Holding candles aloft, several hundred UFT-represented educators gathered outside the Department of Education’s Tweed headquarters on Nov. 26 for a somber vigil to protest the establishment of a Teacher Performance Unit made up of lawyers and retired principals and led by a former prosecutor.
“This vigil was intended to demonstrate we take our responsibility for educating kids seriously, and the DOE should take its responsibility for treating teachers with respect seriously,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten.
Hours before the early evening vigil, Chancellor Klein sent a conciliatory letter to teachers in which he said he regretted the DOE’s role in sowing confusion and concern about the initiative. “I announced steps to provide schools the support they need to handle the real burden of designing and providing intensive assistance to struggling tenured teachers – and then, but only then, take action if those efforts are unsuccessful over a reasonable period of time,” Klein wrote. “To describe these modest steps as something bigger than it is, I believe, represents an unfair characterization that serves only to sow unwarranted concern.”
Referring to the letter, Weingarten remarked, “I hope it is a signal that he has heard us and that the ‘blame the teacher’ routine will stop and we will get back to working together to educate kids.”
