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NYCDOE Consultant Michael Agona Gets Caught in the Honey Jar

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With all the talk lately of lawsuits to do away with tenure and mean tweets, it appears that no one wishes to get to the bottom of why the schools are so messed up; those that are in charge and that make the decisions. Shouldn't this mess be cleaned up?

As many have read in my own story of why tenure is needed, I touched on a paid NYCDOE consultant (Michael Agona) who also doubles as a "supposed" fair and impartial hearing officer when teachers appeal their U ratings;
Michael Agona is a retired principal that is currently a NYCDOE consultant. Michael Agona is paid quite a bit of money from the DOE to assist principals on how to U-rate teachers  In 2011 the DOE hired him for 3 years @$40k per to assist principals wishing to be rid of teachers (Item #9). This contract with the DOE should be expiring within the next few weeks. 

In fact, he was one of the "fair and impartial" hearing officers when Lydia Howrilka appealed her U-rating. What gives?? This is a form of double dipping or corruption, no?

The Crack Team came upon more, oh how shall we say, "curiosities" regarding Michael Agona through Open NYC.(Click to enlarge)
But that is not what has The Crack Team's bloomers all in a tizzy, this does; (Click to enlarge);
Michael Agona seems to have done quite well for himself while taking advantage of the largesse of the City of New York. We here at SBSB sarcastically say, "Kudos, Michael!"

When we add up all the money in the above chart, (And not including that charge for $1,575,000) Michael Agona made off with $245,000. Add in the biggie, and that comes to a total of $1,820,000. That is a lot of consulting. It's good to be a consultant, eh, Michael?

Now, The Crack Team does not know, or can't tell, if these were payments were for Michael Agona's consulting or his side job, rejecting teachers appeals (Or is it the other way around). The Crack Team tends to think that it is for consulting and various other methods Michael Agona has kept his hand in the honey jar since he retired as principal from PS 32 in Brooklyn. But the stench emanating from Michael Agona is pungent and repulsive, that just writing about him and discussing him The Crack Team is planning on taking a collective Silkwood shower when moments after this is posted.

But there is a problem, a big problem? This is a man that conspired to remove me from my direct deposit and was supposed to be fair and impartial hearing officer for Lydia Howrilka. How many other teachers, particularly at PS 154 was he consulted on to ruin their careers? And, how many teachers went before him expecting to get a fair hearing and never, ever had a chance with him?

So many things stink about this, this, CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Yeah, that is what it is, heck it might be worse, but sticking with CONFLICT OF INTEREST for now.

Is Michael Agona's consulting in any way connected to his results as a "fair and impartial" hearing officer?

Has Michael Agona ever presided over a hearing in which a principal he consulted for was the main witness and if so, was this information shared with the Union representative and the teacher?

Did Michael Agona ever use his stature to assist other hearing officers to also consult for the DOE?

Did Agona ever ask leading questions of a principal he consulted for in a hearing?

Did Agona ever deny a request to a teacher and/or their representative because he was afraid it might put him in a bad light?

Did Agona ever put pressure on other hearing officers to rule with him?

To what was Michael Agona's main allegiance to? The money or the truth?

And the teachers are the reason for all the issues in education?

Does Michael Agona Have Any Ethics?

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Michael Agona is like an onion. As one peels back the layers on his nefarious dealings, there becomes more to see. We decided to touch on a link from last week's blog post about Agona.

Very quickly. In 2006, teacher, Yolanda Strong, was accused of corporal punishment at her Queens school (PS 52) and received a U rating for the year.

Ms Strong requested and received a U rating review before the Chancellor's Committee on February 8, 2008. The chairperson of the committee at the time was none other than Michael Agona. Agona recommended that Ms Strong;
 engaged in corporal punishment and recommended to terminate any and all license(s)/certificate(s) held by petitioner
This was six years ago. Long story short, Ms Strong appealed this, went to Article 78 and it appears that the case finally ran out of steam last year.

But this blog post is not about Ms Strong, it is about Michael Agona and the cloud of pollution that follows him.

The Crack Team has not be able to ascertain or acquire any definitive proof that Agona was paid for anything other than his position he possessed in 2007. However, there is a concern.

Was his consulting business, so lavishly paid by the city, able to not only begin, but to succeed due to Agona's decisions he made as chairperson of the Chancellor's Committe?

Let's assume for a minute that in 2007 Agona did not have a consulting business, that he was just the chairperson of that committee. Is it possible that as a reward for Agonato continue to deny appeals he was able to seamlessly segueway into the world of education consulting with the DOE? Are the positions he fills now part of a quid pro quo with the DOE?

Why would he go into consulting? Of course, there is much more money in consulting than being a chairperson of a committee. 

But why couldn't Agona use his knowledge and powers for good and not for evil? It seems that Agona is only happy, and paid, if he is consulting and/or conspiring, to ruin the careers of teachers across the city.

Not only does it appear that Agona has an ethical conflict in his deals with the NYCDOE but he seems to harbor quite a bit of animus to the teachers of NYC.

We here at SBSB call for an investigation post haste on Agona's dealing with the city. Too many careers were ruined, put at risk, or can be at risk because of a man, a man it seems with a vendetta.

That man is Michael Agona.



Michael Agona's Conflicted Appeal Interest

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The Crack Team was able to obtain the transcript of Lydia Howrilka's U-rating appeal as well as the decision brought forth by the Chancellor's Committee chaired by Michael Agona.

Some takeaways.

No one from the prosecuting side seemed organized. Not only did they seem not prepared, but extremely disorganized as well.

We learned a F-status former principal, Dr Rosa Maria Leon, was brought in to work with Lydia but according to Lydia never did. Lydia's principal, Arisleyda Ureña contradicted Lydia.

For those who are wondering who Dr Leon is;
...was born and raised in Spanish Harlem. Having been an English language learner student herself, Dr. Leon’s mission was to understand the process of second language acquisition so that students are able to become English proficient, and at the same time, progress academically. Dr. Leon completed her Bachelor’s Degree at Hunter College followed by three Master’s Degrees: Bilingual Education (First graduating class in NYC), Reading Specialist, and Administration and Supervision. She then continued her education by graduating from Fordham University with a Doctoral Degree. Her Doctoral dissertation is based on a longitudinal study following a bilingual class from Kindergarten to the 4th grade to determine factors that contribute to the successful acquisition of English proficiency and academic success. This dissertation may be obtained from the Fordham Library.
One can be hard pressed to see how Dr Leon has a background in high school social studies, but right now that is neither here no there.

But, as a consultant, or F-status as well as a former principal, one can wonder if she has had or currently has a professional relationship or personally knows Michael Agona. If this is true, should Agona have let Lydia and the UFT know?

As one reads the transcript at no time did Agona share that he is also a paid consultant (assisting principals in U-rating teachers) for the DOE.

Is it possible that Agona in his capacity as a consultant assisted Lydia's principal, Arisleyda Ureña, to U-rate her? If true, should he not have recused himself from this hearing?  In fact how many hearing has Agona presided over in which he assisted a principal in a U-rating?

Are Agona's decisions, actions, verdicts, in these hearings tied to whether or not he will continue on as consultant?

What is Agona's rate of pay for these hearings? Is he paid by the hearing? If so, it would seem the more teachers that are U-rated the more hearings there would be in effect giving Agona more hearings  to preside over.

Did Agona, going into the hearing, have his mind made up? Reading the transcript (Which The Crack Team took the time to highlight certain points) there seems to be plenty of doubt on the administration's side.

Did Agona influence, or worse, pressure, the other two committee members into returning a recommendation that Lydia be discontinued?

We here at SBSB know that Agona's double life was brought up at Lydia's Article 78 hearing and from what we heard, the judge upon hearing about Agona was somewhat flaklempt when she heard.

Did Lydia Howrilka get a fair hearing, an impartial hearing?

Are Michael Agona's actions Kosher?


The UFT Fool Follows Al Sharpton

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I have been away for a week. Went on a little baseball road trip with the family.

So a lot has happened in the last week. The UFT not only supported Rev. Al's march in Staten Island, but was paying for buses to transport marchers to Staten Island.

Oh, and the UFT soon hid it's support on Facebook by deleting the posts in support of the march after several hundred pissed off comments.

Firstly, what happened in Staten Island was wrong. Do I think that people of color are treated differently by than others my some NYPD officers? Yes. Does this effect the way the community interacts with NYPD? Yes. Should the UFT have supported this march? No way.

The UFT showed it's hypocrisy in supporting the march for the act of one police officer. We as teachers are broad brushed day in and day out by the acts of a very few. We are railed against, beaten down and left on an island without any support. By making this march about the UFT's involvement we have put the 99% of officers of the NYPD who do the right thing in the shoes we don't like being forced to wear by outsiders.

At a time when we as teachers and a union need all the support and backing we can get to show a lack of support to our union brethren is not right. Yes, it's been said that the NYCPBA has done squat for us, well someone has to step up and do squat first, why not the UFT?

And, how can we support anything the Rev. Al is leading? Let's not forget his Wall Street Journal article he co-wrote with Joel Klein. Or his traveling roadshow with Newt Gingrich and Arne Duncan. Or what he truly feels about charters. And lest we forget some of the silly things Rev. Al has said in the past. Or the tax evasion, being an FBI informant, or Steven Pagones.

The UFT could have showed it's support for the community in other ways than endorsing this march.

We as teachers could have been asked or encouraged to go out into that Staten Island community and found common cause with the citizens. We as teachers have been subject to heavy handed tactics by Tweed and worse, SCI. We, both teachers and the Staten Island community have been affected by the last 20 years in this city of a top down, heavy handed, oligarchy, near police state by our elected officials and those at 1 Police Plaza.

Why has education been so able to go down the proverbial toilet? Because the citizenry is isolated from being heard (Hence, network offices 2 hours away by subway) which has enabled education to be controlled by a few of those 1 percenters who do not care one iota about those of color. The UFT missed it's chance. This is what the UFT should be marching about.

I don't begrudge Rev. Al having this march. It is his right and plenty do believe in him. I don't.

Nor do I condone those that live in their mommy's basements, drink Pabst, read about Che Guevara and Eugene Debs or bathe in months ending in Y. These people are immature and ignorant.

What bothers me and The Crack Team is Randi marching right next to Rev. Al and wearing a AFT shirt and Mulgrews involvement and thinking he knows what is best for the rank and file.

If Randi and Mikey want to march with Rev. Al, fine. Don't do it on my dime, The Crack Team's dime, or any other members dime.

It's time they start listening to the membership.





Jeff Storobinsky Exposes The Truth in Brooklyn

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The Crack Team is pleased to welcome once again guest blogger and retired teacher Jeff Storobinsky to share a few words.

For those who don't recall these pages shared some of Jeff's story back in June.

Jeff is in the process of suing his tormentors with The Crack Team's favorite attorney, Bryan Glass, representing him.

In today's post, Jeff exposes and names his tormentor. Read on!



A NYC Teacher’s quest to restore his name and reputation.  I’m Jeff Storobinsky and I proudly approved this message.

This is NARRATIVE # 5, which continues my story to seek justice and restore my name.

I will just summarize.

I am 55 years old, and taught for 30 years without a blemish of any sort, ever. A new principal (age 32) comes in last summer and decides to target me. I leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions.

I shall name this Principal and the school later on in this narrative.

For many years, I handled key quasi-administrative operations. I was trusted to get the job done and did. This was in addition to handling the technology needs of the building. These years had me teaching with a reduced assignment (less teaching periods).

There are those who might like to minimize my effectiveness and importance in my profession but that’s because they have always been part of the problem, not the solution. For 30 straight years, with 4 Principals with differing leadership styles, and having had an absolutely flawless record and file which speaks for itself is how I characterize my career. One cannot fake success and accomplishments over 30 years.

This past year, many of these key responsibilities were done, poorly or ineffectively at best, sparking debate within the school.

The school had on average 755 students. How many assistant principals do you need for such a school register? 1?, 2? , 3? Well, we had 4.  A stellar 67 year old Guidance Counselor who was there his entire career was excessed in September, 2013 to make room for 2 new APs to be brought in shortly thereafter. After floating through at least 10 schools as an ATR (SUB) for the 2013-14 school year, he retired; not when he planned though. UFT help: NONE.

During my brief stay there during the 2013-14 school year, I politely asked the principal to reduce my assignment by a few periods (as was normally the case and was the case with others during this school year) so that I may better serve the school.

He then went around saying "Mr. Storobinsky does not want to teach”

What happens when I left? The principal then put TWO teachers into the technology room.

During this past school year there have been investigations into questionable school practices too.

Mind you, the principal is INTERIM ACTING.

Let’s now go back to the beginning.

I met this principal last September and within weeks I was on his hit list. My life was made a living hell, the worst emotional pain and suffering one can ever endure. I was under a doctor’s care during this time suffering from extreme stress and depression.

In February, 2014, I involuntarily retired, having been seemingly blackmailed into it.

For much more precise and pinpoint evidence, search through my previous postings and uploads made to FB in late June and July.

If you cannot find them request them and I will post them into the comments.

I also wish to mention that the UFT chapter leader instead of encouraging me to stay and fight and telling me that the UFT will stand behind you flat out told me “RETIRE”. I understand this as he is retiring in 1 or 2 years and like many chapter leaders, look out for themselves first and wish to stay on the principal’s good side. The UFT district rep proved equally worthless too as a very close ally of his who works at my former school lied and said that the district rep did not have a cellphone number.

Of course it will be argued that nobody forced me out that I left on my own (Legal term: Constructively discharged ).

However I equate it with the following: God forbid, if you are on the 61st floor of a burning building and your choices are succumb to the smoke and fire or jump which would you do? I jumped.

After I left, my fiancé, Marisol Perez, an exemplary 17 year bilingual paraprofessional was subjected to humiliation and threatened by the principal   “don’t be caught up in the web”, an obvious reference to her stating to her colleagues that I was forced out.

She herself fears retaliation as do other teachers from this very same school that have come forward with their stories that were published on Money Over Age.

I have taught technology since 2000 and had outstanding classroom management and instructional skills.

I was observed twice in one week in early late in 2013.

The first class, was a newly created hybrid class of troublesome students created and programmed into certain teacher’s schedules so that observing them would be easy to prove teacher ineffectiveness.

When I was observed with this class I had no experience with this class or established routines in place yet. The second observation that Friday was with a better class and I was engaged in a meaningful lesson and had lesson plan in hand with this class too.

It is not until June that I find out that I was deemed ineffective ( I never received a hard copy report of the  observations ) and received a rating of UNSATISFACTORY which prevents me from working for the NYCDOE in any capacity post retirement.

Now the reason for the “U”:  In June of this year, the principal was putting forth his time schedule for this September. I, being in touch with many of my colleagues on a regular basis advised them via text what I felt was in their best interests, and to not feel pressured to vote a certain way since the principal had his own people trying to push his agenda.

The Principal calls me in June and warns me “not to communicate with his teachers” This phone call was RECORDED by my smartphone Call recording app.

After this phone call, it was relayed to me that I got the UNSATISFACTORY for sharing with friends my opinions; and that if I stopped, the UNSATISFACTORY could go away.

Earlier on, AFTER my retirement, there was phone conversation between the principal and me. In this conversation he says to me those ineffective observations would be discarded. Two things I have to emphasize; this was AFTER I had retired and that the phone call was RECORDED by my smartphone’s telephone call recording app as well.

I hereby go public with the announcement that I have filed a formal complaint and that the principal as well as his superiors and his superior’s superiors have or will be receiving a copy of my complaint shortly.  My complaint is based on multiple counts of discrimination; 3 to be exact.

Let me briefly outline the 3 areas of discrimination I have experienced and am claiming in my complaint.

First : Age. I was encouraged from our first conversations to  retire with the promise of unlimited “f status” or per session” He claimed and bragged How he would call up all the principals in our district convincing them of my worth.  This was just bait to encourage me to leave.

He then goes on to say that I am teaching technology to sixth graders out of license with my Common Branch license. When I said I can teach Math which I taught from 1984-2000 he replied with  “really ? Nah, you need to relax and chill at this part of your life” This part of my life? Really? Was I just told I’m too old to be doing this?

Stunned and bewildered, I left his office. Later that night I emailed him and told him politely I will stay on the job to 2016 or beyond, I do not think he liked that.

Lastly on this, referencing his past he referred to a former colleague as “an old Jewish guy”. Much more exists on this particular complaint of age discrimination.

Second: Physical disability. I am 75% deaf. My concerns to him of how I was discriminated against fell on deaf ears.

Third: Race. Of approximately 60-70 staff members servicing and teaching students, I was the only Caucasian permanent staff member left.

One of these acts of discrimination is horrendous, two are staggering, what are three equal to?

I obviously cannot touch upon everything or what my complete evidence is. Recorded phone conversations and voice recordings made from a smartphone are only part of it.

The NYCDOE Corporation Counsel will be sending the Principal himself a copy of this complaint too, as the complaint has to be responded to.

My former Principal’s name is Dr. Shannon Burton and he is the Principal of MS61 in District 17, Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

He is formerly from Yonkers’ Roosevelt High School and most recently from Prospect Height HS in Brooklyn where he served in both schools as an assistant principal.

Money Over Age and its over 8,000 followers and nearly 250,000 readers have been extremely supportive of not only me but other teachers who have fallen victim to Principals without principles.

I fear some retaliation on my reputation but am quite prepared to handle that. More importantly I am concerned about retaliation on my fiancé Ms. Perez, who returns there September 2nd, but she is up to the challenge and is quite strong.

Nothing will ever erase the depression I was in and the toll it took on me physically, mentally and emotionally.

If the NYCDOE has allowed this Interim Acting Principal to become appointed then a great injustice to civil rights would have occurred.

An example needs to be set for what proper conduct for a principal should be.

Principals in their early 30s are too young, being closer in age to their students then the median age of their faculty.

Of importance too is to diversify schools with faculty staffing and students.

Please keep Marisol and I in your thoughts and prayers as we go forward.

Whatever the outcome is, we can handle it.

God bless, Jeff

MORE Needs to Change

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First let me share, for those who don't know, that I am a Jew. It seems important in this conversation, but from what I have been reading it is. I am not a Lower Eastside Jew, wait I am. My paternal grandfather and his family first lived on Ave C and 9th St when they first came over in 1903. Eventually they moved to the Bronx and my grandfather was quite active in Tammany Hall. Oh, and during prohibition ran booze down from Canada and after that sold Slivovitz out of the trunk of his Buick that my great grandfather had produced using my 6 year old father and his 8 year old cousin to smash the plums in the bathtub in his apartment on Walton Ave in the Bronx.


I also have some tried and blue Communists in my family. A cousin, the actor Howard Da Silva (He played Louis B Mayer in "Mommie Dearest" and Ben Franklin in "1776") was a Communist and blacklisted by Joe McCarthy.

When my dad's uncle went off to Berkeley in the mid 1920's, it was Howard Da Silva who turned him onto Communism. My great uncle was soon ushered out of the State Department just before WW II, moved to China after the war, fell out of favor with Mao in 1949, and moved to Rome where he lived until his death in 1977.

My great-aunt (My grandfathers sister) said to me about 20 years ago (This coming from a 91 year old short Jewish woman) "I'll kill anyone in the family that doesn't vote for a Democrat."

Oh, before I forget, I lost family in the Holocaust. My maternal grandmother's uncle (As well as her brother in law. He married her sister!) died in the Lødz Ghetto in 1941 along with his wife and his children. His name, Maurcy Trébacz, one of the most famous Jewish-Polish artists of his time.

So, enough of the bromides, M'kay?

But I am not writing to share my life or make my life the center of this blog post, rather I wish to share why I am disappointed with MORE and fear for it's future.

First, there are some very good people with MORE. These people are able to see both sides of the issue and able to listen to others. These people want to see MORE (As do I) be able to overtake Unity and take control of the union. But the perspective is that MORE will much rather deal with this "Social Justice" mantra than deal with the fact that TEACHERS ACROSS THE CITY ARE HURTING AND IN PAIN AND HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN.

Francesco Portelos was arrested and spent 33 hours locked up (And let's not forget this). My story and Michael Agona. Christine Rubino. Jeff Storobinsky. ATR's? And let's not forget the countless stories that come into my email and DTOE's each and every day from teachers being harassed, belittled and discontinued.

Where is MORE on this? Not to be seen of nor heard from. Nothing. Nada. Bupkus.

When it was suggested that MORE picket and/or have a presser in front of Sam Pirozzolo's optical store, it was met with an extremely tepid response.  

When I suggested to someone at MORE  that they should have had someone or people picket the 84th precinct when Portelos was arrested (It was known several days in advance of Portelos' pending arrest) the answer I received was. "It will look stupid."

But how did I get to have this audience with such a person? This MORE person called me up, on a SUNDAY, and without even saying, "Hey Pete, this is *******," went into such a tirade, that the senior citizens at the CVS I was at were not only able to hear this tirade and imagine the frothing at the mouth from this person, but were blushing.

Yet, teachers do not get support, yet Con Ed workers do from MORE? Why do ConEd workers on strike get attention and teachers don't? Oh yeah, "Well if we show them support, they will show is the same." A lot of people are still awaiting our blue helmeted brethren.

But MORE has no problem supporting the march of a race baiting, anti-Semite while not supporting the cops and the NYCPBA? Edited for the crazies (IN RED)who forgot what I had written  a week ago: Firstly, what happened in Staten Island was wrong. Do I think that people of color are treated differently by than others my some NYPD officers? Yes. Does this effect the way the community interacts with NYPD? Yes. Should the UFT have supported this march? No way.

The UFT showed it's hypocrisy in supporting the march for the act of one police officer. We as teachers are broad brushed day in and day out by the acts of a very few. We are railed against, beaten down and left on an island without any support. By making this march about the UFT's involvement we have put the 99% of officers of the NYPD who do the right thing in the shoes we don't like being forced to wear by outsiders.
And....
The UFT could have showed it's support for the community in other ways than endorsing this march.

We as teachers could have been asked or encouraged to go out into that Staten Island community and found common cause with the citizens. We as teachers have been subject to heavy handed tactics by Tweed and worse, SCI. We, both teachers and the Staten Island community have been affected by the last 20 years in this city of a top down, heavy handed, oligarchy, near police state by our elected officials and those at 1 Police Plaza.
Oh yeah, the old, "What have cops done for teachers?" But then what have ConEd workers done for teachers?

When I bring this up on the MORE listserv what happens? I get a phone call, while I'm in Chicago going to a Cubs game, telling me to cool it. This smacks of if not censorship, but rather being told to toe the party line.

I want nothing more (Pardon the pun) to see MORE succeed. But it is trying to be too many things to too many constituencies. MORE must concentrate on the teachers, the schools, the students, and education and only then will the social justice aspect fall into place.

MORE needs to show the same fervor for teachers that are mistreated and shat upon that it shows for others. It needs to be GEOGRAPHICALLY more (Again, pardon the pun) inclusive.

MORE, has a perception issue. It is real and there are a lot of people that feel this way. And this are not pro-unity, pro status quo people. These are people that truly are searching for an alternative and feel that MORE can be that great alternative but these people just have far too many qualms and concerns about MORE.

It's too bad that they don't truly see that.


The Pain and Isolation of an ATR

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One of the first people I thought of yesterday when I read the Daily News article with Chancellor Farina's hopes for the upcoming year was blogger Fidgety Teach.

Fidgety was a highly regarded and loved pre-K teacher in Brooklyn when she got caught up in the evilness of her principal, Kristine Mustillo. One mistake, forever altered the course of Fidgety's career. One mistake, cost the children of Brooklyn a caring and loving teacher.

So what made me think of Fidgety when I read that article? I guess it would be this;
Fariña pledged to announce in the next two weeks a big reduction in the number of teachers getting paid despite not having steady classroom jobs. Earlier this month 114 of the roughly 1,100 teachers — known as the Absent Teacher Reserve— accepted $16,000 buyouts.

Fariña said the numbers would dwindle further as principals are taught best practices for writing up teachers and beginning the arduous termination process.
Just an aside, should not someone at the UFT come out and say something about this? Should not someone from the UFT file a complaint with the NLRB?  Shouldn't someone from the UFT just act pissed to placate the ATR's?

But back to Fidgety. I know how much she wants to teach. I know how much she wants to love what she is doing. I know how much she is hurting inside.

Fidgety wrote the following on her blog today. It will truly tear at your heart. It is very sad. You literally can feel her pain, her hurt, and her anger, anger at how the DOE has been enabled to allow this to happen. 

You see an ATR in your school this week, say hi and ask what you can do.

Oh, and Fidgety really needs to blog more often. She is great!

After 20 years of teaching in the NYC schools, I have spent the last three years rotating on a weekly basis to and from 52 different school locations.  While most professionals change jobs an average of 3 times at most in a lifetime, an ‘ATR’, aka a teacher belonging to the ‘Absent Teacher Reserve’, begins a new job every Monday morning.  Yes, a new job, meaning new school, new colleagues, new principals, and a brand new set of rules every Monday morning.
  
Oh, you don’t know what an ATR is? I’m not surprised… It is scarcely mentioned in the UFT paper or discussed at UFT meetings. There are even tenured teachers who know nothing about Absent Teacher Reserve thanks to the UFT who tries to keep it under wraps. The ATR status, created by the Department of Education/ and the Useless United Federation of Teachers, has been purposely destroying careers of tenured teachers for quite some time now, right under the nose of its’ very own employees. 

ATRs are hard working, tenured and experienced professionals who are often 50+ years in age and high on the salary ladder.  It is no wonder that these highly qualified teachers are unwanted by principals and their limited budgets… A principal can easily fill 2 positions for the price of one ATR. ATRs have lost their permanent position in their school building due to either a school closing, or a failed attempt to have them terminated through false or trumped up allegations by their administrator. Regardless of an arbitrator’s decision to have these teachers return to their classroom through 3020a, the Department of Education has single handedly deemed them unfit and ineligible to teach, and REFUSES to play fair and place them back in their classrooms.
 
The DOE lies when they say that the ATRs are incompetent and don’t want to work. They do want to work, ARE working and have been working, but are treated as unwanted visitors and/or substitute teachers, (not their choice) and have been rotating from school to school on a weekly and often daily basis while the UFT turns the other way.

So, here it is… The life of an ATR…
 
While regular teachers have the same issue, I’m sure many ATRs will agree when I say that PARKING is one of the toughest issues facing an ATR who relies on their car to get to work. What makes it especially tough is that an ATR has no idea what their schedule will be on any given day. I have arrived 60-90 minutes early to an assignment just to procure a legal parking spot, one in which I won’t have to move during the day for alternate side parking. Unlike a regularly assigned teacher, I have no way of knowing in advance if I will have a lunch or prep period that coincides with my need to move my car.  In addition, most schools have a limited number of parking passes that are equally distributed to their teachers and rotated on a monthly basis. 
 
Once entering a school building, I am asked to sign in and show my ID at the security desk.  In some schools, I must only show ID on Monday, but in some, I am asked to show ID every day of the week.  I am given a “visitor’s” sticker or “visitor’s” pass that I am required to wear around my neck, which I find degrading since I am not a visitor, I am an employee, (who are they kidding?) and directed to the main office, which is usually one flight up the stairs.
 It is in the main office that the tone for my day is set with a either a greeting, a casual groan, a dirty look, a few whispers, or most often, the complete denial of my existence.
When I am finally acknowledged it’s like this: “Oh the ”ATR” is here.”(My new name) “Oh you’re back”, or “What’s your file number?” I am often handed a school manual, which cites the individual rules of the school and asked to sign a paper stating that I received it.
“Here’s your time card and schedule.”  I am asked to “clock in”, although as a teacher, I am not required to. I do this as a protective measure so that a school cannot say that I wasn’t there, or that I was late. 
 
My schedule is handed to me by *someone. (*school aide, secretary, or an assistant principal. It wouldn’t surprise me if a custodian handed me my schedule.) Your guess is as good as mine-- because in this ‘professional’ setting, no one bothers to introduce themself /selves unless asked to.  If there is no schedule prepared for me, I am either ignored, or asked to wait on a bench, or to wait in the teacher’s lounge, or some other remote location for an unspecified amount of time. When I actually get to the teacher’s lounge or wherever I am asked to wait, it is usually at that point when I am immediately paged to return to the office for my schedule.

From a professional point of view, do you think that it might be beneficial for a teacher to know what grade, type of class or subject they will be teaching for the next 8 hours? As a common branch teacher who is not certified in Special Education, one might think it would be important to know whether the students have IEPs, special needs or diversified schedules. The DOE thinks not. While the DOE is ridding Common Branch Licensed teachers from the Junior High and High Schools, they are sending CB licensed ATRs to fill those vacancies on a provisional basis. Does this make sense?

 I take a few seconds to look at the schedule I am given, and ask if there are any specific instructions pertaining to lunchtime transitions and dismissal procedures. (I ask because nine out of ten times I am left by myself to dismiss children as young as 5 to parents, uncles, cousins and guardians whom I am seeing for the first time. In which case, if I am informed early enough, I will pre-request assistance with dismissal.)

I must note that while in rotation from school to school, one learns quickly that no two schools are the same in any way, shape or form. This significant difference between schools makes the job of rotating so much more difficult. It is impossible to get familiar with the staff/master a routine/ learn the safety/fire drill code & the expectations of administration in 1 to 5 days…then run off to another school and learn another routine, etc. on the following Monday. If one is not familiar with the safety code of a school and is supposed to follow it, wouldn’t that be cause for concern? This lack of uniformity between schools is foreign and most surprising news for those who never leave the comfort of their appointed work place. Administration expects that because one is a  “teacher”, one automatically knows everything about schools and children- ALL of the schools and ALL of the children. Kind of the same ignorant way of thinking that the reformers have….if one sat in a classroom as a child, shouldn’t they be able to dictate what should be taught and how?  A school is a school isn’t it?  Umm, not exactly.
 NEWS FLASH! ---No two schools have the same rules, procedures or time schedules. Let’s look at some of the differences between schools that may throw off a tenured teacher, substitute teacher, visitor (even a teacher in rotation) who is entering the school for the first time…

Some schools have a half of a minute or two between periods, and some do not. (no time between periods translates to no time for a bathroom break for an ATR.)
 
Some schools have ‘extended’ day worked into their schedule and some have an additional complicated routines added on to their day either in the am or pm part of the day.
 
Some admins provide ATRs with a clear gridded schedule with periods, school hours and preps to follow. On the other hand, admins have handed me a barely legible scribbled ‘post it’ note with some classes written on it- that lacks a time schedule.
Individual schools have their own codes written on time schedules, such as PE, or G, or *&^%$ meaning gym and an ATR is left on their own to decipher these codes everyday.
The rest is on a ‘need to know’ basis and because I need to know, I have to ask…
 
“Where is the bathroom, teacher’s lounge, auditorium and lunchroom?”
 
“Is there a place where I can hang my coat?” It is quite burdensome to carry around a coat all day when moving from class to class each period. 
 
“Do you have a teacher’s lounge, refrigerator, microwave, place to stay on a prep?”
 
“Is there a bathroom key?” I am quite sure that I am never going to get a bathroom key, but I humor myself each time, and ask anyway. In response, Ms. Secretary looks at me like I have 5 heads and tells me that I need to catch a teacher either going in or coming out of the bathroom. I think to myself, “Is that like catching a bus?”  “We never give bathroom keys to subs,” says Ms. Secretary.
 
Next question, classroom key…I ask for a classroom key and am directed to an unlocked key cabinet where several hundred keys hang in disarray.
 
 “The classroom door should be unlocked already, but if it’s not, come back down (which translates to, “Walk up 5 flights of stairs, check the door and if it’s locked, come back down for the key”)", says Ms. Secretary.   

Last but not least I ask, “Where do I pick up the kids?” I am often sent to the auditorium only to learn that the students are outside, have already been picked up by a cluster teacher, or in the lunchroom.
 
I get to the classroom and the door is locked. With hands full of schedules, attendance folders and lessons, coat, bag and lunch, I find an open door nearby and manage to juggle the phone to call the office and then must wait for a custodian to open the classroom door. With zero time to search the room for a lesson plan that may be nonexistent, I drop off my things and head down to ‘find’ my class. I enter into an auditorium filled to the brim with kids and wait till someone notices that I have no idea where I am.  
 
Then, I claim my students and I go off…into the abyss of this unfamiliar hallway with equally confused students to this mystery classroom in the insane world of the DOE.

Aside from the usual pettiness that most teachers engage in over coffee machines and water dispensers, cruel notes left on the refrigerator door and who sits where at the royal lunch table is the bubble of ignorance that these teachers and colleagues exist in.
 
Here are some of their actual comments:
 
You’re so lucky you don’t have to be observed!
The slave labor is here!
Why don’t you apply for a classroom position?
I had an ATR in my classroom once and he did nothing.
Aren’t you the rubber room people?
You get paid as much as we do, you should know what to do!
How can I get to be an ATR and do nothing all day?
I would give anything to not have to write lesson plans.
Are you a sub?
So, what is it exactly that you do?   
 
The saddest part of is, is that these questions are not coming from young, newbie teachers. What’s an ATR?  I once told a teacher that the ATRs are really sent to observe the classroom teachers. That really made her day!

As a regular classroom teacher, I was required to leave a lesson plan or ‘sub folder’ in the room if I was going to be out for the day. Why is it then that nine times out of ten, there are no lesson plans in the room when I arrive?  As an ATR, I am always prepared with at least one comprehensive lesson plan for each grade of the school I am in, as I never know in advance what grade I will be sent to each day.  I may be required to go to a different grade each period, or be assigned to one class for the entire day. Yes, I am a teacher, but I am not a magician who can pull a complete day of lessons out of a hat at a moment’s notice.

As I begin my fourth year as an ATR, I am ridden with frustration and anxiety. Time and again, the articles in the paper fail to tell the truth, and the public continues to be misinformed about who we are. We are professionals who ARE WORKING and WANT TO CONTINUE WORKING and are being denied the privilege of working in the capacity where we can be most productive.  Weekly Rotation denies us the continuity of knowing our students and colleagues and the productivity that results from daily interaction. Rather than utilize the enormous talent available in the ATR pool, our new chancellor has allowed the hiring of young and inexperienced teachers to fill the vast amount of open positions resulting from the expansion of Universal Pre-K and huge retirement incentives in the new contract. Why hire new teachers when you have hundreds of qualified ATRs already on payroll? We are tired of being named as the scapegoats for an already dysfunctional education system. Which leads me to the final question that has all of us wondering.
 
Mr. Mulgrew, Where are you?

OSI Rent-a-Cop Comes Calling on a Teacher

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I have been transferred.

For those that recall, last year I spent my Rubber Room time at 4360 Broadway. Worse, I was held captive alone for over 6 months until I was allowed compatriots. I shared with the readers of this blog my captivity, my friends, and how I acclimated myself to the whims of my captors.

I am now at 1230 Zerega Ave in the Bronx where there not only 3 district offices but about a gazillion networks and other support staff as well. Better, I am no longer imprisoned alone. But the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.

There are about a dozen or so prisoners there and each and everyone one of us are above 40 years of age. Most are male as well as people of color. What does this tell you? A lot!

Today was a normal day as usual in the Rubber Room. People were counting the hairs on their arms, counting the ceiling tiles, and other assorted time wasting activities when a network HR director came into the cell block with a nerdy looking white guy no older than 27 years old.

They were both standing in the door jam when they motioned for Tito Landrum. Tito looking confused got up out of his seat and walked towards them.

Looking at the nerdy white guy, I notice something out of place. Well, yes...besides the fact he was nerdy.

He was wearing a dress shirt and tie, but more intriguing was the stenographers note pad and pen he was carrying in his right hand. I smelled the stench of OSI (Office of Special Investigation) and bolted up from my seat.

I whisked myself out of my chair and went out into the hallway where Tito was being led away as a death row prisoner was being led to the execution chamber. My spider sense tingled.

I called out to Tito not to answer any questions from this Nerdy Guy, that he had a right to having someone represent him.

Nerdy Guy, told me several times to mind my business. I told Nerdy Guy that Tito had a right to be represented either my a union rep or anyone else with the union. Nerdy Guy was having none of this.

He demanded to know who I am and I introduced myself. He told me his name was Eric Black, OSI operative.

Eric said that he was not going to be asking Tito any questions but again implored that I mind my own business. I again told Eric aka Nerdy Guy that Tito had rights. Besides I thought to myself, if he wasn't planning on asking him any questions, why then was he carrying that notebook and pen?

Eric aka Nerdy Guy won out and Tito went into a room alone with him. Luckily it was over in less than a minute.

All Eric aka Nerdy Guy did was hand Tito a letter. Oh, and chastise me by pointing his notebook several times in my face and screaming, "It's your fault this became a bigger deal than it had to."

Who know what could have happened? If no one spoke up to remind Tito of his rights or reminded Eric aka Nerdy Guy of Tito's rights perhaps there might have been questioning and Tito could have been a witness against himself.

Worse, why would Eric aka Nerdy Guy not only not allow Tito his full rights but feel the need to deride anyone who wishes to advocate for Tito?

Perhaps he is making up for some serious Freudian physical shortcoming and the only way he can counter that is by making himself seem like a tough guy by bullying and intimidating others.

We suggest that Eric aka Nerdy Guy treat teachers he deals with in the future with respect. If he is unable to do that The Crack Team suggests he returns his associates degree from the community college from which it was earned post haste as well as returning the magic decoder ring he got in his Cocoa Puffs to the good folks at General Mills in the same speedy fashion.

The Conspiracy at PS 154 in the Bronx

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I never got around to saying thank you for all the support that was shown to me for my blog post of August 7, 2014 in which I shared how my principal, DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D of PS 154 in the Bronx conspired with Michael Agona to ensure that I would be found incompetent.

As a reminder, let us delve into the past and see what DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D wrote to BFF AP Jessica Cruz on August 24, 2012;
“Hey, I revised Zucker’s job description (per the advice of Mike Agona) so that it is focused more on literacy. This way, Agona explained, we’ll have a surer chance of winning a case when our observations detail incompetence.”
Now, hold on just a sec. Bear with me. OK?

It seems that with as with a good cliffhanger, I left some people hanging, and for that I apologize. 

When I was in Chicago last month at a White Sox game, during batting practice SBSB fan and honorary member of The Crack Team Paul Konerko asked me; 
 "Hey, what's up with that blog post of August 7 and the email from DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D? Did not her BFF AP Jessica Cruz respond to it? 
Yes Paul, there was a reply; 
 
--> Hey Alison,     

In Montreal for my mini vacation :-)  Got to say though, Canada is a little "tight or rather uptight"... hopefully things will lighten up today.       

Anyway, here are my suggestions for Zucker's job description.  I think this way (you'll see) lays out the expectation clearly and will support us more in the write-ups.  Basically I'm recommending we take out the word should since it implies "it is suggested that"....             

Jess

Notice anything amiss? I mean besides calling Canada "tight or rather uptight"? Seriously, how can you call Canadians uptight? The most polite country on this planet. The country that has given the world, Rush, Poutine, Labatt's Blue, Tim Horton's Donuts, hockey, SCTV, back bacon, that great accent, Neil Young, the Kids in the Hall, and the Trailer Park Boys.

But I have digressed. I love Canadian culture.

So already, just over a week before the 2012-2013 school year started not only has it been deemed that I will be found incompetent but the write ups for my observations  have been manipulated as well as they both plan to write me up for my file and conspired on best practice on how to do everything.

This is beyond reproach what both of them did. Instead of supporting me, instead of of assisting me, instead of acting as educators both Coviello and Cruz are playing the roles of Nixon and Haldeman in conspiring against me. PS 154 has turned into nothing more than the Nixon White House. 

Since Coviello's reign has began upwards of 20 staff members have been either forced to resign, brought up on 3020-a charges, left the school under pressure, or have retired. Is it not safe to assume that it is possible that these staff members were dealt with in the same underhanded conspiratorial manner? Heck, who is on the "hit list" for this year?

Worse, is it also safe to assume that parents and students have been dealt with untruthfully by both Coviello and Cruz? Are there favored parents and favored students? Are students that are displeasing to Coviello and Cruz expeditiously shipped off to District 75?

Of course in a school with an average of 90% of students not being able to read or do math at grade level in grades 3-5 Coviello and Cruz have decided that it is best to act in an immoral and unethical manner. That instead of being leaders, of facilitating best teaching practices, of having an atmosphere of camaraderie and teamwork, they would rather spend time conspiring how to hurt staff members and instilling fear in the rest of a compliant staff as well as the parents who dare stick up for the rights of their children.

Where are the priorities? Where are the morals? Where are the ethics?

What Would Campbell, Mona, and Sam Have to Say?

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Some interesting news came across the SBSB news desk today.

A teacher, let's call him, Rudy Baylor, was teaching a class one day and reached from behind to hand a 7th grade female student a piece of paper. The student was sitting with several of her female friends. It seemed all pretty routine, huh?

The next thing Rudy knows is that he is being accused of improperly touching this girl. How? The young lady claimed that when Rudy bent down ever so slightly to hand her the paper his dingy touched the back of her shoulder.

The girl immediately reported this, not to the principal, but rather to school safety.  School safety had no other choice but to call in NYPD. Thank God that the officers that responded were well trained and able to think independently, Rudy was not charged.

This was in March; Rudy was immediately sent to the Rubber Room, he got cleared today. Six months later.

This could not have been cleared up within a week? Two weeks? Who suffered here? The students did. The students were without their teacher for the last 3 months of last year and so far 2 weeks off this year.

Yet, the Three Stooges of education reform in New York State, Campbell Brown, Mona Davids, and Sam Pirozzolo would lead you to believe that the long investigative process is the fault of the teachers and the union that "protects teachers."

Without that union that "protects teachers" Rudy Baylor would have been out on his buttocks no questions, no nothing asked nor rights protected. Rudy is a single father, without the protections put in place by the collective bargaining agreement and state law, Rudy would have had to go collecting cans so his son could eat.

But according to the Stooge like troika, Rudy even though he has been cleared can still be in jeopardy. The Stooges, if they have their way, would force any decision if a teacher is cleared of sexual misconduct to be given a thumbs or or thumbs down decision made by the chancellor.

On what facts would a chancellor bases such a life altering decision? Would certain teachers be in or out of favor? Would there be some type of checks and balances? Can decisions made by the chancellor be appealed (Other than Article 78)?

The truth was seen in Rudy's case not because the union protects bad teachers. But rather the union is there to make sure and enforce that all teachers are afforded their contractual rights, state rights, and due process as spelled out in the United States Constitution.

It seems this girl had an agenda and didn't want Rudy Baylor around anymore. Kids are smart. They know how to manipulate the system and know how to make a teacher's life miserable.

If the chancellor has a final say on all sexual misconduct accusations it will be ripe for abuse. It'll be like yelling, "fire!" in a crowded theater.

Rubber Room is Death Row

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There was a parole, or maybe a commutation, today at the Zerega Ave Rubber Room.

As mentioned the other day, Rudy Baylor as reported here on Monday, received a new suit, a bus ticket and a ride to the deep end of the ATR pool courtesy of our friends at the DOE. We all bade him a fond farewell, wished him the best and went back to waiting. And waiting, and waiting for whatever fate awaits us.

Now there are 11 of us left. Coincidentally, we are all, we the exception of one (Who happens to be on the cusp of 40), over the age of 40. The vast majority are male and/or of color. But all of us share a few similarities. We are independent of mind and counting the days.

Two weeks ago I wrote about Tito Landrum and how OSI came for him. The poor guy has his meeting just a few days ago and he has been a wreck. He is walking around the last few days in a fog, just in shock. Almost 20 years in the system and it can all go down the toilet because anything a child says is gospel and teachers are deemed guilty unless they have the fight in them to prove themselves innocent after being kicked in the face for months.

Last year I wrote about my lack of human contact where I was assigned. In some ways that was better than I have it now. In a surreal way the Rubber Room at Zerega Ave resembles, rather is, Death Row. Death and doom are all around me. At least at 4360 Broadway I could create my own fantastical world.

That's what it's like. We sit around day after day, week after week and so on and wonder when our doom is coming or if will we get a last minute call to save us. Worse, we sit there wondering if this is all some kind of dream that we can't yet wake ourselves out of. 

We are in a large lunchroom with is akin to the day room in the pod on Death Row. A dozen people who didn't know one another before thrown into this Kafkaesque rabbit hole sit there and do nothing other than read the paper, read a book, sleep, or dream of a better place for themselves.

Since there are about a half dozen networks at Zerega and 3 district offices the building is always buzzing. People (As it is their right), come in and out of the lunchroom we are confined to mostly polite to us but mostly ignored, as if they can catch what we have; DOE Cooties.

The DOE wants to break us, destroy us, and be rid of us. The only difference between the Rubber Room and Gitmo is that the prisoners of Gitmo are treated with more respect and have better accommodations. We get what? A hard plastic chair that is not made to be sat in for nearly seven hours and a hard dirty table.

And like Gitmo, the longer we are held without knowing why or having our cases adjudicated, one becomes more radical in their thinking and more resentful to those responsible for their imprisonment.

Dignity and respect go without saying, but sadly it is going without.

Amnesty International, where are you guys?

BREAKING NEWS!!! Para Harassed at MS 61 in Brooklyn!

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It seems that MS 61 in Brooklyn is turning into quite the soap opera. A dangerous soap opera.

For those who don't know or need reminding, MS 61 has been in the news lately due to the diligence of retired teacher Jeff Storobinsky and his Facebook group, Money Over Age.

First some background.

A former colleague at MS 61 who in the last six months had suffered a stroke and currently was undergoing chemo treatments, had passed away suddenly and in his grief he posted this on his the MOA page.

We all handle death in different ways. Some mourn privately, some want to mourn with others. Jeff clearly was in mourning. What came next was not part of the mourning process.

Jeff's fiance still is employed at 61 as a para. She has taken a lot of heat for being Jeff's fiance and being close and that is probably par for the course. We here at SBSB have no problem, as we are sure his fiance doesn't, that if yo
u don't want to be her friend, don't want to socialize with her that is fine. Let her do her job, let her work in a safe environment, and just be courteous to her.

This morning, September 24, 2014 Jeff's fiance Marisol found the following attached to her time card;

Take your time reading it and take even more time to put your eyeballs back in their sockets. Yes, even The Crack Team blushed.

Marisol is beside herself. She immediately left the building and headed home to the safe embrace of Jeff where she still remains.

Jeff, a Jew, in all probability will forgo celebrating the 2nd holiest day of the Jewish calendar in order to accompany Marisol tomorrow as they meet with NYPD detectives. Already this deviant has kept Jeff from partaking in the celebrations which will mark the beginning of 5775. Perhaps while at the local NYPD precinct Jeff might be able to seek solace in hearing the distant sounds of the Shofar from Williamsburg.

But where will the solace and safety come from for Marisol? How long will she have to be looking over her shoulder? For how long must she be escorted to and from her car? Will she be safe alone in parts of the school? In the bathroom? Walking out of her house?

Will there be a real investigation or will this be poo-pooed? We here at SBSB call for a independent investigation posthaste. This is not the type of thing that should happen in a school but sadly it is indicative of so many more problems which seem be just swept under the rug.

One thing we do know is that this incident never would have happened if the atmosphere at MS 61 wasn't so toxic.

DTOE General Meeting October 1, 2014

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Come one, come all, to the next..................


DTOE GENERAL MEETING!!!!

Yes, back by popular demand it is the grassroots Don't Tread on Educators general meeting!

When? This Wednesday, October 1st, 2014.


Where?87-22 52nd Ave in Elmhurst, Queens

Time: 5-8 PM EDT

Directions:Take the R, M, or E train to Grand Ave

Tell Francesco Frank Sinatra Jr sent you and get a glass of Ouzo on the house!


View Larger Map

A Pervert Grows in Brooklyn Tech

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As many others were I was appalled and sickened when I picked up the Daily News and read about the deviancy with students that Brooklyn Tech "teacher" Sean Shaynak allegedly committed.

According to the Daily News, Shaynake is accused of;
  • Taking a 15-year-old to a nude beach in New Jersey without permission and plying her with vodka, tequila and whisky until she passed out at his home.
  • Exchanging some 10,000 text messages with that same girl, in which he asked her to participate in lesbian sex with another student and told her about his experience with a ménage-à-trois and gay sex.
  • Giving another student perfect grades “regardless of the fact she did not do any assignments and left tests blank,” said prosecutor Joseph Mancino.
  • Forcing himself on that 18-year-old student when she resisted his attempt at intercourse.
  • Carrying on a “four-month sexual relationship” with yet another teen, which included a trip to an out-of-state gay-themed sex club where she watched him getting “serviced” by other men.
  • Taking that student on what prosecutors described as a “terror ride” from Queens to Brooklyn that ended with her hiding in the bushes and her teacher screaming and banging on his car. “He threatened to tell her parents,” Mancino said.
  • Sending full-frontal photos to four students, two of whom were minors.
  • Storing an extensive library of pornography in his computer, which included bestiality — sex acts between humans and dogs, horses and goat.
Yes, these all seem pretty damning. If true, it would be hard to disprove the allegations in regards to the full frontal monty shot and the text messages.

But what is this person thinking? He is a teacher, trusted to teach and protect the students he is charged with. Yes, a person who does such acts does not think of others and is selfish. Pedophiles usually are. If he was this hard up for attention and physical release and/or contact there were other ways, safer ways to satisfy his perversions.

But no matter how heinous the accusations are, no matter how angry we are, as parents of the students, as teachers, as human beings, he has every right to due process, full and equal protection under the law and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

But according to tomorrow's Daily News, Shaynak was arrested, yet not charged in the beating of an 11 year old in Maryland in 2005, yet the DOE still hired him because he wasn't convicted.

That does not make sense. Yes he wasn't convicted, yet the child he had beaten had a restraining order. Why then did the principal and the DOE hire him? Is not someone at Tweed or Brooklyn Tech culpable for hiring this man? Should this not have been a red flag? ATR's are flagged for much, much, less and don't get hired.

At a time when teachers and tenure are under attack Shaynak is quickly becoming the poster boy of Campbell Brown and Mona Davids as to why teachers should not have tenure, should not have the right to due process, and labeling all teachers and predators.

Worse, Campbell and Mona will beat the drum that even while being held awaiting to be bailed out of jail Shaynak will still be collecting a salary of around $52k. But according to the UFT contract, and something the NYC media won't let anyone know, teacher's accused of sexual misconduct have their pay suspended for 90 days. In fact Mulgrew said in the Daily News;
 “The city has the ability to remove this person from payroll,"
 The in the words of Captain Picard, "Make it so!" The onus is now on the city.

But the city won't. The city doesn't want to. Why? They need a poster boy too. The city needs someone to collect their pay and sit and stew either in jail or a Rubber Room to give fodder to those that want to debase tenure, to cry pervert at every single allegation. Worse, the city and DOE will take the longest time to bring charges to dismiss him just to give the anti-tenure crowd more ammunition.

What to do? Do what they city has done to ATR's, bring an expedited 3020-a hearing. There is no way that this investigation can take over a year. Surely, the NYPD and Brooklyn DA's office can and will share information with the DOE. Again, time for the city and DOE to put it's money where it's mouth is.

We here at SBSB call for Shaynak to do the honorable thing and fall on his sword. We call for him to resign immediately or at the very least take an unpaid leave of absence. Again, we at SBSB are reiterating what was said above. He has the right to due process and the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise. But accusations such as this call for some action for the greater good to be taken.

We feel for the families of the students affected directly by Shaynak, for the families indirectly affected as well as the entire Brooklyn Tech community.






Errol Louis is the Kool-Aid Man

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By now we should all know who Errol Louis of NY1 and the Daily News works for. Not for truth, but for
those that distort the truth.

I at one time had thought the Errol was above the fray, that he had integrity and wished to give both sides of the education debate equal time. I will never forget when he had Julie Cavanagh on his NY1 show debating Little Evan Stone of E4E in 2011. I watched and felt that Errol had sifted through the BS of Evan and allowed Julie to give her side.

But lately he has become a shill of the deformers. A badly misinformed shrill. I guess this is par for the course for someone who grew up in New Rochelle, went to a great high school, went to Harvard, Yale, and Brooklyn Law, and mingles with the hipsters in Park Slope. Yes, Errol is just oozing educational cred. Do we dare say that Errol is an elitist?

Errol this past Thursday wrote a column for the Daily News in which he shows just how clueless and ignorant he is when it comes to education.

Errol blabbers forth;Thursday’s sure-to-be raucous education rally, to be held within shouting distance of the Tweed building and City Hall, is a timely reminder of a civic force that many of the city’s progressive leaders seem incapable of understanding...

We here at SBSB believe they understand it. These aren't the parents that are forming these protests, nor is it the communities. These protests are led by inane, self-absorbed, me first, **cough cough** EVA MOSKOWITZ **cough cough**. When we see these parents clamoring for a better education ON THEIR OWN ACCORD, as the people protesting for democracy are doing in Hong Kong, or the students in Colorado clamoring for a real AP social studies curriculum  in Colorado, then we'll talk.

Errol says; Wednesday’s speech by Chancellor Carmen Fariña, centered on an announcement that the Education Department will scrap the old method of assigning letter grades to individual schools, could be a step in the right direction 

We here at SBSB are proud of Errol for not flying off the shrilling from the mountain top like ignorant others over at Mona Davids Parents Union.

...but the administration appears to be dragging its feet on attacking the urgent problem of turning around schools that are badly broken

Broken? How so? Specifics. Real specifics. Yes, the test scores suck, but why? Is it just the teachers or is it the crappy curriculum teachers are forced to deal with? Is it the cycle of poverty and mental health issues that never get addressed that our students have to deal with every day? Is it crime? Is it a lack of funding? Is it a lack of leadership at Tweed and at the schools? Tell us Errol in your own words, using your own investigatory facts, WHY ARE THE SCHOOLS BROKEN??

While Thursday’s rally isn’t pushing specific demands, it’s clear the organizers are warming up for a battle to raise the current limit on charter schools in the city.

That's what it is all about. Not the broken schools, not the teachers, just more and more and more and more charter schools and more and more and more and more halves against the have nots.

But the main thrust of the gathering is to show that there is a large and vocal number of New Yorkers fed up with poorly-performing schools and impatient with the litany of excuses for why we can’t do better.

But Errol just said the rally was all about charter schools, so why is he contradicting himself? Again, is this movement organic? NO!

The chatter from those defenders on social media sites and letters to the editor usually includes talking points about how poverty is the true culprit

Yeah it is. See above, it is one of many. Think about this Errol. Take the teachers Albert Leonard Middle School in New Rochelle and switch them out with teacher from IS 162 on 149th and St Ann's Ave in the Bronx. What do you think will happen? 

But Errol has more to say on this and he feels he must insult teachers;Those old arguments, repeated year after year, have grown stale. Most airline passengers don’t know how to fuel and fly a jet or run an air-traffic control tower. But they do know when plane after plane is dirty and cramped, arriving late at the wrong destination and occasionally crashing.

This isn't fair. My cat can take apart this argument. But what the hell.

Please do not compare what teachers do to fueling a jet plane. Yes, these guys work hard and I am sure there is a learning curve, but really? Now, if we were compared to these guys fueling a plane than I might say, "touché."

But how about this? Does Errol want a pilot or an air traffic controller that has had only 50 hours and five weeks of training when he is jet setting around the USA? Doubt it. Does he want constant turnover of air traffic controllers and pilots? Doubt it as well. 

But his argument that the public does know when a plane is dirty or cramped or late has a lot to do with how an airline is run, yes, the MANAGEMENT! Why not then does Errol and his ilk kvetch about WHO IS RUNNING THE SCHOOLS? And Errol is being quite specious with his last argument. Seriously, how often does a plane land at the wrong destination? And crashes? How many crashes of American commercial jets have there been the last ten years and what is the ratio of mechanical vs pilot errors?

What Errol fails to point out is that the people who fly our planes, design our planes, and guide our planes have training in planes. Also, flying, designing and guiding is evaluated by OBJECTIVE MEASURES, not the whim of some untrained, irrational human being. 

Come on Errol, tell us all how to fly a jet, or guide a jet over LaGuardia, or design one. Yeah, I hear crickets too.

And let's not forget that pilots, air traffic controllers, and flight attendants are all proud union members.

Families for Excellent Schools, the group organizing Thursday’s demonstration, has compiled a number of damning reports 

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We know, and we care. But see above arguments. Again, FES is a front organization for FormelyMichelleRheeFirst. Yet refuses to put into context and show how it came to this statement; 
A school where nine out of 10 kids can’t proficiently read or do math does not simply ‘need improvement,’
A recent Associated Press report notes that the nation’s top 10% of income earners have increased spending on their kids by 35% in recent years — pouring a fortune into private-school tuition, bidding up home prices in districts with high-performing schools and paying so much money for extra help that some SAT tutors now make over $50 an hour.

SAT tutors are only making $50 an hour? I guess the ones making that kind of dough are getting hosed. But I will like to see this AP report. Where is it? But if true, I can guarantee that the parents sending their kids to private schools are doing it to keep the Common Core away from them, to keep them from testing, and for smaller class size. Why isn't Errol advocating for what parents really want? For what Errol wants for his own kids yet won't admit it to others. 

I used to have respect for Errol. I thought he was objective and can see and respect both sides. But he has drank from the Kool-Aid trough for too long and is useless. Nothing more than a shrieking shrill.

One more thing. The problems Errol is whining about are the same problems that permeated the 12 years of the Bloomberg reign. Where was he during those 12 years? Bought off by Bloomberg? 





Formal Observations Pre-Determined by Principal Alison Coviello PS 154 Bronx

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Remember the PreCogs in the movie Minority Report? They were able to predict a murder before it happened. DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 and her BFF AP Jessica Cruz canpredict how many formal observations a teacher will have before that teacher as their first one.

When we last left our intrepid conspirators on these pages last month it was shared how on August 24, 2012  BFF AP Jessica Cruz emailed DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal on proper English language use on the upcoming (PreCog abilities again?) write-ups for my file.

This email by BFF AP Jessica Cruz was in response to the email from DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal on how DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal consulted with noted consultant and fair minded arbitrator Michael Agona on how DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal can find me incompetent in August, 10 days before the school year even started.

So it becomes even curiouser thatbefore I had even my first formal observation of the 2012-2013 school year I was scheduled for two formal observations on a schedule that DR Alison Coviello Ed.D and Principal and BFF AP Jessica Cruz shared only amongst themselves (And assuming AP Rajendra Jimenez-Jailall) which came out in November. Take a look.



Now of course names of other teachers are redacted. Those redacted names with a (2) next to them are non-tenured and marked accordingly, and those non-tenured are marked and so on (All redactions and whether or not tenured or non-tenured added by The Crack Team).That is all except one.

As you can see the week of December 3rd, under then AP Rajendra Jimenez-Jailall observations is a tenured teacher. This tenured teacher was to have a a second observation, scheduled before even the first one was complete, to be observed by BFF AP Jessica Cruz the week of March 4.

I was scheduled to have my first observation in the presence of DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal the week of December 3. But AP Rajendra Jimenez-Jailall was supposed to observe my second observation the week of January 28 but he didn't, but did informally observe me on January 30 and only judged me on my "learning environment," not my pedagogy.

DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal did email me and share with me on February 17 that I was on the schedule for an pre-observation for me on February 21and the observation for me for February 22. This during the abbreviated February break of 2013.

See the fix was in, not only for me, but for others as well (In a way).

Coviello that year did not let anyone take advantage of Part A of the formal observation;
 The first model, known as Annual Performance Options (Component A), offers an individual teacher, in consultation with his/her supervisor, the opportunity to set yearly goals and objectives and to choose the met hods for demonstrating professional growth.
But as with me and one other staff member she decided that even before our first observations we were to have two.

Now I have always been under the impression that a tenured teacher, though can be informally observed as often as an administrator wishes, received only 1 formal observation, unless that observation was a U. And that once having a U, they can be formally observed 2 more times.

Even if I am wrong, why then were most of the tenured teachers (Other tenured teachers received more than one observation) not made to be observed a 2nd time? Was DR Alison Coviello's; Ed.D and Principal mind made up in November 2012 who was to receive or not receive a U rating in June of 2013, which was more than six months away?

Moreover, did I and others, have the same opportunity, the same chances to succeed as other teachers had? Were we all at the same starting line or did some have to start from the back of the pack? What other teachers and staff have fallen out of favor with DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal and how were they then treated? What about those who consider themselves safe for the are favorites. Surely they are aware how easily they can go from being a favorite to an enemy of DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal.

Bigger question. Has  DR Alison Coviello; Ed.D and Principal acted in a ethical and professional manner engaging in what appears to be an alleged conspiracy to ruin my career as well as others? If no, should there be any repercussions?

When does this behavior end? 

Students Do Not Come First at MS 344 in the Bronx

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This stuff just can't be made up. I am creative, but not that creative.

Back in 2011 Principal Rashaunda Shaw was in the news for some transgressions at her then school MS 344 in Harlem.
According to the New York Post Shaw a lot happened under Shaw's reign at MS 344; 
MS 344 was a "persistently dangerous” school, and just two of 88 eighth-graders last year passed the state math or reading exams. 

She was always late, barely leaves her office “except for the bathroom,” (There is a reason this is highlighted, be patient) and hired a sister-in-law and her boyfriend’s ex-wife, among other cronies. 

Shaw, 35, also hired former Staten Island Assistant Principal Odufuyi Jackson, a friend who was busted in 2009 on felony charges that he conspired to steal more than $100,000 in Social Security benefits.
 So does the DOE bring her up on charges? No. Does the DOE take steps to take away her administrative license? No. Does the DOE put her in the Rubber Room? No. Does the DOE have her humiliated? No. They just move her elsewhere.

That elsewhere is the Globe Middle School (MS 272) in the Bronx where Shaw is currently the interim acting principal. But who knows for how much longer.

MS 272 has, or rather had, a fitness center with weights and what not in the school for 30 years. This room was not only used by the students to get into shape and build a healthier body but to take pride and gain self esteem. It was important to them. Not as important as it was to Shaw.

Shaw decided to have the room discontinued and it's equipment sent elsewhere. Why? Because she wanted to have it as her office with, now get this, the bathroom right there for her.

Obviously she must have upset someone because interpreted WPIX-11 reporter Arnold Diaz caught up with her and this is what appeared today on the News at 10.

Done laughing?

Is it me or should the Benny Hill theme (Open the theme in a separate window and then play the video) be playing as she is driving down that street?  And we all can see why she wants a bathroom so close, or rather in, her office.

But there are some points to be made. One is, how can Shaw afford 2 Mercedes (Does anyone know the model and the sticker price)? Which manipulations of the DOE did she employ? Judging by the DOE's two responses the folks at Tweed clearly did not understand the usage of the room nor what it meant to the students and the school community. I am willing to give the DOE the benefit of the doubt in that they did not know, but they should have looked into the matter more before giving the OK to take down the room.

The Crack Team has suggested that if Shaw had kept the gym and had her office amongst the equipment this would have been an equitable situation. Not only would the gym still be available but Shaw could have availed herself to the weights when she feels she has been in hiding for too long.

Anyway, we here at SBSB wish to shout out a hardy Mozel Tov! to Rashaunda Shaw and her soon to be new position either at Tweed or some network office in charge of training how to use dry erase boards.

.One more thing. Isn't it time to stop blaming the teachers for everything and to start look at those with the power?
.
Oh, when contacted by a member of The Crack Team and asked about going down a one way street Shaw replied, "Yeah, I was only going one way."












Rubber Room Indignities at 1230 Zerega Ave Bronx

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While sitting around in the Rubber Room at 1230 Zerega Ave last Monday, October 6th, we yet again found out that what others think of us, as if it were really a surprise.

Doing what one usually does in the Rubber Room the big macha, along with his two deputies, of 1230 Zerega Ave came to address all 11 of us. Why were we blessed with his presence?

A little background.

We are warehoused in the large, 10 table, approximately 36 seat cafeteria. In this cafeteria there are two vending machines (One for snacks, the other for beverages). We are also blessed with a former 7-Up soda refrigerator where we can store our food. We are also have a toaster and a microwave.

There is also a 42 inch flat screen LCD-HD TV in there. Hanging up in the corner. We can watch the TV whenever we want. Sadly there is no cable, we just get the over the air channels and whatever corresponding digital channels come along. We just don't have the remote. That is under lock and key by a receptionist, Mrs Forest Gump, in the enrollment center. No one know why she has such specialized attention.

The Rubber Room/Cafeteria at 1230 Zerega Ave.

About 10 days ago we decided to turn on the TV to watch the latest Channel 4 news when Mrs Forest Gump comes into the cafeteria to eat her lunch. We were then hoping to watch New York Live right after but Mrs Forest Gump would have none of it. She had to watch her stories. We were subjected to the Young and the Restless.

It was attempted that we have every right to watch the TV as her and out of courtesy she should at the very least consult with us, ask us, what we want to watch or if it is OK to change the channel. Her reply was quite typical;
"This is MY cafeteria, 'you people' don't even belong here."
Umbrage was taken at this and it was reported. It didn't have to happen this way. It could have been worked out, a compromise found. But Mrs Forest Gump had to insult and degrade us.

Which brings us to Monday.

So like Fielding Mellish had to listen to the general, I too, as well as my colleagues had to listen to the leader of the building belittle and humiliate us. 

He told us in no uncertain terms that we are not in a Rubber Room and we should not call where we are a Rubber Room. We are in the cafeteria.

That there are 180 people at the Zerega Ave complex and that it is very convenient to the 6 train, the Hutch, the Bruckner, the Cross Bronx and the Whitestone and Throgs Neck bridges. Oh, and the parking is out of this world.

There is no other place to put us at Zerega and this is where we must be as he talked condescending to us implying we should be grateful for the amenities we have (See above).

But he would like one thing from us. We must leave the Rubber Room, oops, the cafeteria from 12:30 to 1:30 so the rest of the staff at Zerega can eat lunch. Never mind that half the building is out at schools and whatnot and the rest are eating lunch at their desks. We must vacate or as he implied;
 "We can find other reassignment centers in the Bronx for you."
When asked that even if everyone in the building wished to eat lunch at that time there isn't enough room for everybody, he ignored that and shared that people wish to converse with one another at lunch and talk about the travails of the New York Jets and we will be inhibiting such dialogue.

We were told we can go to lunch (But not in the cafeteria), sit in the bullpens of our networks, sit in unoccupied meeting rooms, or the copy room. But NOT IN THE CAFETERIA!!

This is really unacceptable. We are professionals and human beings. We have already lost a great deal of respect and dignity from others, why must this person come in and kick us when we are down. The Leader even admitted that it was true that this decree was in response to the complaint about Mrs Forest Gump. The same Mrs Forest Gump that insulted the teachers in the Rubber Room last year and the same decree was declared. There is a pattern here for the Leader to notice. Mrs Forest Gump does not play and work well with others.

And if you are asking yourself is the cafeteria overcrowded due to the exodus of the Rubber Room inmates? Not exactly. Mrs Forest Gump has been the lone person having lunch there from 12:30 to 1:30 everyday and watching her stories unfettered.

Is PS 154 in the Bronx the Next Watergate?

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I got to thinking.

I got to thinking after reading some of Chancellor Fariña's Capacity Frameworks on the DOE website. Yep, was really rubbing my chin and pondering.

Under the Framework known as Trust, and so it was said;
Relationships between all members of the school community— including administrators, educators, students, and families—are based on social respect, personal regard, and integrity. Trust creates a school culture where teachers, principals, staff, and all members of the Department of Education value and respect each other...

Another Framework, Effective School Leadership so sayeth;
 The principal sets the tone for the school, develops a climate of inclusiveness, and inspires staff and students with a clear vision for student achievement. The goal of a strong school leader is to build coherent instructional and social-emotional support that improves student achievement. School leaders support teacher development by consistently offering professional development opportunities and providing meaningful feedback.
¡Uni momento, por favor! It seems that someone has not gotten the Frameworks memo. I wonder who, **COUGH COUGH**, **WINK WINK.**

 What would a lay person say if they have read about the shenanigans that DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx and BFF AP Jessica Cruz have engaged in concerning me, and possibly others?

When this was shared on August 7, would any Joe Shmoe from Palookaville see the integrity, the trust, the inspiration, and the meaningful feedback? Would Mr Schmoe find the same values in this? Or this?

One would hazard to guess that the answer would be an unequivocal no way!

But let's give DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx and BFF AP Jessica Cruz the benefit of the doubt for just an itty bitty moment. Perhaps we don't have enough information to make an informed opinion, or enough information to confirm a fact.

But first a little background info.

As reported here on December 3, 2013, the erstwhile and multi-talented Betsy Combier filed a FOIL request in September 2012 for Coviello's any and all emails regarding me. Betsy felt she was quite thorough in using many keywords. But alas, they were one step ahead of her.

In an email in September 2012 from BFF AP Jessica Cruz to DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154, BFF AP Jessica Cruz suggested to DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 that all future emails regarding me should be use the honorific, "Mr."

Now I am not a member of the legal profession, I do happen to be Jewish, and I can assume that this is not kosher behavior. Can this be obstruction of justice as some have suggested? I can't say, nor is it my place to make either an assumption or pass judgement.

But these questions can be asked...

Why were they so afraid of what Betsy would find out and why would they use a pseudonym for me? 

In a school that still consistently has almost 90% of students across all testing grades in both Math and ELA  put so much energy into what some might also call a cover up?

Are there any other teachers from the 2012-2013 school year that were U-rated for the year subject to what I was subject to? 

Are there any other teachers from the 2013-2014 school year that were rated ineffective or developing for the year subject to what I was subject to? 

Are these kind of behaviors by administrators done in a vacuum or is it systematic throughout the system? Knowing that if we all had a dime for every time we hear a teacher say, "My principal set me up," we would be quite wealthy, if this is just the tip of the iceberg in a systematic problem, how many years do we go back to see if this was done and be sure accused teachers are exonerate?

What did District 7 Superintendent Yolanda Torres know and when did she know it? More importantly, was she the one orchestrating this conspiracy? 

Inquiring minds want answers.

What Did District 7 Superintendent Yolanda Torres Know and When?

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In 1973, Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, during the Watergate hearings asked John Dean this question in regards to President Nixon's knowledge of the Watergate break-in;
"What did the President know, and when did he know it? 
In 2014, the same question should be asked of Bronx District 7 Superintendent Yolanda Torres.

What did Yolanda know and when did she know about the diabolical (here, here, here, and here) plot that DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal of PS 154 in the Bronx and BFF AP Jessica Cruz were involved in against me and possibly other staff members at the school?

I had spoken to Yolanda on or about July 17, 2012 sharing my concern about the technology, or the lack of technology, at PS 154 and also asked her if she can bridge any differences between myself and DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal. Unbeknownst to myself at the time, the plot was put into play on August 24, 2012.

It is only natural to wonder what Yolanda's involvement is in this sordid conspiracy. One can only look at the past and wonder what machinations she has involved her self in.

From the debacle of Linda Amil-Irizarry as principal of PS 154, to the abuse of students by former 154 AP Derrick Townsend and the subsequent cover-up, the arrest for stealing funds of the principal at PS 31, to the continuing educational failure in District 7, admonishments from the New York State Department of Eduction, to allowing co-locations, to the stealing of time at PS 162 involving former Principal Marilyn Manzolillo and her AP Greg Papadopoulos (In which Papadopoulos only received a letter to the file) and the subsequent death of an AP at 162, and the brain drain (Teachers leaving in droves) at PS 154, one can seriously call into question Yolanda's integrity.

If she was not part of the plot planning then she has hired to rouge administrators and is incapable of leading a school district. If she was part of the planning, then she is still incapable of being a district leader and has serious ethical issues.

These questions must be asked of Yolanda Torres;

Was she the one who facilitated the coming together of DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal and Michael Agona?

In June 2012, myself and several other staff members at PS 154 went to meet with her about our concerns about DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal. She seemed generally taken aback by some of our concerns. Was the fact that myself and others, either immediately or soon after rated U or brought up on 3020-a charges, orchestrated by her? 

If Yolanda was involved in the conspiratorial plot against me (And possibly other teachers) who at Tweed did she confer with or get permission from? 

At what point will Yolanda's leadership, or lack of, for District 7 be looked into? 

And again, what did Yolanda know and when did she know it? 

The ELA test scores at PS 154 are worse now (Page 355, and remember, this years cut scores were lower!) with DR Alison Coviello, Ed.D and Principal than before

Where is Yolanda?




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