Why is it that the United Federation of Teachers and the city Department of Education still have not been able to come to terms with regard to a new contract for the city’s 74,000 public school teachers?
It is so ridiculous that this has not yet been accomplished. Other city workers have gotten new contracts, so why haven’t the teachers? The UFT needs to take the bull by the horns and stop dragging its feet, and the DOE also needs to stop delaying this critical issue.
Is it any wonder that so many newly hired teachers do not stay for more than a few years due to the lack of support from their own union and school supervisors and administrators? There will be an exodus of teachers this coming June — a combination of those retiring and those just leaving. If these teachers are not replaced with new ones, the coming school year will be an educational nightmare.
The mayor should not be allowed to have control of the school system. He has absolutely no idea how to run it. It is not a business, but that is how he has been running the school system for 10 years and the results are disgraceful.
The UFT needs to get its act together and fight for a contract for its members that is fair and livable now.
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
