I stand with all teachers when we say “VOTE DOWN” the Contract. It is a contract that does not give us retroactive pay. The retroactive pay that we were supposed to get from 2009-10 is coming to us in 2015. Next year. You got it. Then, the raises are going to be stretched out from 2015-2020.
For those of us who are on the 25/55 Plan, we want to retire on time. I for one, do not want to work an additional three years, when I could retire sooner. It makes no sense at all, to me, or anyone else who has worked hard so that they could retire on time, why we have to work until 2020 to be whole.
It is outrageous, how our UFT “Leadership” can just sign off on a contract before sending it to all of the members. I have not seen it. I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen some really distressful and frightening language, that for me, as an ATR scares the bejesus out of me. We know that Field Supervisors and principals have it our for us. We know that! It’s nothing that is surprising anymore. But, for Mulgrew to send out an email stating that we have all of the rights we had before, and then some, is to LIE! When a UFT President lies, those whose eyes can only see raises, which by the way are not coming retroactively, will end up agreeing wholeheartedly with the contract.
We are being goaded into believing that we are getting something. All I see are:
1. retroactive raises coming sometime in 2015-16
2. very small raises coming in years 2016-2020
3. ATRs getting “U” ratings to get rid of us. If you have not already heard, in an agreement between the DOE and UFT, the UFT has agreed to allow principals to hammer 7% of teachers with “U” and “Ineffective” ratings. Yes, principals can willy-nilly, give out bogus poor ratings and get away with it. So, for ATRs, 2 “U”s and trust me, you are done!
4. losses to our healthcare benefits–the DOE is not interested in cutting waste, or else, they would have already done so, years ago, right? Now all of a sudden, they want to bury cuts in our healthcare by calling it “getting rid of wasteful spending”. Yeah right!
5. Schemes called “Merit pay”? What is that? Every teacher I know works hard and if that is true, and it is, we should all get merit pay. Hard work = Merit pay, plain and simple. But, what the DOE plans on doing is pegging us against each other, where some teachers will believe they work harder than others. I must tell you, that as a rotating ATR, for almost 3 years, I have been to over 70 schools. I have seen the most dedicated and lovely teachers that work all hours everyday for their students. Their lives are so difficult because of these phony, ridiculous standards: Common Core and Danielson. Really? We can do much, much better. Why have we surrendered ourselves to this Wall Street speak. It bastardizes our profession. We are created people who love to excite our students. We should not continue to fall prey to our students becoming statistics on a spreadsheet, and
6. $1000 signing bonuses, seriously? Are we only worth $1000? Come on, get real here. When an athlete, an attorney, a doctor, or any other professional gets a bonus, it is a percentage, of what they earn already. $1000 can hardly be a bonus for teachers who have been on the front lines without a contract since 2009.
If the UFT and the DOE really want to pay us what we are worth, including the 8% raises they owe us, start with putting that money into our paychecks now, they we’ll decide if we want to use this “signing bonus” as a springboard for trust and determine whether or not to vote the contract UP or DOWN. I will forego the $1000 for my retroactive pay now. Anything else is simply insulting!
Cuba Gooding Junior said it best “Show me the Money!”
SUMMER SERIES 2 :Life Under the New ContractJuly 30, 2014 at 4:00 pm – 7:00 pmThe Dark Horse 17 Murray St. NYC Near City Hall, Chambers St, WT
C Food, $5 Drafts & Well Drinks
SUMMER SERIES 3: Lessons from the Chicago Teachers’ UnionAugust 13, 2014 at 4:00 pm – 7:00 pmThe Dark Horse 17 Murray St. NYC Near City Hall, Chambers St, WT
C Featuring Guest Speakers from CORE-CTU
SUMMER SERIES 4 :UFT 101: Why Does Our Teachers' Union Matter?August 20, 2014 at 4:00 pm – 7:00 pmThe Dark Horse 17 Murray St. NYC Near City Hall, Chambers St, WT
C
I stand with all teachers when we say “VOTE DOWN” the Contract. It is a contract that does not give us retroactive pay. The retroactive pay that we were supposed to get from 2009-10 is coming to us in 2015. Next year. You got it. Then, the raises are going to be stretched out from 2015-2020.
For those of us who are on the 25/55 Plan, we want to retire on time. I for one, do not want to work an additional three years, when I could retire sooner. It makes no sense at all, to me, or anyone else who has worked hard so that they could retire on time, why we have to work until 2020 to be whole.
It is outrageous, how our UFT “Leadership” can just sign off on a contract before sending it to all of the members. I have not seen it. I’ve heard about it. I’ve seen some really distressful and frightening language, that for me, as an ATR scares the bejesus out of me. We know that Field Supervisors and principals have it our for us. We know that! It’s nothing that is surprising anymore. But, for Mulgrew to send out an email stating that we have all of the rights we had before, and then some, is to LIE! When a UFT President lies, those whose eyes can only see raises, which by the way are not coming retroactively, will end up agreeing wholeheartedly with the contract.
We are being goaded into believing that we are getting something. All I see are:
1. retroactive raises coming sometime in 2015-16
2. very small raises coming in years 2016-2020
3. ATRs getting “U” ratings to get rid of us. If you have not already heard, in an agreement between the DOE and UFT, the UFT has agreed to allow principals to hammer 7% of teachers with “U” and “Ineffective” ratings. Yes, principals can willy-nilly, give out bogus poor ratings and get away with it. So, for ATRs, 2 “U”s and trust me, you are done!
4. losses to our healthcare benefits–the DOE is not interested in cutting waste, or else, they would have already done so, years ago, right? Now all of a sudden, they want to bury cuts in our healthcare by calling it “getting rid of wasteful spending”. Yeah right!
5. Schemes called “Merit pay”? What is that? Every teacher I know works hard and if that is true, and it is, we should all get merit pay. Hard work = Merit pay, plain and simple. But, what the DOE plans on doing is pegging us against each other, where some teachers will believe they work harder than others. I must tell you, that as a rotating ATR, for almost 3 years, I have been to over 70 schools. I have seen the most dedicated and lovely teachers that work all hours everyday for their students. Their lives are so difficult because of these phony, ridiculous standards: Common Core and Danielson. Really? We can do much, much better. Why have we surrendered ourselves to this Wall Street speak. It bastardizes our profession. We are created people who love to excite our students. We should not continue to fall prey to our students becoming statistics on a spreadsheet, and
6. $1000 signing bonuses, seriously? Are we only worth $1000? Come on, get real here. When an athlete, an attorney, a doctor, or any other professional gets a bonus, it is a percentage, of what they earn already. $1000 can hardly be a bonus for teachers who have been on the front lines without a contract since 2009.
If the UFT and the DOE really want to pay us what we are worth, including the 8% raises they owe us, start with putting that money into our paychecks now, they we’ll decide if we want to use this “signing bonus” as a springboard for trust and determine whether or not to vote the contract UP or DOWN. I will forego the $1000 for my retroactive pay now. Anything else is simply insulting!
Cuba Gooding Junior said it best “Show me the Money!”
Mulgrew has to go…..Arundel has to go…..Sill has to go……..Barr has to go…….GET RID OF UNITY!
idon’t know much about MORE, but they are getting my vote next time.