KAREN LEWIS AND ENTIRE CORE SLATE WIN LANDSLIDE IN CHICAGO ELECTION

In a union election that had implications beyond Chicago, Karen Lewis and CORE were easily reelected yesterday.  Preliminary results show that CORE received about 80% of the vote in yesterday's Chicago Teachers Union election.

Congratulations!

George Schmidt's Substance provides the numbers.  It looks as though the turnout was much better than the 20% among active teachers we had here in NYC's recent UFT election. (Based on what Substance said, it was around 60%.)

Chicago teachers walked the walk by going on strike last year.  Now they have given an overwhelming mandate for the leadership that led them out on the picket lines.

If only this Chicago fire could spread.  Hey, why not?

CHICAGO TEACHERS NEED TO REELECT KAREN LEWIS TOMORROW

In the Chicago Teachers' Union, they have a one day election in the schools (I take it the retirees don't vote for who will represent the active teachers like here in NYC). On Friday, May 17, the Chicago Teachers Union is having their election.

We followed last year's Chicago strike and its aftermath fairly closely and although it was not a total victory by any means, nothing will send a stronger and clearer message to the forces that are trying to destroy public education than the overwhelming reelection of Karen Lewis and her CORE caucus in the May 17 balloting. She deserves a second term.

CORE didn't stop the school closing madness with the strike but they did show unions can fight back at the grassroots level.  Their courageous strike resulted in a decent contract with solid financial and teaching condition gains. I don't think there is much doubt that it is better than what they could have achieved without striking.

A big CORE victory in the election will be a nightmare for the people who want to privatize (charter schools) education. A CORE loss will put another Unity style top-down, "Let's collaborate with management" group back in charge of the Chicago Teachers Union.

For an in depth analysis of the election, see Jersey Jazzman, Ed Notes or go right to Chicago and read the latest in Chicago's Substance where there is an endorsement.

Like our friend in New Jersey, we also usually don't get involved in union elections outside our own local but this one is too important and clearly has national implications.

We need three more years for Karen Lewis to lead the resistance against the people who want to kill the unions and end public education as we know it! It's up to you Chicago teachers.

REPORT FROM MONDAY'S UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD

This summary came from our friends who were in attendance at the latest Executive Board meeting.

From Monday's executive board:
During Mulgrew's report he said that the teachers are being singled out for worst prospects by the mayor, compared to other city workers. He said that the contract talks are officially going into fact-finding, and that Bloomberg is giving his official fact-finding testimony on June 12, a Wednesday.

Additionally, Mulgrew has secured official support from the Municipal Labor Council for a rally, 4 pm, the same day, outside City Hall, with the theme, Fair Contracts for All. He says that it will be one that he'll push for a big turnout. Mulgrew said that teachers have been working under terrible working conditions.

From another observer:

There was a very interesting exchange between Michael Mendel and an Absent Teacher Reserve who spoke during the Open Mike period.  In the course of the ATR's presentation, the question of unsatisfactory ratings for ATRs who are observed in subjects unfamiliar to them was raised.  Mendel then gave, and repeated several times, what appears to be the UFT's official position on the frequent Unsatisfactory observation reports being given to ATRs who are purposefully being observed while teaching in subjects they know nothing about.  (The ATR at the mike gave the clear example of a science teacher who was observed while teaching a music teacher's program.)  Mendel's response was that the union anticipates that there will be very few ATR U-Ratings at the end of the year.  The evidence he cites for this is that there were very few ATR U-Ratings last year, and no one expects that to change this June.  This, however, in no way speaks to the question of the frequent U observation reports that are being given out.  This appears to be a scam that principals are operating.  It allows them to continue to refuse steady employment to ATRs assigned to their schools.  As long as they continue to justify their refusal to accept the ATRs sent to their buildings as permanent employees, they can keep receiving a steady stream of "free" labor -- paid for by the central Board -- for as long as this insane system continues.  The moment they agree to "hire" an ATR permanently, the salary is charged to the school.  This is more than enough motivation for many, many principals to want to keep the ATR merry-go-round in constant motion.

HOWEVER, if anyone remembers, the original spin that the UFT put on its acceptance of the crazy ATR system now in effect was that constantly moving ATR's from school to school on a weekly basis would give the ATRs more opportunity to be seen by lots of principals, so that they would have better opportunities to be hired permanently.  Of course, this has never materialized.  Indeed, the clever little principals have turned the situation around, and have found a way of demonstrating to the Board that all these people who are passing through their doors are indeed unsatisfactory.  No need to hire them.  But our union's response seems to be:  "It's all right.  Don't worry.  There won't be many ATR U-ratings at the end of the year."

UFT ELECTION RESULTS SHOW MORE MAKES GAINS OVER ICE-TJC NUMBERS FROM 2010 BUT MULGREW EASILY WINS

FULLY UPDATED WITH ALL SLATE NUMBERS

We have initial slate only numbers for the UFT election and although Unity and New Action will hold onto their monopoly on power, the new Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) established itself as the main opposition group in the UFT by a substantial margin.  MORE finished second and improved on their predecessor caucus ICE-TJC vote totals from 2010.

Here are the updated slate numbers for 2013 compared with the 2010 count.

2013  High Schools    Ballots Mailed: 19,040  Ballots Returned: 3808   Votes Counted: 3595  
MORE: 1430 (40%)   NEW ACTION: 452 (13%)       UNITY: 1592 (45%)

The remainder are people who split their ballot.

2010 High Schools    Ballots Returned: 5203
MORE: 1369                 NEW ACTION: 774               UNITY: 2595

2013 Middle Schools   Ballots Mailed:10,807  Ballots Returned: 1879      Votes Counted: 1875
ICE-TJC: 398                NEW ACTION: 161                UNITY:1185

The remainder are people who split their ballot.

2010 Middle Schools:     Ballots Returned: 2881
ICE-TJC: 248                NEW ACTION: 421                  UNITY: 1981

2013 Functionals (non teachers)   Ballots Mailed: 51,040  Ballots Returned: 7704   Ballots Counted: 7113
MORE: 951                   NEW ACTION: 754                UNITY: 5167

The remainder are people who split their ballot.    

2010 Functional          Ballots Returned: 10629
ICE-TJC: 708                  NEW ACTION: 1175             UNITY: 7337

UPDATED SINCE YESTERDAY
2013 Elementary Schools  Ballots Mailed: 34,163    Ballots Returned:7331  Ballots Counted: 6870
MORE: 1140                  NEW ACTION: 534                 UNITY: 5111

The remaining votes are those who split their ballot.


2010 Elementary            Ballots Returned: 10,292
ICE-TJC: 703                   NEW ACTION: 978                UNITY: 7337


2013 Retirees   Ballots Mailed: 58,357        Ballots Returned: 22,462      
MORE: 1490                   NEW ACTION: 1880            UNITY: 18,155        

The rest are split votes.


TOTAL SLATE VOTES: 40,400
MORE: 5409 (13.4%)         NEW ACTION: 3781 (9.4%)            UNITY: 31,210 (77.2%)


Some quick analysis:

Something is wrong with the UFT electoral system when New Action gets only 13% of the high school votes but wins half of the UFT Executive Board seats for the high schools while MORE's 40% will get MORE no representation on the Executive Board.

It is obvious that a clear majority of the high school teachers who vote do not want a Unity monopoly on power.  Had this been a traditional two party UFT election, there would be truly independent opposition representation (no Unity cross endorsement needed).

Two other stories emerge at first glance.  First, the turnout was pitiful as only 43,138 ballots are being counted out of 173,407 that were sent out. That is a turnout of 24.9%. Just as significantly, 22,462 of those votes are from retirees.  That constitutes 52% of the voters. I would question if having retirees as the majority of the electorate is healthy for the union.

Finally, Mulgrew's vote dropped compared to 2010.  It appears many members did not vote for the opposition but they certainly didn't vote for the incumbent.  For the next election, those members need to be persuaded to vote for someone.

UNABRIDGED APRIL DELEGATE ASSEMBLY REPORT

President’s Report 

CONTRACTS FOR CITY UNIONS 

President Michael Mulgrew reported on Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference saying he would negotiate contracts since all the city unions were now working under expired contracts.  Mulgrew stated that the mayor won’t offer retroactive raises. 

TESTING 

President Mulgrew said parents are upset that kids are being tested on material that they were not taught.  He said there is no substitute for curriculum but the Department of Education got rid of the curriculum departments but still won’t accept responsibility.  He added they are going to re-baseline students but parents see their kids as guinea pigs. 

OPTING OUT OF TESTING 

Mulgrew stated that UFT is not advocating either way when it comes to parents opting their kids out of standardized testing.  He will just give information and leave it up to parents who have a right to do what is best for their children.  He spoke to counsel on this matter.

SCHOOL BASED OPTIONS 

The President recommended that Chapters that have principals who won’t work in a collaborative way  with the chapter  should think very carefully about agreeing to SBO’s, particularly SBO’s that are the idea of the Principal.  Mulgrew reviewed the SBO process and said District Representatives and Amy Arundell should be contacted on SBO’s. 

CHANCELLORS’ LETTER TO PRINCIPALS 

Mulgrew reported on the letter from Chancellor Walcott that said in part that the talent coaches were experts on Dainelson.  Mulgrew disagreed with the Chancellor on this and other points. 

ARBITRATION ON TEACHER EVALUATIONS 

Mulglrew noted that we would have a new evaluation system by September and that it will be a mess.  He continued that the budgets, scheduling, buses will also be a mess so September through December will not be good.  He stated that Central DOE is getting worse by the moment; they are out of control and there will be a big transition after December 31.  He continued that we are in arbitration, grievance and PERB on so many things that it’s ridiculous. 

CONTRACT 

The President said that fact finding is moving ahead but the city is trying to slow the process.  He added there will be a report before the mayor leaves.  The mayor is telling people that the city can’t afford a raise for any unions but the fact finders will say the city can afford increases. Mulgrew added that city unions will not be lining up for three year contracts with no salary increases. 

SESIS PAYMENTS 

The chair stated that Occupational Therapists/Physical Therapists just got $2.7 million in payments from the SESIS case.  On April 30, 30,000 members will get north of $30 million in SESIS payments; some will get over $30,000 and many will receive between $8,000 to $14,000. 

LEROY BARR'S STAFF DIRECTOR’S REPORT 

The Staff Director announced that Share My lesson launch will be Saturday at 9:00 am at the UFT and also coming up are the Secretary luncheon and Spring Conference.  He also said that the UFT election ballots are due back to the American Arbitration Association by Tuesday, April 24 and that the next Delegate Assembly was moved to May 22 from May 8. 

QUESTION PERIOD 

Question: Test scores impacting on ratings and progress reports this year and next year . 

Mulgrew Answer: New system not in effect this year.  Next year we need not worry because 7% statewide should be rated ineffective, 9% highly effective and the rest in the middle. This year only 6% of city teachers would be ineffective based on the test results as we deal with the students with the greatest needs.  As for progress reports, 85% are based on test scores and this must change. 

Question: What is the UFT strategy to fight the mayor’s no bid contracts? 

Answer: We are working with comptroller’s office as he has the power to cancel the nine year contracts. 

Question: What can we do about principals who always consult DOE legal and then are told to do anything they want? 

Answer: DOE legal rationalizes anything and then blames principals when things go wrong.  The DOE has 300 lawyers and we have 3. 

Question: How can the UFT talk about opposing charter schools when the UFT runs a charter School?  Will we think about giving up our charter school and restoring the UFT’s reputation? 

Answer: Mulgrew disagrees with much of the premise of the question but our relationship with the families is what is keeping the school going. 

NEW MOTION PERIOD 

There were no new motions. 

SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS (Scheduled Resolutions) 

There was a resolution to support the May Day march and rally for labor, jobs for all and immigrant rights that passed unanimously.  This was followed by a resolution to support the campaign by fast-food workers to unionize which also carried unanimously.  There was also a resolution to stop President Obama’s proposed cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid which also passed unanimously. 

ENDORSEMENTS 

The following candidates received UFT endorsements: 

Republican James Oddo for Staten Island Borough President. 

City Council: 

Manhattan 3                                          Corey Johnson 

Manhattan 4                                          Daniel Garodnick 

Mnhattan/Bronx 8                                Melissa Mark-Viverito 

Manhattan 9                                          Inez Dickens 

Bronx 13                                                  James Vacca 

Queens 21                                               Julissa Ferreras 

Queens 23                                               Mark Weprin 

Queens 25                                               Danny Dromm 

Brooklyn 36                                             Kirsten Foye 

Brooklyn 44                                             David Greenfield 

All are Democrats. 

The rest of the meeting was on the mayoral endorsement which is covered in an earlier posting. 

DA VOTES FOR UFT TO ENDORSE A DEMOCRAT IN MAYORAL PRIMARY

There was important news coming from the April UFT Delegate Assembly as the body voted overwhelmingly in favor of the UFT endorsing a candidate in September's Democratic primary. This decision was made after a somewhat interesting, but as usual one sided, discussion that included active members and retirees.

The issue was whether or not to endorse and when to endorse rather than who to support.

Most speakers gave a history of UFT endorsements that were either successful or were busts.  Specifically, Delegates boasted about the UFT turning the tide for Tony Avella in his Senate race when most other unions endorsed 38 year incumbent Frank Padavan. The UFT stood with Avella and he was victorious and now two Delegates noted we have him as a friend in the State Senate.  (Knowing Avella fairly well, I think he was our friend when he was in the City Council before the 2010 endorsement and even when we did not endorse his 2009 mayoral bid.)

Another successful UFT campaign that was mentioned was last year's election of President Barack Obama. Secretary Michael Mendel then reached back to 1998 when the UFT led a huge upset victory when Chuck Schumer knocked off eighteen year veteran US Senator Al D'Amato, who had been bashing teachers as a large part of his reelection strategy.

The positive stories were offset by Delegates actually raising two campaigns when the UFT failed in its mayoral endorsements. In 2001, the UFT supported three candidates who all lost: Alan Hevesi in the Democratic primary, Fernando Ferrer in the runoff and then Mark Green in the general election.  Retiree John Soldini warned us that we can't turn negative on Democrats we don't endorse because we might want to later endorse a candidate, if that person beats our favorite, and we don't want to bloody the primary winner who will need our support in the general election.

Delegates also admitted that by not supporting Bill Thompson for mayor in 2009, we helped Bloomberg win his disastrous third term. Staff Directory Leroy Barr then made a motion for the UFT to endorse a candidate in the primary and work to get that person elected mayor.It carried easily.

As to which candidate the UFT will endorse, that was not part of the discussion.

We will report on the rest of the DA when we get a chance.

"U" Rated ATR Wins Appeal Despite "Unity" Representation

While there are plenty of reasons to vote for MORE and dump the "Unity" stranglehold on our membership perhaps the most compelling is the refusal by our leadership to properly represent our members.

Witness Samuel Richardson. Mr. Richardson (not his real name) is a 24 year veteran Social Studies licensed high school teacher who was excessed from a closing Brooklyn school 3 years ago. As with his colleagues he was assigned as an ATR and forced into nomadic purgatory where he shuffles from Brooklyn high school to Brooklyn high school on a weekly basis.

Last year he made it to my high school, Aspirations, and after we got to know each he explained that he had received an unsatisfactory observation for a lesson he was clearly set up. The story was all too familiar. With little notice Mr. Richardson said he would be observed in a class he was the substitute teacher for two days. The next day he was ushered into another class (a much more difficult class behaviorally and academically) and told to teach his lesson before the teacher and observer.

The subject of the lesson had nothing to do with what the class was studying at that point and needless to say the class was somewhat unruly. His observation report was written as if he provided no meaningful instruction and had no classroom management skills.

He reluctantly showed me the observation report. I tried to schedule a meeting with this ATR supervisor to no avail and by the time June rolled around he was given a "U" rating for the year. His supervisor saw him a total of 3 times (twice in the week he was observed) and engaged in no meaningful conversation with him the entire year. The U rating sheet referred only to the observation report and his perfect attendance record.

Throughout the next several months Mr. Richardson and I have been in communication. We regularly discussed appeal strategy and ways to reverse this rating. When he received notice right before the Easter break that his hearing would be today he called me. We met and I gave him a package of materials including the Rating Guide and several court cases dealing with arbitrary U ratings. A retired teacher called him to meet with him and "prepare" for the hearing. He had one meeting with this advocate and gave her the materials I gave to him. He pleaded with her to call me, yesterday.

Yesterday, on the eve of his appeal, a received a phone call from this "advocate." Our conversation was not pleasant. She accused me of cross-examining her and finally stated "If I do all you want me to do I would have no time." I then asked her how she would have felt if she, while teaching, had received a U rating and her advocate told her she had no time for her case. Silence.

It is one thing that the DOE has evolved the U rating appeals system as a kangaroo court. It is another that our Unity colleagues remain complicit and actually contribute to the loss of our members rights.

Advocates are taught to read statements (written by some knucklehead with no legal training) to the U rating appeals officer. They are not given the materials, training or time to adequately represent our members. The jobs are reserved for the Unity faithful in their retirement. In fact there is even a rule that lawyers are not allowed to argue for members.

As a result it is easy for the DOE to affirm almost every U rating appeal and since no record is ever made that would be valuable in Court most appeals to Court are denied.

I just got off the phone with Mr. Richardson who told me how the hearing went. The advocate submitted the papers I had provided him and according to Mr. Richardson used many of the strategies we discussed. There was actual questioning of the rating officer and at the end of the hearing Mr. Richardson was informed his rating would be reversed.

A vote for Unity is a vote to not only perpetuate this system but actually codify it by placing a quota on appeals and needing Unity's permission to appeal. This is America?