Parent Calls for Support of Oct. 9 "Win Back Wednesday"

Janine Sopp issues a call to her network. There are links to the Toolkit prepared by MORE for use in your schools, plus a great video prepared by MORE Media. The day will culminate with a rally outside the UFT Delegate Assembly (52 Broadway) on Oct. 9 at 4PM with a focus on the evaluation system the UFT leadership is pushing. If only the usual suspects are there they will be ignored.

The game will change when the day comes that we see hundreds of people with connection to hundreds of schools outside the DA putting pressure on the UFT leadership. (I still have to tell you my story of the Sept. emergency DA and the crap Unity tried to pull on distribution of lit.)

I know people -internally and externally who are critics of MORE for not coming up with an alternative system of evaluation. That is an issue for further discussion, though frankly, given there is no real way to judge a teacher's work through the use of data, maybe what we had (S or U - maybe add a middle rating like I) was the best way -- though I would create an independent investigative unit to take a close look at abusive principals who target certain people for political or economic reasons.

In Ravitch's "Reign of Error" she points to a question asked of many foreign educators: "What do you do about a bad teacher? Answer: We help them. Q: And if they are not improving? A: We help them some more. And if that doesn't work we help them find another profession." Actually, if they are basically competent in some ways but can't seem to manage the classroom situation, there must be some position in the ed structure for them.

Here is Janine.

Greetings Fellow Parents, Teachers and Friends,

As most of you know, we are facing a new year in our children's schools where standardized tests will have even higher stakes attached to them.  Because NYS has created a teacher evaluation system that is tied to the tests our children are mandated to take, we expect an even higher level of stress throughout the year.  With the implementation of the Common Core Standards and the creation of new tests that have not been fully aligned yet, and are often poorly designed, our kids will be used somewhat as guinea pigs, but the stakes are too high for this kind of experimentation.  Even our youngest students, in K-2, will be subjected to these measures and we will see the quality of teaching deteriorate under these circumstances.  

If you find all of this troubling and feel you have no power over what is happening, you are wrong. Now more than ever, parents are taking charge of their children's educational destiny and saying NO. At a time when we are choosing a new mayor to lead our schools in a new direction, we actually have more influence than we may realize.  We have the power to vote, we have the right to opt out, we have a voice that needs to be heard and many organizations with which to organize.  

Whether you are a parent, a teacher, an administrator, a student or a concerned citizen, you can show your support by joining others who are actively working toward shifting the conversation and the direction of education, the runaway train that needs us to step on the brakes.

Attached is an incredible tool kit, created to help your schools organize for a day of action to kick off "Win Back Wednesdays" on October 9.  Please share this tool kit with your school leaders, PTA, SLT, PAC, your families, teachers and administration.  There are ideas for actions, small and large, to support the empowerment of our students and our schools.  Know that there is a state wide movement to end the use of high stakes standardized testing and it's punitive effects.  Adding your voice, your action, will help grow the movement to make the shift to a more balanced, holistic approach to our children's education and give our children the schools they deserve.

Feel free to post photos of your actions to Change the Stakes and MORE Facebook pages.  Check out and share this Win Back Wednesday video.

 Want to learn more, come to Brooklyn for one or both of these events.

With regards,

--
Janine

october9thtoolkit.docx
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Portelos Hearing: DOE Legal Invalidates Chapter Leader Election at IS 49SI

Imagine a union allowing the employer to invalidate an election for building rep and remaining mute.  

Multiple contract violations involved in principal's refusal to meet w. elected CL on a regular basis, consult committee, etc. Not that they ( union bureaucracy)  care.... observer at Portelos hearing

How absurd. They've had 500 +days to investigate him and they are just *now* "checking" his "in-laws' wi-fi"? WHILE the hearing is underway?  And for what purpose? Are his in-laws Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? Are they looking for H-bomb diagrams? WTF ! Last week that investigators were there... or at his *own* parents' house ....  THE NIGHT BEFORE THE OPENING HEARING. They were talking to HIS CHILDREN. I was appalled..... observer

I am adhering to a non-mandatory request from the hearing officer not to go into the details of the charges and the hearing. But what follows occurred before the hearing formally resumed on Monday (Sept. 23) with an objection from the DOE attorney – there were 2 of them plus an assistant -- when will the press begin to question the astronomical cost of this case where not one negative word about how this teacher taught children is mentioned?

The DOE lawyer,  Jordana Shankman, objected to Portelos standing outside the school from which he has been banned since April 26, 2012 and claimed he was doing it to intimidate witnesses. The fact that he might have been there as a way to address issues that some staff members might want to raise with their chapter leader lead to the bizarre DOE claim that he was not the chapter leader.

We were all shocked to learn that IS 49SI principal Linda Hill's refusal to recognize Francesco Portelos as the duly elected chapter leader was ordered by DOE legal.

In other words, the DOE has interjected itself into a chapter election by unilaterally declaring the election for chapter leader as null and void. When questoned by NYSUT lawyer Chris Callagy, Principal Hill said it wasn't she who made the decision not to deal with Portelos but the order was issued by DOE legal. Later on in the hearing, the DOE attorney made a point of reiterating this. Callegy managed to get Hill to confirm that the Staten Island UFT maintained that Portelos was still the elected chapter leader.

DOE lawyer Jordana Shankman also outrageously asserted that Portelos had no right to be in front of his school even on his own time and that he should be in the "place he was assigned."

In the meantime, since last year, the principal's cronies have initiated 3 failed attempts to recall Portelos.

My question to the UFT is: What will you do about it when the DOE, looking to paint a teacher as dangerous and threatening to a staff as grounds for dismissal must suffer the inconvenient truth that said staff elected this "threat" as their union rep and then the DOE declares that he is not their union rep as a way to make their case?

In fact it is hard to decide who to be more pissed off at: the DOE or the UFT for standing by while this farce continues. Imagine a union allowing the employer to invalidate an election and remaining mute. Wouldn't one expect the Staten Island UFT borough office to take a strong stand here? To consistently affirm that Portelos is the official school chapter leader? To go into the school and address the principal's attempts to foment recall votes? To join Portelos in holding meetings outside the school grounds to show support instead of letting him stand there alone and be accused by the DOE of acting like a terrorist while trying to serve the people who elected him?

In fact, information sometimes filters out of the UFT inner sanctum that UFT officialdom would be perfectly happy to see Portelos be found guilty and just go away. I'll leave the "why" to speculators.
 
There were 4 MORE retirees at the hearing. The next hearing date will be Monday, Sept. 30, 10AM.

Afterburn
Principal Hill testified how she consulted with DOE legal, network legal, her union's legal and goodness knows how many "legals"? The major "educational" innovation of Joel Klein has been the number of lawyers he added to the payroll.
Imagine the costs of this attempt to get rid of Portelos.

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Bill Thompson "Tone Deaf" Campaign Deficiencies Exposed in NY Times

...and UFT support shows how tone deaf they are. David Chen in the Times reported the other day - A very revealing article on Bill Thompson's faults and failures -- all of which were not noted by the equally tone deaf UFT.

Mr. Thompson never articulated a clear message. “Muddled” was a word used by many. He developed a centrist platform, better suited to a general election than a Democratic primary, opposing tax increases while Mr. de Blasio hammered away at income inequality.

Well, you know, no matter how much Randi and Mulgrew talk about social justice income inequality, always watch what they do, not what they say. Thompson walking the middle is the way the basically conservative Unity people go. You won't see the UFT calling for protests or raising political issues about the thieving banks. Or the defense budget. Better watch schools being killed than challenge the old status quo.

But you know my feelings.

An undemocratic totalitarian state like the Unity Caucus/Unity Caucus crew running the UFT for over 50 years can't/won't hear voices because they don't have any forums where they can be heard. Just read James Eterno's account of the special DA to endorse De Blasio where they wouldn't allow even one speaker to oppose and Mulgrew trampled all over Robert's Rules of Order in doing so. (Robert is very upset.) [UFT DELEGATES ENTHUSIASTICALLY ENDORSE DE BLASIO FOR MAYOR BUT MULGREW ONCE AGAIN STIFLES ANY DISSENT -]

Here is the article, a good one - other than quoting the ed deform supporting loser Basil Smikle who challenged State Senator Bill Perkins because he dared hold hearings on charters. (And a little birdie once told me about an interesting relationship between Smikle and Al Sharpton - but I won't go there.)

For Thompson, a Disappointing End to a Not-Quite-Compelling Quest

By DAVID W. CHEN

Maybe it was not that surprising that William C. Thompson Jr. would come up just shy. 

It was not just that he pulled in far fewer black and Latino votes than his advisers had confidently predicted for him in the recent Democratic primary for mayor. Nor was it that he fell a few thousand votes short, over all, from forcing Bill de Blasio into a runoff, one in which he would have faced long odds anyway.

Instead, when Mr. Thompson abandoned his quest on Monday, in a disappointing coda to a campaign filled with what ifs over everything from demographics to his message, it presented a microcosm of a dutiful but not-quite-compelling career.

Whether he was the smart-money pick, as he was this year, or the underdog, as he was when he lost to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in 2009, Mr. Thompson could never quite concoct the right recipe to parlay his two terms as a steady New York City comptroller into something grander. 

A product of Brooklyn machine politics, Mr. Thompson believed strongly in by-the-book tactics, like gathering institutional endorsements. Yet he never led in a single poll. He never surged or collapsed, unlike some of his rivals. And despite campaigning for 24 hours straight, not once, but twice, in the past six weeks, the mild-mannered Mr. Thompson could never convince voters that he had enough political thunder. 

“He is a very smart, very talented public servant who has done everything people would want him to do, but it always seems like it’s not enough,” said Basil A. Smikle Jr., a Democratic consultant who teaches at Columbia University and the City University of New York. 

Even on the eve of the primary, Mr. Thompson struggled to connect with voters who should have been in his column. At a deli on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, he had just uttered a quick hello and reminded people about Election Day when Stephon Zephyr said: “Excuse me, Big Guy, you running for mayor?” 

Mr. Thompson, surprised, said yes. Then, in barely audible tones, he talked to Mr. Zephyr, a 26-year-old plumber, for five minutes, about jobs and gun violence. After Mr. Thompson left, Mr. Zephyr shrugged: “He sounds good, but he didn’t say much. He just brushed me off.” 

On paper, Mr. Thompson entered the campaign with many advantages. He had won the admiration of Democrats for coming closer than expected to unseating Mr. Bloomberg four years ago. And in a city where minorities are now the majority, Mr. Thompson, the son and namesake of a respected judge and former legislator, stood out as the only black candidate, with a long résumé in both the public and private sectors. 

Counting on demographics to give him an edge, Mr. Thompson amassed an impressive list of endorsements: party stalwarts like Fernando Ferrer; fiscal watchdogs (Richard Ravitch); black pastors who had backed Mr. Bloomberg in 2009 (former Representative Floyd H. Flake); and key unions (the United Federation of Teachers). One of his biggest fund-raisers was former Senator Alfonse M. D’Amato, the Republican power broker.

Together, they argued that Mr. Thompson, who at 60 was the oldest major Democratic contender, had the best experience and the temperament to govern. 

But his establishment-friendly strategy had blind spots, according to more than a dozen people, both affiliated with and independent of the campaign. 

“Billy Thompson is as decent a man as you will find in New York City politics,” said Neal Kwatra, a Democratic consultant who did not work for any mayoral candidate. “But Billy and his team were captives of a bygone era of coalition and identity politics.” 

Foremost was the assumption that people had cast a pro-Thompson vote in 2009, rather than an anti-Bloomberg one. Nor did Mr. Thompson take seriously the theory that Mr. Bloomberg’s margin might have been diminished because some of his supporters, anticipating a blowout, did not bother to vote. 

Those assumptions may have given Mr. Thompson a false sense of security, even as he faded from public view for three years.

“He showed up thinking, ‘Well, now, it’s my turn, because you guys like me, you really like me,’ ” said Christina Greer, a political science professor at Fordham. “But a lot of New Yorkers seemed to say, ‘I can’t remember who you are.’ ” 

Another problem was that Mr. Thompson never articulated a clear message. “Muddled” was a word used by many. 

He developed a centrist platform, better suited to a general election than a Democratic primary, opposing tax increases while Mr. de Blasio hammered away at income inequality. His thread-the-needle position on the stop-and-frisk police tactics, in particular, exasperated many minorities and liberals. By contrast, Mr. de Blasio positioned himself as the tactics’ fiercest critic. 

“People were saying, ‘We may have a black candidate in the race who we may like, but we also have a candidate in the race who more closely represents the issues that we care about,’ ” Mr. Smikle said. 

Mr. Thompson was also handicapped by the perception, whether fair or not, that he did not campaign as hard as his rivals. He never stood out in a very large field, as attention shifted from Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, who was seeking to become the first female and openly gay mayor; to former Representative Anthony D. Weiner, whose effort to come back from scandal won him media attention; and then to the 6-foot-5 Mr. de Blasio, with his mixed-race family and compelling television advertisements.

From the start, Mr. Thompson’s political operation appeared to be plagued by some of the same problems as his campaign four years ago. His commercials had a generic feel: one relied on a spare, white digital background; another, featuring the candidate’s daughter, struck many as a late and lesser version of the popular ad Mr. de Blasio ran featuring his son. 

At times, Mr. Thompson acted as if he were already in office. At virtually every campaign stop, he was introduced warmly by a local official, like Assemblyman N. Nick Perry of Brooklyn; Ruben Diaz Jr., the Bronx borough president; or State Senator José Peralta of Queens. When he earnestly toured a restaurant wholesaler in the Bronx, flanked by prominent supporters, he did not actively solicit the support of employees.

By the campaign’s homestretch, Mr. Thompson, though his public poll numbers were still static, seemed to continue attending to basics. In contrast to most other campaigns, in which daily conference calls are a staple from the outset, the Thompson team did not begin the routine until two months ago, according to advisers and supporters. Only in the last few weeks did Mr. Thompson, whose grandparents immigrated from St. Kitts a century ago, start a formal effort to win over Caribbean-Americans.

As the campaign began to fall apart, senior advisers openly puzzled over his approach on the stop-and-frisk tactic. It won the candidate endorsements from police unions, but it confused his message where it mattered most: with black voters, a majority of whom voted for Mr. de Blasio, whose opposition was crisper and had a harder edge.

Mr. Thompson never once hinted that he was worried about failing to make the runoff; as late as the day before the primary, he spoke confidently of eclipsing 40 percent and facing a Republican in November.

“New Yorkers know what they’re getting with me,” he said during a rally in East Harlem. 

But on Monday, as he withdrew his candidacy after a disappointing primary performance, he was wistful. Asked why he fell short this time, he demurred, saying, “I’m not one of the political pundits.”

“That’s the one thing about elections,” he added. “There are no guarantees.”

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Breaking: NYPD String Safety Nets Around 52 Broadway in Case Thompson Doesn't Make Runoff

With so much at stake for the gang running the UFT and AFT (Randi) -- but not so much for NY city teachers -- who one would think are their main constituency -- there is fear that bodies will come crashing down from the roof of the UFT headquarters if Bill Thompson doesn't make it into the runoff, though I agree with Reality Based Educator that he probably will (2013 Election: Predictions And Endorsements).

[I interrupt this report to report that Ednotes online just passed 2 million page views since July 2009 when I started using the Google counter].

Just think of it. Can Bill di Blasio really be worse for UFT members than Thompson? Though I also agree with RBE not to trust di Blasio, Thompson is worse (Bill Thompson Hit The Brooklyn Streets Yesterday With Al D'amato Trolling For Votes).
Actually, much worse.

But this past weekend we saw the desperation with Leo Casey whining on twitter about how irresponsible MORE has been in not endorsing a candidate given that this is the most important election in poor Leo's life. We also saw New Action's Halabi tag teaming with his pal Leo in also making a point about MORE's non-endorsement. Yes, if Thompson loses it is all MORE's fault - as if the endorsement by a small caucus in the UFT would actually make a difference. We are not as pretentious as New Action was 4 years ago in endorsing Thompson and making that a big issue in their campaign in the UFT elections. Yawn.

I'm not going to get into the details of why on paper di Blasio seems better for educators and education than Thompson but this is all about power at the top, not about what is good for the rank and file. And for students and parents. So what else is new?

I saw that Thompson's big move is to allow parents to chose a member of the PEP. Gee wiz. Hey Bill, how about allowing parents to choose the entire PEP (other than the 5 borough president choices)?

You can't tell me that a guy supported by D'Amato and Tisch is good for us.

If di Blasio actually cuts into the charter lobby and makes charters pay the damn rent - which I am ready to bet he won't - then that is worth seeing him in office. As RBE points out (Bloomberg Furious He Can't Stop Attacks On His "Legacy), just having a guy win who trashes Bloomberg's legacy brings a smile to my face. But I really think he will turn into another Obama.

And there was that Wayne Barrett piece - What you don't know about Big Bill- Digging deeper into de Blasio's associations.

Scary stuff.

Imagine this scenario: di Blasio wins and screws us and the UFT leadership says "we told you so." As an organizer in the union trying to get people to join MORE, I would much rather have Thompson screw us so we can say "told you so."

By the way, I'm sure you noticed RBE's amazing election coverage and analysis at Perdido Street School blog.

He is holding his nose and voting for diB. I was thinking of going for Sal Albanese but am also thinking that if my vote puts Bill D over the 40% I'd hate to lose that opportunity. Sal was endorsed by The Wave out here (It’s Sal) and they made a good case for that not being a wasted vote. (If the link above doesn't work, you can read the endorsement editorial below the break. -- but here's a sample:

If you’re not crazy about any of the candidates—and admit it, you’re not -- hold on. Say the polls are fairly accurate and Sal will finish far behind. Your vote for Sal still holds value. Your vote will actually signal something to those left standing. Your “Sal” vote will be considered an “undecided” vote and will be sought after in a runoff or the general election.

I actually have mixed feelings about the idea of a runoff with Thompson. I'm thinking of the advantage of keeping that race alive and giving less time for the Lhota dogs to come out in force against dB.

I agree with RBE about Tish James for Public Advocate. She has steadily been moving in the direction of the forces battling ed deform.

I do not agree with his points about not endorsing Stringer though the idea of Spitzer winning (which I think he won't) in office putting burs in everyone's butt. I am voting Stringer out of loyalty to Patrick Sullivan who he appointed to the PEP even if I agree with RBE that he could get away with it given that Patrick was often a lone voice. Still .... Patrick is a Stringer guy and I am going with that.

I have a problem with the Queens borough president race since my guy Tony Avella dropped out. I don't like Valone or Katz, who is  the partner of Curtis Sliwa who makes me gag. And the BP picks a PEP person so it is important but if I had to hold my nose I would go for Katz --- no, I can't do it.

My local Assemblyman, Phil Goldfeder, is a great guy and has made himself a Rockaway fave, so that's a no brainer.

Well, gotta go exercise my voting arm -- those old voting machines are rusty.

Hey, this is Rockaway. We know the deal with being isolated, overlooked, and forgotten about. We know we’re New York’s best kept secret and a hidden gem.

It should come as no surprise then that we identify with Sal Albanese.

Among those running for mayor, Sal Albanese is often forgotten but to us, he’s a hidden gem.

The Wave can’t turn its back on someone just because poll numbers suggest he’s got no shot.

Hear us out. There are two reasons to vote for Sal. The first reason is he earned it. He came here often and demonstrated knowledge about Rockaway-specific issues and that can’t be said of others.

He and Anthony Weiner are the only ones who offered an idea about dealing with crippling flood insurance premiums– the storm no one in public office is preparing for.

Both candidates suggested subsidizing flood insurance with grants but Sal offered a more nuanced suggestion. He said rates should be subsidized until jetties and seawalls and dunes are in place. With hard structures, premiums should come down to a manageable level and then the subsidy could be removed. That’s an idea. It’s not just the usual line we hear from candidates: I’m going to fight for affordable insurance rates. Fight? We get sick of that word. Everyone’s a fighter. Yeah, we get that.

He was here. Often. More than any other candidate. And that matters. You’ve got to see Rockaway with your own two eyes to appreciate both its beauty and its scars from Sandy.

You’ve got to be in Rockaway to see vacant lots where houses stood just 10 months ago; you’ve got to be in Rcckaway to appreciate the damage, the challenges.

You’ve even got to be here to appreciate the pot holes and horrible roads. And you’ve got to be here to appreciate the people.

Sal has been here. He gets it. He’s been fully supportive at rallies for better transportation to Rockaway and has released a full transit plan.

A former high school teacher and a lawyer, Sal’s got a rich background unlike some of the career politicians vying for the job of mayor.

Some might think it’s wasting a vote. Some scoff at voting for someone not registering in the polls. Well, voting for someone just because they look good in the polls is really something to be scoffed at. Sal Albanese has earned our vote. He earned it. That’s what matters. You can be proud to vote for Sal.

And while you might think we’re crazy, there is a method to our madness. Sal deserves the vote on the merits, period. However, there is another way to look at this.

If you’re not crazy about any of the candidates—and admit it, you’re not -- hold on. Say the polls are fairly accurate and Sal will finish far behind. Your vote for Sal still holds value. Your vote will actually signal something to those left standing. Your “Sal” vote will be considered an “undecided” vote and will be sought after in a runoff or the general election. There will be a scramble for the undecided and if Rockaway has enough undecided voters, the remaining candidates will have to pay attention to Rockaway.

You can do your part by voting for Sal Albanese.

That’s our hope. We hope enough people vote for Sal Albanese because he earned it and because it will be telling the others that they still have to earn Rockaway’s support.

Rockaway can be a voting bloc. It would be a great thing if Rockaway tried voting with unity in mind. Vote for Sal Albanese.

PS: When Mayor Bloomberg insisted on allowing the NYC Marathon to go on, Bill de Blasio supported Bloomberg.

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Why MORE?

Speaking with you the day before meeting with my principal was very helpful. It allowed me to better register what really is, as Julie has stated, "clear as mud." The UFT selected part of our committee was the only prepared party at the the table. The principal and her supervisors were unprepared and relied on our take and interpretation of the choices to be made. We advised that our school trigger the default model for the local MOSL. The principal agreed. Could not have done this without MORE support and Julie's wonderful ability to break down the entire task before us so that we could choose between the "noose or the sword."
Thanks for everything.

Ahhh! The smell of Democracy and open and diverse discussion. Our pals running the UFT should try it sometime. MORE did the hard work the UFT leadership would not do in analyzing the impact of the new world of evaluation.

If it wasn't for Julie and others dissecting this nonsense (Julie Cavanagh Analyzes Teacher Evaluation Options...) I would be totally clueless.  I couldn't get our DR to come to our school to explain this to us. She kept saying, "If you attended our spring info sessions you'd know..." BS, we know this thing was far from finished then.  MORE was there for me and my chapter with information and discussion. The petition will be circulated tomorrow. .. High School chapter leader

MORE activists and their supporters have been on the case. MORE members comment on the work of MORE on the evaluation.

Thank GOD for MORE and my brothers and sisters here I walked into school knowing more than anyone, including my administration, on how to explain the ridiculous "advance."

There is no one to turn before I joined MORE and here we are educating, helping, supporting each other. Its awesome, I'm happy to have each other. I always feel disconnected at UFT DA's. There is no solidarity, no personal connections. Next time you walk into a MORE meeting take a look at the smiles, laughter, embrace of each other. This is what a union meeting ought to be, this what we do.

The meetings and discussion over email and in person, blog posts, summer series, have done for me what my union was supposed to do. Everyone I know is turning to MORE for advice and push back against this asinine system.

We are here, we are answering questions, we have a petition, newsletter, and a day of action on 10/9 to fight this. Our union leadership sends out an email meant to do nothing but appease....

Thanks to MORE I'm able to be a better leader, organizer, and more importantly than ANYTHING I'm a better teacher. Frankly MORE meetings do more for my pedagogy than any DOE PD ever has ever.....

Usually I go to services for the high holy days, as I did yesterday and the 3 or 4 hardcore retired Unity folks make every effort to avoid me, although they're good friends with my mom. Well they couldn't run to me fast enough at Rosh shashona services. They wanted to know all about the new eval system, how bad it is, and one even said they saw our petition and it's awesome (he never acknowledged before that I was in UFT/MORE). This made me feel like we accomplished something, very little, but something....

Thanks so much to everyone else who shared advice, links and asked great questions, wrote emails posts, brought interesting things to meeting. And the Change The Stakes/High Stakes Testing crew for explaining how we ought to tell parents that this is wrong, the eval crew for writing a POWERFUL petition. I am more convinced than ever that WE are the union....

There is no one to turn before I joined MORE and here we are educating, helping, supporting each other. Its awesome, I'm happy to have each other. I always feel disconnected at UFT DA's. There is no solidarity, no personal connections. Next time you walk into a MORE meeting take a look at the smiles, laughter, embrace of each other. This is what a union meeting ought to be, this what we do....

"What MORE should do" is where I say, WE are MORE, every member can have a voice and put into what we do. That's what keeps me going and able to start the school year with a hope that would, otherwise, not be possible. Recently, colleagues from my last school called me because of my affiliation with MORE and NOT the Unity District Chapter Leader to ask about the evals. So, that's a huge sign of success for everyone here....

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Understanding Test Results as Shock Doctrine While UFT Spins a Different Tale

The new Common Core exams and test scores are politically motivated, and are based neither on reason or evidence.  They were pre-ordained to fit the ideological goals of Commissioner King and the other educrats who are intent on imposing damaging policies on our schools.... Leonie Haimson, NYCPSP blog , five reasons not to trust the new scores

That the head of the NYC teachers union should accept these tests, and the standards that provide their springboard, is so much worse than pathetic, since it shows their continuing complicity in this shameful process...  It's beyond the beyonds that Mulgrew would lament, not the vicious deception of this entire process, but the lie that "our children are far behind where they should be." Our children are far behind in many things - after all, we do have the highest child poverty rate in the developed world - and too many of them are behind academically, but these exams reflect none of that. 
...Michael Fiorillo, ICE-Mail

I can't express it any better than Fiorillo did. Further proof to me that the union is on the other side and functions as an agent to control the labor force. It is why the Chicago TU presents such a danger to the ruling class and to the traditional labor movement -- they refuse to play that role. (I and a dozen MOREs are heading to Chicago tomorrow to talk about all that with educators from around the nation-- more on that later).

How did John King know the results of the test before it was given? This was the set-up.... they designed the tests so hard that the public would react the way they wanted --- Carol Burris, NY State Principal of the Year [paraphrased].

And how do they want the press and public to react? Seeing schools as failures and in need of more deform, not a reversal in direction. Carol, whose Washington Post piece The Answer Sheet:
What big drop in new standardized test scores really means, is reverberating around the internet (Jeff Bezos can't wait to hit the delete button) in a comment on Arthur Goldstein's piece quotes King from an April 2013 pre-test interview at the Albany Union: "It's the fault of the adults that we have a system that leaves 65% of students who start 9th grade unprepared." Of course the adults don't include Bloomberg or Klein or Tisch or King himself. So what adults is he talking about? Guess?

The WSJ says it openly: “There may be some who would try to use today’s results to attack principals and teachers." -  

Janine Sopp, parent activist with CTS asks: who might "they" be?


While the UFT won't call a spade a spade, Leonie and Carol Burris, with an unparalleled reputation as an educator get it. It's all a scam. Some call on the UFT to wake up but I think they are completely awake and know what they are doing. With unions under attack, they are making sure the rulers will keep them around as managers of labor.

The most shameless response has come from the UFT leadership, handmaidens and enablers of deform. Instead of calling for a reversal of ed deform and pointing to common core as crap, the UFT is casting blame on the DOE for not providing the tools to shovel the crap around in a better way.

Mulgrew: Poor test results show Common Core curriculum was rushed 

------

Just a sliver of things to read:

That WSJ article had this statement:

Charter schools in the city generally serve more impoverished students than the overall city school district but fewer students who have learning disabilities or who are still learning English.

I wrote to the reporter that claiming charters serve a poorer population is totally wrong -- I would bet my pension that every single charter has parents with higher incomes that the surrounding schools. She agreed and is changing it.

Don't Worry About Your Test Scores by Peter DeWitt

Fred Smith (on right back with CTS sign) commented:

It makes so many good points about the mess we're in and the shameless "leaders" who got us there. 

I just saw an interview with chancellors Tisch and Walcott on Channel 5.  They gave out the current lines about raising standards, the pain involved in taking this bold step, their concern over the achievement gap, the 21st century, and late in one of her raps Tisch said that the way forward with the common core would require teacher preparation and "parent training."

The latter point about parent training jarred me. Her level of condescension is galling. To my ear it sounded like paper training--you know, housebreaking pets.

If anything, parents should be toilet training Tisch for pooping in the halls of education for 17 years and Walcott for fouling up our schools during his short tenure.  They are arrogant beyond words.

carolburris18 minutes ago

This is exactly what the "set up" was. They designed tests so hard that folks like you would react just as you did. Read this
"It's the fault of all the adults that we have a system that leaves 65 percent of students who start ninth grade unprepared," King said. Albany Times Union in April before the tests.... So, how did he know the result, before he gave the test??

NYC Educator:

Here in Bizarro World Massive Failure Is Good News

I just read at Diane Ravitch's blog that Mayor Bloomberg has joined fellow know-nothings Joel Klein and Arne Duncan in hailing the massive failure on Common Core exams as a good sign. I'm rarely at a loss for words, but I don't know precisely what to say to this.

Arthur Goldstein: I couldn’t and shouldn’t give a test that most of my students would fail. (Daily News)

This is exactly what the "set up" was. They designed tests so hard that folks like you would react just as you did. Read this
"It's the fault of all the adults that we have a system that leaves 65 percent of students who start ninth grade unprepared," King said. Albany Times Union in April before the tests.... So, how did he know the result, before he gave the test??

• UFT chief Michael Mulgrew: The low scores show that teachers needed more support. (Daily News)
• Parent leader Zakiyah Ansari: The scores show that schools need a new direction. (Daily News)

Leonie Haimson nails them:
Shock Doctrine: five reasons not to trust the results of the new state tests -

She suggest reading the following:

For an eloquent critique of the callous thinking at work, please also read Carol Burris, NYS principal of the year, in today’s Washington Post, and Diane Ravitch, on the political motives of the people who are setting these standards.

Here is the NYT on the decline in scores, the NYSED press release and slides, and the district and school-based aggregate results.

And from David Dobosz:

   One of the commenters to Diane Ravitch's fine article on punishing kids for adult supervisional failures makes reference to Clarence Page's 2011 excellent article on how the corporate world is trying to make failure look chic and the mother of success and innovation. 

   Of, course, the whole point is spinning a cover-up to justify and legitimate corporate greed, corruption and the accompanying financial disaster unethical behavior can produce.

    Below is the link. 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-06-22/news/ct-oped-0622-page-20110622_1_failure-success-track-big-seller

   It is time for folks to put Page's excellent analysis beside the outrageous spin around the low test scores. The state and local honchos are engaging in an incredibly abominable exercise of self-justification over their disaster at our children's expense. Instead they should be expressing regret and changing course. Sadly they are too scared and cowardly to do so. So they hide behind a tacky front of fake arrogance. Would you please distribute this widely?

Thanks,

David

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Retired Chapter Leader Slams UFT in Eval Deal, ATRs and Support for RTTT

The UFT claims we should be treated the same as regular teachers but they seem to have abandoned us and are sliding away from all members concerns....I and several others approached Amy, Jose and the other UFT leaders at the one ATR meeting and expressed our desire to contribute to the UFT our unique perspectives and substantiated concerns about violations to our contract. The UFT was not interested and they were informing us to be glad that our jobs had been saved.

..... An ATR

From a recently retired chapter leader:

Dear Norm,

It is with such trepidation, felt by many, that the implementation of the new teacher evaluation will be enforced in the 2013-2014 school year.  I just read Lynne Winderbaum’s posting in JD2718.org and wondered if the ATRs will be unfairly evaluated.  They are not assigned to a roster of students for an entire year so as to determine if there was an actual 20% growth measure.  How will they be evaluated and will it be fair?

I received an email from an ATR who was very concerned about the implications that the new teacher evaluation might have on her and others in the ATR pool.

She writes:

“I have found that many schools DO NOT have chapter leaders or they DO NOT introduce themselves to the ATR. I have called the UFT and spoken to several different people and I have found that they gave me the advise to FIND the chapter leader or come in and speak to someone at the UFT. I find this very disheartening since we are only there for five days and we need immediate action. Also I and several others approached Amy, Jose and the other UFT leaders at the one ATR meeting and expressed other desire to contribute to the UFT our unique perspectives and substantiated concerns about violations to our contract. The UFT was not interested and they were informing us to be glad that our jobs had been saved. The UFT has a worth of information that can be gathered from ATRs that can attest to the issue that many members face at various schools. it is not the word of one but of  different weekly members observing the conditions. We have not been included in any meaningful PDs or training's on the new standards but are expected to apply for employment in schools implementing these new directives. So sorry to take the long way to answer your question but I felt that needed my insight. Thanks for your continued service.”

Another situation that she encountered in travel from school to school was the following:

” As an ATR I have observed and been subject to the followings things at different schools.;

    1. NO BATHROOM KEYS

    2. NO ELEVATOR KEY

    3. LUNCH TIME SHORTER THAN CLASS ROOM TIMES

    4. BEING GIVEN CLERICAL DUTIES

    5. BEING GIVEN ALL DAY HALL DUTY

    6. NOT GIVEN ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENTS IN VARIOUS SUBJECTS

    7. BEING TOLD TO CLOCK IN OR SIGN IN TIME OF ARRIVAL.

Finally ATRs could have been used by the UFT to develop a comprehensive complaint to fight the DOE. ATRs have documents and have experienced the various systems that exist that do NOT comply with UFT or DOE regulations. The UFT had one meeting in October 2012 and NOTHING since then pertaining to ATRs. We also have received NO training in the new standards or the Danielson "experiment". ATRs are experienced professionals and can contribute to the STRENGTH of the dissolving commitment of the UFT. The UFT claims we should be treated the same as regular teachers but they seem to have abandoned us and are sliding away from all members concerns.”

I have not heard anything on how the new teacher evaluation will be utilized if you’re an ATR.  But, I truly hope that the union leadership’s decision to apply for the RttT money and the June 1^stimposition of the new teacher evaluation does not adversely hurt the members who are more than just union dues.

 

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UFT Fiddles as Christine Rubino 2-Year Suspension Ends Today

Thursday, June 13, 2013
To: mmulgrew@uft.org, mmendel@uft.org, Amy Arundell, aabrams@uft.org, asolomon@uft.org, hschoor@uft.org,

I am sure you all are well aware of the fact, that my 2 year suspension is supposed to be over-effective tomorrow. I have yet to hear from anyone regarding this matter. If possible, can someone please contact Laura Brantley or Claude Hersch to find out what is going on with this issue? Maybe, Theresa Europe can be consulted?

Thank You,
Christine Rubino

A union is "supposed" to stand by their members and seek information that will help them... [My NUSYUT attorney] kept telling me the benefits of resigning. I was completely shocked. Why would a NYSUT lawyer even suggest that was an option? ... The App division affirmed the lower court decision [negating the firing] and the 2 year suspension is now over--- effective 6/14.... I make phone calls and visit UFT offices and get no response.... I went to go see Amy Arundel in the Manhattan office and she actually said.."What can we do for you? You have your own lawyer?"... I would like to know who or what can be done, so that on 6/14 I know where to go... It has been 2 years, I have lost my career, my house, my whole life, and my identity.... Christine Rubino, letter to UFT officials (excerpts from June 11 letter).

Well, today is the day that Christine's suspension ends and she is due back on payroll. [For background links see below].

The fundamental thing unions must do it protect their members, which it is clear the UFT leadership does not do. Christine admits she made a mistake --saying something privately on facebook to her "friends" -- one of which obviously wasn't -- that I heard so much worse in teachers rooms. Yet the UFT leadership seems to be making a value judgement on a teacher -- they don't want to be seen as defending a teacher who might make a comment they don't deem proper?

When we had breakfast with George Schmidt, in from Chicago a few weeks ago, I brought up Christine's case and George made the emphatic point: we don't get into judging people -- especially with the attacks going on against teachers -- we defend people and stand up for the role a union plays in doing that, especially in a case that has nothing to do with in school issues. This is just the Tweed lawyer gotcha squad being allowed to run rampant to justify their existence while the UFT sits by -- sort of like watching someone in the middle of the road with a truck bearing down but not bothering to holler, "Watch out!"

(MORE put out a statement of support for Christine a few weeks ago: A Call For Fair Discipline: MORE Supports Christine Rubino).

Here is the full email Christine sent to all of the above plus Randi Weingarten the other day:

My name is Christine Rubino and I was a due paying UFT member until June 2011, when I was fired for a Facebook comment. When, I first received charges, I could not believe how quickly my union abandoned me. My "crime" did not seem like an offense worthy of termination.

When, I was assigned to a my NYSUT attorney, Mr. Sean Kelley, I could not believe what I was hearing. There I was – a 14 year teacher with nothing but satisfactory ratings and wonderful write ups from my principal, being chased down for one minute of stupidity.

The first time, I met Mr. Kelley, he was hell bent on having resignation papers drawn up. He kept insisting, it was much easier to resign, than to be fired. He kept telling me the benefits of resigning. I was completely shocked. Why would a NYSUT lawyer even suggest that was an option?

Through diligent research I came to realize the whole 3020a process is completely skewed against the teacher. In fact, I came to realize, that the whole process is INDEED skewed against the teacher.  I have even spoken to many other teachers who say, they were told the same thing. I kept my mouth closed, and sought outside counsel. This came in the form of a wonderful man, named Bryan Glass.

Mr. Glass, has been by my side since the beginning of this nightmare, and although we couldn't win at the hearing (of course, not...the cards are stacked against teachers) I continued to work closely with Mr. Glass. We took case to Supreme Court, we won.

NYCDOE slapped a stay on order, we asked App. Division to lift the statutory stay, and they did. This forced the NYCDOE...to negotiate a new penalty---before the App. Division would here the case. The NYCDOE needed to have a remand hearing. They chose to do this on paper, with the same arbitrator who fired me, presiding. Of course, she came back with a 2 year suspension, which would take me through the Appeal case.

The App division affirmed the lower court decision [negating the firing] and the 2 year suspension is now over--effective 6/14. The time is here, I have been a VERY PATIENT GIRL. I make phone calls and visit UFT offices and get no response. Nothing. I would like to know who or what can be done, so that on 6/14 I know where to go. I do not want to let that day come and go. I have been out of work long enough and have gotten to where I am, BECAUSE, my lawyer hard faith in the case, when my own union did absolutely nothing to help me. A union is "supposed" to stand by their members and seek information that will help them. To this day, I have not heard from anyone who has any information about returning. NOTHING.

As a matter of fact, I went to go see Amy Arundel in the Manhattan office, and she actually said.."What can we do for you? You have your own lawyer?"

My lawyer is my lawyer... he works with the law, he is not a direct pipeline to NYSUT, UFT, or the DOE. I would appreciate some answers as to my current situation, and what can be done, to get me back on the payroll.

It has been 2 years, I have lost my career, my house, my whole life, and my identity. I am the only person who has suffered through this, and yet people who have been accused and found guilty of far worse...have been returned to their school and are working. I look forward to hearing from someone soon, as I have many questions I would like answered. Please feel free to reach out to me...anytime...

Thank you
Christine Rubino

Outrage at Christine Rubino Two Year Suspension for Facebook Transgression, 

The Arbitrator's original decision can be found here. Barbara Jaffae,  ruling

The Assailed Teacher: The Human Cost of Teacher Bashing: The Christine Rubino Case, The DOE’s Long War on Christine Rubino

Perdido Street School:  A Two-Tiered Justice System

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL

If Only Christine Rubino Were Either Michelle Rhee, Mychael Willon, Derrick Townsend, John Chase JR, or Jose Maldanado-Rivera

Chaz's School Daze: 

The Christine Rubino Facebook Decision And Why The Arbitrator's Award Is Excessive.   

NYCDOENUTS: Rubino Plans To Appeal the Two-Year Suspension

Betsy Combier: here and here and here.

Francesco Portelos: The Christine Rubino Story

Afterburn:
Look for multiple posts today -- I feel like a July day at Kennedy airport with all the backups.

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UFT Tilts to Thompson: Tisch, D'Amato, New Action Overjoyed, de Blasio branded as"Left" While SEIU Endorses him

 3-card monte scam

This [1199/SEIU de Blasio] endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor.   ... Reality Based Educator

Better dead than red .... UFT policy since inception, c. 1960

Until the past week I was betting on the UFT backing de Blasio given some reports from the inside. But recent days have seen a decided shift to Thompson so I'm willing to bet the farm based on certain smoke signals. Unless the SEIU endorsement makes the UFT hierarchy take a pause.

But if a UFT Thompson comes about look for an interesting battle between UFT and SEIU. (And where will DC37 come down?)

Peter Goodman's Ed in the Apple blog is a good bell-weather of where the UFT is heading, though you have to read between the lines.

De Blasio, also a public school parent, continued to attack Quinn, over her support for a third term, and called her the “Bloomberg Lite” candidate....

Yes. we all hate Quinn. And I know the UFT people like de Blasio. But here's the clincher.

Is DiBlasio too far to the left? Will he “turn off” the middle of the road voters? Will he mobilize the business community to make an all-out effort for Lhota? (Lhota is about at the same level as Bloomberg was at this time in 2001)

Left? The usual Unity hack scare tactic. ("Progressive" would not do, I guess.)

Is Goodman trying to frighten the members who might support de Blasio (remember the lack of support for Mark Green in 2001 that gave us 12 years of Bloomberg). As if the business community is not already supporting Lhota.

Don't forget that de Blasio is the only candidate to take on Moskowitz and the charter network head to head. The UFT is often too scaredy cat to go there. (They argue that criticizing charters will hurt their attempts to organize charter teachers -- interesting in that Karen Lewis slams charters and still organizes teachers with success and 80% of the teachers in an election where retirees don't vote chose Karen yesterday.)

Reality-Based Educator reporting at Perdido Street School:

De Blasio Gets 1199 SEIU Endorsement

Local 1199 SEIU, which represents 200,000 healthcare workers, will make the announcement official on Monday.

The decision -- which could provide de Blasio a surge of grassroots support -- is the most significant union endorsement yet in the race.

Officials at the union said that its 150-member executive board voted unanimously to support de Blasio -- the first time that has happened in any citywide race in more than 20 years. They also said they made their choice a month earlier than expected, with hopes it would prompt other unions to follow suit. This endorsement is a direct slap to Thompson. The African American candidate getting all those rich white people to support him politically and financially doesn't get 1199's endorsement because those members know who Thompson will represent if he is elected mayor. 

Back to Goodman, who has an entire paragraph with a brief bio of Thompson, including this attempt to sugarcoat a guy who ran one of the worst campaigns in history against Bloomberg in 2009.

 Time and time again he rapped the Bloomberg administration and in the strongest terms said he would hire an experienced educator as chancellor. The audience applauded as he criticized Tweed, policies made by a staff without much school experience, and, “not a lot of diversity.”

You mean rapping Bloomberg's policies is what got Bloomberg's next door neighbor and ed deformer supreme, Merryl Tisch, to be Thompson's campaign chairperson and D'Amato and his pals to support him with big money while Merryl's husband is backing Lhota?

Oh, give us a break. They're playing 3-card monte with us.

What about Thompson's time as President of the Board of Education before the fall? He was backed by Giuliani for President and during his tenure we saw the first case of a non educator getting a waiver to be Chancellor (Harold Levy), thus setting a precedent for the past 4 chancellors. NOW he wants an educator for Chancellor?

With many UFT members supporting de Blasio for what they see as a more progressive program (progressive = left in the old war hawk UFT), Goodman's comments opens up the whispering campaign UFT staffers and Unity hacks will be using to try to tame the members who support de Blasio, most of whom will ignore them anyway. Teachers who are clued in despise Tisch and her flunky John King. So go sell Thompson to them.

Only a big backlash internally -- watch the UFT Delegate Assembly this Wednesday for clear signs -- which Unity hacks get up to speak and whether they make the very same comments Goodman is making. Unity Caucus DA Speakers Bureau will be meeting a day or two before the DA to plot strategy. Message to Stuart Kaplan --- we'll be watching you.

I see the entire Thompson campaign with support from Merryl Tisch whose husband is supporting Lhota as a bogus campaign to put forth the weakest candidate so Lhota has a shot. Come on, D'Amato, even with his anti-Lhota comments?

Even anti-political people like me who believe every politician will sell us out may just vote de Blasio for spite. 

What a trio of support: the UFT, Tisch and D'Amato. Hello Mayor Lohta.

Here are some more signs of UFT for Thompson:

• RBE reports: Merryl Tisch Hosts "Women For Thompson" Fundraiser On June 12 - Weingarten To Attend

Tells you everything you need to know about what kind of mayor Bill Thompson will be.

• Thompson is the only one written about in the update the UFT sends out:

http://www.uft.org/press-releases/mayoral-candidate-bill-thompson-outlin...

Mayoral candidate Bill Thompson gave a speech today outlining his vision for the city’s public schools and slamming Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies. Among the goals cited by Thompson, a former head of the Board of Education, were expanding the city’s prekindergarten programs and the number of Community Learning Schools, an initiative that was launched by the UFT.

See the movie opening next fall: Mark Green, Part 2.

And one more thing from Goodman's alternate reality:

I think the final endorsement will be driven by the “straw votes” at the borough meetings and the attitude of the delegates at the May 22nd meeting.

Sure, Peter, the vote of the people who attended the borough meetings, which probably look like a Unity Caucus Delegate Assembly, will decide.

Oh, and watch the walking dead in New Action, which actually crowed about how they endorsed Bill Thompson last time and attacked MORE for not doing so despite the fact that MORE didn't even exist, brag that it is their influence over Mulgrew due to their support that got the endorsement for Thompson.

New Action campaigning for Thompson

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New Action: No Action on Social Justice, But Lots of Talk

New Action claims that "action" is talking about something. They were the "first to call" and sometimes they "repeatedly call" for action, as if "calling" is action.  Hey, I call for world peace. I'll wait a few minutes to check if it worked. Maybe I should try doing it repeatedly.-- Ed Notes

I recall members of New Action enthusiastically supporting the creation of the UFT Charter School.  I was alone in my negative vote. I oppose charter schools and so does MORE because they take precious public resources away from the public schools. -- James Eterno, ICE blog

I can't tell you how much glee the MOREs are having with these New Action posts: The crew that actually MADE a movie defending public education and teacher unions. Or the crew that has not only "repeatedly called" for people to go to closing school and charter co-locos and PEP meetings, but ACTUALLY went and spoke and leafleted.

If you haven't read it yet see my post from yesterday with links to wonderful NYC Educator posts.

New Action Seeks Free Pass on Mulgrew Endorsement While Giving Cover to Unity on Lack of Democracy

The funniest is their claims on mayoral control when ICE took on that issue in the process of formation in 2003 because no other caucus even mentioned it. And I will point out that Ed Notes went after Randi for supporting it as far back as pre-ICE 2001, as James Eterno points out on the ICE blog today.

I was sitting behind James when Randi raised it at a May or June 2001 meeting and I watched NA dictator Mike Shulman run around to the NA Ex Bd members telling them not to oppose it (according to one NA EB member at the time) because Randi would be mad at them. I was yelling in the ear of James and NA's Bob Dehler, who turned around and told me how good mayoral control would be.

Here is James today on the ICE blog on mayoral control:

New Action states that they have opposed mayoral control from the start.  I remember it a little differently. While on the UFT Executive Board, I seem to recall the subject of mayoral control first came up around 2001.  The Unity majority brought forward a school governance recommendation that supported giving the mayor the majority control over the Board of Education.
Norm Scott showed up at the Executive Board and schooled me quickly on how it would be a disaster. Chicago was already ahead of New York on mayoral dictatorship; there were already horrible consequences for teachers and students.  I spoke up and voted against supporting mayoral control that night but I don't remember some of the other NAC members of the Executive Board voting with me. NAC had no position on the subject at the time. {James doesn't remember but NA member Bob Dehler turned to me at that point and said mayoral control is a good idea. --Norm} 

I also recall members of New Action enthusiastically supporting the creation of the UFT Charter School.  I was alone in my negative vote. I oppose charter schools and so does MORE because they take precious public resources away from the public schools.

I'm glad James brought up the enthusiastic support New Action gave to the UFT charter co-location of 2 public schools -- and note that issue is absent from their literature, probably because Mulgrew told them that was a no-no. ICE took a strong and immediate stand against the UFT Charter with Michael Fiorillo leading the way at the DA.


James and MORE and ICE members Lisa North, who left New Action to form ICE in 2003 after their dirty deal with Unity, and Gloria Brandman take apart the New Action claims at the ICE blog. James starts it off.

AN INSIDE LOOK AT NEW ACTION CLAIMS

New Action is supporting Michael Mulgrew for President in the UFT election. Ballots will be mailed today so now it is up to members to decide who will lead our union. The only caucus running an opposing presidential candidate is the Movement for Rank and File Educators (MORE).  MORE is running Julie Cavanagh for UFT President as most readers of this blog already know. This blog endorses Cavanagh/MORE.
Unity and New action are the two longest running caucuses (political parties) in the UFT.  Unity has run the UFT for five decades.  New Action opposed Unity for years.  I was a member of New Action from 1995 to 2003.  I was elected to the UFT Executive Board three times while in NAC. 

In those days they were a genuine opposition group that actually ran a candidate for UFT President.

When I was a new Chapter Leader in 1996, NAC co-chair Michael Shulman spent a great deal of time teaching me about the job and was a valuable resource as was NAC's Ellen Fox.  Therefore, it was very painful to leave NAC in 2003 after they decided not to oppose Unity's Randi Weingarten for UFT President, but it was necessary. Camille Eterno, Ellen Fox, Lisa North, Chris Ash and others have not looked back since we defected although I do miss my New Action friends.

New Action in its current form basically exists to confuse members into thinking they are still the main opposition group within the UFT.  They put out literature that looks critical of the leadership but they do not run against President Mulgrew; instead they endorse him.  In exchange they are given ten candidates for the UFT Executive Board that the majority Unity Caucus is cross endorsing so they are pretty much assured of victory.  NAC maintains this arrangement gives them a voice inside the UFT much like the Unity leaders say they have a voice at the table with Bill Gates and others. What good does that do us?

NYC Educator correctly points out that supporting the other party's candidate for president would be akin to the Democrats in 2004 saying they are the main opposition party and then supporting Republican George W Bush for president.  You wouldn't think that is much of an opposition, would you?

NAC is running for these seats and others based on their record.  However, a look at that record shows that some of what New Action is taking credit for is a little far fetched.

Currently, New Action is making many claims in their literature where they take credit for their accomplishments within the  UFT. Former NAC member (now running with MORE) Lisa North comments on what they do.

I'll interrupt James for a second. Lisa and Gloria have worked with the UFT social justice committee and pushed for many of the issues NA is trying to take credit for. I always told them not to waste their time there because NA would take credit for all the work they did. And so it has come to pass. But they are so socially conscious that won't stop them.


On the disappearing black and Latino educator, every activist in the city knows that ICE founding member and current MORE member Sean Ahern has been the leading voice on this issue since the issue first emerged. As a matter of fact I'm not sure the issue would have emerged if not for the work of Sean.

Defense of the Puerto Rican teachers
Give me a break on this. Angel Gonzalez who is as close as anyone can be to Rafael Feliciano who led the PR teachers, came to ICE, not NA for help in putting the issue before the DA (that's how I met him). And we supported him on the blog and at the DA. See if NA was writing about this issue in 2007 and 2008. In fact, Ed Notes was writing about the Puerto Rico teacher story and their withdrawal from the AFT all along. (Angel then joined ICE and he and I and a few others founded what became GEM in Jan. 2009.)


Stop and frisk
ICE/MORE's Jeff Kaufman, a former cop and lawyer, has been an activist in opposing Stop and Frisk, along with James Eterno's brother John, also a former policeman. They speak all over the state on this issue. MORE took an early stand on this issue and MORE people have worked with and supported the amazing work Teachers Unite does on so many related issues.

On the anti-war issue
Gloria and Lisa were the key people in keeping this flame alive and ran the UFTers to Oppose the War listserve since its founding. 

Well, I'll let James, Lisa and Gloria continue (and my message to Gloria is: these guys are the enemies of union reform and prove it every day.)

"While it's true that NAC proposes some resolutions on important issues at Executive Board meetings, they do little or NO organizing!  It was MORE people who held meetings, sent emails, had rallies, circulated petitions, passed out fliers, contacted other community groups for support, etc. New Action is just like UNITY....pass a resolution and DO NO ACTION to organize to make a real change happen.  

 

Gloria Brandman sits on the UFT Social Justice Committee along with Lisa North.  Here is her critique (in italics) of New Action:

New Actions says they are: The only caucus to repeatedly call for action on the disappearing Black and Latino educators-   

Reality: This issue was originally brought to the Social and Economic Justice Committee (which is co chaired by a NAC and a UNITY person) by MORE's Sean Ahearn with support from Lisa and Gloria, Sean and other MORE people. Teachers Unite, and CPE worked on this issue even before it was brought to the UFT.

New Action says they initiated a resolution in Support of Puerto Rican Teachers Federation Leadership- 

Reality: Not sure if this is true but whenever Rafael Feliciano who was the President of the PRTF came to NYC, he spoke at many events in NYC, none of them organized by anyone in NAC.  It was GEM (Grassroots Education Movement) people who took leadership in supporting the PR Teachers and members of GEM who organized speaking engagements, forums  and fundraising events for  President Feliciano.

{IT IS TRUE GLORIA}

New Action says they called on UFT to support the April 9, 2011 anti-war demonstration. 

 

The Whole Story: This is positive but resolutions without actions do little to make change. It was members of ICE who are now MORE members that formed UFTers to Stop the War. UFTers to Stop the War brought anti-war resolutions to the DA as well as worked to make sure all high schools had information about opting out of military recruitment. NAC supported some of this work, but they did not do the organizing to bring any of it about. It was MORE people! And for the anti-war demonstration in Washington, DC on Jan 27, 2007 it was MORE members who requested and got the UFT to provide two buses, and Lisa and Gloria were the bus captains on the buses. One or two NACs may have attended as well. 

New Action says they achieved: 

 

Bipartisan Social and Economic Justice Committee passes rent control resolution
Bipartisan Social and Economic Justice Committee gets resolution passed  on Reducing the Environmental Footprint. Calls for an end to plastic bottles at UFT and for recycling bins. 

Reality: Not Bipartisan- There were people from three different caucuses at these meetings. 

(Bipartisan =including members from two parties or factions) I will say that getting rid of the plastic bottles at the DA is probably the most concrete and successful  action that has come about due to this committee!  

New Action says they exposed SESIS as a “nightmare.” Called for help for our members. 

Exactly how did they expose this? Most of them have never even seen SESIS as they are retired.

New Action says they won bipartisan support in solidarity with Chicago teachers

 
The Whole Story: It was MORE that brought teachers from Chicago here, wrote and circulated petitions, organized and participated in meetings, rallies and a march that started in Union Square.

New Action asks the UFT to join NAACP suit on selective school entrance exams
MORE actually proposed a resolution at the DA which was combined with the Executive Board's resolution and approved

New Action called for support for Seattle teachers who refused to administer standardized tests.
The Whole story: It was a MORE member who brought a resolution to DA.  it was combined with the Executive Board's resolution and approved

Back to James.

One final point: New Action met with some people from MORE last fall and NAC says there was an agreement that MORE would not attack them.  Kit Wainer from MORE was at that meeting and says no such agreement was ever made.  I know Kit and I will stand up 100% for his integrity.  I will be diplomatic and say that apparently there was a misunderstanding.

I am not so kind. They are lying skunks, and I hate to insult skunks.

Now here is the New Action attack on MORE's claim to be the social justice caucus of the UFT.

The Social Justice Caucus? Action vs Words

Published March 25, 2013

MORE Coalition- The Social Justice Caucus?

The MORE group has highlighted their commitment to fight for social justice in recent election material. They call themselves the social justice caucus.

On the other hand it is noteworthy that New Action/UFT has been in the forefront of the struggle for a non-racist, just society. While focusing on all the issues affecting educators in the schools, from the attack on veteran teachers, the attack on probationary teachers, the insanity of SESIS, abusive administrators, the fixation on standardized tests, and blaming educators for all the problems of the education system–New Action has taken action on ALL of the following–

The first to call for disaster relief for Haiti
The first to call for justice for Trayvon Martin
The first to call for an end to Stop and Frisk
The first to call for the defeat of Mike Bloomberg and support for Bill Thompson
The first to call for the defense of the fired leadership of the Puerto Rican teachers
The only caucus to repeatedly call for action on the disappearing Black and Latino educators
The only caucus to petition to end mayoral control
The first caucus to pass a resolution against gun violence
And New Action spoke up for organizing home care providers

MORE would like to have a record to match New Action but it’s not there yet. 

When the MORE coalition matches its actions with its rhetoric–maybe then it can wear the mantle of the social justice caucus!

 Let me just add one more thing.

Among the lies and misdirection from New Action, there is purposely calling MORE a "coalition" instead of a "caucus", a word branded all over everything MORE does, from the blog to the email to every single leaflet.

Why? Because a coalition is a group of groups, a notably unstable and often temporary alliance, which is the impression New Action is trying to give. about MORE. MORE is a caucus where individuals but not all members from many groups have joined.

There is an important difference and New Action, which itself formed as a caucus, not as a coalition between Teachers Action Caucus and New Directions where both those groups disappeared as entities. (TJC has disappeared and while ICE continues as a discussion group most ICEers are working inside MORE.)

Note that TAC was formed out of  Teachers for Community Control after the 1968 strike --- and where has that idea gone with New Action? They want to end Mayoral control but say precious little about local control. Some social justice caucus. And a reason why Ira Goldfine in my post yesterday pointed to how the early leaders of TAC who opened up schools in 1968 must be turning over in their graves.

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