The New York City teachers' union proposed yesterday cutting to six months the time it takes to remove incompetent teachers, speeding up a process that can now drag on for years. þþAs part of a broad overhaul of the disciplinary process and evaluation system for teachers, the union president, Randi Weingarten, also called for ending so-called rubber rooms, where more than 200 teachers facing charges of malfeasance are sent to languish, some for years, while still receiving full pay. She proposed the appointment of a special master and a task force of pro bono lawyers to clear the backlog of cases. þþÿYes, this is a union president who is going to talk about removing teachers who should not be teaching,ÿ Ms. Weingarten said in a breakfast speech to the Association for a Better New York. ÿAnd I do that without hesitation, because this a union that is not about just keeping people. We are about keeping qualified people.ÿþþMs. Weingarten's public effort to reach out to the Bloomberg administration and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein seemed to signal a thaw after months of icy relations with the city, a state of affairs that had begun to draw criticism from the business and nonprofit communities. þþBusiness leaders, in particular, who have donated more than $160 million to the administration's ambitious plans to overhaul the schools, have raised concerns that the constant bickering with the union would doom the mayor's efforts. þþÿI want you all to know that I fully briefed Joel Klein last night on this speech,ÿ Ms. Weingarten said, ÿbecause I want to do in every way possible what I can to extend my hand in partnership, and my members' hands in partnership. We want the city school system to be the crown jewel of public education in the United States of America.ÿþþChancellor Klein's response was enthusiastic. ÿI think she has some very positive, constructive proposals,ÿ he said, adding that he looked forward to working out the details in formal contract talks, which are expected to resume next month. þþMayor Michael R. Bloomberg also sounded a conciliatory note. ÿWe're not going to solve the problems of the public schools without a joint effort between teachers and principals and parents, the administration and the general public, and along with the Police Department and school safety officers,ÿ he said. ÿWe are all in this together, and I think that Randi understands that.ÿ þþBusiness leaders were elated at the signs of a truce. þþÿThere is nothing more critical to the reform movement than that the various critical players in the system are on the same page and working together,ÿ said Kathryn S. Wylde, president and chief executive of the Partnership for New York City, a business group that pledged $30 million to the city's new academy for training principals. ÿThis is a very positive move in the right direction.ÿþþMs. Weingarten's proposal calls for expanding an existing peer intervention program for troubled teachers. Under her plan, a teacher in danger of being fired would enter the intervention program for up to 90 days. If the teacher was still ill-equipped to return to the classroom, Ms. Weingarten said, union representatives would counsel the teacher to leave the school system. If the teacher refused, an existing 90-day grievance and arbitration process would begin. Currently, city officials say they must spend at least two years building a case, with a principal giving the teacher two annual unsatisfactory ratings, to stand any chance of dismissing a teacher through the 90-day arbitration process. þþIn her speech, Ms. Weingarten also said that retaining good teachers was even more critical to the future of the public school system than removing the few bad ones. She cited statistics showing escalating retirements among older teachers and high numbers of resignations among new teachers who leave after one or two years. þþÿThe single biggest dilemma the city faces in dealing with the quality of its teaching staff today is how to retain that overwhelming majority of teachers who are highly skilled professionals,ÿ she said, ÿbecause they are leaving in droves.ÿ þþShe added: ÿThis combination of new talented teachers resigning with older more seasoned professionals retiring has become a formula for disaster.ÿ þþMr. Klein said he agreed that the city faced a crisis in retaining good teachers. ÿShe's absolutely right on about that,ÿ he said. To retain good teachers, Ms. Weingarten urged higher pay - ÿthe first step is the one you would expect me to say,ÿ she told her audience - and said the city's primary obstacle to retaining teachers was that base salaries remained 10 percent to 15 percent lower than in surrounding suburbs, despite big raises in the last teachers' contract. þþBut she also stressed working conditions and proposed a new career ladder for teachers, modeled after the medical profession, with teacher interns, teacher residents and a master teacher position for experienced, veteran educators.þþþþ
Source: NY Times
