Five Questions from The New Teacher Project

Remember the New Teacher Project? It's the nonprofit that pulled the curtains on a private, seven-month long dispute between the UFT and the DOE over hiring practices — and getting editorial boards to chime in on its side, such as the Post today.

Now TNTP is trying (once again, it was the point of their first report, too) to resolve the Absent Teacher Reserve dispute. This morning they sent out "A Call for Solutions" outlining five main questions, providing TNTP's answers, and asking the city and the union to answer back on where they stand.

Here are the questions:

1. Should mutual consent be required for each teacher placement?
2. Should excessed teachers be required to search for positions?
3. Should there be a limit on the amount of time a teacher can spend in the ATR?
4. Should teachers be permitted to earn tenure while serving in the ATR?
5. What should be the policy for teachers who spend an extended period of time in the reserve pool and are not hired despite interviewing for many positions?

Now the question is, Will either group write back?

Are Teachers Too Protected?

A school war is on, and New York City may have started it. The latest bomb is a report from the D.C. think tank Education Sector concluding that many teachers believe they are actually too protected by their union -- to the point that ineffective teachers end up trapped in classrooms. The money conclusion:

Half of teachers (49 percent) agree that their union “sometimes fights to protect teachers who really should be out of the classroom.” And nearly half (46 percent) say they “personally know a teacher in their building who is past the probationary period but who is clearly ineffective and shouldn’t be in the classroom.”

Could Ed Sector's report change UFT President Randi Weingarten's mind on whether test scores should be allowed as factors for tenure, or whether members of the Absent Teacher Reserve should really stay on the city payroll for life?
One thing to consider: The report also found teachers are more likely in 2008 to say unions are essential than they were in 2003. That goes along with idea that with more "accountability" comes more retribution -- and more need for protection against it.