Monday, January 7, 2008

Teachers: We need parking placards

Mr. Bloomberg's plan calls for a 20% reduction in the permits, which grant employees ranging from police officers to court clerks to teachers access to select parking spots. He billed it as a way simultaneously to cut down on abuse of the permits — a coveted perk for many government workers — and to unclog the city's streets and air, by encouraging workers to switch into subways and buses and out of carbon-emitting cars.

Parking Plan Is Rebuffed by Teachers

On Friday, the president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, objected to Mr. Bloomberg's inclusion of teachers in the cutbacks, sending him a scathing letter calling the idea "deeply disturbing."

She said teachers should not be lumped in among those abusing the permits. In fact, union officials said, teachers — some of whom work in places where no subway lines go — have far too few permits, forcing many to go to extraordinary measures to find a place to put their cars.

Teachers often make informal deals with local residents to rent out driveway space, a UFT vice president, Michael Mulgrew, said. One school where he used to teach, in Brighton Beach, had just three parking spots for a staff of 130, he said.

Schools in the past have also paved over playgrounds to make space for parking lots.

27 comments:

faster340 said...

I have to pay for parking and mass transit when I go to work. And I have a pretty important job, I help keep the cable tv system running in NYC. Does that mean I am entitled to a parking placard? Maybe I should request one... That would be nice, then I could save tons of cash over the parking garage that I pay out of my own pocket to park in during the day on my non-important job.

DAMN I hate it when people think they deserve more than others!

Anonymous said...

Teachers as well as any other individuals take employment based on many factors and if parking is an issue for them, don't take the job. The city should not be responsible in providing parking for teachers.

Anonymous said...

This will be a splendid opportunity for Bloomberg to demonsrate that he is honest about his claim to be concerned about congestion.

My bet? He will cave. There is a special place on Weingarten's ass for Bloomberg's lips.

He's as green as my shoes.

Anonymous said...

Teachers are always complaining.

Normally I support the work of labor unions....
but the undermining legacy
of Albert Shanker lives on to this present day.

He ultimately contributed to the erosion
of our public school system
by going way overboard regarding teachers' rights.

You never hear teachers complaining
about the fat pensions they retire with....
or their long paid summer vacations !

Their postal worker mentality
has got to be changed.

Anonymous said...

i have a cousin that teaches in bushwick brooklyn and parking there is very difficult most teachers have to bring home a huge stacks of papers to be graded there computer to get the lesson pland ready for the next day and text books also. In the area there are no parkin garages for them to park in as the cable guy states thats where they should park im sure the cabl company does not require u to brong home spools of cable and all the tools that you require for your work.

Anonymous said...

It would be nice for once if when the Mayor said "there are going to be changes and cutbacks" he meant the perks/drivers/plaques for everyone in city government and not some poor cop in Brooklyn or a science teacher in the Bronx.

I won't be holding my breath for a space by City Hall anytime soon. Ironically one street is named "Park Row"

Anonymous said...

let 'em all pay fair market value for their parking. Put it in the general fund. It is time for this gravy train to derail.

faster340 said...

"im sure the cabl company does not require u to brong home spools of cable and all the tools that you require for your work."

No I don't bring spools of cable home. Only 100+ pound network servers and computers. I have had my wife help me carry this equipment into my house for safe keeping cause there are cars with placards parked in front of my house and I can't get a spot. Also I am on call 24/7 and am required to be at any cable site at a minutes notice. This includes 2,3,4am etc. etc. so you can have your TV and internet so you can post on this SITE!

JACKASS!

faster340 said...

Oh and do us all a favor.

SPELL CHECK!

Anonymous said...

Teaching can be a hard job. Boo hoo. Everyone knows you teach basically the same thing every year, it's not like you're making it up every day. You work shorter hours than most, get months off every year, and tenure gives you pretty much a job for life. You have too much free time so you can sit around and think about how important you are... it's a job, OK? Like the rest of us have, only not as hard. Now stop acting like a VIP.

Anonymous said...

oh cable guy guss that why there are commercial trucks parked overnight on my street overnight and why i pay 1 of the highest cable rates in the states

Anonymous said...

but of course if the borough wasn't so darned overpopulated parking would not be an issue for anybody as there would be plenty of spaces available on the streets for cars, just as there used to be back when.

Anonymous said...

You know, Randi and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters look like twins.

www.forgotten-ny.com

faster340 said...

"oh cable guy guss"

I still see you can't spell or use spell check.

Anonymous said...

My ex-wife was a teacher
who abused her old Board of Education
parking placard profusely.

It got her in the end.

Some teacher hater(s) spotted
the publicly displayed announcement
behind the windshield that she was a teacher
late some night.....
and gave her three flat tires!

She was very late for work the next morning
waiting for AAA who never showed up.....
to re-inflate the tires.

I, like a dope, removed and put air in all three.

I, obviously, gave her "the air" also and happily remarried someone less spoiled by her profession!

Anonymous said...

Give 'em discounted Metrocards.

Anonymous said...

I am a teacher in the public school system for the past 6 years and the complete lack of respect for the profession here is appalling. Nevertheless, I would like to make a few points.

1. Teachers have been entitled to parking permits since before I became a teacher. It is only valid on school days in designated areas around the school perimeter. Sometimes we even get ticketed with the permit.

2. We do not "basically the same thing every year". With new bearucracy comes new curriculum. Our work day is officially over at 3PM but most teacher take their work home. (Some teachers, including myself, even instant message students who need help at late hours.)

3. Fat pensions" are a thing of the past. New teachers do not receive the premier rates that veteran teachers benefit from.

4. It is not a paid summer vacation. The City is withholding paychecks of our September to June salary.

Anonymous said...

Ugly is as Ugly does

Anonymous said...

Mr. Hui.....
many of my friends
who are teachers in the NYC system
confess to spending many hours
in the teachers lounge,
complaining about their students....
marking time.... and counting the days left
to retirement.

Some make it.....
while some "croak" beforehand....
mostly from the self imposed stress
of hating their jobs.

I DO NOT RESPECT anyone
who chooses an occupation on the basis
of perks and "bennies"and not for
the intrinsic love of their daily work.

You must be one of the few rare saints
in the field of education.

But if you find your work too difficult
and unappreciated...quit....
and seek employment as a ditch digger.

You'll have many more real complaints.....
that make the average teachers' perpetual wining
seem as trivial as they are.

We all must make some sacrifices.

Anonymous said...

I think somebody clued in the UFT to this site
and some of their stooges are posting here !

It' seems quite obvious that some of these comments
espouse their party line!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Hui.....
I have to PAY for my family's medical insurance
(thousands of dollars each year)
out of my own pocket.

I believe you teachers are STILL COVERED
by a more than adequate medical plan
(paid for by us taxpayers)
as part of your employment contract.....eh ?

STOP COMPLAINING about
your measly parking privileges!

Do you want to switch jobs with me ?

Anonymous said...

First, let me say that I do not use my parking permit and am not complaining about losing it. The union and I do not agree on all issues.

Now to the point I am trying to make.

Yes, there're teachers who want everything and do nothing but they are the bad apples. They exist in all professions. However, the way that the majority of users here aggregate ALL teachers as being "lazy do nothing's" is insulting.

Anonymous said...

instead of placards, school yards might be converted into parking lots for teachers. Kids never make use of them, anyway, judging by how obese and out of shape they are.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Hui (or stooge of the UFT?)......
it seems as though you've got plenty of time
on your hands to parry what you perceive as "insults" on this site.

Perhaps that time would be better spent
writing lesson plans......h-m-m-m ?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Hui,
Thank you for your time and effort as a public school teacher. Don't be upset if you cannot talk reasonably and sensibly with the Queens Crap supporters, they don't understand courteous debate and respect for others.

Anonymous said...

NYC Public School Teachers care more about themselves than about the kids they are teaching and that's why we have so many dumbbells in NYC today. And that is why there is lack of respect for teachers.

Anonymous said...

I uncovered a quaint 19th century saying
while I was studying at NYU's School of Education.....
on my way to becoming a teacher
in the NYC secondary school system.

"Those who can DO.
Those who CAN'T teach"!


After switching my course of study
to earn a degree in science.....
I decided not to become a teacher after all.