'No Micromanaging'
2nd UFT Charter's Sailing on Freedom

By HOWARD MEGDAL

Literacy Teacher Deatrice Bacchus described her experience at the new United Federation of Teachers' secondary charter school as "more of what I expected when I got into teaching. "There's more engagement with the staff here," Ms. Bacchus said after the first day of school Sept. 5 at 800 Van Siclen Ave. in East New York. "We have weekly meetings, common prep times - there's just a feeling here you don't get from the Board of Ed."

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James 'A FEELING YOU DON'T GET THERE': Literacy Teacher Deatrice Bacchus (right), discussing the new United Federation of Teachers secondary charter school with union President Randi Weingarten, says the atmosphere is vastly different from what she experienced while under the direct control of the Department of Education and 'more of what I expected when I got into teaching.'

Rhapsody in School

Building on the opening of an elementary charter school last year, the UFT secondary school opened for 125 sixth-graders (five classes of 25) and 12 Teachers in the same building as I.S. 166, the George Gershwin Middle School.

Ms. Bacchus was one of the 19 staff members hired out of 1,100 applicants. She'd previously taught in the city system for seven years.

The novelty had not worn off in the classrooms - books were still shrink-wrapped, while bulletin boards represented the vision of each Teacher, rather than adhering to DOE guidelines.

"No more micromanaging of how I set up my classroom - now I can set up my charts as I see fit, and concentrate my time on actually Teaching," said Ed Morrissey, a Literacy Teacher.

After teaching for 10 years at I.S. 278, Mr. Morrissey said he'd learned all he cared to about the effect of top-down management of schools.

"Portfolios were big with the administration," he said, referring to collections of student work. "They would come in and inspect the portfolios, and if they were written in the wrong color, or the names were on the wrong side, I'd have to spend my prep periods fixing them."

Couldn't Handle Truth

He also said his Principal once demanded that every student write an essay on how to improve the school; when the essays were critical of the administration, the Principal refused to let Mr. Morrissey put them up.

"It's all part of our core values - respect for the people who have given their lives to educate these kids," UFT President Randi Weingarten said in a press conference that afternoon. "When you really respect and value people, and sweat the small stuff, it becomes a really popular place." While the parameters of the UFT's contract with the city are followed, the operation of the school differs greatly. There is no Principal or hierarchical structure; Drew Goodman's title is School Leader, but he merely guides discussions with the Teachers, who vote on most procedural decisions.

Mr. Goodman had been an Assistant Principal in District 22 before coming to the UFT charter school. He said he was working hard to make sure his relationship with the Teachers was supportive, not adversarial, and the Teachers echoed that sentiment.

"If Drew stands in the back of my classroom, I know he's here to help," Mr. Morrissey said. "Before, if my Principal stood back there, I knew I was in trouble."

Mr. Goodman expressed appreciation for the positive sentiments, saying, "I see they share my vision."

Two Kinds of Education

His vision, he said, is two-fold. "First, we need to prepare these kids academically for college," he said. "In addition, we're giving them a character education. We're preparing them to be outstanding citizens in this community."

While pointing out that he is "technically, the only administrator" at the school run by the Teachers' union, Mr. Goodman said he was not worried about needing to discipline staff should it become necessary.

"I feel like I won't need to set the bar," he said. "I don't need to get our Teachers engaged. They took it upon themselves to count down to Day 1, rather than beginning the countdown to 180 [the required days in a school year]."

Part of that enthusiasm, Mr. Goodman pointed out, stems from the two weeks of staff development before the start of the school year, a daily half-hour of common preparation time with fellow staff members, and vastly improved technological resources.

"We have six desktop computers in every classroom, and wireless [connection] throughout the school," he said. "At my old school, technology was the Xerox machine, if it was working."

Busy First Day

Of course, the only school administrator had plenty to do. He'd arrived at the school before 7 a.m. When asked about his departure time, he shrugged and said wearily, "Maybe midnight?"

Ms. Weingarten viewed the attitude of the staff, along with the success of the UFT elementary school, which encompasses kindergarten and first grade this year, as proof that "you can figure this all out within the construct of a labor agreement."

She was also quick to point out that these schools harken back to former UFT President Albert Shanker, whom Ms. Weingarten credited for starting the conversation on charter schools.

"We've never been against the concept of charter schools," Ms. Weingarten said. "What we are against is to have a school where Teachers do not have a voice."