Monday, October 22, 2012

Buffalo Teachers Won't Back Down : Keep Your Money Dr. Brown



DrPamelaBrown's initial foray into contract negotiations has yielded a big fat goose egg. Even after an arbitrator ruled that the district had broken the law in their bid to impose the 50% Stupid turnaround plan, it appears DrBrown is going to borrow a page from James Williams in sticking to a wrongheaded plan until the last dog is hung. Buffalo teachers are not interested in participating in an unproven, untested theoretical "solution" to a 'failing school." The idea that transferring 50% of the faculty of said school to another building -- Darren Brown head of HR has even admitted some teachers would be transferred from one PLA school to another PLA school -- is insulting at first glance and gets stupider the longer you look at it. Of course in Privatizer theory, and let's be clear that's where this brainfart emanated from, it's always the teachers who are to blame. It can't be the absent parents or the hapless grandma raising kids she's afraid of, or the 17 year old gangbanger who hasn't been to school 10 times since 7th grade. No in privatizer thought the fault lies Solely with the teacher and the teachers must be shuffled like a deck of Old Maid cards then dispersed to the 4 winds. Then when 50% of the new faculty arrives with no established relationships among the kids, learning will automatically happen and what's more everyone will be reading on grade level by Thanksgiving and Harvard will run out of spaces for B-lo kids.

Forgive the digression. Well in another move that would make the privatizer's proud DrPamelaBrown attempted to buy off the 100 plus teachers being shuffled for no damned reason by offering them $2500 apiece. Seriously, Dr. Brown? Buffalo teachers realize we are in a fight for our livelihood as well as our profession as we know it. While it's laudable you did something rather than nothing, offering us money to swallow this rotten platter of crow is a terrible idea. It makes us wonder if you take us very seriously or if you think we're lame enough to take the payoff and go along quietly. The idea that a little piece of change would make us forget principles and ignore the reality that this entire mess has been caused by the crew in Albany and their nationwide fungus of privatizers is doubly egregious when you consider none of us went into education to get rich. Strangely though , the very people trying to foist this assholic scheme on us are the exact people who took an interest in education when it became evident that one could in fact get rich privatizing public schools and getting rid of professional teachers and their unions. We are not them. We have different values, that's why they don't get us, respect us or know how to deal with us.  Keep your money Dr. and obey the law. 

6 comments:

  1. I thought Dr.PamelaBrown was going to be OK when she agreed that the Principals and teachers should have more autonomy in their school.. Even Dr. Judy Elliott thought it was a good idea.
    Then...Dr.P.Brown said she would send "teams" to butt in at the schools and in the classrooms Doesn't this substitute their opinions for the Principal's and teacher's opinions who are there every day working with kids?

    What in hell does "AUTONOMY" mean?

    Funny...when you do not have any input into what is required by City Hall, Albany and D.C., you still get the blame when their stupid ideas don't work! Why is that?
    Crazy?... Devious?... Bought?... or ( fill in the blank_______________ ?)

    Dr.Brown is digging a hole with her "teams", bringing in "her people", sucking up to Dr. Elliott and DR. King. When they need a scapegoat, I'm afraid the "new Gal on the block" will be "ladder-less"in her excavation.
    Perhaps she should stop shoveling.
    Just a thought...

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  2. I am encouraging my teacher friends to turn over the classroom to the experts and introduce them as master teachers who've come to share some of their great ideas and experiences with the students. After introducing them, or better yet, asking them to do it themselves we need to take as seat in the corner where we can jot down some of their best practices and drink in the mastery that took them out of the classroom and flung them into prominence at City Hall. Let that happen a dozen or so times and we'll see how eager these "teams" are to bump elbows with the little people.

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  3. Actually, instead of jotting down some comments, use the new method of evaluation: an iPad loaded with a corporate produced checklist of quality teaching attributes.

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  4. I, too, have often thought of grabbing a clipboard and following the admins as they check off my "required" materials. If they ask I would politely say....Just doing a checklist on you to see if you as an admin are doing your job.....

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  5. I didn't know that public schools had a BRIBE fund in their budgets(I saw the supt's letter it said "$2,500 lump sum")... I wonder if the state comptroller would be interested in this use of public education money??

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  6. He's busy trying to get the $100,000 back for the coverup of the sexploits of some the state legislators.

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