This letter appeared in today's Journal News:

Teachers deserve fair hearings
Re “Teacher hearings overhauled; Disciplinary process faster, cheaper after major state reforms,” Feb. 16 article:

No one would argue the costs associated with due-process rights are high. Certainly, we are all aware of how much taxpayers shell out each year to support our criminal justice system. Lawyers, like John Gross whom you quote, would be out of jobs (some deservedly so) were it not for taxpayer handouts funneled in their directions. Thousands of dollars of every school budget line the pockets of attorneys.

But does this mean we should eliminate trial courts so the wrongfully accused are sent to prison without the opportunity to defend themselves? Aren’t teachers who are charged with misconduct similarly entitled to defend themselves, and have an impartial third party determine their guilt or innocence? Yes, the costs may be high, and yes, there are certainly ways to streamline the system, but the focus always seems to be “here go those teachers again with their tenure sucking up taxpayer resources that they don’t deserve.”

Every time a tragedy like Newtown or Columbine happens, we hear about the heroism of teachers, and we momentarily pause to recognize their contributions to our children every day. But thanks to articles like this one, that memory is quickly erased and replaced with supposed concerns about flaws in our school systems.

Charles Yochim

We collected 3,228 pounds for the Food Bank for Westchester!

Thank you to all who contributed!

So, here's an email I got from Tim Horgan with an awesome idea.  Whose got another entry into this "contest?"

Hey David, 

I hope that you had a restful break! Stew Leonard's does a thing where you send in a pic of somewhere that you've taken their bag, and the winner gets a $25 gift certificate, or something like that.
Not that we should offer a monetary award, but it may be something nice to start in order to get to know people in the BTA and where they have been with their bags by posting the pics? Just an idea, but I offer up the first entry from 7 Mile Beach on Grand Cayman.

-Tim

Thanks, Marijke Briggs, for this one.

Click here.

This is an email I got from AFT:

As I hope you realize, Share My Lesson is a major push of the AFT, providing what teachers most ask of their union—help to be successful in their jobs.  President Randi Weingarten has charged our small team with getting over a million teachers signed up this year, and we need your help.

Our next big push is for a FREE virtual conference that we’re having on March 11-13th.  The three-night event, called Teaching & Learning: Ideas & Innovations, boasts twenty-four online webinars/workshops presented by our content partners.  Teachers attending the webinars get an email attendance verification that they can use if their district will accept this time for professional development credit. On our brand new technology platform, the webinars feature interactivity and practical ideas for the classroom.

If you’re willing to send out the word, we’ve created a complete set of promotional resources for you. Again, the promotion kit includes website graphics and an email blast.

We’re Reclaiming the Promise of public education by supporting teachers and giving them the resources and professional learning they need to be successful.  Please help us share the word.

Retiree Council 15/16 will be holding 2 pre-retirement seminars for any of your members contemplating retirement.  The sessions will be held on March 12 and March 26 at the Tarrytown Regional Office (520 White Plains Road, Tarrytown).  The sessions will include topics such as Social Security, Medicare, and the NYS Teacher Retirement System.  The cost for each session is $20 for an individual and $30 for a couple.  All money collected will be used for the RC15/16 Scholarship Fund.
 
Attached is a flyer with all of the information for the 2 sessions.  In the past, these programs have filled up quickly so I encourage you to complete the bottom of the flyer and return it with your payment as soon as possible.  Any questions should be sent to Alma Cormican at acormican@aol.com. 
 

Open letter to NY education officials
Author: By Richard Iannuzzi and Carol Burris
Source: NYSUT United



Since 2010, when states competed for billions of dollars in Race to the Top funding, New York law has called for 20 percent of a principal's and teacher's evaluation to be based on student growth on state standardized tests.

Although we may have different approaches regarding the value, use and purpose of standardized test scores as one of the multiple measures used in evaluation, we are in total agreement that the use of the new Common Core tests to evaluate principals and teachers in New York has failed.

The rapidly phased-in Common Core tests provide a flawed representation of how students are performing and an even worse measure of teacher and principal effectiveness.

Commissioner John King Jr. and the State Education Department are preoccupied by testing, test scores and the complicated algorithms that are supposed to make the data valuable in teacher and principal evaluations.

The evidence, however, is less than convincing.

Recently, a teacher in Washington, D.C., was unfairly fired when a mistake in the formula used for evaluation lowered her score. This same reliance on using tests to rank and label educators is wreaking havoc across the country.

Complex mathematical formulas, purporting to measure teacher and principal effectiveness, are unreliable, producing an average swing of 35 points in math and 53 points in ELA in New York City from 2008 to 2010.

The use of a similar mathematical model in Florida resulted in teachers receiving scores for students they never taught, and has also unfairly labeled educators "ineffective" in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Houston and elsewhere.

In addition, there is an increasing volume of academic research that suggests these formula-based growth and value-added measures (VAM) are flawed in identifying teacher influence on student achievement.

The already difficult task of putting together a valid, reliable and fair evaluation system in New York has been compounded by the Education Department's rush to give our students Common Core exams, likening the roll-out to "jumping into the deep end" of a pool.

For New York students, without swim lessons or life preservers, that meant sitting for excruciatingly long and often age- and developmentally inappropriate tests last spring.

The department ignored warnings and insisted on administering the exams even though it had not lived up to its Race to the Top promise to provide appropriate professional development or resources for principals or teachers. An "opt out" movement burgeoned among concerned parents and many children became so anxious and stressed they became physically ill.

When scores were finally mailed to parents in September, many learned the state no longer considered their children proficient in English and math. Both kids and teachers received undeserved labels, telling them they did not make the grade. The outcry has only been getting louder since.

Despite growing outrage from parents, principals and teachers, the commissioner still refuses to admit that the implementation of the Regents Reforms has failed. He refers, instead, to the genuine concerns of parents and educators as a "distraction."

Although we may differ on the details, we agree that teacher and principal evaluation should reflect both professional practice as well as evidence of student learning. We also agree that the rigidity and fixation on "scores," the current dictum of Commissioner King and NYSED, are certainly not going to produce the fair evaluations our profession needs to help us better serve New York's students.

The corrections that must be made all require time for development and implementation, as well as resources. Parents and educators alike must have their concerns addressed and be continuously engaged if New York state is to have a testing and evaluation system that is fair, credible and serves our communities and students well.

Richard C. Iannuzzi President, New York State United Teachers
Carol Burris, Ed.D. Principal, South Side High School, Rockville Centre