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Oh please.  All of the principals are waiting until they get the go ahead to hire young, cheap, and untenured teachers.  I’d like to know, of the top ten lowest scoring schools you listed here recently, how many of them have staffs made up of mostly young, inexperienced teachers?  The most vulnerable and most challenged kids in the system are being taught by teachers with the least experience.

Celso, where you learn who to spell-lol. You spelt half you’re words wrong! You must be a teacher?!

Eventhoigh—- huh? that aint even a word! lmfao!

The principal from MS 223 claims that none of the 40 applicants met “exacting standards”. What he really means is that none of the applicants he interviewed from inside the DOE system were young, untenured, and easily bullied teachers. This kind of situation did not exist prior to the last contract when excessed teachers would be placed in schools according to license. But those days are long gone. Now we are facing the age of getting teachers on the cheap. Who would have thought that the teaching profession in NYC would become so watered down that veteran teachers are now seen as a problem rather than an asset in schools?

As a person who student taught at MS223, I can vouch for Gonzalez. He does have mostly young teachers at his middle school, but the all the teachers have incredible energy. The teachers’ energy keeps the energetic students motivated. It’s very hard to get that energy level out of a 20 year veteran (not impossible, but hard). There are a few teachers at the school that have 10+ years teaching.

On the financial side, Gonzalez is great at getting and managing funds. Because of the school’s location and success, his school is worthy of emulation. This makes it very possible for him to attract grants. Is it possible that he likes saving money by hiring younger teachers? Perhaps. But being in the school for several months really puts the idea that his main goal is cheap teachers to rest.

I also had the “wonderful” experience of being temporarily assigned by the ATR to a position at Unity Center for Urban Technologies. It happens to hold a place on the lowest 10% of schools in the state. It is ranked in with many of the large failing schools, but only has 170 students of its own. This was a school in which there are many veteran teachers. The worst teachers in the school were the ones that had been on staff for more than 2 years. Most of them had many years in teaching. But the new teachers that were hired around my time were not chosen for their excellence. They were never asked to do demo lessons. Not to say they were bad teachers, it just wasn’t something that could be proven in the hiring process.

So I think Gonzalez is being truthful when he says he was waiting for the right people. Plus, the people that show up in the ATR are of two kinds: old teachers from shut-down schools, and the newest teachers at schools that are downsized. There is no financial incentive to skip over the newer teachers, and there are issues of concern in hiring a 20 year veteran from a failing school to work at a high energy middle school serving poor students in one of the city’s poorest areas.

anasthema you’re right on again

teachers on the cheap in the Bronx-again no consistency in the lives of the kids

Once teachers have rolled up their sleeves…the process of education begins with commitment, dedication, care, and concern for a human soul. For the students who have found teachers who are there to support them on their educational journey, I say, press on! These students are the fortunate ones because it is their teacher who must dream for them before they can dream for themselves. It is the teacher who prepares children for a future which is not his/her own.

These exceptional teachers are fortunate because for every ounce of energy that they use to invest in the child, if they remain in that school, they will see the rewards of their investment in the child’s continued growth and development throughout the year.

These are the words of our students.

WHAT IS A TEACHER

Written by Bibana ~Ashanti ~~Jamal~~Ellenah
> ~~Diana ~~John Henry ~~and Mohammed

>
>
> A teacher is a symbol of learning: a leader of learners
and a miracle to education.
>
> A teacher is an educational god that leads us to goodness… while caring for our learning spirits.
>
> A teacher is the captain of our educational journey; Exact
> about everything.
>
> A teacher has the courage enough to teach; And knows
mostly all the answers.
>
> Teachers become our heroic inspiration.
>
> Teachers educate us with all of their knowledge. Smart and
> spirited, teachers can make our brains work like computers.
> Yet, our teachers can also hold our hands when we need it.
>
> Teachers reach to the sky to get what we need; And exit a
> subject just at the right time.
>
> A teacher possesses the academics and grace that we all
> love. Teachers care for us in every imaginable way.
>
> Our teacher is the hero in our learning lives.
>
> Education is the key to success. That is what our teachers
> have taught us.
>
> Teachers are a class struggle in liberty: Believing in
> kids; Reaching out to kids; And instilling pride within
all of us.
>
> Our education is important to our teachers. Therefore our
> teachers struggle hard to teach every student: Checking
> exams after school; explaining things so they are easier;
> And reading to us or teaching us how to read.
>
> Each one of our praises we give. And for everything our
> teachers do, we will thank them today, tomorrow and always.

Phyllis C. Murray, Chapter Leader
P.S. 75X
District 8 South Bronx

Where can you find available jobs as a not in the system teacher?