1-It attempts to pump up Cuomo's education poll numbers that are badly underwater.
2-It keeps the UFT and Mulgrew's name on television as the UFT election is just months away. (The UFT airs a thinly disguised campaign commercial before UFT elections.)
The fact that the ad can be described as misleading at best or pretty much untrue, as Reality Based Educators exposes, is irrelevant. The caption below says "New York Regents Vote to Exclude State Tests in Teacher Evaluations." I guess the Regents exams aren't state tests any longer. They certainly are a part of my evaluation. Very little has changed for educators in the classroom with regard to high stakes testing or Common Core instruction because of the governor's Common Core Task Force but you wouldn't know it from watching the ad.
What really gets to me is that every UFT member is paying for this pathetic pro-Cuomo propaganda.
You would think that with the Friedrichs Supreme Court decision looming that there would be a little bit of soul searching going on at UFT Headquarters down at 52 Broadway. Consider that the day when UFT members might soon be able to withdraw from the union and pay no dues is not far off. It seems logical this would change in some small way how the union operates but no it's business as usual down at 52 Broadway.
The UFT may be dumb, but they are not stupid. Take a look at the fact that only 20% of active UFT'ers voted in the last election. Go talk to any teacher in their 20's right now. They do not vote and they sure as hell are not going to want to pay $1,000to be in a union when they don't even plan to stay in the profession till retirement. I personally spoke with many young teachers at my school regarding the last contract vote. Guess what? They all voted for the contract simply for the $1,000"bonus". These young teachers do not care about sticking around for the long haul and are thus not inclined to finacially support their union.
ReplyDeleteWonderful.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right that this ad, and the reality that the governor has backtracked, will be a plus for President Mulgrew in the upcoming election. The fact is that much of the retraction was due to the Mulgrew team and he deserves some credit for his leadership on this one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with James that most young teachers will not be here in five years or less. As a Consultant for the Teaching Fellow's program, I would validate Mr. Eterno's thinking. That said, how can we not see what transpires here. The attempt at privatization is not only compelling, but it is un-American. If these folks who are behind this Scotus suit, want public schools/unions to vanish, then what do they really covet? They are handsomely paid puppets in the indigenous war against teacher unions. The world has changed, but not for the better. Strikes and violence looms because history will tell you that. Thanks, Dr. John Marvul.
ReplyDeleteDidn't our unon hold rallies *against* the governor's initial ed refrom plans? And hasn't our union *always* held the position that there should be a moratorium on high-stakes testing? Put it all together, and you'll see that "Working Together" doesn't mean Pro-Cuomo; it means, "Now that we (parents, teachers, and elected officials) are on the same page, let's make some real progress."
ReplyDeleteA head-fake that leads to full-steam-ahead on test-and-punish is real progress? I think not. Give us a break, Mulgrew. If you don't have the stones to really fight this shit, then step down. I'm sure that you are vested in however many double pensions that you need to make this worth your while. But, us teachers need a real future. Quit selling us out. Go fuck-off somewhere, and let us elect a leader who will fight to secure a non-destitute future for us.
ReplyDeleteMonday I presented a resolution to use the time of the moratorium to work to remove test scores from teachers' evaluations. The Unity leadership "tabled" the motion, effectively killing it.
ReplyDeleteNow, in the ad, the implication is that we got "Test scores won't be used in teacher evaluations" is that we've got the tests out.
But when it came time to say we want to fix the state law by removing test scores, Unity says no.
They are telling the world they did one thing, because it plays well. But in reality, they are doing another.
Jonathan
Jonathan is right. You know UFT election time is near when the Unity trolls appear here. For 7:23pm- This backtrack is more like a head-fake. We are still being rated based on student test scores. We need to get rid of everything since Race to the Top was implemented and start all over.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with some of the comments. No one I know with less than 10 years plans to stay! People with 10-20 years are just trying to make it to 20, even if they need to leave for a decade with no pension. Teaching is a dead profession in NYC. Tier 6, evaluating us out the door, etc. has killed us! I'm not going to keep the UFT on life-support with my money. I'm pulling the plug!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why so many in this profession support Friedrichs. The UFT has their hand in our pockets to the tune of $1100 per year and then they go and spend those funds on this garbage. I do not support Cuomo and resent this union telling me I should.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much anger here that one must ask the question, what will we achieve by killing our union? Someone fought for us to have this representation and it does not matter how tested and tried the union has been, I refuse to give up on it. Mistakes are made of course but the union has our interest at heart. Many teachers who are fighting against the UFT are lazy and ineffective. When the Union does not support their inadequacies they want to get rid of it immediately. It is very pathetic to hear what some teachers have to say about the UFT, yet they want the benefits it affords them.Many of us are either unaware or have forgotten why the UFT was created, so let me remind you. Over 50 years ago the creation of the UFT won us the right to collective bargaining and became a powerful force in the political and educational arena.Our union continues to make strides. It may not be the strides that everyone appreciates, however some have benefited and it "has never stopped growing. Our union represents a wide spectrum of teachers in traditional and charter public school, registered nurses in hospitals and agencies; staff in nonprofit organizations as well as 28,000 family child-care providers." The only way we will be able to win our battles, is if we are in solidarity. The union may not do everything right, we may not do everything right, but together we can achieve great things. Let us stop bashing our union and start to work together. Our union knows that together we can work to convince school and political leaders to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteApologies for everything. Keep writing b.s. like this and more people will leave once Friedrichs is decided.
ReplyDelete