It has recently come to my attention that certain rogue elements of the UFT Chapter in MCSM are calling for "Transparency" within the chapter. Upon learning of this interesting development I felt compelled to contribute to the discussion. After all, you can't have transparency unless everyone gives their honest opinion first. Fortunately, my opinions are based on facts.
Let me begin by stating what should be obvious if you are even semi-intelligent. The UFT Chapter at MCSM is comprised of over 90 individuals. It is not one person or a handful of people where their agenda is universal for transparency to even be plausible in the first place. There will always be philosophic and ideological differences within a group of people that large. Seeking transparency within the chapter is fundamentally flawed because it is not realistic to attain. On the contrary, transparency amongst the administration is much more possible to achieve. If not through the entire administration it can at least be sought through its' one ultimate leader; the principal.
The UFT is no different than any other labor union. Simply put, it exists to ensure safe working conditions, fair compensation, and equal treatment for all its' members. This can never be a bad thing. However, like every other major network of professionals it has its' flaws. This does not mean it should be abolished or undermined in any way shape or form. For the last 12 years the UFT has been professionally assaulted by Mayor Bloomberg. Mayor Bloomberg comes from a business background and as a wealthy CEO does not have the best interest of labor forces at heart. He tried to run the field of education using a business model and failed miserably.
The UFT Chapter at MCSM is no different than the UFT in general. The members of our chapter want safe working environments, equitable and fair treatment, as well as competitive salaries within their profession. Unfortunately, Principal Jimenez has been unable to provide these basic and essential things that the union demands. As a former member of the UFT, he of all people, should understand the trials and tribulations that the average teacher faces and be more than willing to work with them to achieve the common goal of providing a high quality education to the public while adhering to lawful protocols set forth by the collective bargaining agreements between the UFT and the city. Instead he chose to break the rules of the UFT as well as the CSA (administration's union) and created chaos in a once peaceful and highly successful school.
The UFT Chapter at MCSM has been calling for transparency from the MCSM Administration for the last 5 years. For the well informed, Principal Jimenez's agenda was obvious very shortly after he took over. It was also obvious that transparency was never going to happen when the principal can be seen whispering and conspiring with other colleagues. How can there be transparency when everything surrounding Principal Jimenez seems to be one secret after another. How can there be transparency when teachers are told not to interact with other teachers?
Most importantly, how can he want transparency in a chapter when he himself is not willing to be transparent himself?
As a supporter of Mayor Bloomberg, Principal Jimenez is anti-union at heart. He has stated such openly to many colleagues in various conversations throughout the years. His true objective is to dismantle the entire chapter. He has been somewhat successful so far as he has chased away the best teachers in
the school. He has actively removed effective and experienced teachers
through unlawful excess, excess, forcing older teachers into
retirement, or denying tenure to those he believed were pro-union
probationers. The remaining core of the chapter are under attack and
remain targets. They are attacked through devious methods of having letters of reprimand placed in their file to create a paper trail to make it seem as if they are incompetent when they are not. He abuses the investigative services throughout the UFT and CSA to achieve this goal. These teachers will continue to be targeted until they are gone or the principal
is gone. Their teaching ability is not the issue. It is personal for
Principal Jimenez. He hates the union. He believes the DOE should be
union free. He will tell you that you have rights and that he too was
once a teacher and he respects the union but in reality he hates the
union and anyone with a voice in it.
The rest of the teachers in the "middle" were pandered to and won over with false
promises as he gained allies within the union. He used his charm and
his famous cliches of "everything depends on your perception" routine to
turn decent people into cronies. These union members are cronies to the
principal and do not belong in the union. The UFT motto is "A Union of
Professionals". Principal Jimenez's allies in the union do not believe
in unity and they do not act professionally. They are self-serving
individuals who will stab you in the back just to curry favor with
Principal Jimenez. They do this for fear of losing their jobs or perhaps
because they are just as insanely sinister as he is and believe he is
an effective principal when the data, statistics, history and general
consensus show he is one of the worst principals in the history of the
DOE.
Perhaps the most pathetic aspect of Principal Jimenez's reign of terror is that there are NO WINNERS. If you are pro-union you are doomed. If you are in the "middle" you will be persuaded to become a crony or your conscience will push you towards the union. Principal Jimenez does not allow a "middle" to exist in his school. Lose, lose, lose. He may use his charisma to lead you to believe you can not just survive but thrive under him but these are empty promises. He is not a man of his word. His record speaks for itself.
Principal Jimenez did his best to conceal his true agenda. Fortunately, through several public debacles including protests, criminal cases, 3020a hearings, investigations and the grapevine, more teachers are becoming aware of what is really going on around them. While his agenda is becoming blatantly apparent, whatever transparency that has been gained did not come from the cooperation of him or his administration. He tried to do everything in a clandestine and covert fashion. However, his abuses of power were so outrageous he couldn't keep a lid on it forever.
Now to the crux of the matter: Who are these people or person that is calling for transparency within the chapter and why?
It is my belief that Principal Jimenez persuaded one of his cronies to start a petition against the current Chapter Leader, Robert McCue. This person is Mr. Hernandez who lost the UFT Chapter Leader election to Mr. McCue almost 2 years ago. He is also using Ms. Magee to further his agenda; The same woman who allegedly had a sexual relationship with her OWN SUPERVISOR. If it's true just ask her. After all, this is all about transparency! There's a whole lot of that after some good ol' fashioned adultery!
Mr. Hernandez should never have been employed at MCSM to begin with. He was brought into the school by Mr. Albetta. They were former colleagues at Automotive High School. Mr. Albetta gave Mr. Hernandez the answers to all the interview questions that Principal Jimenez asked and was hired shortly thereafter. This is collusion and nepotism at its' core. The most qualified person for the job was not hired. The most convenient one was. Mr. Hernandez was sick of teaching in schools he referred to as "Ghetto Zoos" full of blacks and black bitches. In his mind, teaching in these lower-socioeconomic neighborhoods made him a superior teacher. His prejudicial nature drove him to MCSM. Mr. Hernandez is one of the worst coaches ever in the history of the PSAL. If you don't believe me go to PSAL.org and check his record for yourself. Losing is one thing, but constantly blaming the lack of talent in your student-athletes rather than taking ownership of losing as the coach is the characteristic of a born loser. Furthermore, while teaching physical education he addressed a special education student who happened to be African-American as "Trayvon Martin" for no apparent reason whatsoever. The student cried for days. He was also the subject of a police investigation after he stalked a female student throughout the school while he was a dean. The student pressed charges and ultimately transferred out of the school. As a dean he almost got into physical altercations with students on an almost regular basis. He was also the chaperon on a senior trip where a student overdosed on an illegal substance. He is incompetent as a supervisor of children so how could he possibly be a good chapter leader of adults? In addition to his inability to lead, coach, and dean students he
illegally campaigned for the Chapter Leader Position by interrupting
classrooms and asking teachers to vote for him. He simply does not care about students or teachers. He has admitted this in conversations with colleagues. He likes MCSM because there is room for upward career advancement. In other words, the school is one bucket of crabs to him and he's all pincers. He will not stop until he is chapter leader or a supervisor. Principal Jimenez intends to make him an assistant principal one day. The day he becomes Chapter Leader or Assistant Principal is the day Principal Jimenez cements his monopoly of power over the entire school community. Essentially, he is a puppet for Principal Jimenez. The principal tells him to jump and he replies "Off of what bridge?" Pathetically, while pursuing his master degree in school leadership he also committed academic dishonesty when submitting written work to his professors.
Worst of all..
He is an alcoholic. He drinks Coronas until his eyes are crossed and drives home intoxicated after happy hours with Mr. Albetta where he expresses his true thoughts; feelings of hatred towards almost every demographic of people including but not limited to gays, blacks, jews, his OWN students, colleagues and the elderly. This is where he trash talks everyone and then goes to work on Monday and plays Peter the Politician. He also drinks during school nights. His job performance matters not so long as he is loyal to Mr. Albetta and Principal Jimenez. He has attempted to have sexual relationships with female colleagues but was rejected at every advance. Is this the type of person who exemplifies what it is to be a leader of a chapter? Is this the person you think will support you when you have a problem? He is spineless. He would simply placate you to your face then run to the principal and cause more problems for you. He and Principal Jimenez would laugh behind your back and you would never have justice. This is the same person who rudely interrupts people as they speak in union meetings, the same person who records union meetings and sends Principal Jimenez text messages about what is being discussed at the meetings. This is the same person who embellishes and lies about other colleagues to the administration to curry favor for himself. In education there are two types of people.
1. Those who work with students.
2. Those who work around students.
Unfortunately, there are way too many Number Two's in MCSM.
How's that for transparency?
Remember, the toilet bowl is only transparent AFTER you FLUSH.
