"Union blasts city schools overhaul plan; Teachers’ hours, pay, and seniority affected" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | April 13, 2010
The Boston Teachers Union started galvanizing opposition yesterday to parts of Superintendent Carol R. Johnson’s plan to overhaul 12 underperforming schools, after she called for teachers to work dozens of additional hours without extra pay....
Related: Learning Boston Teachers a Lesson
Learn it well; you will have plenty of time in the unemployment line.
In a newsletter sent by e-mail yesterday to more than 5,000 union members, Richard Stutman, the union’s president, called Johnson’s proposals “ugly’’ and “insulting,’’ characterizing them as budget-cutting measures rather than innovative ideas to transform these schools.
“She’s stirred up a hornet’s nest,’’ Stutman said in an interview. “I think she has done herself irreparable harm to her relationships with teachers.’’
I hate to be the one to say it, but no one cares about you.
Teachers are for the dumping of all blame for society's ills.
The Boston negotiations are expected to be watched closely around the state and could serve as a barometer of any lingering union resentment of the new law, which unions aggressively fought. The flare-up is the second in Boston since the state announced last month its intention to identify 35 schools across Massachusetts, 12 of them in Boston, as underperforming.
Maybe we should scrap the whole public education system.
Let localities deal with it as they see fit.
Hours after the state’s announcement, Johnson held a press conference, saying she would force teachers at about half those city schools to reapply for their jobs, a move immediately criticized by Stutman, who accused Johnson of trying to “evict’’ hardworking teachers from their jobs.
“Unions are very angry, and they want to kick the nearest shin, the School Committee’s or the superintendent’s,’’ said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. “We will see this in a lot of places.’’
And check this out: Towns to Pay Health Tax For Public Servants
Yup, "Union pressure on Congress produced an exception for law enforcement personnel, including firefighters, because of their dangerous duties"
But not teachers, 'eh, taxpayers?
Not getting paid as much as those guys, either.
Btw, I wanted a GOOD, DECENT, SINGLE-PAYER SYSTEM like France or Norway, not this Amerikan PoS!
Among Johnson’s proposals, which are considered drafts because negotiations are just beginning: not paying teachers for additional time when extending the school day by up to an hour; requiring 50 hours of additional teacher training without pay; nullifying layoff and seniority provisions; and tying annual pay raises to job performance.
Looking more and more like a witch hunt.
And, of course, we know petty politics and personalities never enter into a school situation.
Another proposal seeks to increase class sizes for programs that teach fluency in English, beyond limits set in the teachers’ contract.
Yes, but if you point out the fact that it is due to illegal immigration you are a racist.
Yup, YOUR TEACHERS get the AXE while SERVICES are INCREASED for ILLEGALS or the PRODUCT of ILLEGALS!
Hey, IF I WERE DICTATOR EVERYONE WOULD GET HEALTH and EDUCATION, no questions asked!!
So don't try hollering racism here!
How about ENDING the WARS, BANK BOOSTING PAYMENTS, and CORPORATE WELFARE and USING THAT MONEY for HEALTH and EDUCATION for ALL like a GOOD, DECENT GOVERNMENT WOULD?
“She has dug herself a hole with membership, and she will be hard pressed to get out of that hole,’’ Stutman said.
You still do not realize your opinions and feelings do not matter, huh?
Oh, the things I would be diverting to in the classroom before they fired me if I were a teacher.
Kids, forget the lesson plan for today; let's talks lies and 9/11.
One request, however, calls for an additional $6,000 a year for a new job category called instructional leader, a teacher who would work a 210-day year helping to improve teaching in underperforming schools.
Yup, it i$ ALWAY$ about MONEY here in the U.$. -- even when it is ABOUT the KID$!!!
Yesterday, Johnson emphasized she wants to work collaboratively with teachers on the changes....
Why is every authority or official in AmeriKa a f***ing liar?
Boston is hoping to receive federal grants of up to $500,000 annually for each school to help finance some of the changes through a program established by the Obama administration to turn around failing schools. It is the only additional money the district is planning for its underperforming schools.
By contrast, the district’s previous school-turnaround program, which Johnson dismantled last school year amid budget cutting, gave each underperforming school about an additional $1.2 million, covering such things as compensating teachers for an extended school day. Johnson said the program, which she inherited, had mixed results.
Boston is working at a faster pace than other districts on fixing underperforming schools, taking advantage of a provision in the new law that allows for an expedited process for districts that already had improvement efforts underway. Johnson had slated 10 of the 12 underperforming schools for dramatic turnarounds last fall. She has told the School Committee that she hopes to have the plans ready, including union consent, by the end of next month or early June....
I don't care; your shit schools, Boston, not mine.
"Angst as teachers reapply for jobs; At underperforming schools, dismissal deadline tomorrow" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | April 27, 2010
Anxiety rippled through seven “underperforming’’ Boston schools yesterday, as more than 350 teachers and staff members faced a deadline to reapply for their jobs as part of an overhaul by Superintendent Carol R. Johnson....
The drama unfolded between classes on the first day back from April vacation, when students and teachers typically are recharged and ready for a new round of teaching and learning...
What world does the Boston Globe live in?
Angst over their future gave some teachers stomachaches. Others kept running tallies of those planning to depart. In some cases, as word spread about who was planning to leave a school, those who had been planning to reapply for their jobs changed their minds. Some teachers, she said, were choosing to leave “because they feel so disrespected by the process. If the idea is to get the strongest teachers, they blew it.’’
The STATE USUALLY DOES!
Principals at the seven schools need to replace at least half their staff members, under provisions of a federal school-turnaround model. The principals have until tomorrow to decide who should stay or who should go. Johnson said last night that she realized that staff members were in a delicate situation, but (clink) she emphasized that such a drastic measure was necessary to help turn around the performance of the schools. She compared the process to a coach selecting players to form what is hoped to be a championship team.
This is NOT a SPORTS CONTEST!
We are talking about OUR CHILDREN and THEIR FUTURE!
Johnson is also negotiating with the union several controversial contract changes for teachers at underperforming schools, such as not paying them for additional time when extending the school day by up to an hour; requiring 50 hours of additional teacher training without pay; nullifying layoff and seniority provisions; and tying annual pay raises to job performance.
Oh, is that what they are calling it?
About 100 teachers, classroom aides, nurses, guidance counselors, and other staff members gathered at union headquarters after school yesterday to ask union leadership about those proposed changes. Many also peppered leadership with questions about the fate of staff members who opted not to reapply for their jobs and those who may later learn that their desire to keep their jobs had been denied by their principal. The 4 p.m. meeting stretched well into the evening. Members who left early said emotions were running high.
“This is no way to run a business,’’ said a science teacher, who also declined to give her name. She said she believes teachers are being blamed too much for schools underachieving.
“Every teacher at my school wants students to do well,’’ she said. “. . . Hopefully, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.’’
That light is the train of the Obama administration.
The Obama administration has been pushing school districts nationwide to take more dramatic actions to turn around persistently failing schools. Replacing half of a school’s workforce is one of four strategies the administration has developed. Earlier this year, a national uproar erupted with the firing of all teachers at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island, after the state identified the high school as one of its worst.
Also see: Around New England: Obama Takes Rhode Island to Task
He didn't even go and visit?
As teachers unions across the state and in Massachusetts condemned the move as disrespectful, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan applauded it as courageous and necessary.
Richard Stutman, president of Boston’s teachers union, said teachers are stressed out and angry about being placed in this predicament. He said he expected that tenured teachers would most likely seek jobs at other schools while provisional teachers, who have no job security, would probably reapply...
No one cares about you who are responsible for the decline of the entire society.
--more--"
So did they KEEP YOU or not, reader?
One hundred and twenty-five teachers, classroom aides, and other staff members at seven Boston schools were told they would not be returning to their jobs this fall...
The news came over the course of the day as principals at the state-designated “underperforming’’ schools called in staff one by one to tell them whether they could stay or go.
Dead teacher walking.
Some teachers broke down crying, struggling to compose themselves as they returned to classrooms, some teachers said. Tears also flowed from students and parents, they said.
But hey, look on the bright side: Banks and corporations are happy, and the politicians and "public servants" are well-fed and taken care of, taxpayers.
Don't you feel better now?
The dismissals, which will take effect at the end of the school year, encompassed both new and veteran staff. While most of those told to leave will be eligible for jobs at the city’s 128 other schools, their departure is nevertheless traumatic because staff and students often interact as a family.
Are you kidding?
With all the BULLYING that goes on in the schools and this state?
Some family!
And now all of a sudden the Globe cares about the teachers?
Related: Boston Globe Bashes Boston Teachers
Yeah, after the damage is done they were with you the whole time!
Their exits also could create further upheavals at other schools, because veteran teachers might have the right to bump provisional teachers out of positions, possibly putting them in the unemployment line....
Oh-ho-ho-ho!!!
This is going to a BAD SCENE, man!!!!
“There was crying everywhere,’’ said an Orchard Gardens K-8 School in Roxbury teacher, who, like others interviewed, declined to give her name, worried that doing so might jeopardize chances of getting another district job. “I hid in the stairwell and cried.’’
Oh, KIDS LIKE there TEACHERS, huh?
Yeah, this is REALLY GOING to HELP the KIDS!!!
At Blackstone Elementary, where less than half the teachers will be returning, so many teachers, parents, and students were crying that “everyone called [the school] a morgue,’’ a teacher said.
So how was YOUR DAY at SCHOOL, sweetie?
Superintendent Carol R. Johnson acknowledged in an interview that yesterday was an emotional day for many involved. She said the district had extra staff on hand to step into classrooms if teachers needed some time to themselves.
“I think it’s always difficult to go through change where people have worked for a while and they may want to stay,’’ Johnson said. “But what we are really trying to do is work at these schools carefully and assemble the right teams.’’
So HOW LONG are YOU HANGING ON to that "job," and six-figure salary, lady?
The seven schools are among 12 in Boston identified by the state last month as underperforming, under a new state law that broadens superintendents’ power to overhaul operations. These schools and 23 others statewide received the designation largely because of chronically low MCAS scores.
And EVERYONE HATES THOSE TESTS from SCHOOL SYSTEMS on down to STUDENTS!
The ONLY ONES that like 'em are the STATE FASCISTAS and FEDERALIS!
Johnson and principals at the seven schools decided a major shakeup in staff presented the best opportunity for a rebound.
So when are you resigning?
Nearly all staff members had been asked to reapply for their jobs Monday. About three-quarters of them did....
Principals delivered the rejections in a corporate fashion, teachers said.
Because THAT is OUR CULTURE now!!!
The meetings lasted a few minutes, with the principal thanking teachers for reapplying, then telling them that their services would no longer be needed.
I have been there (although not as a teacher).
You are thinking fuck you.
A representative from the district’s human resources department was on hand to tell them their employment options at other city schools, while a security guard often was nearby.
Be sure you sig heil on the way out, and don't let the door hit you in the ass.
Now JUST WAIT for a COUPLE of SCHOOL SHOOTINGS by TEACHERS!!
Read it here first. YOU CAN SEE IT COMING, can't you?
One teacher on maternity leave said she learned of her rejection in a voice mail message at home, which she listened to as she changed her newborn’s diaper.
The school system with a heart.
The decision came as a surprise, she said, because she had always received evaluations that had her meeting or exceeding expectations in all areas and MCAS scores through the years showed her students improving. “I never thought I would be the one,’’ the teacher said....
That's what everyone thinks, and why the public can not come together on anything. Ain't gonna happen to me -- and then it does.
Other teachers said rejections appeared to be arbitrary.
Yup! If the ADMINISTRATION DOESN'T LIKE YOU -- gone!
Johnson said the district based decisions on past job evaluations and MCAS scores.....
The tests everyone hates.
However, a report commissioned by the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education this year found that about half of the district’s teachers have not been evaluated in at least two years.
What, she LYIN' AGIN!!?
Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union, said that as hard as yesterday was, he is concerned about what the climate at these schools will be for the remainder of the school year. “This is not a cavalier thing,’’ Stutman said. “We are talking about breaking up communities.’’
Get ready for some gunfire, Boston!
--more--"
Incoming!
Actually, the teachers thought they would fight back this way instead.... and got hammered for it by the agenda-pushing paper and its reporters.
The state’s second-largest teachers union organization, which represents teachers in Boston and other big cities, has decided to boycott Massachusetts’ application for the Obama administration’s innovative educational fund, possibly jeopardizing $250 million in grants.
You didn't learn your lesson! Now take another whack of the ruler!
The move, approved Saturday by the board of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, stunned state education leaders, key legislators, and charitable organizations that work on education issues....
What else did they expect? This is the only tool they have to fight back.
And WHY are STATE OFFICIALS and OTHER AUTHORITIES' heads loaded with impenetrable s***?
In addition to Boston, the federation represents teachers in some of the most distressed districts, such as Lawrence, Lynn, and Lowell.
Related: Letting Class Out in Lawrence
With how much loot lost?
“It’s shortsighted,’’ said Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education....
Related: No Apple For This Teacher
Not at "$206,000 dollars a year!!!!!"
The teachers federation could not be reached for comment yesterday to explain its position.
The boycott comes as the state is reworking its Race to the Top application after being rejected in the first round of funding two weeks ago. The application deadline for the second round is in June, and the state is hoping to shore up areas of weakness. Massachusetts appears to have lost a few points in the first round for not securing support from all school districts, according to written comments from federal reviewers. About two-thirds of the state’s school districts, including the federation’s Boston and Lowell affiliates, supported the application, which outlined dramatic changes the districts would pursue....
Who gives a s*** anymore? Not me.
Paul Reville, the state’s education secretary, said the federation’s boycott “constitutes a real threat to our capacity to be successful with this proposal.’’
Now you are a THREAT for exercising your god-given rights!
Next thing you know, the state will be calling you TERRORISTS -- especially after a few administrators are wasted.
SO PLEASE DO NOT DO THAT! Do what I SUGGESTED and TEACH about the STATE and ITS LIES!!
There is SO MUCH that you can CHOOSE ANY TOPIC YOU WANT!
Go with the GLOBAL WARMING FRAUD if you want!
REHASH IRAQ for the kids!
The failure to get money in the first round caused disappointment on Beacon Hill, and emotions swirled again yesterday over the federation’s boycott.
“I’m extremely disappointed that the AFT would jeopardize Massachusetts chances at tens of millions of dollars that could have a meaningful impact on the children of this Commonwealth,’’ said Representative Martha M. Walz, a Boston Democrat and cochairwoman of the Joint Education Committee.
Paul Grogan, president of the Boston Foundation, called the federation’s move a “crude tactic’’ at the expense of children’s education and said that union leadership is out of touch.
That's why the kids, parents, and teachers are holding a cry-fest.
I suggest that it is this f***ing elite puke who is out of touch.
Oh, the "charity" is backed by stolen money," 'eh, Grogs?
“They don’t seem to realize the political ground is shifting and people want these changes,’’ Grogan said.
No, it is YOU and YOUR CLASS that DO NOT UNDERSTAND!
The WORLD is AWAKENING and THINGS are being REVEALED!
But keep your head in that s*** pile, I don't care!
Beyond the boycott, the Boston Teachers Union has in recent days started to galvanize its members to oppose some measures Superintendent Carol R. Johnson has proposed under the new state law to turn around underperforming schools. Johnson has called for such things as forcing teachers to work additional hours without pay and nullifying seniority rules in layoffs....
I believe I highlighted those above. So DOES a BANK FORGO INTEREST?
Does a WAR-PROFITEERING CORPORATION take the HIT for cost overruns, etc?
Made my point, didn't I?
Then they have to "defend" themselves!
"Mass. teachers group defends Race to the Top boycott" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | April 15, 2010
Massachusetts’ second-largest teachers union organization said yesterday it decided to boycott a federal school overhaul initiative because teachers are fed up with being blamed for underperforming schools.
Can't say as I blame them!
“There is an attitude that teachers are responsible for what’s happening in those schools and unions are responsible for students not achieving at the levels we like in those schools,’’ said Thomas Gosnell, president of the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, which represents teachers in Boston and other cities, including Lawrence, Lowell, and Lynn....
Well, who do you want to blame? The state or parents?
Oh, no, can't do that!
The vote reversed the organization’s original position, taken in January, to support the application. The federal government rejected that application two weeks ago and Massachusetts is revising it for a second round of funding later this year.
Mitchell Chester, the state’s commissioner of elementary and secondary education, defended the state’s treatment of teachers. He said the application stressed collaboration with teachers and required signatures from both school district leaders and their union presidents to participate in the program....
And he did it for all of $206,000 reasons, readers.
The federation’s stance, Gosnell said, reflects a deteriorating climate toward teachers.
And it will be even worse when some school super is gunned down, right?
PLEASE DO NOT TAKE the PATH of VIOLENCE, teachers!
TEACH NONVIOLENCE to the kids for the NEXT TWO MONTHS INSTEAD!!!!!!!!!
Of particular concern, he said, was a decision this winter by the school board in Central Falls, R.I., to fire all teachers at Central Falls High School — one of four actions the Obama administration is pushing districts to use in school overhauls.
Yeah, he turned into a REAL ASSHOLE, didn't he, teach?
But Gosnell said the firings have created a poisonous atmosphere, causing Massachusetts teachers to worry about their own job security.
You expected some other reaction?
Boston school administrators last month notified staff at six underperforming schools they will have to reapply for their jobs, and yesterday told a seventh school, the John F. Kennedy in Jamaica Plain, that its staff might have to as well. Staff not rehired, however, will probably be hired in other district schools....
And BUMPING SOMEONE ELSE!!
So WHY the AGENDA-PUSHING DISTORTION, Globe?
--more--"
And before you get over to that other school district, the schools ARE STILL HIRING even as they are FIRING!
"Teach for America is put to test; One of state’s first recruits succeeding in Dorchester" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | April 6, 2010
50 Teach for America recruits scattered across Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea, Revere, and a few charter schools....
Under the program, recent college graduates agree to teach in some of the nation’s most challenging classrooms for two years. Teach for America hopes the experience will persuade them to make a far longer commitment....
Meanwhile, they are firing people who WANT TO BE THERE so some COLLEGE GRAD can BURNISH their RESUME for the CORPORATE WORLD when the economy bounces back (if it ever does).
And AFTER seeing the TREATMENT of CAREER TEACHERS, why in the world would they want to stay?
Why do YOU THINK I NEVER GOT INTO TEACHING when I was encouraged?
That is ALL a USELESS HISTORY DEGREE is FOR!
School districts here have tapped Teach for America as part of an experiment to attract more talented young people to the teaching profession amid a shortage of teachers in math, science, special education, and other specialty areas.
Ain't that the DEVIL'S PISS, Boston teachers?
They are paid a first-year teacher’s salary by their respective school districts, which in Boston is about $46,000.
Oh my, and they are entering at the same pay grade!
Their impending arrival stirred controversy in Boston last year, when the teachers union challenged the wisdom of adopting the program as school officials were predicting layoffs of hundreds of teachers. But those concerns died down after only a few teachers lost jobs last year.
But THIS is THIS YEAR, agenda-pusher!
The Patrick administration is eager to see Teach for America spread to other districts, especially in such places as Holyoke and Springfield, which have difficulty attracting and retaining young teachers, said Paul Reville, the state’s education secretary.
Well, a knife in the back is a pretty tough job requirement!
And welcome to the two drug den slums of the state out this way, readers.
The expansion into Massachusetts comes as Teach for America is experiencing a boom among soon-to-be college graduates and career-changers. This year, the program received a record 46,000 applications nationwide, 32 percent more than last year, for roughly 4,500 slots. Applicants are motivated by a desire to perform community service, as well as the reality of a national unemployment rate that has been hovering around 10 percent....
Translation: There ARE NO JOBS for them!!!
As much as Ladi Ogunro has been enjoying teaching, he said he sometimes wonders about job security for teachers.
Thanks for helping to undercut that!
Last month, the superintendent announced that Boston may have to close a significant number of schools over the next two years.
But the corporations and the banks will continue to get the tax loot, etc, etc, etc.
Farewell, Boston!
But Ogunro said he does not dwell on those things....
Yeah, because HE'S STILL WORKIN'!!!!!!!
--more--"
Hope you make the next cut.
Maybe they all deserve to be fired:
Not if you are government; you just keep doing the same failed strategies over and over again while making problems worse.
Students can go to summer school or return to classes in the fall if they have not completed all their high school courses or other local graduation requirements. But students blocked from receiving a diploma solely because of the MCAS often enter a state of limbo, stuck somewhere between high school and college....
We used to call it being held back.
In many cases, schools are dealing with an academically challenging population. Of the remaining 4,119 12th-graders who have not passed, 60 percent receive special education, and more than 12 percent are learning to speak English....
But if you point out, you know....
--more--"And what is the GOVERNMENT SOLUTION?
The old tried and (not) true MOVE the GOALPOSTS!!!
"Mass. considers new goal for MCAS; Officials push timeline to 2020 for higher scores" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff | April 28, 2010
In an effort to boost the achievement of all students, Massachusetts education officials are considering a new benchmark that they hope will be more attainable than a nearly decade-old federal requirement that has fallen out of favor with President Obama....
I guess or smug s***ters are lower standards, 'eh?
And God help us for falling out of favor with the "good" president after that "bad" one.
The new benchmark and longer timeline, state education officials say, reflect the enormous task the state confronts in raising achievement levels for all students, as well as specific categories of students, based on such factors as race and ethnicity, income levels, and learning disabilities. Officials say more work needs to be done to overhaul underperforming schools and expand programs for English-language learners, two areas where test achievement lags.
Maybe this whole testing bit and letting in the illegals was not such a great idea.
They also want to beef up, among other things, literacy programs for all elementary school students....
Not that I am opposed to literacy, but WhereTF is the MONEY COMING FROM as they WHACK AWAY at TEACHERS?
It’s not clear whether the proposed goal would carry any sanctions against schools that fail to meet it. The state board is scheduled to discuss the report at its next meeting....
Gee, the UNITED STATES of AmeriKa SURE LOVE SANCTIONS as long as they are not directed at Israel, huh?
Yeah, it is a GREAT COUNTRY if you LOVE PUNISHMENT by the STATE!
--more--"
And they are liars, too!
