Obviously, I was affected as far as not spending extra time on recommendation letters and less time to grade. Because of Work to Rule, we’re only supposed to grade during our prep period which means for an English class, teachers are not giving as much feedback. I hope that WTR will achieve these changes because the next step will be a strike. Not only would [a strike] make the grading situation worse, but it would be worse for the entire community. The teachers don’t get paid if they’re striking, and the students would still have to come to school. They would have to be thrown into the cafeteria and the gym with substitute teachers, and it would be a horrific situation. Last year we tried to do Work to Rule, but it was a half-hearted attempt because we needed to get buy-in from the majority of teachers. It can feel like a weak rebellion when not every teacher completely adheres to the contractual Work to Rule, but I think most are.

The work has to get done. As an English teacher, to adhere to the rules strictly, it would be nearly impossible. I’m still doing my job, and things haven’t changed much for me except I’m not as available and I’m not putting that much feedback.

My finals’ structure hasn’t] changed because I have a speech unit in 11th grade, and I feel that the speech component is important in the 11th grade in helping the juniors be ready for QUEST, and trying to understand where students are so I can give them feedback.

I think after Work to Rule, there’s less of a sense of wanting to give their heart and soul to their students, and that’s really impacted our clubs. All of those that operate through the love of the teacher to their students, and the experiences that we help create are getting shut down and that’s all because there are no advisors. Irvington is known for its clubs, so this is really unfortunate.