Teachers' Union passes a vote of no confidence to the mayor of New York: demands to transfer control of schools to the state

Full-time education in schools in New York is again in question. The New York City Teachers' Union has passed a vote of no confidence in the city and is demanding that the state's Department of Education intervene. The details are shared by the publication NBC New York.

The union representing New York City principals and other school administrators, a few days before most students were due to return to school, passed a vote of no confidence in the city’s Mayor Bill de Blasio and School Chancellor Richard Carranza.

Also, representatives of the trade union said that control over schools in New York, in their opinion, should be the responsibility of the state. "The Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA) is urging Mayor Bill de Blasio to transfer control of the Department of Education during the pandemic and seek immediate intervention from the New York State Department of Education," said a September 27 statement.

The vote came the day after the mayor announced an agreement to allow educators to work remotely if they come into contact with COVID-19 patients at home. Such a decision would negatively affect the teaching process in New York schools, which are already suffering from a lack of staff.

The agreement with the teachers came four days before the reopening of elementary schools on Tuesday, September 29.

“I think parents need to make sure that any student who comes to school will receive the utmost care,” said Mark Cannizzaro, president of the school principals union, during a conference call.

On the subject: New York schools will switch to blended learning in the fall: the essence of innovation

Among the union's main concerns, Cannizaro said, are decisions to open schools made by city officials without prior notice to school administrators. Cannizaro says school principals were unaware of the deal with the United Federal of Teachers and were forced to make last-minute changes.

Because of this, some schools were forced to change their plans at the last minute. For example, the management of Tottenville High School on Staten Island (Tottenville High School) on Saturday announced a full transition to a virtual learning format.

“Over the past six months, we have worked with our partners to travel completely uncharted paths and achieve our common goal of serving students this fall. We will continue this work to ensure safety and health for everyone. More children will sit at school desks in New York this week than in any other major American city. It is a testament to the importance of personal learning, ”Miranda Barbot, spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education, said Sunday afternoon.

More and more schoolchildren in New York have chosen full-time education as the school year approaches. So, last week 46% of schoolchildren were going to return to their desks, compared with 42% the week before. But kindergarten and special education students who can resume schooling are only a fraction of the nearly half a million students.

Recall that the mayor of New York faced many problems, seeking to resume classes in city schools. The biggest obstacle on the way of the mayor was the teachers' union, which threatened to go on strike. It took the mayor a while to negotiate with the unions representing teachers and principals.

As a result, New York will become the only state in America where children will sit at their desks this fall. Bill de Blasio, commenting on this, stressed that "it is important to do everything right." “It will not always be easy, and there will be difficult moments along the way, but we are going to do it,” the mayor said of plans to open schools.

Daily Percentage of Positive Tests by New York Region

With all of New York State in some stage of reopening schools, a particular focus has been placed on daily monitoring of test results in each region. This will allow potential hot spots to be identified even before they appear. For the latest countrywide results, click here.

As previously wrote ForumDaily New York:

• New York City Department of Education published calendar for the upcoming school year... According to the document, the academic year starts on Monday, September 21.
• Recall that in the fall, schools in New York will resume their work. But they will function in a new way: students will be able to attend classes several days a week, the rest of the time they will study online. You can learn more about this by going to here to register:.
• Earlier, the mayor of New York refused to postpone the opening of schools in the city, but promised that there will be a certified nurse in each educational institution.