Why Mayor Mike & Chancellor Joel Want To Eliminate Teacher Seniority.

[tonysam]

They Are Trying to Destroy the Union

Chaz's School Daze:

Now that the "rubber room" problem has been resolved (maybe). Mayor Mike & Chancellor Joel have now focused on eliminating seniority for teachers. The two of them whine that they would have to lay off "good teachers" while keeping "bad teachers" due to seniority procedures of "last in, first out", a staple of the Civil Service System. They have recruited two, soon to be defeated, politicians to sponsor the "KEEP Act" that would allow the Principal to decide who to keep and who to terminate. Furthermore, they have allies in some naive "newbie teachers" who have developed a website supporting the "KEEP Act". This "divide and conquer" policy is destined for failure as both leaders of the State Legislature have claimed it "dead on arrival". However, look for the propaganda rags of the New York Post and New York Daily News plead with the politicians to save the "good teachers".

The problem is how does a person determine who is a "good teacher"? Not Mayor Mike or Chancellor Joel? Neither one has any clue what a "good teacher" is. Furthermore, most teachers have little respect or confidence in their "Leadership Academy Principals" who would have the responsibility to determine a "good teacher". In their world a "good teacher" would be determined by their age, salary, loyalty to the Principal, and who they can bully. What about the students? Wouldn't they know who is a "good teacher"? Of course they would but many of these teachers the students like are hated by the insecure and vindictive Principal because of their interactions with the students and their questioning of Principal directives that are not in the best interest of the school.

It takes an average of 8 years (6-10 years) to reach their peak as a teacher. Once a teacher reaches their peak, unlike an athlete, they maintain that level for decades to come. Teachers are not athletics that see their skills deteriorate over the years. On the other hand 50% of the "newbie teachers" fail to last five years in the system and some of them who start off trying to conquer the world become hardened and skeptical in the next few years as they leave the system before even being vested! Therefore, how can a "newbie teacher" be a "good teacher" when compared to an experienced teacher? They can't but don't confuse Mayor Mike & Chancellor Klein with these facts.

Meanwhile, few principals in this district are considered "failures," no matter how lousy they are. NY Daily News:

The Education Department overhauled its method for rating principals last year - and still only found four in the whole system who failed to meet standards.

Two of those principals are still heading up their schools even though one of them - Pacific High School in downtown Brooklyn - also got an "F" on its latest report card.

Another 27 principals only partially met standards, meaning only about 2% of all 1,400 city principals are rated below satisfactory. More than half "substantially exceeded" standards.

"If you've made it far enough to be a tenured principal, you have been through a lot of hurdles," said Chiara Coletti, chief spokeswoman for the principals union. "And the chances are you're pretty good at your job."

Oh, sure they are. They simply can't be gotten rid of. Who the hell is supervising the principals? Nobody. They have been instructed by above they can do whatever the hell they want.

[RandomThoughts]

1. They are trying to break up organized groups of people.

So rules applied back, lets all their organizations be broken up. It is true if corporations were smaller unions could be smaller, but to get rid of unions when corporate connections and monopolies exist is silly.

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. Sound like Lake Wobegon.

Where 1380 out of 1400 principals are above average.

And 80 percent of the kids are above grade level. *90*% in an election year.

Where all the cheap teachers are great, and all the expensive teachers suck.

Keeerist. Does he really think people are that stupid? He didn't amass 30 billion $ by being stupid himself. Foolish, maybe. But not dumb.

It worries me that he may know people better than I.

[tonysam]

3. Principals are often failed teachers or have NO experience in the classroom

And if they are lousy enough as principals, they get moved up the career ladder and do even better for themselves no matter how badly they screw up.