The BOYCOTT's Roots

There is no denying that the Department of Education made it their solo job to set the school calendar. In today's NY Post, reporter Susannah Cahalan did well in highlighting the amount of finger-pointing going on between the Dep't of Education and the UFT. Now, they both claim credit for taking the pulse of parents on the matter of the first day of school, as if either of them really care enough to act upon what parents really think.

Here's the article:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/weak_day_school_start_XoE5eevmDgvTl2hMkCJLuO

So, let’s be clear and have the whole truth told.

Keeping parents from being part of real policy and decision-making concerning public education is the ROOT cause behind this boycott.

It wasn’t until mid to late June that either the DoE or UFT made any attempt to talk to parents about the September 8^th date. By then it was AFTER the FACT and nothing more than damage control on their parts. The calendar is dated March 2, 2010 and had already been released to the public before anyone thought of speaking to the public school’s primary stakeholders—the only ones whose family lives are drastically affected by a mid-week, one day school opening after a long summer vacation.

Fact of the matter is, the DoE makes it perfectly clear that the calendar has everything to do with their labor agreements.

“The calendar must be adhered to without exception, unless notifications of subsequent changes are received pursuant to collective bargaining agreements or for other reasons, provided these other reasons are not inconsistent with collective bargaining or legal obligations.”

It’s apparent that calendar mandates do not take into consideration what actually works best for the children and families this huge, expensive bureaucracy ought to be catering to.

Why aren't the needs of parents considered a legal obligation? Could it be because parents have no union and our rights are constantly open to interpretation?

With regard to the first day of school, as always, public school parents were an after thought. And once again, were put in the familiar position of being smack in the middle of the DoE and UFT-- two massively, dysfunctional entities that desperately need complete restructuring and far more humane leadership.

No surprise that a DoE spokeswoman was quoted as saying "it's irresponsible" for parents to boycott. What an irresponsibly weak response to the mess they are accountable for!

Teachers and parents need to relate to one another as natural allies, and that doesn’t happen often enough thanks to both the UFT and the DoE.

Without a much needed NYC Parent Union, all parents and parent activist groups must begin to band together and act like we have one anyway. There is no other way to force our mutual concerns for change.