The union, representing New York City principals, said Sunday it had lost faith in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plans to reopen schools and called on the city to take over the school system from the mayor, raising new hurdles in efforts to reopen the city. .
The mayor has twice delayed the start of classes individually, and most of the city’s 1.1 million students have already started the school year remotely. Hundreds of thousands of students are set to return to classrooms this week, with elementary school children expected to start classes individually on Tuesday, followed by middle and high school students on Thursday.
But Mark Canizaro, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, said the city still does not have enough teachers for a staff city school, and last-minute deals were struck between the teachers’ union and the city further weakened principals. ‘Trust the mayor and his confidence in the reopening plan.
However, Mr Kenizaro said the principals would report the buildings as scheduled this week and were not considering a strike. “I think parents should be confident that any child who comes into the building will be given a lot of care,” Mr. Canizaro said.
But thousands of principals should now look employees, parents and children in the eye and say that they have made every effort to provide a safe and quality educational experience, but with limited resources, it is becoming increasingly difficult. Said.
State Education Department spokeswoman Emily Desantis said the department was “aware of the situation” and “oversees the reopening of New York City.” Democrats are fellow Democrats, j. Mr. Frequently quarrels with de Blasio, not controlling the education department of the state government.
The announcement, made on Sunday, addresses long-standing tensions between the city’s principals and teachers’ unions. Mr Canizaro said the principals’ union had not been notified of the 11-hour staffing deal between City Hall Hall and the United Federation of Teachers on Friday that more teachers would be allowed to work from home if they were teaching from home. The deal forced the principals to reschedule the holiday weekend.
The principals’ union has been warning of a major staff crisis for weeks since the deal was struck between the UFT and the De Blasio administration in late August. The deal mandates that schools form three groups of teachers: one to manage all distance students, another to teach hybrid students while in the classroom, and a third to teach hybrid students at home. That would require schools to double their study staff – during the time the rents stabilized, and there were mass scattering.
Principals across the city have said it was impossible to comply with the requirements imposed by the teacher union and the city, and many school leaders have said they can only give effective instruction by avoiding those rules.
Mr. de Blasio’s attempt to reopen schools in New York City at the lowest virus positivity rate in any major U.S. city has been plagued by political opposition and bureaucratic mismanagement. City principals, who have rarely waged major political battles, have been raising alarms in public and private about the reopening for months.
But hundreds of principals said they could not fully staff their schools and they could not answer urgent questions about reopening efforts by their teachers, parents and students, although the mayor largely allayed their concerns for weeks.
The teachers’ union said earlier in the summer that schools were not ready to open due to safety issues, including the old ventilation system in old school buildings and the lack of school nurses, adding that the city had been able to meet most UFT safety demands. . That union now supports the city’s plan to reopen.
