Support a Teacher's Fight for Civil Liberties

Teaching is a career full of purpose and integrity. I have been incredibly proud of my 22-year exemplary teaching career. Over the course of that career, II have been a highly rated English teacher for the Department of Education in New York City. As a passionate educator and educational activist, I am committed to the principle that all members of our community matter and that the work of good schools be deeply embedded in the key concepts of inclusivity, student choice, teacher voice, and rigorous instruction for learners. I believe in transparency and compassionate decision-making and policies that benefit a positive, collaborative, student-centered community.

As a parent of two teens, I understand the demands and concerns of guiding our children and preparing them for their next steps, and the absolute importance of an excellent education. One is a straight-A honor student, the other, a cognitively divergent student. I am knowledgeable about and caring of the needs of variant learners and the opportunities schools have to provide for all students. I also understand, as a parent, how precious time is with family and children and how vital it is to have the work of committees be time well spent, and action orientated.

Over the last two decades, I have created classes and taught students at all levels. I initiated an elective program and launched a Creative Writing class that served both advanced and cognitively divergent writers. All students were able to thrive and succeed in my Creative Writing classes. I have been the lead AP literature instructor for the last 9 years and have written the 12th grade curriculum for English here at my school. I have been the advisor of several clubs and have organized and attended many field trips. Being outside of the building has allowed me to connect with my students in a deeply personal way. My most recent role was as Business Manager and Graduation Coordinator. In this position, I created the Senior Festival event and took enormous joy and pride in celebrating student achievement and supporting the student voice here in the building. I teach from a belief that happy students are better learners. My 20-plus years of experience teaching has confirmed that truism again and again. I also believe in challenging work and rigorous instructional practice. I know that the most critical job of high school educators is to prepare students for what follows our doors. In this spirit, I have been a CUNY Adjunct for 12 years and created the Senior College Essay Tutoring Program. This is an opportunity for students to receive long term one on one college writing services after school designed to strengthen their college application and improve their overall college readiness level writing skills.

I also have been a UFT activist and delegate for the last 6 years. I speak regularly and listen attentively to my colleagues' voices as they strive to help all students learn and they grow professionally. In my career, I have always embraced the spirit and guidelines of the Chancellor's Regulations of New York City. These regulations focus on justice, equity, critical thinking, and upholding the fundamental tenets of humanism for all students. It doesn’t matter if you are an undocumented immigrant or a new immigrant; you still have a right to education. It doesn’t matter what your race, gender, ethnicity, or religion is—you have a right to education. This is one of the reasons I love teaching in New York City.

Unfortunately, now I find myself at a crossroads in my career and the consequences of pushing back against abuse of authority, censorship and my own civil liberty infringement are looming. I am now a target of union busting and censorship. The reason I became a target was due to the exceptional work I was doing in the school I served in for 20 years. I served effectively as both an administrator in the business office and as a strong advocate for teacher rights through the labor union. As the business manager, I was responsible for planning graduations and managing student funds, which made it difficult for the principal to target or punish me, considering I was such a valuable asset for operations.

However, while in that position, I became aware of numerous contractual violations occurring at the school and chose to speak out about these infractions, which had persisted over the past 20 years and infringed on the rights of others. After finishing my tenure as business manager in June, the principal began a punitive investigation against me as soon as he had the opportunity. This retaliation started right after a significant vote I orchestrated on June 27th, 2024 aimed at shutting down the office where I worked. It became clear that I would continue to fight for labor protections for the teachers in our building, while the principal, who favored authoritarian practices, saw me as a potential problem upon my return to the classroom.

In September, just two days into the new school year, I received my first conduct investigation meeting after 22 years of exemplary service. The counseling memo I received was actually intended for a male superior based on his previous conduct. It was at that moment I realized I would be targeted for retaliation due to my advocacy for teachers and my pushback against the principal's corruption.

Since returning to work in September, despite having no past misconduct, I have faced five investigations and a hostile working environment full of retaliatory actions and stress. The current political climate has emboldened certain principals to engage in disciplinary actions against dedicated teachers who simply exercise their rights to challenge unfair policies. I have never been insubordinate or flagrantly disobedient; I firmly believe that union representatives should utilize their rights to stand up against vindictive and oppressive school leadership.

This bureaucratic investigation has significantly affected my livelihood. I have faced verbal abuse, unprofessional letters, and unfounded complaints that culminated in my reassignment away from my teaching community. I believe the principal’s motive was to remove me from my role so I could no longer activate or influence other teachers. Furthermore, I have been a contributing member of the School Leadership Team (SLT) and a union delegate on the UFT Executive Board.

School systems are currently facing a hiring wave to comply with Governor Hochul’s Class Size mandate of 25 students in a classroom. Due to the impending influx of new personnel and in light of our current anti-labor political agenda, I believe that principal’s are now emboldened to remove tenured, powerhouse union activists from their schools to weaken the union and diminish teacher advocacy.

With the upcoming wave of new hires, I feel there may be a tendency for some principals to abuse their power through corrupt investigations, creating a systematic chain of progressive discipline to justify the removal of teachers. Progressive discipline is not intended to be used for union busting and teacher marginalization.

Aside from the unusual discipline I have experienced in the last three months, my record has been impeccable. Investigations must be utilized in good faith to protect students, not to oust dedicated, excellent educators.

In the course of being targeted, I discovered that recordings of numerous teachers were being referenced by administration. Governor Hochul has condemned the recording of educators, while Mayor Adams and his anti-UFT stance have been in opposition to teacher privacy rights. This issue of whether students can post recordings, record without consent, and whether administrations can access these recordings to create a surveillance culture in school relates to broader issues concerning teacher privacy, freedom of expression, and First Amendment rights and highlights potential breaches of privacy that are becoming increasingly common. The exposure to this problem, along with insights from fellow educators, has prompted me to take legal action, as I need to protect my teaching career. The retaliation and “discipline” have affected other aspects of my livelihood as well.

Due to the egregious defamatory progressive discipline “recommendations”, I am suspended from continuing to teach my CUNY adjunct course. This income is necessary to support my family, and while I am fighting my situation, I am losing this 18 000 per year additional income, and I am accruing legal fees. It pains me to seek assistance, but my fees and cost of living require that I ask for help from my community and anyone concerned with the erosion of educator rights in this current climate.

A school is a community of people who teach, inspire, and care for children. My success as a teacher comes from instilling in my students the belief that each of them has power. We all have power unless we choose to give it up. How can I teach my most vulnerable and marginalized students that they have power if I allow one individual to undermine the very successful pushback against their authority?

I am asking for your support so that I may hold the DOE and my principal accountable, fight for my standing in my school community, and demonstrate through the legal system that no one person has the right to dictate the thoughts, beliefs, and words of all members of a community. A principal is not a king, a czar, or an emperor; a principal is just a principal. I have worked under five different principals, and I intend to continue to do my job to the best of my ability as soon as I am able.

Teachers want to teach, not have to be required to defend their labor rights and activist rights through legal system proceedings. However, these times demand action. Teachers and activists must understand that we have the law on our side, and we must use it when political and fiscal agendas are used to eradicate union voices within education. At this time, I need to rely on the justice system to seek justice. I am not litigious; I am not trying to disrupt. I am trying to hold the system accountable and make certain it is not used to remove excellent educators who voice dissent.

The retaliation I endured is not lawful and because of that reality, I must now use the legal system to hold an abuser of power accountable. I refuse to let one person who has filed letters based on political retaliation defame my 22 years of service.

Please support my First Amendment rights, my labor rights, and my role as a UFT union organizer. I have the right to advocate for teaching equity and teacher power. The union exists to hold principals accountable so that seasoned, talented, tenured teachers are not targeted. What teachers sacrifice is status and high pay; in return, we should receive job security. Without that, who would choose this profession? I love my students and fellow educators and I want to be able to continue to inspire others to fight for their liberties and rights. If activism can be punished in our current system, then it is essential that teachers like myself are willing to attempt precedents and not allow suppression through the administration’s abuse. Thank you for taking time to read my story.