heading text
emphasized textThe NYC United Federations of Teachers is getting ready to go on strike. The last strike was in 1975 after massive layoffs due to budget cuts and it lasted for 5 days.
Right now, we’ve been given no plan or direction from our chancellor or mayor for going into a hybrid learning model. They’ve basically left it up to the principals, which is not their job and who need direction for what to do and how to keep everyone safe. A school’s number one priority is keeping everyone within it’s walls and property safe. The union has been asking since April or May for the following things:
- Supples (PPE, cleaning supplies, extra furniture as needed, etc)
- Procedures (how to enter/exit the building, what to do if a child/staff member is sick, what a basic day should look like, etc.)
- Testing (of school staff and students)
The mayor didn’t even meet with UFT leadership until July (not sure what they were doing from March-July) and everything they’ve stated is happening (deep cleaning the schools, updating HVAC systems, etc) isn’t actually happening. All the plans we’ve been given are vague and create more questions than answers. They’ve basically ignored my job altogether and proposed “special” (art, PE, music, etc) will be teaching during student’s lunch time…so I basically am the ultimate babysitter (as De Blasio has called teachers in the past). I also don’t like the idea of children having a working lunch as a parent. My kindergartener is a very social being and needs social interaction to survive. All humans need time to relax and fucking eat their lunch without being bothered!!! And then I might be teaching children every day who are unmasked? Anyway…no real plans, leadership is passing the buck so when something bad happens they can blame it on someone else, and school should be opening next week (even though there is no official calendar).
So the union is proposing we go on strike until demands are met for a safe working environment for all staff and students. We’re not talking about going to the store for an hour tops. We’re talking about hundreds to thousands of humans in a building for 6-8 hours each day. I teach in the largest school district in the country. Some of our schools have thousands of students in them, even at 50% capacity. Yes, about 1/3 of parents have decided to have their child learn remotely for the time being, but our data is skewed because not everyone has taken the survey and the questions were a bit misleading (I know…I took the survey as a parent…they basically asked parents to make a decision on whether to send their kids to school or not without any information about how school is going to function right now).
What does going on strike mean? It means I refuse to work, in-person or remotely. For every day that I’m on strike, I loose 2 days pay (so if we’re out 5 days, I loose 10 days pay). I cannot be fired for going on strike. There is strength in numbers, but there is no guarantee that the strike will last up to 5 days. It could be longer. I don’t know if there will be repercussions from my administration after the strike is over. I wish I could speak to her and let her know it’s nothing personal, it’s to fight for what’s best for everyone, including her. I will keep my tenure position. I don’t know about my health benefits (I think that depends on how long the strike lasts).
I wish leadership would do it’s job. What have they been doing this entire time?! It seems like everyone has been putting off talking about what to do, then fighting about what to do, and now we’re running out of time without any solutions. I wish we could just go to remote learning until we have an actual plan in place.
I want to go back to school. I want to go back to the way things were. I want to be getting up at 4:30am and having early rehearsals with my students and singing and making music and watching them learn and grow. I want my son to have friends and learn how to share and enjoy the fun games I have in my kindergarten curriculum. I want to have lunch with my team and making fun of John for nothing. I want my life back. I know I can’t have that. I at least want a plan from my school leaders for what to plan for and what our schedule looks like right now. I don’t think they have that. sigh
This is going to be one hell of a school year.
I’m scared and nervous to go on strike, but I know I should in order to create the safest working and learning environment for everyone involved. I don’t want to be asked about this later on in life and say I didn’t stand up for what was right. I know the right thing to do is to strike with my union. But I’m scared.
Send good vibes the mayor and chancellor wake up, listen, and create a plan this week so we don’t have to strike.
~mana~
EDIT
Got an email from our chancellor today. Apparently the mayor, chancellor, and union president all met and came to an agreement. They’ve pushed back the start date of school and have apparently met all the safety guidelines (or they’re still investigating some buildings and if any building is not up to code they will not reopen…but we don’t know which buildings those are yet?)
So here’s the proposed start of school schedule so far:
Tuesday 9/8- all teachers and staff are in person in their buildings for training and set up (I’m usually there this week doing that and sometimes allowed in the week before to start room setups).
Wednesday 9/16- all students will start remote learning (for 3 days) for orientation (to what exactly I’m not sure)
Monday 9/21- blended learning in person schedule begins for all teachers and students.
Starting Thursday, October 1st, there will be random school wide COVID testing on 10-20% of all people in the school building. (more information about that to come).
My principal has scheduled a town hall staff meeting for tomorrow at 11:30…right after everyone is required to do a 3 hour webinar on the new online learning platform we’ll be using this year (grrr…that’s a lot of consistent screen time and I now have to cancel my physical therapy appointment). Hopefully she will have more specific answers for us and an actual weekly schedule for us to look at.
I just want answers. I just want a schedule. I just want to have time to plan. I just want my life back.
Also…striking is still an option if buildings are not up to code.
I’m basically planning for in person learning, remote learning, and going on strike all at the same time. Send chai lattes please.
~mana~
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