinary cases made their way through a Byzantine system. They were called rubber rooms because people were said to be bouncing off the walls.

But The News reported on Tuesday that, as of last week, there were 218 teachers making $22 million in salary and benefits while banished from the classroom.

Several told The News they do absolutely nothing. One said he taught himself to pitch softballs during a 13-month “solitary confinement” in an unused locker room. Another said she once was ordered to count all 800 chairs in a school administration building.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/schools-chief-walcott-article-1.1185234#ixzz29bafbV9u


 

'Rubber Rooms' Still Plague NYC Schools

article by Jillian Blacksmith-Reed | October 18, 2012

LINK

Two years ago New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, union officials and teachers announced that they had figured out how to do away with teacher reassignment centers, also known as ‘rubber rooms.’ However, recent reports are showing that teachers are still being pulled out of the classroom and placed into these centers.

This year teachers in these centers will earn upwards of $22 million where many will do nothing.

Teachers are often placed in these centers for a variety of reasons ranging from breaking rules to abusing children, where they await disciplinary hearings, and the practice was supposedly done away with two years ago.

The reassignment centers became known as rubber rooms due to notion that it would be difficult to go crazy after spending all day doing nothing.

“This was an absurd and expensive abuse of tenure,” Mayor Bloomberg said when he announced the new reforms in April 2010. “We’ve been able to solve what was one of the most divisive issues in our school system.”

However, recently one teacher, Francesco Portelos, made headlines when he created a website with a webcam showing himself in one of these centers.

Initially he was placed into a basement office, and then moved into an empty conference room. While in the conference room he set up a webcam and began blogging about his experience.

When the school district caught word of his activities, they banned the use of personal computer equipment from the conference room. Portelos, after going dark for a few days, began using his smartphone to continue his webcam site.

“It's just crazy, I never thought this would happen, especially in the New York City Department of Education,” Portelos told CBS Radio station 1010 WINS. “A $24 billion budget and I'm being paid $75,000 to sit here. It's ridiculous.”

Portelos hasn’t been formally charged with any specific wrongdoing, but claims he is being punished for accusing the principal of financial mismanagement. The district is not formally commenting on the situation.

He is just one example of teachers being paid to do nothing. Some teachers, like Portelos, are in a situation where they are pulled from the classroom because of disagreements with management, or for breaking rules. However, there are some teachers that are in these situations because they are deemed a danger to children, and cannot be terminated due to tenure rules.

It was reported that one teacher has been collecting over $100,000 per year in one of these centers, after he found a loophole that allowed him to continue due to the state not having a mandatory retirement age.

This practice of placing teachers in reassignment centers has not been isolated to just New York City. Many other large school districts use the practice.

In Los Angeles, for example, 161 teachers are reported to be assigned to various offices throughout the district as they await disciplinary hearings.

“Several of the people I know in rubber rooms have been there two years, some people as long as five years,” Leonard Isenberg, a disciplined Los Angeles Unified School District teacher said to NBC News. “You don’t just sit there. You can’t do anything. Think of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, with a paycheck.”

In spite of these reports, New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, while not denying the existence of these reassignment centers, wants it clear that they are not ‘rubber rooms’ where teachers go to do nothing.

“They’re not rubber rooms, let’s be very clear about that,” Walcott told reporters after a meeting with state education officials. “We have a number of offices throughout the city, and they provide opportunities for some type of work assignment.”

From David Hedges: ATR Without ADA Rights

Dedicated To All ATRs In NYC
LINK

David Hedges

As an ATR I reported to a high school in Brooklyn and was told that my program for the week required that I teach four consecutive periods with no time for a bathroom break.  I
am entitled to a bathroom break under the ADA and is enforced by the Medical office of the DOE.  The principal, Michael Alexander overruled those directives, claiming that a private arrangement he had made with a teacher on maternity leave preempted my rights under the OEO and trumped my rights under the UFT/DOE agreement.  Shame on you Michael Alexander!

Mr. Alexander,

After I alerted you to the fact that your private arrangement with a teacher in your school does not trump OEO and UFT requirements, you did not modify my program and comply with the Accommodation that I am entitled to under ADA law.  As a result of complying with your directive I became ill, since you saw to it that my entitlement to a bathroom break was ignored.  This was after we had presented the issue to the school's chapter leader!

Mr. Brewton from the OEO has responded to my complaint and has written that he will pursue the matter from his office.  You will hear from him.

As of the time of this writing I am unsure if my health will permit my appearance in your school tomorrow.  

I would be remiss if I did not add that whatever your private arrangements with your staff are, they are of absolutely no relevancy to me, nor to my rights under the ADA law and the DOE/UFT agreement.  Your ardent indifference is, in my view, an irresponsible abuse of your authority.

Sincerely,

David Hedges

A copy of this letter was sent to OEO, UFT, and now to you, my dear readers.

From David Hedges: Dumped ATR sings a sad song

A veteran contributor, Dumped ATR, reflects on her first day back to school, 
and back in the ATR. 

Dedicated to All ATRS In NYC
LINK

Why don't they mention the pain?

Chita Rivera

When Kander and Ebb wrote
the song "Why don't they mention
the pain?" for Chita Rivera's
autobiographical cabaret act,
they were giving a veteran
and a star a moment to be
both comic and honest about the
difficulty of performing even
for someone talented and fortunate
in her career. It is tremendously ironic
for me to invoke this song in
discussing the substance of my
conversation with other ATR teachers
on this first day of school. But, I
remember what it felt like to hear
this song: to look into Rivera's eyes
and feel the physical and spiritual torture that comes from trying to
succeed as a dancer. 

Five ATR's showed up at a medium-sized high school in Queens.
Two of us had done leave-replacements last term--and all of us had
filled in for another teacher more than once. We were all in our 
forties, with over twenty years of experience. We should have been
able to get our rooms ready, make copies for the upcoming days' lessons,
touch base with colleagues about their summers, etc. Instead,
we attended meetings with the faculty who shared their concerns
and congratulations. We tried to be helpful and offered our advice too
eagerly to people who don't know us in an effort to show our knowledge
and usefulness. At lunch, however, we talked about "the pain." The
times we expected to be hired and weren't. The school supplies we
bought for classes we weren't offered, after all. The many times we
blended into the wildness and the chaos of schools in which we
didn't know students' names. 

The supervisors who made use of our energies, who lent their phone
numbers to our lists of references, who were thankful, but did not
make us permanent staff, may not have been thinking of us this
afternoon. But, we were thinking of them--of their demands, and in
some cases, their gall. The supervisor who threatened to put a letter in
a file, and then tried to "pull us from the rotation"--use us an ATR
for a few weeks without even the dignity of a provisional hire
for a leave replacement. The supervisors who went out of their
way to try and keep us and couldn't. The students we would probably
never see again. 

It's especially difficult to have spent a good part of your professional
career having tried to make a difference in students' lives, and now find
yourself "disappearing" almost as soon as you begin to teach classes
of kids. I don't know where most of the students I taught in a leave-
replacement two years ago went to college. Principals don't invite
you to graduation--they have more pressing things to do, but you still
wonder what happened--did the kid who was struggling to pass math ever
score above a 75, or is she heading for remedial math in college? If you
do find out that the latter is the case, you feel guilty. Of course, other
people taught that student after you moved on. But you will never be
sure that you got any one part of your lesson right--did the skills stay
with that kid in September? People are busy with the kids and demands
in front of them, and so are you. 

I have managed to stay in touch with some colleagues and that
has been wonderful. But, as I went to my assignment today, I missed
what I might have shared with the people I worked with last spring as
a leave- replacement for someone who is now back. What did they decide
to do about that 11th-grade curriculum question? I'm still thinking about
it--sure, I've texted back and forth, but I'm way behind the conversation.
It's like tweeting to players on a sports team after the regular season is
over--they are in their playoffs. The question is no longer the same.

And they know I wish I were there. And that it's painful. But, I 
mention this for my colleagues who are in pain and who may 
not be acknowledged by anyone. And for all of us for whom the pain 
is also cumulative.

Absent Teacher Uniform Assignment Format

Reposted from a terrific blog, 

Dedicated to All ATRs in NYC by David Hedges

LINK

Whether or you have been in the ATR pool for a long time or you are new to us and this is your third school so far this year, I want to reassure you that being an ATR is not just a wonderful opportunity for your own professional development but also, that your unique placement in each school can make a real difference in the lives of the students and the other teachers you meet.

We are the itinerate ambassadors of a learning culture from the past that modeled and taught the ideal of self-renewal.  We are rapidly becoming archaic and have very little time left in which we can transmit a sense of urgent purpose that is not data driven, but grounded in Humanism.

Most of us in the ATR pool are veteran teachers.  For instance, we are experienced in guiding students toward serving their long-term self-interests without being confrontational and without resorting to the “because I said so” attitude.  We have a lot to offer the younger teachers who are under a lot of pressure to take responsibility for things that are beyond their control, such as test scores and family problems that spill over into the classroom. [1]

 Younger teachers entering the system do not have the advantages that we had.  They don’t spend the first few days of professional development hearing pep talks about education. They are given the Teachers’ Handbook, told to analyze data, instructed to think like a computer programmer or a statistician so they can use ARIS effectively, and then, if time allows, inspect the book room for ideas.

Data driven instruction, like market driven corporation puts balance sheets first, and attends to the human experience after all the numbers have had their say.  A Social Studies teacher at a very good school in Brooklyn who has the reputation with his students and colleagues of being able to tell stories from history that capture everyone’s imagination, told me that his gift at making history come alive is actually viewed as a defect to his teaching by his supervisor.  Teachers are leaving NYC because we don’t want to be instructional marketing specialists.  We want to share that feeling of aliveness that comes when you are part of a community of people who love what you love: education. 

I entered the teaching profession for a number of reasons, but the most significant one nowadays is that I wanted to inspire students to learn without tests or grades as a motivation.  Intrinsic values, rather than extrinsic ones were the currency in my classroom economy.  My feeling was that everyone could earn a high grade.   I was lucky to have had teachers who were more inspiring than the grades were.  They taught me about learning contracts and showed me that if I set my own goals, rather than teach myself to submit to those of others, and do my best to meet them, then would be no reason why I can’t earn the highest grade I want.  I was taught to confront one of the most challenging existential crises very early.  A different zeitgeist haunted our consciences during the 1960’s and 1970’s.  Silberman’s Crisis in the Classroom is still excellent reading.

Now, back to what I set out to talk about with you.  We, as ATRs, are a specialized department onto ourselves and we have no support but that which we provide for ourselves.  In fact, we have to do this job in an even more hostile working environment than our juniors.  We don’t even get to have real pre-observation conferences nor have we a UFT chapter leader who knows how to keep the administration on the leash.  No community, no support, and higher risks for unruly classes and U ratings.

What we might do is create a “Uniform Absent Teacher Lesson” for each subject and grade.  Schools should have a uniform sub-lesson format so that students can recognize it instantly and comply with it, knowing that they will be held accountable.  As it stands, the absent teacher lessons are the weakest link in the instructional chain.  Imagine, in contrast, if, when a teacher is absent, students are provided with a standard format- a booklet that states, in plain language, what the learning objectives are, enumerates each step of the procedures, and includes a rubric for student reflection that (a) helps them to identify their strengths and (b) suggests alternative paths that may lead them toward even better results in the future.

I am including a link to an excellent self-contained Earth Science lab that has all of the qualities that I think belong in a good substitute lesson activity:

http://learnearthscience.com/pages/For_Teachers/Labs/cyclicchangelab.pdf

The cover page of the document might emulate the New York State Regents Examination. (see below)

ABSENT TEACHER IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT

The New York City Department of Education Department of Curriculum Development MANDATORY IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENT IN [Insert subject area here] For [Insert teacher’s name here] A separate answer sheet has been provided for you. Follow the instructions for completing the student information on your answer sheet. You must also fill in the heading on each page of your essay booklet that has a space for it, and write your name at the top of each sheet of scrap paper. If a Scantron is provided, be sure you answer all the questions in this assignment and write your name on the Scantron sheet in the appropriate place. Remember, stray markings scanned as wrong answers and will adversely affect your grade. This assignment tests your ability to work independently. Read all directions carefully.  Learning Objectives:  By the end of this assignment you will be able to [insert specific subject area’s objective here] Procedure: Rubric: Shows evidence of being able to read and follow directions