According to new UFT data, the attrition rate of teachers has risen significantly under this administration.
“City teachers are quitting in record numbers, according to data their union released Sunday. Teacher pay has increased by more than 30% since 2001, giving 83,000 city teachers salaries closer to their suburban peers. Still, the union says the number of certified teachers who left classrooms jumped 81% in the same period - to 4,606 in 2006, up from 2,544 in 2001. This does not include teachers eligible for retirement.
"People are saying, 'I give up,'" teachers union President Randi Weingarten said. She couldn't say whether these teachers quit the profession or moved to another district. But she blamed the exodus on large class sizes, poor teacher support and an administration at the Education Department that "doesn't listen to good teachers."
This is from a Daily News article -- here are NY Post and NY Times reports.
Chris Cerf of DOE denies the accuracy of UFT data and calls this a “stunt”. Cerf himself is perhaps not the most credible of sources as he has been pushing the company line that the stagnant NAEP scores released last week showed great progress for NYC schools.
See also NY Post today, detailing how new small schools formed with Gates funds are graduating students with a disproportional number of lower grade diplomas – diplomas that will be ruled out next year.
Yes, class size is important but school discipline is far more crucial.
ReplyDeleteI taught for 33 credited years before retiring in 2001.
I taught at the former IS 320 in District 17 and IS 228 in District 21 during my illustrious career.
The greatest difficulty facing teachers is the total lack of discipline. In far too many of our schools, discipline has collapsed. Teachers and supervisors are unable to properly discipline chronically disruptive pupils.
A longer school day and school year are not the answers. We need an immediate return to the 600 schools. We need work-study programs for the chronically disruptive older students. Younger children who don't behave should not be in school for long periods of time. By the end of the school day, they are literally bouncing off the walls.
We have schools out there where teachers have been told to shut up. Too many assaults against teachers continues to occur. Principals don't report these outrages for fear of being labeled as weak.
We have schools out there where children run wild through the halls, scream, yell, fight, throw objects, urinate and defecate along stairwells and radiators, as well as throwing stink bombs in the halls and under the doors.
What is this nonsense that a teacher can't tell a recalcitrant to write 25 times that I must behave myself or stand in the corner? Both punishments are regarded as corporal punishment and are banned.
Give teachers and supervisors the power to suspend unruly recalcitrants.
Teachers can't teach without discipline.
Please note that the 2005 contractual agreement between the UFT and the city was a disgrace. Teachers gave up the right to grieve letters, the return of cafeteria and hallway duty was allowed, longer day and longer year went into effect and seniority transfers ended. The latter has now allowed abuse to return as principals can pick people based upon returning political favors.
Please note that Joel Klein taught for 6 months before fleeing the classroom. He has now become the self-proclaimed expert. We don't need 24 year old principals running a school. Obviously, these people never taught. It takes between 5-10 years to develop as a classroom teachers. How principals attain that position without classroom experience is ridiculous.
Upon leaving the position of chancellor, Mr. Klein should commit to teaching in one of our many SURR schools.