DC 37 Sharpens Test Skills
Taking Members to School

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

Barbara Kairson expected heightened interest in District Council 37's civil service preparation classes after a court decision endangered provisional members' jobs, but she wasn't entirely prepared for the 3,000 members who showed up last fall to take classes for the Office Associate exam.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James DETERMINED TO SCORE HIGHER: District Council 37 member Bouchra Elsayed took back-to-back civil service exam courses recently to prepare for tests being given by the city. He is one of thousands of members flooding the union's education classes. 'It trained me how to think for a civil test,' he said. 'They are not always so straightforward.'

DC 37's Education Fund has been inundated with members signing up for every exam-preparation course the union offers as provisional employees in particular look for ways to cope with a New York State Court of Appeals decision last May that prohibited contract protections for provisionals, some of whom have worked for the city for decades.

'Protecting Their Jobs'

"They are looking to protect their positions," said Ms. Kairson, the director of DC 37's education fund. "We've seen an increase this year in our test-preparation activity even over last year, and I think that is a direct result of that decision."

Provisionals are hired when a city agency needs to fill a slot and no one is available who has taken the appropriate civil service exam for that title. DC 37 had negotiated a guarantee that those who served for at least 24 months could not be fired without a hearing, but the court decision shot down that part of the contract. It ordered the city to abide by the state Civil Service Law, which mandates a limit of nine months of employment for provisional workers.

While there have not been mass layoffs in any agencies, several have moved to terminate provisionals and replace them with permanent civil servants who have passed the required city exams. The Human Resources Administration, for example, proposed laying off and replacing 55 provisional Clerical Aides last fall, although it eventually dropped the number to 14.

WANDA WILLIAMS: Defensive striving.

Legislation signed by Governor Spitzer Jan. 28 and supported by both the union and the Bloomberg administration committed the city to giving more exams, creating more lists, and reducing the proportion of provisional employees to 5 percent within the next five years. It has long been roughly 10 percent of the municipal workforce.

'Huge Problem' Looms

"This is a partnership," said DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams. "We each understood the significance and the huge problem it would create if we did not find a legislative solution."

But meanwhile, there are currently about 31,000 provisionals working in the 300,000-strong municipal workforce who do not have the same rights as civil servants. Most of those provisionals are DC 37 members.

'Nothing to Lose'

Bouchra Elsayed, a member of DC 37's Local 1549, decided he wasn't taking any chances. He heard about the courses from a co-worker and found his way to a packed 400-person auditorium in Murry Bergtraum High School in lower Manhattan on a cold December night. "I thought I'd give it a shot," Mr. Elsayed said. "I had nothing to lose, and it's free anyways."

The long-time city worker took the Clerical Associate prep courses that month and the Eligibility Specialist classes in January. He has since taken both tests and believes that the classes improved his score. "The teachers helped to bring the students' attention to so many tips and tricky questions," he said. "The civil service exams test the intelligence, and they try to twist the questions to make sure a person can follow and can read carefully."

DC 37's Education Fund keeps track of city postings for upcoming tests and their filing periods. It times the classes to allow members to prepare, usually a six-to-eight-week course or an eight-to-12-week course. Members can spend two hours two nights a week in one of seven borough locations, or attend four-hour sessions at the union's downtown Manhattan headquarters on Saturdays.

Ms. Kairson, who began working at the fund 23 years ago, said that sometimes the staff decides what classes to hold based on member requests. Other times locals will call and ask for a prep class. If the exam is promotional, a mailing goes out to the affected members alerting them to the class.

Confidence Boost

More than 200 members just finished a prep course at the end of February for Computer Systems Manager and Computer Operations Manager, tests that the city has not given for 15 years.

"Many members have not been in school or taken a test in a long time," the education director said. "The courses teach them test-taking skills and help give them the confidence they may need to pass."

The union has always focused on classes that will allow members to qualify for better-paying titles, even before the court decision made the situation more urgent. Ms. Kairson stresses that her philosophy is that the fund should be engaged in the pursuit of education, not simply training.

Last year the 42 full-time employees at the fund served 12,000 members with counseling, courses and educational materials between July 2006 and June 2007. About two-thirds of those members attended some of the classes taught by 150 part-time teachers employed by the union.

Partners With HHC

Some members come in because more responsibilities have been added to a title. The union has a partnership with the Health and Hospitals Corporations to help members who want to apply for promotions. Those skills classes are often held in member hospitals, such as Jacoby in The Bronx and Kings County in Brooklyn.

"They are interested in those courses where they can see how the degree can be used," said Ms. Kairson. "Members may not have the time or money to obtain a [bachelor's] degree, but they are interested in college credits that they can use in the future or to qualify for a different level."

Some of the classes are vocational, such as those focused on health care, while others are academic, teaching basic math and writing skills. Language classes, including Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, are very popular, as employees in libraries, hospitals and schools find that language skills help tremendously at work.

Other members use the skills outside of work life. One woman in a sign-language class is now signing for congregants during services at her church. Another man in the class wanted to be able to communicate with his grandson who was born deaf.

Test the Priority

But for many members, test preparation is foremost in their mind. Mr. Elsayed said that going to classes at night could be time-consuming, but that the instructor in his Clerical Associate class managed to keep the people's attention.

"Sometimes people after work come in very tired," he said, "but I think the teacher managed to have the classes lively and involved. Teaching is a skill; you have to control the crowd without making them hate you or getting them bored."

Most DC 37 members who work more than 17-1/2 hours a week qualify for the free education benefits. More information is available by calling DC 37's Education Fund at 212-815-1700, or visiting www.dc37.net.