It comes down to this… salary matters. Experience not so much. Or at least the DOE’s budgeting system discourages the hiring of higher salaried and more experienced staff. Continue reading
In the education activist arena there are personality conflicts and, unfortunately, there is greed. Enter Elizabeth “Betsy Combier” Kapel stage left. Your misfortune yesterday, is her profit today. Continue reading
Allegations are made to the NYC Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI), or to the DOE’s internal Office of Special Investigations (OSI), but are their findings final and set in stone? We already know, through several cases, that SCI has actually reinvestigated and overturned OSI findings of misconduct. However, can someone… Continue reading
In sum and substance, an administrative law judge can hold a small trial to see if you were retaliated against for engaging in union activities. If so, then the employer probably violated Section § 209-a of the Taylor Law. Continue reading
There are many common themes and tools used when an educator is targeted. This post specifically looks to help derail and stop the subjective observation freight train. Continue reading
Dress them up or cover them in post-its What’s the bulletin board policy in your school Continue reading
In case you haven’t heard by now, my federal lawsuit did not end the way we wanted it to. By “we” I do not mean just me, my lawyers and family, but rather “we” as also a countless group of educators, across the country, who needed a win against corruption and harassment in our public schools. Continue reading
It has been a long time coming, but we finally go to trial this Monday August 15, 2016. Over four years. Over 900 phone calls between my attorney Bryan Glass, Esq. and I. Not to mention over 3,800 emails between us. 23 court appearances and court phone conferences. Almost 80,000 pages of… Continue reading
The DOE has a $27 billion dollar budget. There is a lot of room for that money to go missing here and there. I certainly wrote enough about how it’s done on this blog. Part of that $27 billion goes to UFT members in the form of salaries. They in turn pay union dues and some of it goes for political action (COPE). But then what Continue reading
The Executive Board by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of its members present shall have the power to expel, or to suspend for a term not exceeding one year, Continue reading
Recently UFT Solidarity, began getting requests from chapter leaders to come speak at their school. Now I, and almost all the other UFT Solidarity candidates are actively working. This makes visiting schools during school time almost impossible. But it is 2015, so we have made arrangements with staff to have virtual visits like the one below. Continue reading
Workplace Bullying Awareness week ends tomorrow, but workplace bullying continues and escalates in the New York City Department of Education. I know I don’t write on this blog as often as I used to. There are many reasons for that. Aside from trying to be a better husband and father,… Continue reading
Last Friday I finished my “temporary” assignment at Myra S. Barnes Intermediate School 24 in Staten Island, NY. I have been there since January 20, 2015as Iwas originally placed there to cover an Earth Science teacher’s maternity leave for a few weeks. The teacher wound up takingthe rest of the… Continue reading
Turning the tables. That’s what progressive caucusUFT Solidaritybegan to do when members contact us that theyareunder warrantless attack. For almost a decade NYC DOE administrators had unfettered power to destroy careers. Problem with a teacher who grieves contractual violations or want to get rid of a pesky chapter leader No… Continue reading
EXTRA! EXTRA! Final report on Principal Linda Hill misconduct finally out 1,224 days after allegation made. Continue reading
NYC Educators, There is a group of educators in NYC like no other.It advocates for UFT members better than the UFT itself.It educates members and arms them with tools as well as stands with those under attack from the school administration, to the DOE headquarters to Albany. The list of… Continue reading
“…remember the names of the lions at the main library: Patience and Fortitude. There is a terrible urge to lash out wildly in protest of injustice. Resist the urge. The battle must be won in the courts, but cases must be legally sound.” Continue reading
As NYS Governor Cuomo try to come up with a better way to support teachers, by evaluating them, the public asks….”Why only evaluate and support teachers What about everyone else” Continue reading
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