New York City’s vaccine mandate, which required anyone who works in a public school or a community-based center contracted by the Department of Education (DOE) to have gotten at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to continue working, finally went into effect on Monday, October 4, 2021. Although Mayor Bill de Blasio… Continue reading NYC Vaccine Mandate Doesn’t Stop Teachers Protesting Or Parents Debating
I am exhausted. Stressed. Frustrated. Sad. The “back and forth” with the vaccine mandate for educational staff is just ridiculous. Three days before the “official“ start of school, the mayor proclaimed that CBO Pre-K teachers and staff who were contracted with the DOE would have NO testing option. We would be forced to get the… Continue reading NYC Educator Says, “Enough! Who Will Teach Our Neediest Children?”
Earlier this week, we printed a post from New York City public school parents willing to go on strike to demand a remote learning options for their children, and from those who insisted it wasn’t necessary and would only make the upcoming year worse. One incensed parent wrote me: TM: Parents are afraid of unvaccinated… Continue reading Parents Stand Up For Teachers In Possible NYC School Covid Strike
After attending a HUGE “Teachers for Choice” rally at City Hall last Wednesday, I really saw firsthand how the vaccine mandate movement was building. Thousands were there and countless news outlets. Teachers for Choice is led by Michael Kane, a DOE teacher who has left the UFT due to these mandates, and is encouraging others… Continue reading NYC Issues Vaccine Mandate: Teachers For Choice Push Back
(This is a guest post by Joseph S. Lento, a licensed Teacher of Orchestral Music and School District Administration. In 2014, President Obama named him a National Teacher of Arts and Humanities. Joseph also has commendations from Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. In 1999, he was named NYC Public Schools Bronx County… Continue reading You Don’t Have to Reinvent the Wheel, You Just Have to Learn to be a Great Driver: A Teacher’s Graduation Advice To Students
Part #1 Part #2 For decades, Community Based Organization preschools in NYC have been the main source of “PreK For All” seats for the city’s children, and are now single-handedly making the “3K” expansion that the mayor brags about a reality. Most of the children and families served in CBOs are the most underprivileged in… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks Out: Equity For ALL? (Part 3 of 3)
Part One Most Community Based Organization preschool staff, like myself, worked in person, throughout the past year, when many in the NYC education field “went remote.” I am the leader of a CBO pre-k in the Bronx that has served the community for over 70 years. Recently, the mayor and city council didn’t think school… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks Out: “Essential” Workers? (Part 2 of 3)
“NO 3K Without Equal Pay!” This is a slogan that was written several years back on a sign that has been gathering dust in an office closet at the Bronx Community Based Organization (CBO) preschool in a NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) development where I work. Guess it may be time to take it out again,… Continue reading NYC Teacher Speaks out: City Still Falls Short on CBO Pre-K Pay Parity Promises (Part 1 of 3)
My Brooklyn colleague, Marina Kolmanovsky, wrote this about the prospect of requiring Pre-K teachers to get vaccines before returning to work: While my view on the Covid vaccine might be an unpopular one, it is nevertheless my opinion, and I have no desire to get it. My site has been reopened since June 4, 2020… Continue reading Two Pre-K Teachers’ Views on Mandatory COVID Vaccines
During his speech to joint sessions of Congress on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, President Joe Bident promised “universal free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds, as well as two years of free community college for young adults.” Neither proposal is new to New York City. Just as neither proposal is exactly free. Governor Cuomo introduced… Continue reading Who Will Pay For NYC’s “Free” College and “Free” Pre-K?
