Funny thing about the agreement to prevent layoffs
For readers arriving from Gotham Schools – no, it was not canceled; I was planning to apply this coming fall. And yes, I supported the agreement.
I may be the only teacher in NYC who is hurt by the no-layoff agreement
After months of Bloomberg threatening layoffs of teachers, there will be none. He’s been moving towards them for two years. And we said all along, layoffs were not necessary. And we were right.
What did yesterday’s deal do? We’ll have to look in the fine print to see if there’s any fine print. But what everyone knows now:
- No layoffs.
- Redeployment of ATRs (this one especially, we want to read about the details. )
- Extra resources from the City Council and the DoE (ok, I’d like more details here, too)
- One year suspension of study sabbaticals for 2012-13
So, #1 is fantastic news, #3 is probably great (extra resources from the DoE? I don’t know that I understand what that means). #2, as it involves ATRs, I understandably want to read the details; these are, along with probationers, our most vulnerable members.
And study sabbaticals? Almost no one takes those any more. And just for one year, 2012-13. Who was planning to take a sabbatical that year anyway?
Me.
Hey, them’s the breaks. I just think it’s ironic that of all the concessions to make, and of all the years to make it…
JD2718 
Care to share how you were going to spend your sabbatical?
A curriculum development project. I have been working on a proposal – it was not yet ready, but the rough draft has gotten favorable feedback (substantial, useful, of value to a wide range of schools).
Most people do study sabbaticals, but I would have felt better about producing something of real value.
Thanks for asking.