Protest Klein's Firing Squad:
Teachers Light Up DOE

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Hundreds of Teachers turned out Nov. 26 for a quietly organized candlelight vigil in front of the Department of Education to protest an initiative to help Principals fire Teachers they believe are incompetent.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow TRANSYLVANIA TWEAKS TWEED: Hundreds of Teachers bearing torches lined the sidewalks outside the Department of Education last week to protest a new unit aimed at easing barriers to terminating tenured Teachers. 'We have the responsibility for educating the kids,' United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten told the crowd. 'You, Department of Education, take responsibility for treating us with respect.'

The sidewalk demonstration snaked from the DOE's main Manhattan building on Chambers St. down the block towards the Municipal building and around the corner to the IRT subway station on Centre St. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten made an effort to keep the vigil subdued, but the Teachers' anger flared up in outbursts and chants throughout the event.

"It takes the wind out of your sails," said Rocco Gentile, who teaches history at the Secondary School for Journalism in Brooklyn. "It's such a difficult job, and then you're constantly being criticized. It's demoralizing."

Strong Reaction

UFT officials reacted with their strongest criticism in months after the DOE announced, in a letter to Principals early last month, the new $1 million Teacher Performance Unit. Led by a former prosecutor and staffed with five lawyers, the unit will help Principals walk through the contractual system needed to fire tenured Teachers who they believe cannot or will not perform their duties up to standard.

The vigil was organized after the UFT received numerous complaints from Teachers as news of the effort hit the schools. Those assembled held candles in a light misting rain and sang union songs before the speeches began.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow 'STOP THE BLAME GAME': Chapter Leader Dolores Lozupone said the Teachers at her Bay Ridge, Brooklyn school were not concerned about losing their jobs. But she came to a candlelight vigil to protest the new Teacher Performance Unit, which will help Principals fire tenured Teachers they believe are incompetent, because she thinks the new policy is gratuitous.

"The school year started with some glimpses of hope and with lots of chatter and talk about collaboration," said Ms. Weingarten, "and now, in the last few weeks, we are in danger of it deteriorating into a climate of fear."

The crowd included Teachers who have been sitting in Rubber Rooms for months, after being removed from their schools for alleged misconduct. Many of them feared that the new unit was aimed at them.

But the majority of the attendees were active Teachers, several of whom said they were not concerned for their own jobs. Dolores Lozupone has taught for 20 years and is the chapter leader at the high-performing P.S. 185 in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. She argued that the contract already included a provision that allowed Principals to fire bad Teachers. "The people in my school aren't concerned about themselves," she said, 'but they object to the approach, which is looking to blame Teachers."

'A Punch in the Gut'

Michele Ferraro, a science Teacher at P.S. 204 in Brooklyn, said that the educators and administrators at her school worked well together and that her Principal was committed to treating Teachers fairly. She asserted that there were other ways to deal with instructors who were struggling. "We did have a colleague who got [an unsatisfactory] rating," the 15-year veteran recalled, "but the administration sat down and talked with her and offered her help, and she accepted the help. The next year was a totally different year."

DOE officials have argued that the lawyers are only in place to deal with a minority of Teachers, after other interventions have proved ineffective. But Ms. Weingarten called the announcement of the new initiative a "punch in the gut."

JOEL I. KLEIN: Don't let me be misunderstood.

"No one wants Teachers who do not pull their weight," the union leader told the crowd. "Nor should anyone want good Teachers to leave the system because they feel like their work is neither appreciated nor respected."

Klein's Letter

Just hours before the vigil, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein released an open letter to Teachers seeking to reframe the new program. He expressed his and Mayor Bloomberg's "deepest gratitude" for the contributions Teachers have made to improving city education over the past five years. Mr. Klein also stated that the Teacher Performance Unit had been "misunderstood and mischaracterized" and that he regretted "the confusion and concern that the public conversation on this issue has caused and, specifically, our role in it."

But he also defended the initiative, asserting that firing only 10 out of 55,000 tenured Teachers last year was insufficient. "[A]s uncomfortable is it may be," the letter continued, "we cannot in good conscience simply ignore the concern when support and development prove unsuccessful."

Ms. Weingarten called the letter a "good step" and said she hoped it was a signal that "he heard us."

Anger Flowed

Whether the Teachers in the crowd had received the letter before the vigil was unclear, but their anger had not yet been assuaged. When City Council Education Chairman Robert Jackson prompted a union chant, the educators shouted back, "UFT! UFT!" pushing the envelope of the 1,000-points of silent light theme.

Councilman John Liu said he was told not to lead any chants, but he drew cheers and applause when he termed the TPU a "high-priced lawyer shark squad."

"Don't circle the Teachers with sharks," he said. "Let Teachers teach."

Ms. Weingarten quieted the crowd when she took the podium for a stern yet even-toned speech. "What we are asking the DOE tonight," she said, "is to take as seriously their responsibility to support us in our jobs as we take, as seriously, our responsibility to teach our kids."