Break a Leg, ATRs!
You know, I think I'm starting to like Randi. She's the kind of multifaceted person you have to admire. In a recent fusillade of emails, she's shown us her many sides. There was the serious, pragmatic Randi who wanted to go beyond her job duties (whatever they may be) and support the stimulus bill. There was the patriotic Randi, who urged us to get out and vote for whoever happened to be the Democratic front runner at the time. Today, Ms. Weingarten showed us her humorous side with a missive that can only be described as rip snortingly funny, assuming, of course, that neither you nor anyone you know is affected by it.
I quote verbatim from the email: The UFT's Network to Work conference for ATRs on Jan. 11 was such a hit that we have decided to hold another one. Network to Work II will be on Feb. 28 so that ATRs who missed the first one still have a chance to take advantage of this opportunity.
The Subject line of the email read: Encore UFT Job Conference for ATRs Feb. 28.
Get it? It's a theatrical metaphor! How clever! I can see the reviews in the papers now!
It's a Hit! Let's have an Encore!--R. Weingarten, NY Teacher
It will run forever!--J. Klein, The Village Vermin
I laughed til I cried! And I'm still crying!--an ATR, The Daily Jag
Even better than the seniority debacle!--The Chief
I can't wait for the next installment. What will it be? ATRs on Ice? The Rubber Room Revue? Whatever it is, you can bet it will be a laugh riot. As long as you're not in it.
Posted by Mr. Talk at 3:42 PM
Labels: ATR, email, Joel Klein, Randi Weingarten
Pissedoffteacher said...
This is my favorite post of the year.
Is Randy for real with this stupidity of workshop? How about a face lift for the teachers to appear on the video, so the principals would think they are from the program Teach for America I think that Randy and her people should put themselves on the video and inform the rest of the teachers -- WHAT DO THEY DO FOR THE MEMBERS. I bet that none of them would like to show their faces.
Randi never issued a protest statement to the press after Klein called ATRs "undesirable".
I think an ATR should ask her why!!
Klein Halts Plan to Make Schools Take Unassigned Teachers
By DAVID M.HERSZENHORN
On the eve of the new academic year, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein abruptly scrapped plans to impose a hiring freeze that would have forced principals to fill any last vacancies with unassigned teachers already in the system.
Mr. Klein said yesterday that it was more important for principals to choose their own staff than it was for the city to place potentially undesirable veteran teachers who must stay on the payroll even if no school offers them a position.
The decision to lift the freeze, just hours before it was to begin, was aimed at bolstering Mr. Klein's position in a labor dispute over 44 unassigned assistant principals. To circumvent provisions in their contract that would force the assistant principals on principals who do not want them, Mr. Klein said he would created unneeded jobs for them, wasting as much as $5.2 million.
His stance on teachers once again allowed Mr. Klein to portray himself as a champion of autonomy and authority for principals.
City education officials said they believed most of the unassigned teachers would find jobs in the system. But Mr. Klein's move raised at least a possibility that the city could be forced to pay the salaries of as many as 1,500 unassigned teachers, at a cost of nearly $100 million.
Officials said that 1,001 veteran teachers had yet to find positions and that about 500 newly hired teachers were also awaiting assignments.
Mr. Klein said unassigned teachers would be used as substitutes. "We will assign them to permanent substitute basis," he said. "That may have some cost implications, but it's costlier, I believe, to force individuals on a school."
The number of teaching vacancies fluctuates, but has ranged from about 400 to 800 recently, ahead of the opening of school on Tuesday, said Elizabeth Arons, the system's chief executive for human resources. Last year, the system carried 200 to 250 teachers without regular assignments on its payroll.
The city and the principals' union — which represents both principals and assistant principals — are locked in a bitter contract dispute, and Mr. Klein has said that the seniority provisions are a major impediment. The provisions allow veteran assistant principals without assignments to bump junior colleagues who are not permanently appointed, potentially upending efforts by principals to build cohesive teams.
The union, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, said management failures by the chancellor's office, rather than the contract, were the reason the 44 assistant principals did not have jobs.
Last year, the teachers' union agreed to relinquish similar bumping rights in exchange for a transfer system that allows teachers to apply for openings citywide. Mr. Klein said yesterday that those changes were among the most important of his tenure because principals for the first time "have the authority to hire people who are aligned with their vision, their mission."
Jill S. Levy, the president of the supervisors' union, said she was willing to negotiate changes but has accused Mr. Klein of blaming the contract for his own failures. The union said 37 of the 44 vacancies were caused by the administration's closing or downsizing schools.
Schoolgal
Mr. Talk said...
Let's face it--under the current fabricated budget crisis, ATRs will be targeted as the first to go. I wouldn't be surprised if they are made sacrificial lambs if and when layoffs come. Seniority be damned--Bloomy and Randi will find a way to get them out, most likely by continued vilification and the usual sort of 'compromise' that sends shivers down my spine.
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