Last September 27, the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA) voted for Bill de Blasio, and Richard Carranza to relinquish control of New York City schools to the state. The vote is a temporary measure until the Coronavirus pandemic is over in New York City. The union represents 6400 employees in the school district.
CSA also encouraged de Blasio and Carranza to look for help from the state of New York. The vote according to Newsweek was “due to failure to New York City through the safe and successful reopening of schools.” Bill de Blasio was going to open the schools but received negative feedback from the teachers.
He decided to go with online school instead of in-class learning.
Schools are reopening
The parents want the kids back in the classroom according to polling data. The educators threatened a strike if they reopened. The schools staying closed affects 1.1 million students in New York City.
The original opening date was September 10, 2020. They delayed the opening after teachers threatened to strike due to health concerns over COVID-19. The younger students went back to school on September 21, 2020.
The district is working under a hybrid system. A hybrid system has the students split between online and in-person classes. The hybrid system allows the students to social distance themselves while attending school.
The CSA claims that district leaders were encouraging school principals to lie about their staffing levels. They also helped the principals cover up the reporting. New York City schools are understaffed by 1200 teachers because of district requirements for opening schools after COVID-19.
Parents want answers that address shortcomings
The parents are angry but are not a part of the CSA’s action. The city keeps changing their decision at the last minute, creating anger among the parents. The decision to keep the schools closed happened days before they scheduled them to open.
The city government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the teacher’s union.
The MOU allowed more educators to work from home instead of in the classroom. This understanding will give in-person schools less access to teachers and increase their shortage.
CSA was angry that they were not a part of the agreement. The union did not know about the agreement with the teachers. According to the New York Post, CSA President Mark Cannizzaro stated, “we had no knowledge that MOU was signed and about to be released.” Bill de Blasio’s administration agreed to the memorandum.
Reaction from the New York City Department of Education
The Department of Education denies a shortage of teachers in the school district. They state that the schools are on track to be operational when all students return to school.
New York Post reports, Miranda Barbot, department of education spokesperson, claiming, “for the past six months, we’ve worked with our labor partners to navigate completely uncharted waters and accomplish our shared goal of serving students this fall.”
The CSA says that the school districts are short 1200 teachers from 200 different principals. The Department of Education states that they are on target. One of these groups has to be wrong.
Earlier, the CSA accused the district of reporting incorrect numbers. The announcement of no-confidence came on Sunday morning. The classrooms are getting ready to open.
A major discrepancy this close to opening the schools between the union and the school district.
The government worked with the teachers, but not the principals. The next meeting about schools should occur between the CSA and de Blasio.
A meeting could help resolve the discrepancy in staffing and help them better prepare for the school year. The no-confidence vote makes that seem unlikely. The state will have to move in and take control and make sure that the school is ready for this school year.
CSA has ruled out striking. Principals are important parts of the education system. A strike would make them seem like they do not care about the students and reopening their schools.
The parents are angry because of the timing of the announcement. The announcement is close to opening, although about fifty percent of the parents are opting for online learning.
The New York Post is quoting parents, almost begging to get their kids back into school. Neisha Jordan said, “just let my child go back to school. She’s been out of school since March. She wants to see her friends, see her teachers. That’s all I care about. … Let’s just move forward and see how it goes.”
The parents want the two parties to work it out. They claim that this announcement is too late to cancel the opening again. Parents want the district to open and figure out the best way to overcome the shortage of teachers after the opening.
