Email 19

[[[ EMAIL 19 ]]]

Hello, good evening,

Before I start, one thing relating to Email 17. I forgot a word in the paragraph on Probationers, so here's what it should have read:

2. For probationers. A reminder never to sign papers extending your probation or termination without contacting the union first. Once you sign these documents, it's hard to reverse the decision — even if you have a good case.

[These notes are only sent out through email and are not to be posted on the web- thus they are not included]
Included at the bottom are Marian Swerdlow's DA notes for January. In the first 8 paragraphs (outlining the President's report), she points to a glaring example or two of UFT posturing and the seemingly endless slide towards full capitulation and irrelevance.

JW


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TEACHERS CHOICE

From the UFT website on this:
"If you’ve already begun making purchases, you may use receipts that date back to Aug. 1, 2009. The purchasing period ends on March 15, 2010. . . . You must submit it with original receipts to the principal by March 23, 2010."


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DISTRICT REPS AND UNION HIERARCHY

These are the opening lines of an article in Ednotes on how Unity maintains control of the union from the top down. If you ever thought you had any "voice" in the union itself, or even how your dues are being spent, you don't. This is an important explanation of the hierarchical structure.
UFT PRIMER: DISTRICT REPS

An ongoing series on how the UFT works
UFT election fever is rising as ballots go out on March 12. If you notice Unity Caucus (the UFT leadership) material in your mail boxes and no one in your school put it in, it is a pretty good bet your UFT District Rep did the deed - probably on union time.

By the way, there's a lot of commentary on that ridiculous Elizabeth Green article in the Sunday Magazine section this past weekend. One place to start is Ednotes:
Elizabeth Green's Front Page Sunday Mag Article on Teachers - I'll Hold My Congratulations
and this later one as well : The Insidious Nature of Green's Sunday Times Article. He gives links to other articles.

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SCHOOL CALENDAR 2010-11

Access a PDF at this link:
http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/6F97C8BB-EB9E-46CE-BF48-36B263FEB860/78417/20102011SchoolYearCalendar1.pdf

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LETTERS TO FAMILIES ON SCHOOL CLOSINGS

I've seen the letter that went out to families last week (certainly to the students at my school, and I think many other places as well). It said: "Your child's school has been designated as a Title I School In Need of Improvement (SINI) or School Under Registration Review (SURR) for the 2009-10 school year," and it alerts you to do one of two things:

Remain at the current school. OR Request a transfer to a school that has not been
identified as a SINI or SURR
The DoE website gives the following 5 categories on the spectrum from you're fine as is to "restructuring" (i.e., bye-bye):
Title I School in Need of Improvement - Year 1
Title I School in Need of Improvement - Year 2
Title I Corrective Action School - Year 1
Title I Corrective Action School - Year 2 (Planning for Restructuring)
Title I School in Restructuring
At this other DoE link, "Changes to our Schools" : http://schools.nyc.gov/community/planning/changes/default.htm , you are able to click on each borough to see what plans they have in store for everyone for 2010-11. Since they are renaming things all the time, turning well-established schools into clusters of schools, it is sometimes hard to trace what is going on if you're not very familiar with the area. I tried looking up Jamaica HS, which I know is slated to close, grade by grade. It does not say "Jamaica HS will be phased out." Instead, it is rather like a puzzle, for the uninitiated to try and figure out what's going on where. This is what it gives:

Upcoming Changes
Jamaica Campus New Schools:
High School for Community Leadership
Hillside Arts and Letters Academy

So good luck using those links. For District 11 at the present moment it says: "Proposals under consideration - There are no proposals under consideration at this time."

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UNCERTAIN FUTURE for RAPP

Some RAPP friends have asked me to help with building support to retain this program, so first: here's a description of the program.

Teen RAPP (Relationship Abuse Prevention Program) provides services to culturally and ethnically diverse students, families and communities at 62 middle and high school campuses, reaching over 50,000 students each ar through counseling, classroom workshops, groups and school-wide campaigns. Now in it's 10th year, Teen RAPP has become an essential program for students who have been exposed to violence. Without RAPP, current and future generations of NYC youth may not receive education and support they need to successfully break the cycles of domestic violence and dating abuse.

And here are ways you can help.
1. Identify your City Council Representative: http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml
2. Call them and say: "As a resident of your district, I strongly urge you to advocate that funding for the Teen Relationship Abuse Prevention Program be restored in the 2011 New York City Budget"
3. Call 311 and leave a message for Mayor Bloomberg saying the same thing.
4. Print out the attached letter, sign it, and send it to Commissioner Robert Doar at the Human Resources Administration. The address is listed in the letter.

Other suggestions:
Send this to the social networking presses! Anyone who lives in the 5 boroughs of New York City can advocate for this! Forward widely

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