Unions Slam Department of Education For Moving Too Quickly on Reforms
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The unions representing city teachers and principals lashed out against the Department of Education yesterday, claiming they are plowing ahead too quickly with reforms agreed to in the new teacher contract.
The city circulated a 14-page memo to school principals outlining a timeframe for when and how the schools should implement the changes. The first deadline is December 14.
“Giving principals and assistant principals only two weeks to implement another union’s contract is consistent with the DOE’s dumping on school leaders’ behavior,” the president of the principals union, Jill Levy, said.
One of the most significant changes to the school day is the addition of a new study period for struggling students. In order to sort out bus routes, principals are required to submit the names of students who will attend the 37.5-minute classes to the office of pupil transportation by the middle of next month. The classes will not start until February 1.
The teachers had a different bone to pick with the city.
The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, said the city should go ahead with tutoring sessions but should hold off on implementing work reforms known as “Circular 6,” which would put teachers back on hallway, cafeteria, and schoolyard patrol.
Ms. Weingarten said that making both the tutoring change and the Circular 6 changes by February 1 “is asking too much of the schools.” She accused the city of trying to get “a second bite of the apple” that they couldn’t get at the bargaining table.
The city and the UFT hashed out a new contract last month, ending a two-and-a-half-year stalemate. The contract, officially approved by the Panel for Education Policy on Monday, calls for a 15% raise over 52 months in exchange for a number of reforms.
The city’s principals are working without a contract and are sitting at the bargaining table with representatives from the Bloomberg administration.
A spokesman for the Department of Education, Jerry Russo, said the changes and dates are clearly outlined in the new contract.
“It looks like it’s Randi who wants a second bite at the apple if she’s saying that we should delay [Circular 6] after agreeing to implementing it this school year,” Mr. Russo said. “Our students should not have to wait any longer for the benefit of small group instruction, tutoring, hallway duty, or other changes, and we look forward to the complete cooperation of the UFT and all of its members in building on the great work we all have already done,” he said.
As for the tutoring sessions, the department said that poor-performing students have already been identified using scores on state tests and that principals need only report the names to work out busing schedules. “We’ve been warning that doing two things at once would cause disruption,” Ms. Weingarten said. “Only time will tell who is right.”