NEW YORK, NY October 22, 2003 — It's a month and a half into the new school year and a backlash is brewing against Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein. Yesterday thousands of teachers rallied outside City Hall to protest the new school reforms and to demand more respect. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more in our ongoing series, Reading, Writing and Reform.

If the posters told the story, then the teachers at yesterday's rally had a long list of complaints.

Some held signs demanding smaller classes and safer schools - referring to numerous complaints about overcrowding. Others protested the new unified curriculum, with posters saying teachers aren't robots. Health teacher Marty Kellerman of PS 108 in East New York acknowledged the mixed messages but said they shared a theme.

KELLERMAN: Basically the union has to stand up to Bloomberg who's trying to bust the union, refusing to negotiate. He's trying to micromanage everything in the classroom to the point where teachers' time is so wasted on bulletin boards, or where the furniture is in the room, and not on the kids learning.

Teachers complain about a new corporate mentality. Many say they've been hounded by checklist-carrying bureaucrats. A memo from Herbert Lehman High School directs science teachers to arrange their seats in the shape of a U, adding non-compliance will be subject to disciplinary action. Paul Stingo of PS 112 in Brooklyn held a sign saying Just Say No to Rugs, a reference a new requirement about floor space.

STINGO: It's down to the minute. How long each part of the lesson is, every day is scheduled. Every teacher in every classroom in every school is doing the exact same thing at the same time, no originality, no creativity.

WEINGARTEN: I can't hear you! Let teachers teach. Let teachers teach

Union president Randi Weingarten led her members in a chant demanding more respect. But there's no question respect is also about money. Contract talks have just begun and relations between the union and the Bloomberg administration are downright hostile. In response to the rally, the education department released a statement accusing teachers of resorting to politics instead of improving education.

Chancellor Klein was hoping to streamline the unwieldy school system with his new curriculum and management structure. But it's not just teachers who are complaining. Yesterday, members of the city council's education committee raised concerns about children in low performing schools. More than 200 thousand are eligible for tutoring under the federal No Child Left Behind law. But last year, just about 12 percent applied for these services. And this year's tutoring services won't start until November, even though letters were first sent to parents in March.

At yesterday's council hearing, Betty Arce of the Education Department testified that those letters didn't tell the whole story. She was pressed by committee chair Eva Moskowitz.

ARCE: The letter in March as I remember did not say that parents were eligible, the letter in March gave parents the option to transfer. MOSKOWITZ: I wish the obfuscation would stop. If you were a parent and you got a letter like that would you have concluded that your child was eligible for tutoring or not?

Education officials said the program was delayed this fall because the state only updated its list of eligible schools in September. The department also says it will continue to process applications from parents of eligible students even after today's deadline.

The chancellor did get one bit of good news yesterday. Fourth grade math scores went up 15 percent last spring, and 8th grade scores went up by about 4 percent. But critics note those scores reflect student achievement under the old system - which Klein completely overhauled in September. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.