On September 27, 2013 the education news was a buzz here in NYC over the lawsuit filed by Mike Bloomberg and the NYC DOE vs the United Federation of Teachers. The City was basically stating that the UFT was not holding up it’s end of the bargain to select enough… Continue reading
This morning I attempted to have another United Federation of Teachers meeting with the members that weathered the traffic conditions and made it in early at my school. Remember that for the entire time I have been UFT Chapter Leader, I have been in exile and therefore not allowed to… Continue reading
A sitting duck. That’s what I felt like when this story first started to unfold. Actually looking back now I think it was a David versus Goliath situation except I had no sling and no stones. In fact, I think I was blindfolded so I really was a super underdog.… Continue reading
What is an Absent Teacher Reserveor ATR and why should you care Wikipedia defines it as:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absent_Teacher_Reserve —– Absent Teacher Reserverefers to teachers that have lost their daily teaching positions, but are reassigned tosubstitutefor absent teachers or to perform clerical work. Most of the job losses have been due to the… Continue reading
Some of you told me you enjoyed my previous satirical posts, New NYC Firefighter Evaluations, and Teacher Observations & Traffic Stops- If They Want to Get You, Theyll Get You. So, I thought I’d throw a quick one out today since it’s National Weatherperson’s Day. Enjoy. It’s 5am..are we getting… Continue reading
Her name is Jennifer and she is in her early twenties. She wanted to be a teacher since she was a little girl. Her mother was a teacher. Her father was a teacher. Both are retired now from the NYC Board of Education. Her aunt Susan and older brother Kyle… Continue reading
I have been pretty open in my criticism of the UFT leadership on this blog and other forums. There is no doubt that I have voiced my opinion that the largest local in the United States has been pulling punches when it comes to defending the rights of educators. I… Continue reading
As I write this post I sit in an empty conference room on the 7th floor of of 49-51 Chambers Street, NY NY. I have my bagel and I’m waiting for the rest of the cast members to come in for the next act of this crazy story. Day… Continue reading
This is Part 7 of the SCI Files A little Spy vs Spy perhaps As I was preparing for my case, I came across an email Principal Linda Hill had sent to some higher ups where she compared me to mass murderer Adam Lanza. You might have read the post… Continue reading
I’m proud and happy to share a post sent to me by a great friend and teacher advocate…DOEnuts: remember you can join our DTOE mail support group by emailing a blank email to dtoe+subscribe@googlegroups.com Without further a due….. ————————————— A friend at a party during the Bloomberg years: Friend Hey… Continue reading
Previous Parts Part 1:The Special Commissioner of Investigations Hand is in the Pocket of the Chancellor Part 2:A Tale of Two Videos Part 3:Principal, Playboy and NY PostOh My! Part 4:$ubpoena with a Capital $ Part 5:Faulty Investigations When it came to investigating educators, the BloomKlein administration spared no expense.… Continue reading
Wait! Not so fast. Don’t go too far former Chancellor Dennis Walcott and former Superintendent Erminia Claudio. Some of you might have read that I filed a Federal lawsuit against Principal Linda Hill, the NYC Department of Education, The City of NY and former Chancellor Dennis Walcott. That complaint was… Continue reading
For almost two months I had a Google Alert for the words “de Blasio and chancellor“, so all articles with those words would be sent to my inbox immediately. Thank God I can finally remove that now. As you can imagine there were countless emails that came in regards to… Continue reading
We start a new series here at EducatorFightsBack.org and take a deeper look into the multimillion dollar investigation system and the people who work there. Ladies and Gentlemen…boys and girls…fellow taxpayers…I have seen ugly in the last two years. Unfortunately it’s embedded and rooted in a system that is responsible… Continue reading
I hope all those who celebrate it had a Merry Christmas and everyone has a happy new year. I was going to post this last Friday, but I finally started testifying in my termination hearing. Then came the holidays and that further delayed me.As promised, here are the finalists for… Continue reading
Over the last two years I’ve said a lot. I’ve said it over the phone and in person. I’ve said it in front of a camera and sometimes live. I’ve text it, blogged it, tweeted it, posted it and published it. I printed it, tied it to a carrier pigeon… Continue reading
There are roughly 136,000 employees that work within the NYC Department of Education. I believe it is safe to say that every single one has an email account like fportelos@schools.nyc.gov. In fact so do all the investigators working at the Special Commissioner of Investigation. There is one exception. One employee… Continue reading
According to the daily counter on my smartphone, today is 600 days since I last taught a class. I can bore you with the details of what has transpired in the last 600 days, but it will take long and you can just as easily peruse through www.educatorfightsback.org What I… Continue reading
It was December 13, 2011. A group of adults had pushed several student’s desks together and sat around them in room 129 of Berta Dreyfus Intermediate School 49. The group was comprised of teachers and parents and they were there for only two reasons – 1) To set the goals… Continue reading
Yesterday’s postRubber Room Administrator Michele Nacht Exiles Educators Far From Homesparked a response from railroaded teacher of the year David Pakter who tells us this happened to him. In fact it seems that this is a long running policy. I also heard from another teacher who tells me he too… Continue reading
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