One Hand Washes the Other:
As UFT Endorses Candidate,
Senate OKs Pension Increase
By Henry J. Stern
February 15, 2008
New York Civic has always been particularly interested in questions involving ethical behavior by city and state officials, and persons or corporations who do business with the city and the state.
The most grievous ethical violations involve bribery and extortion. Taking money or giving money in exchange for the passage of legislation or the approval of contracts is morally wrong. When the money goes to an individual, it is a crime, although one that is rarely punished. When the money goes to a political organization, the transaction is considered legal.
"Two weeks after the state's largest teachers union gave Senate Republicans a boost by endorsing their candidate in a critical special election race, Republican lawmakers fast-tracked a bill that would allow New York City teachers to retire with full benefits five years sooner than they can now."
A Democratic source said it was the GOP that was holding up the teachers union, that the Senate had promised to pass it last fall but was holding it up until the union endorsed Republican Assemblyman Will Barclay for the vacant state senate seat in the Adirondacks.
It really doesn't matter whether the deal was bribery or extortion. It certainly appears there was a quid pro quo between the endorsement and the pension increase. However, this is not unusual in New York State. It is the practice of both political parties. What is unique about this case is its timing: special election and special enhancement.
Apart from that, the transaction is not quite as bad as it first appears. Mayor Bloomberg had approved the pension increase last October as part of a deal involving merit pay increases that would go to all the teachers in a school, not individuals. It would not matter if the teachers were good or bad, the pay raises would depend on how well the school did. Within an individual school, the scum would rise along with the cream. The wide range of ability between different teachers is a subject with which I became acquainted during the l4 formative years I was being educated here. Giving a raise to every teacher in a school has little to do with individual merit.
As a graduate of New York City public schools, high school and City College, I learned empirically that some teachers are good and some are bad. When we were in tenth grade at Bronx Science, a friend and I compiled teacheRATings, on a scale of 1 to 25, like Zagat judging restaurants. .A fine teacher would get a score in the 20s, while the worst came in at about 8. The ratings were based on the quality of teaching, clarity of expression, knowledge of the subject matter (yes, we could tell about that), ability to explain material, attendance and punctuality, fairness of homework assignments, and their attitude towards the class and to individual students (no obvious teacher's pets or scapegoats).
Now, over a half century later, we find that technology has caught up with what we did. At www.ratemyteachers.com, anyone can sign up, give their user name, e-mail address, first name, year of birth and school name. Also advise whether you are a student, parent or teacher at the school. Teachers have the right to reply, on line and at the same location, to any comments made about them.
A young lady who has just started working for us, Margaret (Pirate) Yang, who graduated from a high school in Pittsburgh in 2001, looked at the ratings and reported they were surprisingly accurate, both in identifying good teachers and some that were not so good.
The college version of the site is www.ratemyprofessors.com. Almost all the teachers I had in public school, college and law school have passed away by now (2008). I went to the funeral of a 94-year-old, Mildred Waltzer, my elementary school teacher for two years, a wonderful and caring woman who retired as a principal many years ago. A good teacher is a precious memory, and since students generally live longer than their teachers, their memory lives on long after they themselves are gone. Let us never forget the good parts of education, and how it has improved our lives, certainly for most of us.
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