For a union that claims victory even when it loses, the UFT, along with the Council of Supervisors and Administrators, can today boast about a true win as an arbitrator has ruled that the Department of Education violated our union contracts when they excessed entire schools and forced people to reapply for their jobs but only had to hire half back. The phony closing of 24 turnaround schools has been stopped and our members will get their jobs back in their schools if they want them. This is a tremendous day for teachers, administrators, other educators and students. For the mayor it is a stinging defeat.
To all of the UFT and CSA members in the 24 impacted schools, I say congratulations but look out because the mayor does not normally take kindly to losing. We will need to be a really strong union in the months ahead. Make no mistake about it.
Hopefully, this is the day in history where it will be shown that we turned the situation around and stopped the school closing madness. However, we won twice back in 2010 when the courts stopped the mayor from closing 19 schools. The mayor responded by coming back a few months later to close most of the schools again. My school (Jamaica High School) was one of those schools and we are still in court with the 2011 lawsuit to stop that round of school closings.
I am all in favor of a legal and political strategy to go against this mayor's insane education policies. However, without a full mobilization of the members of this union, that strategy ultimately could easily fail. Let's not see 2010 happen again. Stay active from day 1 turnaround school people.
13 comments:
Unitymustgo!June 29, 2012 10:29:00 PM EDT From ED NOTES
Predictions:
The press will pound the union with outrageously articles and editorials about how we are the anti-christ.
Bloomberg will do the same and then the press will pound us again.
Every ed-deformers and pro charter supporters will do the same, followed by more bad press.
The DOE will send out letters to all the families of the students attending these schools letting them know not to get their hopes up. They will state something like the schools still suck and we will close them down eventually so you should move on and go else where.
With funds directly correlated to the # of students the schools will have little chance of providing the courses and activities they should be providing thus further leading them to their own demise.
The DOE will starve them of every resource they possible can.
They will use the low enrollment as an opportunity to move Charter's into the buildings.
Do I need to go on? A win? Maybe in some ways, but it will most likely be hollow and fuel for the fire against us.
Reply
It's kind of amazing that Bloomberg says he will appeal. Isn't the nature of arbitration that you agree to accept the result? Or does that simply not apply to billionaires?
Come on, NYC Educator, don't you know by now the rules are just for everyone else? Bloomberg IS ABOVE THE LAW...ask him, he will tell you. Like I say when I see a kid ride a bicycle with 95 pads on, how the heck did we survive riding without a as much as a glove on? How did humans survive until 2002 when Napoleon became mayor?
Bloomberg plays by his own set of rules. He could not buy the arbitrator. Who is his appeal going to go to? The same judge that the city agreed with to send the case to arbitration. He has virtually no chance unless he buys up the courts.
The decision is not supported by any legal reasoning...it merely states that the UFT and CSA won. The DOE's position was that it was not arbitable. When they agreed to send to arbitration they knew they were going to get two bites of the apple. The UFT attorneys didn't care.
Why did city go to arbitration in the first place? They could have let judge decide on case when UFT sued. Argument that it is not arbitable just makes Bloomberg look like what he is: a sore loser.
I will celebrate this "Win" when ALL teachers return to their positions and ALL teachers in ATR find permanent positions. "Unity" must go because their incompetence and collaboration has destroyed the teaching profession. The psychological damage has been done.
At the very least the UFT should have constant contact and be present in each of the schools that averted the turnaround. District reps and special reps must make weekly visits and reports of malfeasance,lack of resources and vindictive administrators must be brought to the public eye in order to afford these schools and communities a chance to avois closure.
Don't hold your breath waiting for UFT to follow up on this. I doubt they will be in the schools any more than usual.
Our demand today should to close down the DOE for incompetence and inability to help our schools and create an Independent Board of Education with the capacity to provide comprehensive instructional guidance and necessary resources to schools.
I'd like to start a campaign to get the DOE to adjust its failed policies on discipline, curriculum strategies, evaluation of both schools and staff and truancy. Those policies are completely ineffective and if they aren't addressed we are going to be in the same boat.....AGAIN
A huge win??? We saw what UNITY did with our other huge wins. They turn around and make a deal with the devil. And now any loopholes that were deliberately put into the contract can undermine this win.
I will call it a win we see all teachers back at their jobs and their schools intact.
They are ready and willing to bargain away more rights but city won't let them.
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