Lots going on.
Below is the report from Lydia Howrilka, who was discontinued in her first year by an abusive principal who picked on the wrong person. Lydia has picked up the Portelos mantra and is going like gangbusters. Imagine an army of Lydias and Francescos marching on Tweed? Well-----
Lydia is part of the group formed by Francesco Portelos, currently an ATR after winning his case. An illegal ATR since he was not sent back to his school where he was chapter leaders. The UFT has allowed the DOE to abrogate the rights of the teachers to choose their chapter leader at the school, thus leaving the staff there defenseless.
They have helped organize a rally at Tweed this Tuesday June 10 strarting 4-4:30 to call for a clearing out by Farina of DOE legal which scours facebook looking for teachers to persecute so they can justify the massive expense of their jobs, created by Joel Klein to go after teachers.
They're also calling for more cleanout of BloomKlein slime that pushed through every bad policy with gusto like it was religion. At least Farina lost heart with some of the crap they were doing and left/was pushed out for lack of enthusiasm. Give her that -- look, I'm not saying every single person should be fired -- but to keep some of the visible people who people had to deal with is a slap in the face -- like Kathleen Grimm - the grim reaper of closing schools. If she is useful, keep her behind a curtain instead of us having to watch her grin and shaker her head YES like a fool every time Farina trashes her predecessors' policies.
-- people should come to support them, especially if you are an ATR or undergoing harassment. But every teacher should support this.
Meanwhile, here is the video and report on last week's PEP meeting from Lydia, along with videos of her speech and also see Sean Ahern's (standing behind Lydia) speech here:Video: Sean Ahern at the PEP on Diversity.
May 29th PEP Night at Murray Bergtraum HS
“Teacher Voice in Critical Times”
Guest Blogger: Lydia A. Howrilka
“The educator has the duty of not being neutral.”
― Paulo Freire, We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change
While waiting for my turn to speak at May’s PEP meeting at Murray Bergtraum HS, I couldn’t help but sense a shift in public tone from Chancellor Farina’s first PEP which in retrospect seemed like an outright love-fest. The mood was anxious and the public speakers were phenomenal: Sean and Michelle of MORE, DTOE, and the Teacher Diversity Committee; inspiring parents from the Mott Hall School and P.S. 184 Shuang Wen; veteran teachers from LaGuardia High School; and activists from Change the Stakes. I encourage everyone to go to the live-stream and listen to the public comment portion of PEP (especially Ms. Roman’s speech, just after mine. Evelyn Roman, PTA president at Mott Hall, is an honorary member of DTOE—we applaud her for her charisma, courage, and fire).
I spoke for three minutes regarding my unique situation. I’ll let the video speak for itself. However one thing I have noticed, both as a viewer and participant in PEP meetings, is the sheer lack of young teachers who choose to participate and speak up. Young teachers are all too frequently denied tenure and/or are discontinued for a myriad of reasons, not simply because they are “ineffective” in the eyes of their administrator.
Readers of Ed Notes, DTOE.org, NYC Educator, and other blogs realize and understand that public education and teachers are under attack nationally. In the Northeast, teachers are being gagged from speaking about state exams, mocked by union delegates, discontinued when they advocate for student services, bullied publically by politicians, and (in the case of myself and my colleague only, so far, thankfully) arrested if they accuse their principals of being unethical or corrupt. The goal of all these actions is to stifle teacher voice, to spook teachers so they are too scared to speak up and advocate for themselves, their colleagues, and (most importantly of all) the students. If teaching is a political act in which we help our students strive to overcome poverty and oppression, how can teachers accomplish this if they are too frightened to speak up, if not in the newspaper or a rally, then in PEP?
We do have protection by the First Amendment… surely you didn’t forget 11th grade civics?
We do have protection by the First Amendment… surely you didn’t forget 11th grade civics?
It is for these very reasons that teachers need to be vocal. Teachers, especially the “young ones” like me, need to show their faces at PEP and speak up. I’m not deluded to think that my speech will change the policy of the Office of General Counsel; but one thing I do know is that because I did speak up, twice, more educators are inspired to fight back and advocate for themselves and their students. The countless emails I’ve received and the conversations I’ve had with educators is proof of this. If you cannot find the courage to speak up to advocate for yourself and your students, who will? Time is too precious to be neutral and not stand up. Since PEP is live-streamed and the videos are posted publically, imagine whom your speech can inspire.
Don’t tread on educators!
*drops microphone*
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