Our last post on the potential for an evaluation deal for teachers has produced multiple comments expecting teachers to be sold out by the UFT. Not one person thought there was much hope for the UFT to stand up to the mayor and governor and refuse to accept a new teacher evaluation system that is not fair to teachers. Or to put it another way, the fix might be in.
Time will tell if the naysayers will be proven correct. At the present time, what all of us must do is to tell the teachers in the schools that the UFT can ignore the arbitrary deadline set by the governor for a new evaluation system and remain under the current one.
The UFT could then sue for the $300 million in lost state aid that we stand to forfeit if there is no agreement. How dare the governor deny the schools money because the mayor won't negotiate a fair deal with the teachers. The UFT sues based on many different grounds.
Buffalo teachers are in court right now. They will not negotiate on the evaluation system until the city agrees to honor their contract in other areas. They are risking state aid. The UFT should also be contemplating using this tactic.
If we are not going to wage a fight now in New York City when the governor and mayor are basically trying to destroy tenure and make us employees who can be dismissed based on value added measures (junk science) that are totally invalid, then when will we ever stand up for ourselves?
NYC Educator has some ideas for a UFT commercial on this subject. His plan is to put it out there for the public and the teachers. We should show a graphic that explains how inaccurate value added assessments are and have Mulgrew look into the camera to truly tell it like it is. We have been singled out by Bloomberg for punishment so we haven't received the salary increases that all other city unions got four years ago. Now he wants to fire us on phony data. It is time to go on offense. The advertisement could be for the UFT membership as well as the public. "This is why we Fight" kind of stuff.
Meanwhile the Epoch Times has put out a lengthy article on the evaluation system negotiations where this blog is quoted. Gotham Schools even linked to our last post which is very unusual.
Norm Scott also chimed in on the evaluation system at the UFT Executive Board the other night during the open mic period. Norm and I haven't been there for a long time. He made the case that the UFT should not make a deal with the mayor on a new evaluation system that uses junk science but Norm and others are calling the January 17 deadline an "educational fiscal cliff." I do not concur with that term as losing an increase in state aid is not taking anyone off of a cliff. While the state funding is nothing to sneeze at, there is so much money that is wasted in the school system on non-education items that I am fairly certain the $300 million could be absorbed without the classroom being impacted. Would much of the $300 million even find its way to the classroom? This is what a UFT mobilization campaign needs to be about.
If all the commentators are correct and we are about to be thrown to the wolves, it's time for the membership to pressure the leadership to do what is right by us.
14 comments:
I 100% expect a back room sellout. I will explain why: Mulgrew is not stupid. He knows that only about 25% of active NYC teachers voted in the last UFT election. He believes will win again because he knows the retired teachers always vote for Unity. Mulgrew personally has nothing to loose by agreeing to a horrible evaluation system. He will look like a "fighter for children" by the mayor and the press if he agrees to a new evaluation system. I think and hope that history might change this year in that the rank and file teachers will rally BIG TIME to vote him out of office this spring if he secretly agrees to a horrible new evaluation system. End result: New evaluation system not agreed to by members and Mulgrew will not be get re-elected UFT president.
That would be nice.
Where are you getting this information that retired teachers "always vote Unity"? That is a total assumption and is patently false. I am happily retired and will not nor have I ever voted Unity. I am a MORE supporter and I have a more than functional knowledge of true unionism, not this collaborative bullshit model that purports to be unionism as demonstrated by Unity and all its sellout DOE collaborators. They have barely ever represented my interests as a member of the rank and file
My understanding is that the majority of retired teachers do in fact usually vote for the Unity caucus. (Not all) Does anybody have any real info on this as it should be public information?
You are playing the same "blame game" that Unity does...when a bad contract "passed", the high school teachers were told that the "elementary teachers voted for this". My elementary teacher friends, at the same time, have been told that "the high school teachers voted for this". Now you are buying into "the retired teachers voted for this". The UFT is a tired and corrupt entity, and blaming any particular group of teachers, active or retired, is useless and unproductive. I know retired teachers who are currently active in MORE, and maybe you should get more involved in a viable alternative to the Unity caucus, which has had only its own interests in mind. Also keep in mind that union officers earn two salaries and two pensions. Keeping the status quo is their only apparent interest.
Retirees vote in overwhelming numbers for Unity. Last election it was someting like 18 to 1.It is amazing how people are uninformed on UFT politics.
Its a great post. At this point, I can see (very clearly) why Scott attacks leadership so viciously. What means of applying pressure on Mulgrew are there? Are there even any?
Moving up the chain, I know that the union has a few partners; NYSUT being one of them. NYSUT members across the state had mentioned in the past on Twitter that they think their districts negotiated a new contract with their eval agreement. I wonder if Iannuzzi would honor a petition to him from city members asking them to put pressure on the uFT.
Then again, I wonder if sufficient members would even sign it.
Either way, if the Dec 21 'deadline' is honored, I don't see any way new moa would come with the agreement.
Hey Ms. Tsouris, I stand by my statement that most, (not all) retirees do in fact usually vote for Unity. It is sad but true. Please don't kill the messenger but this is in fact true information. I am NOT a Unity fan and have been informing all of the teachers at my school to vote MORE. I am very glad that you are active in letting the retirees know of the importance of getting the MORE vote out!
I'd like to know where one can access these statistics since I didn't know they even existed. Anonymous, maybe you are privy to information that most UFT members are not, since votes are counted by the American Arbitration Association. No retirees I know have voted for Unity.
I must agree with Ms. Tsouris. I have been hearing such divisive complaints about retirees for some time now and I too want to read the stats. It might be true that in the past complacent retirees who got out before the dismal contract of 2005 voted Unity but I think that is no longer the case. So many retirees like myself have retired reluctantly, forced out early, and are as angry at our union as at the DoE. We are supporters of MORE. Please don't blame us. (I will add, though, that retirees who aren't active, who don't read all of your blogs, don't receive the materials of the splinter groups and may not be aware of the issues. For the last election, I never received any materials that I might have gotten in my school mailbox were I still teaching. Is there anything to be done about getting campaign materials to retirees>)
I've been posting facts about UFT elections in Ed Notes since the 90s. In fact retirees have the highest block voting total return -- high 40s percent than any other group in the UFT. They vote almost 90% Unity. Mulgrew and crew make regular visits to clusters all over the nation and hold luncheons. The opposition has no access to them other than the NY Teacher ad every 3 years. But even if they didn't vote given that the functional/non-teaching faction which also votes for Unity over 80%. Ballot return is less than 30% and the only way an opposition has a chance to counter the retiree vote is to double the return rate but having a strong get out the vote ground game. Here is a link I have on the bottom of the side column on ed notes comparing the 04 and 07 elections: UFT Election Results 2004/07 Compared
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pgxRf3gM4qtyBFmTshSW1fQ&hl=en
http://gothamschools.org/2010/04/09/and-the-uft-election-envelope-please/
Go to the link yourself to view the results from 2010 yourself. If only the retirees here were right.
Ms. Tsouris, it's great that you do not vote UNITY and yes, I do know other retirees who have voted for ICE/TJC and plan on voting for the MORE slate this Spring. What you need to do is organize other retired UFT members to do the same!
Thanks for the eye opening information, Ednotes and Anonymous. Any ideas on how to organize retirees since the only time we are in a room together is in a UFT course?
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