Teachers got a contract that is a load of bullshit!

Don't Believe The Spin On The NYC Teachers Contract
by Crimhead
Tue Oct 4th, 2005 at 07:10:25 PDT

United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg agreed to a tentative teachers contract agreement yesterday. The contract agreement is horrific for NYC teachers.

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Weingarten has conceded 20 years of hard-won labor rights in one shot and has essentially sold her union membership down the river for her own political gain. Teachers have lost seniority rights and grievance rights, will teach an extra 37.5 minute class of "small group instruction" four times a week, will return to pottyroom and lunchroom duty (though if a conflict with a student arises, the teacher is always considered guilty before proven innocent), have agreed to merit pay, and will return to work before Labor Day for two extra days of Professional Development.

The contract offers teachers a "raise" of 14.25% over 52 months. When you crunch the numbers and take into account all of the extra work and concessions, the contract amounts to a 15% to 20% pay cut. New York City public school teachers will now be the most overworked teachers in the NYC metro area, and yet they will also remain the most underpaid. NYC school teachers continue to work in and NYC students continue to learn in terrible physical conditions (my school building is a hundred degrees in spring and fall when it is nice outside, 110 degrees in winter when the boiler heats the building up to Inferno-like temperatures) and NYC teachers continue to teach classes of 34 kids, the highest teacher/student ratio in the metro area.
Mayor Bloomberg and Randi Weingarten both agreed that this teachers contract will provide much needed reform to the NYC school system and benefit students greatly. They are both liars. If Randi Weingarten and Mayor Bloomberg wanted to greatly benefit NYC students, they would provide lower class sizes across all grades, healthier and cleaner learning environments, allow teachers to focus on their students and not function as a bandaid for the Mayor's budget problems, and pay a wage competitive with surrounding areas so that NYC teachers can afford to work AND live in New York City.


New York City teachers are not adverse to reform and change in the system. We are adverse to the Walmartization of education, which is what Mayor Bloomberg's education reforms have brought to NYC schools and what this new contract agreement will expedite.

New York City school teachers have less than two months to defeat this abomination of a contract agreement. Randi Weingarten is now in bed with Mayor Bloomberg and has agreed to sit out the NYC mayoral race. New York City school teachers must work to defeat Mayor Bloomberg this November no matter what the "official" stance of our union, we must work to defeat this contract come the middle of November and then we must work to defeat Randi Weingarten in the next UFT election.
VOTE NO on the UFT contract. VOTE NO on Mayor Bloomberg. VOTE NO on Randi Weingarten.

Let Randi Weingarten know you despise the contract agreement she has made with Mayor Bloomberg. Let her know how you feel about her selling NYC teachers down the river. Call her at (212) 777-7500 or email her at uftpres@uft.org.


I am beyond disgusted. We waited nearly three years for something that totally stinks. This deal is worse than the one we got three years ago. we are going backwards! there is no way in hell i will vote for this, no NYC teacher should.