Friday, July 8, 2011

Asshats Grab Their Ankles While Ruben Brosbe Gets Into the Fetal Position

It seems that bad karma is coming to bite some of the members of Asshats4Education right where they hang their hats.

Apparently, many principals and superintendents are denying or extending tenure. According to a piece in Gotham Schools, many teachers are having their tenure decisions extended--and there is no limit to how many times tenure can be extended (maybe the DOE plans on denying tenure until teachers are ready to retire).

The Asshats, who SO wanted data to be a part of the decision on who to fire in case of layoffs, are some of the very people who are having their tenure decisions deferred or denied because of sub-par data. For example, at PS 61 in Queens, none of the teachers for whom data reports were issued received tenure.

Here's the wrenchingly ironic (and given her membership in Asshats4Education, delicious) tale of tenure for Asshat Samantha Love of Aspirations High School, who had her tenure decision extended:

Along with some of her colleagues, Love and other teachers at Aspirations are members of Educators 4 Excellence, the group of young teachers that advocates for tougher evaluations and changes to layoff rules. “I do believe we should be examining our personal effectiveness, and I don’t think [tenure] should just be a given,” she said. “But the way the process is being carried out is not an objective assessment.

Really, Samantha Love? You and your cronies lobby for rules that could only weaken teachers' rights and protections, and you complain when it happens to you??? Didn't your beloved Asshats plead for an end to seniority protections so that senior teachers could be laid off based upon their performance on the very sort of "objective assessments" that you now whine about? You WANTED value-added scores to cost senior teachers their jobs, and you have the nerve to complain that the self-same data has prevented you from earning tenure? Karma is a real bitch, isn't it?

And where is Asshat Extraordinaire and award winning blogger Ruben Brosbe in all this? Ruben is the guy who tried to sell out his colleagues in the NY Post by claiming that teacher data should be made public. He even posted his own dismal scores for all the world to see (he did, however, wisely become a 3rd grade teacher as they currently do not receive teacher data reports). Did HE receive tenure, or did he receive an extension to his 5th year? Despite his calls for transparency on Gotham Schools, and a promise to discuss his tenure status, he has suddenly disappeared. One assumes he is huddled somewhere in the fetal position, sucking his thumb, wondering how the Asshats could have been so wrong.

Or maybe Ruben DID get his tenure, despite his lousy results. It wouldn't surprise me, as the DOE has been known to reward its loyal toads.

If you're curious, as I am, click on over to Gotham and ask Ruben for yourself. There are many of us discussing this issue over there.

Members of Asshats--just so you know--now that A4E has let you down with a thud, the UFT would love to have you back. We may not be offering free drinks, but we will fight like hell for you. Even for Samantha Love.

9 comments:

NYC Educator said...

Well, E4E may ironically be getting screwed by the very people they enable, but at least they have GothamSchools to highlight everything they say, no matter what, while pointedly excluding folks like you and I.

AsshatForTenureDenial said...

For those who really want to know about Ruben Brosbe, his tenure was also denied. This I can assure you.

Chaz said...

Ruben Brosbe, there is no excuse about you being denied tenure, you just plain suck as a teacher.

You and your E4E friends remind me of George Orwell's book 1984 where the victims sung the praise of the Administration as they were executed.

Anonymous said...

@ Ruben:

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I hope MY union leaves you in the dust after your umpteenth tenure denial.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

zulma said...

Ruben commented on Stephen Lazar's piece on why he's marching in D.C.

http://gothamschools.org/2011/07/08/why-im-marching/

His comment seems to reveal his agony of defeat. What's your take on what Ruben wrote.

Anonymous said...

I say, why don't you fellows leave this Ruben chap be. There are not many individuals among your lot courageous enough to fight for the billionaire point of view. Furthermore, while things may appear bleak in the short run, rest assured that we will find lucrative positions for those few who stand up for our values. However, we'd very much prefer to see most or all of you take this stance, so we could tell you all to bugger off in the end. Bottom line, don't you know.

Mr. Talk said...

Read Ruben's latest blog post. He sure doesn't seem like a guy who's suffering. My guess is that he got tenure--otherwise, why be so silent on the issue? If he'd been denied or extended, it would have been the perfect opportunity for him to throw another self-pity party about his awful teaching.

If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

Pete Zucker said...

NO, it's an opus. He's finished.

Ms. Samantha Love said...

Ironically, "A4E" as you refer to it, is capitalizing off the polarizing language used by so many die-hard union supporters and senior teachers. They brand themselves as a space for teachers to have a conversation about Education reform, where open dialogue might be achieved outside of the "union party line." I see now that it is more complicated than that, and that no one in this debate can be trusted at face value.

As the teacher who you so callously blast in this post, I find it very interesting that an article about a very real and personal hardship has caused so many people to focus on one sentence within that article that gives the wrong impression about my political leanings. I have never participated in E4E policy events because I am fully aware of how uninformed I am about Education policy and all the unsavory ulterior motives that seem to be fueling the current reforms. I joined the organization in good faith based on its title and mission to help educators connect with other educators in order to improve their craft. It can be a space for dedicated teachers to share best practices, conduct professional development to learn from one another and to discuss strategies to ensure that we as educators cannot fall victim to the accusations that are thrown around all too often about "lazy teachers who don't care." I have always communicated this to the founders when they ask for feedback, reiterating that they should create more opportunities to achieve the mission their organization's name sets out and to help teachers learn from one another.

It is a tragedy that we cannot all stand together to advocate for the integrity of our profession and the interests of our students without finger-pointing and name calling. If you truly believed in the mission that the teacher's union stands for you would recognize the
sad fact that someone's hard work has gone unrecognized and their livelihood put in jeopardy.

Old, young, senior, novice -- everyone was new to this profession once, and chances are that if you are still in it after all the trials and tribulations, you want what is best for your students and public education in general. We continue to let the reform debate drive a wedge between teachers and distract from the real victims in this situation -- students who are not getting the education they deserve.