TeacherStrike2007

Homage To A Great Guy: The Real Deal!

2006-01-29T00:49:00.001-05:00

Inspiring Rikers Teacher Runs Afoul of Jail's Rules

By MICHAEL WINERIP

Published: January 25, 2006, The New York TImes

JEFF KAUFMAN, a teacher at the Rikers Island jail, has a reputation as a good educator who cares about his student inmates. In 2004, without the aid of computers, his students finished first in a citywide stock market game competition against more than 50 high schools.

Jeff Kaufman taught at Island Academy, the Rikers Island jail school, for eight years. After a complaint from the principal, he was removed from Rikers and reassigned despite praise from peers and inmates.

Elizabeth Lesher, who oversees the competition, said that at most schools, "students gather around computers, research stocks via Web sites such as Yahoo Finance, Market Watch or Nasdaq and enter their transactions online."

"The classroom environment at Rikers was very sparse," said Ms. Lesher, a director for the Foundation for Investor Education. "No attractive bulletin boards, no computers with Internet access and no industry specialists visited the classroom to provide investment ideas." Mr. Kaufman's students relied on the newspaper and his class lessons. That, she said, "speaks volumes about the teacher. Obviously I was very impressed."

In 2003, Mr. Kaufman's students won a citywide playwriting competition. In 2000 and 2001, he arranged for the student chorus at Louis Armstrong Middle School in Queens to visit Rikers at Christmas and perform for his students.

Don Murphy, a fellow teacher, said Mr. Kaufman became so popular during his eight years at the jail that in 2004 he was unopposed in the election for union representative at Island Academy, the Rikers school, which serves about 1,000 teenage inmates.

David Lee, an inmate serving time for assault, who earned a General Educational Development diploma with one of the highest scores ever at Rikers, said no teacher worked harder. Mr. Kaufman made special arrangements for Mr. Lee to take college correspondence courses, spent his lunch hours tutoring him and then proctored each of the three-hour exams from Excelsior College.

In July 2003, Mr. Kaufman was off for the summer, but made special trips to Rikers so Mr. Lee could take his next college exam. "All the teachers were on vacation and school didn't begin until September," Mr. Lee wrote in a letter sent to this reporter from Rikers. "But Kaufman comes here to Rikers not once, but twice just so that he could give me the test on a hot summer day. He didn't have to come; he could have stayed home with his wife and kids."

"Mr. Kaufman wasn't only a teacher or test proctor," said Mr. Lee. "He inspired me to aim higher in life."

But on Friday, Mr. Kaufman received notice from his principal that he was no longer permitted to teach at Rikers.

His crime? "Undue familiarity."

Mr. Kaufman had given Mr. Lee his home address so the two could correspond by mail and try to arrange for Mr. Lee to take another of those Excelsior College exams while the inmate was in solitary confinement in the summer of 2004.

There is no allegation of anything improper about the content of those letters. Copies of 20 letters provided to a reporter by Mr. Kaufman and Mr. Lee mainly talked about learning. In one, the inmate thanked the teacher for sending books to him in solitary ("the Bing") and wrote that he was spending so much time reading, up to 12 hours a day, that he was getting headaches. "I don't mind being here at the Bing but I want to be able to take the test," wrote Mr. Lee.

Mr. Kaufman wrote back urging patience, saying that he was trying to work out arrangements with correction officials. "If your head begins to hurt from reading, stop. Your body is telling you it's enough."

How did school and correction officials know that Mr. Kaufman had given out his home address? Mr. Kaufman told them.

On Sept. 12, 2005, the Rikers principal, Frank Dody, sent out a security memo, in which he spelled out in writing, for the first time, what was meant by the prohibition against undue familiarity: "All contact with current/former students outside of the school area (home, upstate facilities) in the form of letters or phone calls must be authorized by the principal."

Mr. Kaufman read the memo, requested authorization and showed the principal a recent letter from Mr. Lee. Within days Mr. Kaufman was yanked from Rikers and placed in a holding room in Brooklyn for teachers under investigation.

Mr. Kaufman says he thinks the real reason he was investigated was that he had testified at a City Council hearing in December 2004 about how bad the Rikers school's services were for inmates being released. "That really upset Frank Dody," Mr. Kaufman says. "He wouldn't talk to me for months. He's using this incident to get me."

Mr. Dody said he was upset, but that's not why there was an investigation. He said that even though he had been principal six years and had only recently spelled out the rules in writing, anyone who had been at Rikers as long as Mr. Kaufman knew you weren't supposed to give out your address. "Teachers here have to live by the corrections rules," Mr. Dody said. "While the rules don't always make sense, even to me, they're in place for a reason, to keep everyone safe."

Mr. Dody acknowledged that the letter Mr. Kaufman showed him had nothing compromising in it. "From my reading of it, I didn't really see anything of any nature that would raise my eyebrows," Mr. Dody said.

Thomas Antenten, a corrections spokesman, said that once the principal made the decision to refer the case, officials had to investigate. "We take undue familiarity very seriously," he said. "Giving an inmate a personal address could lead to deadly consequences."

Inmates like Mr. Lee say Rikers has lost a rare, good teacher. "It was a wrong decision to demote Kaufman," Mr. Lee said. "I'm the one who initiated contact in order to see what options I had in seeking a better education."

David Lee was a 16-year-old junior with a B+ average at Francis Lewis High in Queens in January 2002. He says he got mixed up with the wrong people, and was at a Flushing apartment when a fight broke out and a man was stabbed to death. Mr. Lee pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in return for an eight-year sentence and is being held at Rikers pending the trial of a co-defendant charged with murder.

Within four months at Rikers, Mr. Lee took the G.E.D. In the middle of the test, he says, a brawl broke out and someone threw a chair at him, bruising a rib. Still, he comes from a family of good students, and even bruised, he finished with a top score. His younger sister, Sonia, is an A student in her sophomore year at George Washington University, and travels from Washington every other week to visit her brother in jail, bringing books he requests.

At the Rikers school, Mr. Lee became a favorite. He showed Mr. Murphy, the computer teacher, how to use several desktop publishing programs. He was given a job doing janitorial work. With Mr. Kaufman's help, he took three college business courses and got A's. Neither he nor Mr. Kaufman knew what material was going to be on the tests and which chapters to focus on, so Mr. Lee read everything. "I would read 450, 500 pages of a textbook from cover to cover three to four times so I would truly understand," he said.

AS Mr. Lee was about to take his fourth college exam, in May 2004, he was caught with 17 packs of Newports. Smoking was banned at Rikers in 2003; cigarettes are considered contraband. Mr. Lee said he was offered a "slap on the wrist" if he'd give up his supplier but did not. For each pack of Newports, he was given 15 days in solitary, 9 months altogether in a 6-by-9-foot cell.

Mr. Antenten, the corrections spokesman, said he did not know the details of the case but added that Rikers makes no distinction between cigarettes and heroin when it comes to contraband. "It can lead to disputes between inmates that have bloody consequences," he said.

Mr. Lee said the teacher's letters helped keep him sane those nine months. "Not only did Kaufman help me pursue educational studies, but he offered moral support through the letters," he said.
The illegal letters sent to Mr. Kaufman's home are often quite moving. A July 28, 2004, letter begins with Mr. Lee thanking the teacher for the latest package of books. "You want to know what's funny," wrote Mr. Lee. "Before I was incarcerated, I never used to really read. I could honestly tell you that I read less than 10 books during my life outside and it was during my elementary school years. I wouldn't even bother to look at the cover of a book if I came across one.

"Now that I'm incarcerated, I treasure them. I'm not just talking about novels which enhance your vocabulary and reading comprehension but also self-help books. What I like about self-help books is that from reading just one significant quote which catches your eye, it could change your whole perception of life itself. From reading books you tap into the most brilliant minds of the present and past. In here they're like my most trusted friends."

At times, in the letters, Mr. Kaufman sounds like a stern father. Referring to the cigarette infraction that got Mr. Lee removed from the school and landed him in the Bing, Mr. Kaufman wrote, "We were all upset at your sudden leaving, but we have talked about consequences."

Mr. Kaufman, 50, said his background - he is a Cornell grad, a former police officer and lawyer for the indigent - makes him well-suited for teaching inmates. He will appeal the decision. "It's a place I feel I can be of most use to my students," he said.

In December, after spending more than two months in the Brooklyn holding room, Mr. Kaufman was sent to Queens Academy, where he is mentoring three new teachers. An Education Department spokesman, David Cantor, said Mr. Kaufman would soon be given a job teaching at an alternative high school.

Mr. Dody, the principal, said Mr. Kaufman's removal was solely a Correction Department decision.
But a November 2005 memo by the department's investigator, Capt. Matthew Boyd, indicates that the principal had a significant role. "Dr. Dody reports that he has determined that Mr. Kaufman's actions violate undue familiarity and I concur," the memo says.

Mr. Dody says he's not a doctor and the corrections memo is wrong.

Mr. Lee's younger sister, Sonia, wrote about his jail experiences in a term paper at George Washington that won a top a prize and was featured at a student lecture series. The paper includes the hardships her brother knew growing up, including the suicide of their mother, who suffered from manic depression. Sonia Lee plans to get a master's degree in public policy specializing in the prison system. Her prize paper calls for prisons that devote more resources to rehabilitation and education.

A New Take on 'Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty'

2006-01-22T11:29:00.000-05:00

In these days of 'emotional truth' when reality is fantasy and fantasy is reality; beauty is lying and lying is beautiful, I can only say I am proud to be a teacher, to have students who are so willing and eager to learn. After all, it is not their fault that they forget where the classroom is or where the school is and what time it opens. It is not their fault if they forget a pen, or a notebook or homework. They do remember to take their beeper and cell phone and maybe even a little weed!

In these days of fantasy/reality we know that all these problems are the teacher's fault. If only we could 'motivate them', they would be more disciplined and eager to learn. If only we took more courses, worked more hours, did not have a union, were not so lazy, we would have a highly motivated, highly intelligent student body. I mean even John Stossel weighs in. "Give us a break". Hey , John, do the teachers a favor and 'give us a brake.' Put a brake on it. Save your comments for something you actually know about.

Call a spade a spade and place the blame squarely where it belongs. No need to be politically correct. If we had motivated students to begin with, who respected going to school and believed their right to get a free education was a privilege and an honor, we could motivate them to go further. The basic motivation needs to be there to begin with. Thirty seven minute tutorials will not give many high school students motivation. It may make them even more resentful.

Why on earth are you blaming teachers? We do consider it an honor and a privilege to teach. We are professionals. Do not tell us how to do our job and do not tell us we need to motivate more to get results. Go directly to the student body and inform them of their responsibilities. Tell them, that if they fail a course in high school, their parents will have to pay for them to take the course again. Watch how fast you get results.

Keep blaming the teachers and when the anger erupts, which it will, you will wish that all you had to deal with was the Transit Union!

Why The Transit Workers Can Wage A Better Campaign

2006-01-21T12:59:00.002-05:00

The transit workers can wage a better campaign precisely because they are not so bogged down with extraneous ideas; always asking "what if"? They understand wages; they understand monthly bills and they understand give-backs. They understand what it means to be working class and they are not at all embarrassed to accept their class level. They know they need an advocate and that support comes in the form of a union.

Teachers do not seem to understand that they too are working class. Yes, you can be well educated, well traveled, sophisticated, have a mental health approach to life and still admit you are part of the working class and make choices that are in your best interest.

This teachers contract was simply not in our best interest. It is not always about books and theories and academic knowledge. The transit workers based their decisions on life experience. They don't get fooled; they don't pull the wool over their eyes. They understand that more work for more pay and losing their basic rights (as in right to grieve) is not to their benefit.

Rather than calling them uneducated, why don't we strive to become more educated?

Heads Up to EdzUp!

2006-01-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

How I long to be listed in the 'blogs we hate' column of Edzup! Here I sit, a lonely little blog, no one pays attention to me; only once in a while does someone bother to pen a brief comment. I am so envious of all the other teacher blogs --
NYC Educator, ICE, UTP and now the 'mother' of all teacher blogs:EdzUp -- funny, witty, clever, sarcastic and even speaks French. Couldn't my blog be linked to all these other teacher blogs?

All I want for Christmas 2006 is for NYC teachers to start thinking about a little strike for Christmas 2007. Is that so much to ask? Maybe we need to borrow the transit worker's big cojones since we can't seem to find our own. Bravo to the Transit Workers -- they have a brass set. Attention, teachers -- Heads Up. Lets start looking for our lost cojones. Its a bit of a 'touchy' situation. They seem to have been discarded along with the previous contract.

What Teachers Can Learn From The Transit Workers!

2005-12-23T19:20:00.002-05:00

The TWU has fought with honesty and dignity these past few days. What a pleasure it has been to watch a union leader stand up to power, protect his membership and fight for those who have not yet been hired.
How inspirational it has been to watch workers stand behind a leader they trust, risk their reputation and march in the bitter cold for the respect they deserve.

Where are the teachers? How come we are not hearing from these individuals who have years of education and multiple degrees, protesting as more and more non professional duties are dumped on them along with more time, more students and more supervision?

These past few days, I heard from a number of teachers about how 'these people' were expecting too much, how many did not even have high school diplomas, how they were essentially 'uneducated'.

I beg your pardon? Who said formal education (book learning) was the be all and end all of life? Is it possible that some people are more talented using their hands? Is it possible that others are very intelligent but do not feel comfortable in a classroom setting? How come these 'uneducated' workers understand the concept of givebacks or looking out for new hires or what it means to stand up to bureaucratic power or the right to strike even if some unjust law prohibits it?

Teachers -- who are the real teachers here? Lets learn this lesson well. Maybe these 'uneducated' teachers will show us how to respect ourselves and our profession.

Will you passively accept the next contract as it erodes more of our rights and gives us more tasks which will waste our precious time? Or can we learn a few important lessons from the TWU right now?

What a Difference A Day Makes -- And A Union Leader Who is Not Afraid to Fight!

2005-12-20T21:23:00.000-05:00

One gets a totally different impression of Roger Toussaint and Randi Weingarten. Mr. Touissaint comes across as a serious, caring union leader who understands his membership and puts their needs above his own.

Not so with Ms. Weingarten. She comes across as all image and no substance. Randi cares about her needs first. She loves the idea that she can ride on the coat tails (but not the trains!) of Mr. Toussaint and appear fiery and militant. As long as she does not have to take any risks.

Lets seriously discuss the transit workers? What is the average salary? What are the working conditions? What gives them the strength to fight back? How can the teachers gain that strength?

Toussaint: TWU Local 100 on Strike
Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at 3:00 AM

With a one billion dollar surplus, a contract between the MTA and Transport Workers Union Local 100 should have been a no brainer. Sadly that has not been the case. Our contract expired on midnight Thursday. In an attempt to save mass transit and in deference to our riders, we postponed our deadline and attempted to continue talking to the MTA.From the beginning, the MTA approached these negotiations in bad faith: demanding arbitration before even trying to resolve the contract. And hours before our contract expired, the MTA voted to spend its one billion dollar surplus -- a surplus which we believe continues to be understated by some one hundred million dollars. The MTA knew that reducing health and pension standards at the authority would be unacceptable to our union. They knew there was no good economic reason for their hard line on this issue - not with a billion dollar surplus. But, they went ahead anyway, supported by the Bloomberg administration, which wants to overrun municipal labor unions and all city workers with down pressed wages and gutted health benefits and pension plans.This has been combined with continued attempts by the MTA, joined by the Governor and the Mayor, to intimidate and threaten our members and their families. This is a fight over whether hard work will be rewarded with a decent retirement and over the erosion or eventual elimination of health benefits for working people.It is a fight over dignity and respect on the job; a concept that is very alien to the MTA. Transit workers are tired at being under appreciated and disrespected.The Local 100 Executive Board has voted overwhelmingly to extend strike action to all MTA properties effective immediately. All Local 100 representatives and shop stewards are directed to report to their assigned strike locations picket lines or facility nearest you immediately.To our riders, we ask for your understanding and forbearance. We stood with you to keep token booths open, to keep conductors on the train, and to oppose fare hikes. We now ask that you stand with us. We did not want a strike - the MTA, the governor, and the mayor did.We call on the good will of all New Yorkers, the labor community, and all working people, to recognize that our fight is their fight, and to rally in our support with solidarity activities and events: show the MTA that TWU does not stand alone.Roger Toussaint

80 West End Ave., New York, New York 10023 (212) 873-6000

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Can We Align Ourselves with the CSA Membership against Bloomberg/Klein?

2005-12-07T20:32:00.001-05:00

This is a serious question that I would like to pose for discussion.

I know that many, many teachers have had serious issues with their Asst. Principal or Principal. However, as a group, can we align ourselves with APs and Principals against Bllomberg/Klein? Or, are the principals inherently part of this regime; the foot soldiers who carry out the policies?

On the surface, the struggle seems to be the same. Principals, APs and teachers all face the issues of micromanagement, more time for money, loss of autonomy and professionalism and increased accountability

Can we stand together to fight for our common goals or are the differences far greater than the similarities?

Your comments are appreciated.

We Already Have a Sixth Period!

2005-12-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

What was I thinking? The ten minutes added to our schedule and the responsibilities involved in this class of 'small group instruction' already mean a 6th period. It is a responsibility that means an aim, a lesson plan, taking attendance and being observed. The only difference is the period will be 10 minutes shorter than the other periods. In high schools, we are talking about 180 students which means 180 relationships each day. Even if a student does not show up, we still have the responsibility of tracking them down.

Does Mayor Bllomberg-Napoleon deal with 180 people each day and students, no less? A little bald man with an obsession for power spent close to $80 million to get re-elected. Just imagine what the school system and the teachers could have done with that money!

"I Don't Get No Respect!"

2005-12-03T02:27:00.000-05:00

Monday morning quiz:

1. Scenario #1. Teacher A hands out an assignment a student does not like. The student complains to teacher B who is upset because the student is upset. Teacher B (who is in a different department) now goes to her own Asst. Principal to complain about Teacher A ,( whom she does not know),who gave an assignment (that she has not seen). The Asst. Principal (who is in permanent "I love to get teachers in trouble" mode) now goes to Teacher A's Asst. Principal to report teacher A.

a.) Why didn't Teacher B go directly to Teacher A (perhaps with the student) to discuss the issue?

2. Scenario #2. Teacher C is disturbed by behavior a student exhibits at the end of gym class and looks for the student during the following period. The teacher finds the student who is now in Teacher D's class and asks to speak to him. Teacher D goes directly to her own Asst. Principal to get help in dealing with Teacher C. ?????????

a.) Why didn;t the teacher D simply deal with Teacher C ?

b.) Why do teachers think they have to lean on their Asst. Principal in order to resolve even the smallest problem?

3. In paragraph form, in comments to this blog, please discuss why teachers seem to defer to their Assistant Principal when making even the slightest decision and why some teachers have no problem in reporting their colleagues and getting them in trouble?

4. How can teachers become more independent and confident in their own professionalism and decision making?

5. Can this self awareness lead to more 'unity' and respect among teachers and help us to organize before the next contract negotiations.

Just a reminder that for many of us, a sixth period will mean an organized, well planned strike regardless of the Taylor Law.

A Support Network for Active New York City Teachers

2005-11-14T19:36:00.000-05:00

This blog is intended for active New York City teachers who are worried and concerned about the new contract and how it will affect them.

Teachers are asked to express their concerns and to address other teacher's issues as accurately as possible.

The hierarchical, lock step system teachers work under seems to have lowered our sense of self esteem and professionalism. Many teachers feel unappreciated and unduly criticized by Assistant Principals, parents and/or students. For some, this raises their sense of self doubt about their effectiveness in the classroom.

Before we can stand up for ourselves and demand a contract we deserve, we have to take back our confidence. We have to believe in who we are and that we are capable as educators. We do not need constant staff development, observations and supervision.

As teachers, we have our own theories and ideas about what works in the classroom. These ideas should receive the utmost respect. Faith and trust is placed in one's doctor, lawyer or accountant. As you develop a relationship with them, you do not question their every action. Their 'supervisor' does not sit in on a session to 'observe' nor do they conduct an 'open school night' in which some clients tell them how to be better doctors or lawyers.

Yet, as teachers, we are always open to comments from parents who will tell us they do not agree with our philosophy to students who tell us we cannnot teach.

Lets take back our self respect as educated professionals. We chose this profession because we believed we had ideas to teach and could make a difference. We are now faced with very disresepectful students (not all), disrespectful Assistant Principals, a disrespectful media that thinks nothing of ridiculing teachers day in and day out (eg: NY Post) and a disrespectful general public that believes we have a job with a lot of time on our hands.

Lets take back our confidence, our self respect and our ability to fight back! Next time, lets not allow a Mayor, a chancellor and our own union to run us over with a contract that does not work for all teachers! Why didn't we get a raise for the sake of a raise? What does it have to do with "these economic times" or DC 37 or policemen or firemen? Why did we have to give back so much to get so little?

Don't we,as teachers, deserve more?