74 - Committed to the End of the UFT, ATRs and Public Schools

       

  Yesterday I read Arthur’s blog http://nyceducator.com/2017/11/alice-in-reformyland.htmlconcerning the 74 and it’s vilification of a group of teachers, that comprise less than 1% of public school teachers. These teachers  are ATR’s - the most veteran group of teachers at the highest pay range. They are also some of the best teachers in the system. Most have been removed due to school closings in which the student population was manipulated to show a drastic downturn in academic and safety statistics.

     74 is a group that proposes to change education by privatizing it via funding from billionaires. They want
what they want, when they want it. They and their cohorts recently had some parents go out and picket against ATRs being permanently placed in public schools. Why would parents who don’t have children in public schools care? We are much more qualified and have much more experience than their children’s teachers. (I would venture to say than most of their principals.) So why the attention on ATRs? The thing is that the same billionaires that are making headway into education are the very same people that broke up the mom-and-pop stores to create big box stores, used unethical means against competitors and have signs out around Thanksgiving asking for contributions from the customers for their employees Thanksgiving Day dinners. They don’t want unions - they don’t want long-term workers - they don’t want workers rights. They want profits and lots of them. If they can manipulate poor uneducated parents, that are their core group of supporters, then so be it. I met one of those parents recently, a school safety officer, and she described at length how her daughter was not doing well in a charter school. She told me she was continuously harassed until she removed her daughter and put her back into a public school. She didn't want to pull her out, but after they called her daughter inferior, she became enraged and removed her.  If the charters can remove students as they see fit it will increase their statistics, while decreasing the public schools'. The charter schools often tout their success rate as being astoundingly better than public schools.  They publicize that it is a moral imperative to increase charter schools, take public school space and eventually rid NYC of public schools all together. The thing is there are those pesky unions always throwing a wrench in the works. They and the minimum wage are an outrage!

    First things first, they will continually vilify veteran teachers - ATRs, who if placed back in the classroom are a threat to their long-term goals. Their long-term goal, in part is to make sure that there are no long-term teachers. Teaching will be a temporary job, not a career. The second long-term goal is to break any and all teacher unions. These unions will enforce commonsense humane laws and the requisite pay increases for those that have furthered their education and expertise. This is counterproductive to the profit margin. 74 is actually a Chucky Cheese like franchise operation (no offense to Chucky Cheese - it’s a place where a kid can be a kid - charter schools are places where kids can be dollar signs) that hopes to open more of the same. They should not be given any respect whatsoever from the media and the public should understand what they are about -money and only money;  kids are the means to that money. 

    I challenge any Charter School teacher(s) to teach a lesson to the same group of kids (any kids) under the same conditions as any ATR(s), with objective observers, to determine the superior educators. Film it and put it on YouTube or make it a new reality show. '74 vs. 55'