Updated at 12:21 p.m.
Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association, says that teachers do not share ASAR’s discontent. Teachers are unhappy, but it has to do with wrong-headed policies coming out of the State Education Department, he said. ย And teachers do not blame Vargas for those policies, Urbanski said.ย
Urbanski said he is disappointed by ASAR’s consideration of a no-confidence vote.ย
The Association of Supervisors and Administrators of Rochester will discuss a vote of no confidence against Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas this afternoon.ย
ASAR members says that there is a lack of a consistent plan for how administrators can help improve student performance, says ASAR President Deborah Rider, and poor communication between administrators and the superintendent.ย
“As administrators, we’re not always treated with respect and our voices are not always heard,” Rider says. One of ASAR’s concerns is the lack of tenure being awarded to many administrators, she says.ย
“Let’s be specific about why someone isn’t being awarded tenure,” Rider says.
Rider says that ASAR members are acutely aware of the need to improve student performance, and the pressures that come with that responsibility. Administrators are struggling to meet those expectations, she says.ย
The possibility of a vote of no confidence has been discussed for a while, Rider says.
“This is a huge, huge step for us to even entertain this conversation,” she says. “We want to be respectful to the board and the superintendent.”ย
Reached by phone, Chip Partner, a spokesperson for the district, said he had no knowledge of ASAR’s plans, but questioned whether it had something to do with upcoming contract negotiations.ย
ASAR is a bargaining unit that consists of nearly 400 principals, assistant principals, and administrators in the city school district.ย
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2014.
Not surprising. Simply put, Vargas is in way over his head. No experience as an administrator at ANY level prior to being selected. Never worked in an urban school before either. His cabinet is a joke, schools are worse now than they ever were, and morale amongst staff is at an all-time low (yes, lower than when Brizard was in town). It’s been almost 3 years, time for him to go.
Agreed. The ship is completely lost. No vision, no support and no inspiration. The teachers all feel the same way but because their president is so friendly with the superintendent-there is no outcry. No one knows who is in control and if Vargas is not to blame but SED is, then why hasn’t leadership been vocal about this? The ^%$#@*&^ is hitting the fan so now everyone points fingers. 25 years of this.
When Vargas conceded his authority to colleges for running the schools what little respect I had for him faded. Why employ someone who is so ready to give up. Give me the job and I guarantee I will clean up CO, go to Albany as a supporter of some alternative to the Common Core, which is a “one size fits all” plan that does not take into account that all students do not learn the same way or at the same pace, and I would point out the numerous problems that have been showing up in the supplemental resources given to teachers to teach students the Common Core. I would not be afraid of letting teachers run a school as an alternative to a charter (which are only 17% successful nationally) as long they have a really good plan since I have always said that teachers are never given the opportunity to show the admins how to properly run a successful school. I believe the only reason Mr. Vargas would not agree to this is that he and his administration friends may get shown up by a bunch of intelligent urban teachers.
swk, I believe Vargas was a counselor in the Rochester City School District before he went to Greece.
Glenn, if that is true then I stand corrected. Not sure if I feel better knowing that… or worse. Kinda makes me question some of his moves even more, knowing that he has had that experience. Anyway – I still believe he was underqualified when he was hired and that he’s in over his head presently.
“Urbanski said he is disappointed by ASAR’s consideration of a no-confidence vote.”
Based on the quote above, it’s possible to draw a conclusion that Dr. Adam Urbanski is not satisfied just being President of the Rochester teachers union, but that he also wants to have influence over the building-level administrators union (ASAR).
I find Dr. Urbanski’s quote above to be very interesting, especially in light of the fact that when teachers took a no-confidence vote against former superintendent Jean Claude Brizard, a few years back — ASAR had been participating at the table of a broad-based coalition, which had been formed primarily to work against mayoral control. It was around the time that a discussion began at the coalition-table relative to teachers contemplating a vote of no-confidence against Brizard — that ASAR pulled out of the coalition. This obviously meant that they were not supportive of the idea, but the interesting thing is that ASAR never made a single, public statement about teachers decision to take a no-confidence vote. I’m not speculating or making this up. I was there (at the coalition table). You would think that Dr. Urbanski would now return the favor, and not comment publicly against ASAR’s contemplation and/or decision.
It’s a strange political dynamic (to say the least) — for the teachers union President — to like the superintendent so much — that the teachers President sides against building-level administrators (as opposed to administrators who are part of the Superintendent’s Executive Group, and whom are not union members) — in support of the superintendent. Surely ASAR must be feeling somewhat betrayed.
Also, the following quote (from the “comments” section at the end of the article) — is most interesting: “The teachers all feel the same way [as ASAR does] but because their president is so friendly with the superintendent-there is no outcry.” WHAT??? If this is true, it raises an issue that is seen all too frequently in the Rochester City School District (RCSD), i.e., role confusion or reversal. Namely, in this particular case, if the quote is true — it raises the question: Does Dr. Adam Urbanski work for teachers, or do teachers work for Dr. Urbanski?
Either way, this is potentially, a very important issue, which RCSD parents, and the broader community, should pay very close attention to — since it could possibly have broad and sweeping implications.
Buffalo Business First magazine has rated the academic performances of 429 public school districts in Upstate New York, based on four years of test data from the New York State Education Dep’t. Rochester is dead last with Syracuse, Buffalo and Albany 2nd, 3rd, and 4th worst. This is a statewide problem with Cuomo, Gantt and other state wide politicians perfectly happy to have segments in our local districts argue with each other, so that the blame is not properly placed on their Sate Capitol doorstep. So argue away you immature Principals, piss on each other Teachers and Parents, steal as much salary as you can Administration. That is just way Albany needs it be.
Great way to save 4 principals/vice principals per school building…hhmmm lets go ahead with a vote of no confidence and keep pissing tax dollars down the drain and save the 130,000.00 plus salaries of these upper level administrators? Are you serious…hell you might as well just divide up the rcsd students evenly send them to brighton,webster,fairport,irondiquiot school districts where there is ONE Principal and One Vp per school and lets start teaching and passing students in school districts that know what there doing!! I Vote NO confidence in Ryder and Urbanski!!