Educator sets the record straight to Daily News on editorial's falsehoods about ATRs

An ATR writes to the Daily News editorial board after their deceptive March 23 editorial maligning the professional worth of ATRs.

Dear Editorial Board,

  It is disheartening to continually read your editorials expressing falsehoods in disparaging ATRs (excessed teachers).

   You do not have the facts when you state ATRs are unable to find positions. It is common knowledge principals are refusing to permanently hire ATRs because of their higher salaries that are charged to their budgets. In addition, since Sept. 2011, when ATRs began weekly rotations, principals have used ATRs "provisionally", to fill vacancies. However, the ATR is then let go at the end of the semester (goes back to the ATR pool) and the school hires a new teacher. In this manner, the school saves money two ways, as provisional hires (ATRs) are charged at a small rate to the budget and a new teacher is hired at a starting salary.

  The above can be proven by submitting a FOIL for the number of ATRs that have been appointed to positions (not provisionally hired) since Sept. 2011.

   ATRs are teachers who have many years of experience and are therefore valuable resources to the system. To claim principals don't want them because they cannot teach is absurd. Consider also the excessed guidance counselors, librarians,social workers,etc, who cannot find positions.

  In conclusion, teachers are employed by the Department of Education and not any particular school. They should be placed in vacancies before new hires. They should be given the opportunity to teach and be evaluated like other teachers and not pre-judged through biased opinions.

Sincerely,

James Calantjis

Educator

Displaced teachers (ATRs) make public appeal to city council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito

Displaced New York City teachers write a public letter to the new speaker of the city council, Melissa Mark-Viverito, someone promoted as a pro-labor candidate. Displaced teachers and other DOE staff appeal to elected officials because union leaders are unresponsive to us and a month after the Daily News attacks are still silent on the smearing attacks on us.

February 13, 2014

Dear Ms. Mark-Viverito,

    Congratulations on you becoming Council Speaker.  Why we are writing you is to bring to light the unvarnished truth behind teachers in the A.T.R. pool.  Most of the A.T.R.s are as much victims of failed educational policies as the students that were under educated by those policies.  A.T.R.s came in 2 major classes.  The first, were senior teachers that were excessed from closed schools.  The second were those who, for no fault of their own, were caught up in the “reign of terror” that the past mayor and his chancellors waged against senior teachers in this city.  It is true that a very minuscule number of individuals rightly deserved to be disciplined and removed to the now infamous “rubber rooms”.  The rest of these teachers were no guiltier than you, when their principals falsely accused them of wrong doing and had them removed from their schools.  When these teachers finally left these rooms, they were automatically put into the A.T.R. pool.  On top of that, they were “black-flagged” as “discipline problems”. 

  The purpose of this pool, in the eyes of the mayor, was to demoralize us and accelerate our retirement and or resignation from the school system.  This is no more than an abuse of good, dedicated, hard working professionals.

  When A.T.R.s read, in the NY Daily News, that the mayor and the chancellor were talking about placing us back into classrooms, we were ecstatic.  As stories began to appear in that paper accusing us of everything from criminal behavior to “U” rated teachers that would prey on our children our mood changed drastically.  We were so upset by these unwarranted attacks that we thought that we would never be able to teach again.  And that Council Speaker is a fate worse than death for teachers.

  “U” ratings were just another form of harassment used by principals to remove senior teachers from their staffs and replace them with young and inexperienced individuals whom they knew they could “bully” into teaching “the program”.  These teachers that were rated “U”, in most cases did not deserve that rating at all. 

  We ask you as a powerful voice in the progressive movement to filter out all the rhetoric of the past and help the mayor and the chancellor in moving this great city forward.  Put us teachers back into the classrooms.  Give us the chance that was given to so many people before and help our kids to succeed. 

Thank you,

Howard Klein
Scott Barusek
Guido Proano
Elvira Sacco

Day 8 of yellow journalism war - Educator appeals to Mulgrew to speak up

Day 8 in the yellow journalism war on displaced teachers (ATRs) and the leaders of the UFT still have not spoken up.

An ATR writes an open letter to president Mulgrew, asking him to counter the aspersions.

Dear Mr. Mulgrew,

  It is disappointing that the UFT is not defending the professionalism of the ATRs from the disparaging aspersions by newspapers such as the Daily News and the Post, which affect public opinion.

  As you know, ATRs are not being hired by principals. Those that receive "provisional" positions for vacancies are dismissed after the semester and new, untenured teachers are hired. The principal saves on his budget by using the ATR during the semester and in hiring a new teacher afterwards.

  Therefore, it is no fault of the ATRs that they are not attaining permanent positions.They are experienced educators and valuable resources that should be in the classrooms. The UFT is partially to blame for negotiating the weekly rotations which have caused hardships and the "provisional" assignments for vacancies, which the DOE has perverted. 

  The UFT needs to speak out publicly defending ATRs and negotiate with the DOE to have ATRs placed in permanent positions before new hires. The DOE should revert back to the unit values for paying teacher salaries.

  On a related matter, it is shameful that the UFT is silent in allowing DOE roving supervisors to harass ATRs with teaching observations that clearly violate the contract and the professionalism of teachers.

Roving supervisors arrange a period in a subject to observe the ATR teaching a lesson, which has nothing to do with their responsibilities as ATRs. They are being observed in an arbitrary and capricious manner which could be grieved under Article 20. The ATRs are asked to teach content or generic lessons in  environments in which they do not know the schools or the students. or have access to resources. They are being "set up to fail" by being held accountable for unattainable standards by the supervisors. Article 7A requires that teachers have daily programs,subject classes with students,room assignments and also that a preference sheet be completed. in some cases Article 8J (pre and post observations) is being violated. For ATRs to be put in this position is clearly unprofessional and an abuse of their rights as teachers under the contract.

  The UFT should acknowledge these abuses and work to end their practices. In fact, The UFT should begin a law suit to negate all observations of ATRs by roving supervisors.

  In conclusion, I am hoping that the UFT will end its silence and publicly stand up for the ATRs, including Guidance Counselors and Social Workers,

Sincerely,

James Calantjis

Educator 

Day 5 in yellow journalism war vs. ACRs/ATRs & no word from the UFT

This is day five since the Daily News began its war against ACRs/ATRs, as discussed here and here. Blame really goes to the New York Times for starting this back in December. Not one UFT official has come to our defense. We applaud chapter leader Arthur Goldstein, who spoke out in our defense, Thursday and today and chapter leader Patrick Walsh, who defended us in his comments at Goldstein's blog.

Goldstein handily rebutted the News' arguments concerning U-rated teachers and formerly accused teachers. Then he wrote in closing, addressing the core point, that there is a lot of stereotyping of ATRs:

Here's my question---how is mentioning these selected cases any different from taking members of a religious or ethnic group, highlighting some accused of behaving in a sensational fashion, and then gently leading readers to the conclusion the entire group was unfit or undesirable?

Our past president Randi Weingarten did produce the 2005 contract which got us here, and she didn't fight the Fair Student Funding formula. But in 2008 she did speak publicly in defense of the pedagogical integrity of teachers in the ATR pool.

"These are good teachers, mostly from closing schools. But rather than create a win-win situation, the system - despite repeated requests - refused to deal with these issues."