There have been several questions I have fielded in person and over the internet concerning next week's fourth open school night of this school year for most schools.
Open school night four is mandated by the 2014 contract. How quickly people forget.
Once again it is time to remind everyone that 75% of the teachers voted yes on that contract. A contract that featured piecemeal salary increases for UFT members of the 4% and 4% raises that other city unions received from 2008-2010 but won't be completely added to our checks until next year, an interest free loan to the city that won't be paid back in full until 2020 for the money we should have had since 2009, a municipal pattern setting paltry 10% total raise over 7 years (later extended a month to pay retirees), healthcare givebacks and more.
As we continue to wait for money that is rightfully ours, the city's economy has grown significantly throughout the term of the contract and budget surpluses are now a regular feature on the city's balance sheet thanks in part to our generosity.
In the grand scheme of things, the two extra open school nights are not exactly a huge concession.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
CITY EXECUTIVE BUDGET SHOWS PLENTY OF SAVINGS INCLUDING PLACING ATRS
The NYC Executive Budget has been released by the mayor's office. The city is projecting a bright financial picture which is no surprise in a mayoral election year. The big news in the budget for teachers is it looks as though the city is planning on placing the ATRs.
I found this line buried in a budget document on page 22 of somethinig called Citywide Savings Program that is part of the mayor's Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2018.
ATR Savings generated from permanently placing teachers who were previously working as provisional staff.
This is followed by dollar figures on how much would be saved in the next four fiscal years (2018-2021) by placing the ATRs.
- (1,870) (1,870) (1,870) (1,870) -
Those numbers are in thousands.
How placement is going to occur I do not know but it would be nice if our Union would let ATR's know what is going on instead of letting a blogger find this in the middle of a city document.
As for the budget in general, there is an abundance of black ink and savings which is not a surprise in a mayoral election year.
From the Summary:
$2.8 billion total savings from the November, Preliminary, and Executive Budgets:
• $1.3 billion healthcare savings in FY 2018 and every year thereafter.
• With the release of the Executive Budget, there will be a partial hiring freeze affecting certain managerial and administrative staff.
Capital Stabilization Reserve: $250 million a year over four years. This reserve was first created by this administration. – Highest ever achieved.
• Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund: $4 billion – Highest ever achieved.
• General Reserve: $1 billion a year over four years – Highest ever achieved.
When the UFT boasts about our 4.5% raise coming in the May 15 check, please remember that the city's economy has never been stronger and we are still having money added to our pay that most other city workers have been receiving since 2008-2010. That money won't be added in full until 2018 and the money we should have earned won't be paid back in full to us until 2020 if we stay employed or retire. Those who resign or are terminated will never be made whole.
When our contract is up in the next fiscal year, expect the 2019 city budget to contain gloom and doom.
I found this line buried in a budget document on page 22 of somethinig called Citywide Savings Program that is part of the mayor's Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2018.
ATR Savings generated from permanently placing teachers who were previously working as provisional staff.
This is followed by dollar figures on how much would be saved in the next four fiscal years (2018-2021) by placing the ATRs.
- (1,870) (1,870) (1,870) (1,870) -
Those numbers are in thousands.
How placement is going to occur I do not know but it would be nice if our Union would let ATR's know what is going on instead of letting a blogger find this in the middle of a city document.
As for the budget in general, there is an abundance of black ink and savings which is not a surprise in a mayoral election year.
From the Summary:
$2.8 billion total savings from the November, Preliminary, and Executive Budgets:
• $1.3 billion healthcare savings in FY 2018 and every year thereafter.
• With the release of the Executive Budget, there will be a partial hiring freeze affecting certain managerial and administrative staff.
Capital Stabilization Reserve: $250 million a year over four years. This reserve was first created by this administration. – Highest ever achieved.
• Retiree Health Benefits Trust Fund: $4 billion – Highest ever achieved.
• General Reserve: $1 billion a year over four years – Highest ever achieved.
When the UFT boasts about our 4.5% raise coming in the May 15 check, please remember that the city's economy has never been stronger and we are still having money added to our pay that most other city workers have been receiving since 2008-2010. That money won't be added in full until 2018 and the money we should have earned won't be paid back in full to us until 2020 if we stay employed or retire. Those who resign or are terminated will never be made whole.
When our contract is up in the next fiscal year, expect the 2019 city budget to contain gloom and doom.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
FEDERAL COURT AFFIRMS UNION SPEECH IS PROTECTED
My friend Mike Schirtzer sent this article from the NY Post to me last night. A federal appeals court has ruled that union speech is still protected to a fairly wide degree. I can't find anything negative about that.
Here is a large excerpt from the Post piece.
Calling your boss a “nasty motherf–ker” is totally cool — as long as you’re trying to form a union.
A worker at a Chelsea Piers catering hall has won a Manhattan federal court ruling that said he had a legal right to drop an F-bomb on his supervisor in an angry Facebook rant because he and fellow employees were in the middle of a union battle.
Hernan Perez, who had worked at the waterfront venue Pier Sixty for 13 years, had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board saying he’d been wrongly fired in 2011 for the social-media post.
He wrote the missive on Oct. 27 of that year, after a hard day’s work in which he furiously butted heads with his boss, Robert “Bob” McSweeney, according to court records.
“Bob is such a NASTY MOTHER F–KER don’t know how to talk to people!!!!!!” Perez wrote on Facebook during a break.
“F–k his mother and his entire f–king family!!!! What a LOSER!!!! Vote YES for the UNION!!!!!!!”
Pier Sixty caught wind of the post and fired Perez less than two weeks later.
He had tried calming the waters by deleting the post altogether, to no avail.
At the time, Perez and his co-workers were neck-deep in a unionization campaign, so he claimed in court that his Facebook rant had been specifically aimed at them in an attempt to form a union.
After an administrative law judge upheld Perez’s NLRB complaint, Pier Sixty appealed the ruling to the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Friday, it upheld the lower court’s ruling. The Second Circuit Court said the comments involved union activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act, which covers all union-related speech that is not deemed too “opprobrious,” or scornful.
“Perez’s conduct sits at the outer‐bounds of protected, union‐-related comments,” the court wrote in its ruling.
I am not a lawyer nor a labor law expert but the moral here would appear to be to make sure you are engaged in union activities when speaking out at work. Please note, however, that I am not advocating calling your principal anything like the words used in this case. Be careful. Teachers can be charged with conduct unbecoming of a teacher. We are supposed to be role models for our students even though many do not give us any of the respect a role model deserves. We still need to use restraint.
Here is a large excerpt from the Post piece.
Calling your boss a “nasty motherf–ker” is totally cool — as long as you’re trying to form a union.
A worker at a Chelsea Piers catering hall has won a Manhattan federal court ruling that said he had a legal right to drop an F-bomb on his supervisor in an angry Facebook rant because he and fellow employees were in the middle of a union battle.
Hernan Perez, who had worked at the waterfront venue Pier Sixty for 13 years, had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board saying he’d been wrongly fired in 2011 for the social-media post.
He wrote the missive on Oct. 27 of that year, after a hard day’s work in which he furiously butted heads with his boss, Robert “Bob” McSweeney, according to court records.
“Bob is such a NASTY MOTHER F–KER don’t know how to talk to people!!!!!!” Perez wrote on Facebook during a break.
“F–k his mother and his entire f–king family!!!! What a LOSER!!!! Vote YES for the UNION!!!!!!!”
Pier Sixty caught wind of the post and fired Perez less than two weeks later.
He had tried calming the waters by deleting the post altogether, to no avail.
At the time, Perez and his co-workers were neck-deep in a unionization campaign, so he claimed in court that his Facebook rant had been specifically aimed at them in an attempt to form a union.
After an administrative law judge upheld Perez’s NLRB complaint, Pier Sixty appealed the ruling to the federal Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
On Friday, it upheld the lower court’s ruling. The Second Circuit Court said the comments involved union activity protected by the National Labor Relations Act, which covers all union-related speech that is not deemed too “opprobrious,” or scornful.
“Perez’s conduct sits at the outer‐bounds of protected, union‐-related comments,” the court wrote in its ruling.
I am not a lawyer nor a labor law expert but the moral here would appear to be to make sure you are engaged in union activities when speaking out at work. Please note, however, that I am not advocating calling your principal anything like the words used in this case. Be careful. Teachers can be charged with conduct unbecoming of a teacher. We are supposed to be role models for our students even though many do not give us any of the respect a role model deserves. We still need to use restraint.
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
UFT SHOULD CALL FLANAGAN'S BLUFF ON CHARTER SCHOOLS WHICH WOULD END CURRENT MAYORAL CONTROL LAW
According to the NY Post, Senate Republican leader John Flanagan is threatening to end mayoral control of New York schools if the State Legislature and Governor do not agree to lift the charter school cap in NYC. Our answer to Flanagan for our friends in the State Assembly and our new friend the Governor should be very simple.
Tell them all:
Go ahead make our day.
The UFT cannot be afraid if the school system reverts to the 1996 school governance law with elected school boards that do not have authority to hire superintendents. That is what would happen if the state law on NYC school governance expires at the end of June as it is scheduled to do.
The powerful school boards that many people fear would not return. UFT President Michael Mulgrew has reported at the Executive Board last night and last week at the Delegate Assembly about corrupt school boards of the past. Mulgrew seems to be implying they would come back if the Legislature does nothing. They would not return. The 1996 law basically took care of the issue as the Chancellor was given overseeing power over the boards.
This Gotham Gazette piece from 2001 explains the 1996 law, which was the law in effect when mayoral control was passed into law in 2002. This 1996 statutue would be the law we revert to if the State Legislature does nothing on NYC school governance this legislative session. The pre-1996 law would not come back if mayoral control is allowed to sunset in June.*
From the Gazette article:
Today, school boards no longer manage day-to-day affairs within the district or hire or promote school district employees, including principals. Instead, the local school boards set educational policy, mostly just by helping to select a superintendent for the school district. Even here they don't have the final say; the chancellor does.
As for the Board of Education, if we go back to the 1996 law, the mayor would only have two representatives on the seven member Board of Education. The five borough presidents would each have a representative on the Board of Ed.
Let's tell Senator Flanagan we are not afraid of the 1996 law.We're not worried about the Legislature doing nothing.
*This blog is not giving an opinion on the pre-1996 school boards here. This posting is just explaining what would happen if the Legislature does nothing in June.
Tell them all:
Go ahead make our day.
The UFT cannot be afraid if the school system reverts to the 1996 school governance law with elected school boards that do not have authority to hire superintendents. That is what would happen if the state law on NYC school governance expires at the end of June as it is scheduled to do.
The powerful school boards that many people fear would not return. UFT President Michael Mulgrew has reported at the Executive Board last night and last week at the Delegate Assembly about corrupt school boards of the past. Mulgrew seems to be implying they would come back if the Legislature does nothing. They would not return. The 1996 law basically took care of the issue as the Chancellor was given overseeing power over the boards.
This Gotham Gazette piece from 2001 explains the 1996 law, which was the law in effect when mayoral control was passed into law in 2002. This 1996 statutue would be the law we revert to if the State Legislature does nothing on NYC school governance this legislative session. The pre-1996 law would not come back if mayoral control is allowed to sunset in June.*
From the Gazette article:
CLIPPING THEIR WINGS
In the last election, which was held last year, voters may have stayed away from polls because the community boards have so little power. Under the prodding of then-Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew, the New York State Legislature in 1996 redefined the responsibilities of local school boards, taking away much of their power, including the authority to name a the district superintendent.Today, school boards no longer manage day-to-day affairs within the district or hire or promote school district employees, including principals. Instead, the local school boards set educational policy, mostly just by helping to select a superintendent for the school district. Even here they don't have the final say; the chancellor does.
As for the Board of Education, if we go back to the 1996 law, the mayor would only have two representatives on the seven member Board of Education. The five borough presidents would each have a representative on the Board of Ed.
Let's tell Senator Flanagan we are not afraid of the 1996 law.We're not worried about the Legislature doing nothing.
*This blog is not giving an opinion on the pre-1996 school boards here. This posting is just explaining what would happen if the Legislature does nothing in June.
Monday, April 24, 2017
OPPOSITION VOICES HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR AT APRIL DA
Last week's April Delegate Assembly featured a number of speakers who are not in Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus. In spite of Mulgrew's undemocartic, bias way of running the meetings, the opposition still managed to be heard. While Mulgrew painted an unbelievably rosy picture of the state of the schools, instead of being quiet, three union activists found a way to inject some reality into the DA. It was refreshing.
First, there was our friend Quinn Zannoni who had an exchange with the President over a motion to support Central Park East 1 school as they are fighting an abusive principal. The CPE1 Delegate presented the resolution. It should shock the conscious that Mulgrew's Unity Caucus would turn down a motion to support an embattled chapter. Quinn expressed the frustration so many of us feel at the DA.
Mulgrew gave a lengthy report on the current state of the schools that was unusually optimistic. The best review of the President's Report did not come from Arthur Goldstein who did write an excellent summary as he always does. It was in one of the comments on his blog from Bennett Fischer, a chapter leader. Here is the comment in full.
First, there was our friend Quinn Zannoni who had an exchange with the President over a motion to support Central Park East 1 school as they are fighting an abusive principal. The CPE1 Delegate presented the resolution. It should shock the conscious that Mulgrew's Unity Caucus would turn down a motion to support an embattled chapter. Quinn expressed the frustration so many of us feel at the DA.
Mulgrew gave a lengthy report on the current state of the schools that was unusually optimistic. The best review of the President's Report did not come from Arthur Goldstein who did write an excellent summary as he always does. It was in one of the comments on his blog from Bennett Fischer, a chapter leader. Here is the comment in full.
Bennett was featured in the meeting as he asked the President about mayoral control of the New York City Public Schools sunsetting in June. It was a fantastic question. Mulgrew somehow neglected to even mention school governance in his report. His response to Bennett's question was that there is nothing going on in Albany on the issue.
Therefore, that means mayoral control may just expire at the end of June. We would then revert to the 1996 law with a seven member Board of Education. Mulgrew said there are many forms of mayoral control. Chicago and Cleveland do it differently than NYC. I kind of chuckled when he then said the UFT's position is for the mayor not to have a majority of the votes on the Board of Education. If we had the 1996 system, it would not be full mayoral control. It would still be moderate mayoral control because the 1996 law gives the Chancellor the power to hire Superintendents and remove elected school board members. Mulgrew stated that we do not want to go back to community control. I wish someone could have followed up by asking about the 1996 law.
If the 1996 law becomes the school NYC school governance law, the mayor would have to share power with the borough presidents who would have one appointment each to the Board of Education, for a total of five, while the mayor would have two. The mayor would have to work in a coalition with at least two borough presidents to maintain a majority of the Board.
I tend not to think the State Legislature has the nerve to let the mayoral control law expire in June although I hope they do. We thank Bennett Fischer for raising this very important issue that Mulgrew ignored in his happy talk report.
Not to be outdone, Mike Schirtzer from MORE introduced an amendment to a UFT resolution calling on the UFT to reaffirm its support for a single payer Medicare for all type healthcare system. Schirtzer wanted the Union to withhold UFT endorsement for any politician who does not support single payer or the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The amendment was opposed by the Unity majority but amending what essentially is a not a controversial issue to make it stronger is a great idea.
People ask me why I still bother to go to DA's and insist that rules be followed when the Unity majority does whatever it wants. The answer is because if Mike, Quinn and Bennett are leading the opposition at the DA, we have some reason to be optimistic.
Hopefully, some Delegates who seldom show up because Unity rigs the game, by compelling their people to vote for whatever the leadership decides, will add their voices to ours to make the DA a truly deliberative body. If the independents showed up and the opposition to Unity fully asserted ourselves, we would eventually win because we are in sync with the rank and file in the schools.
By having only seven truly independent representatives on the Executive Board, the opposition is making a difference. We have a stronger contingent at the DA; we can have a real impact if more of us at meetings start speaking up as we did last week.
Therefore, that means mayoral control may just expire at the end of June. We would then revert to the 1996 law with a seven member Board of Education. Mulgrew said there are many forms of mayoral control. Chicago and Cleveland do it differently than NYC. I kind of chuckled when he then said the UFT's position is for the mayor not to have a majority of the votes on the Board of Education. If we had the 1996 system, it would not be full mayoral control. It would still be moderate mayoral control because the 1996 law gives the Chancellor the power to hire Superintendents and remove elected school board members. Mulgrew stated that we do not want to go back to community control. I wish someone could have followed up by asking about the 1996 law.
If the 1996 law becomes the school NYC school governance law, the mayor would have to share power with the borough presidents who would have one appointment each to the Board of Education, for a total of five, while the mayor would have two. The mayor would have to work in a coalition with at least two borough presidents to maintain a majority of the Board.
I tend not to think the State Legislature has the nerve to let the mayoral control law expire in June although I hope they do. We thank Bennett Fischer for raising this very important issue that Mulgrew ignored in his happy talk report.
Not to be outdone, Mike Schirtzer from MORE introduced an amendment to a UFT resolution calling on the UFT to reaffirm its support for a single payer Medicare for all type healthcare system. Schirtzer wanted the Union to withhold UFT endorsement for any politician who does not support single payer or the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The amendment was opposed by the Unity majority but amending what essentially is a not a controversial issue to make it stronger is a great idea.
People ask me why I still bother to go to DA's and insist that rules be followed when the Unity majority does whatever it wants. The answer is because if Mike, Quinn and Bennett are leading the opposition at the DA, we have some reason to be optimistic.
Hopefully, some Delegates who seldom show up because Unity rigs the game, by compelling their people to vote for whatever the leadership decides, will add their voices to ours to make the DA a truly deliberative body. If the independents showed up and the opposition to Unity fully asserted ourselves, we would eventually win because we are in sync with the rank and file in the schools.
By having only seven truly independent representatives on the Executive Board, the opposition is making a difference. We have a stronger contingent at the DA; we can have a real impact if more of us at meetings start speaking up as we did last week.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
CUOMO'S "FREE" COLLEGE TUITION PLAN HAS LOOPHOLES
I was reading in the Village Voice today about Governor Cuomo's "free" college tuition program. The Excelsior scholarships are filled with traps. Students must work in New York State for four years after graduation or their grant turns into a loan. In addition, pupils must graduate on time or they may owe the money back to the state.
From the Voice article:
Another provision demands that students maintain the minimum GPA required by their schools to remain in good academic standing, and that they graduate on time. Asked whether students will be responsible for repaying tuition from prior years if their GPA drops below the minimum, the governor's office said it would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
The graduation requirement alone would make most students ineligible for Excelsior scholarships. On-time graduation rates at CUNY community colleges have remained consistently below 10 percent since at least 2005. The four-year graduation rate at SUNY schools is 48.9 percent according to the most recent data available, higher than the national average. The governor's office says the requirement is intended to incentivize on-time graduation: If finishing your degree on time means free college, the thinking goes, those rates will improve.
We understand that many community college students work and go part time to college so they need longer than two years to get a degree. Some would attend school full time and benefit from the Cuomo program. But no, most students do not drop out or take longer than two or four years to obtain a degree because they have to work to pay for college. Many do not finish because they are not prepared for higher education.
On time community college graduation rates under 10% do not surprise me in the least. Those numbers are not a knock on the community colleges who are maintaining some academic standards.
How far below 10% are the graduation rates at the CUNY community colleges?
Here is part of Susan Edelman's piece from 2015 in the NY Post:
Overall, just 4.1 percent of first-time enrollees at CUNY’s six community college students snag a diploma in two years, the latest available data show. About 16 percent graduate in three years, and 23.5 percent get a degree in four years, similar to peers nationwide. Many drop out.
Hostos Community College in the South Bronx posts the city’s lowest two-year graduation rate — a pathetic 1.4 percent.
Obviously, most of the students graduating from the Joel Klein, Cathy Black, Dennis Walcott and Carmen Farina New York City diploma mills, otherwise known as many of our high schools, are not ready for the next level. Pushing kids through high school, while expecting nothing of them, has consequences that show up in college statistics. Each one of those statistics is a person who was handed a high school diploma by the NYC Department of Education. What does that diploma mean in 2017?
Next time you see Mayor Bill de Blasio or Chancellor Farina touting some rise in the New York City high school graduation rate, just ask why there has been no corresponding increase in the community college graduation rate? If they answer that it's CUNY's fault and they call for mayoral control of CUNY, just run for the hills.
If the government politicizes college graduation, as they have with high schools, this society could be in real trouble.
From the Voice article:
Another provision demands that students maintain the minimum GPA required by their schools to remain in good academic standing, and that they graduate on time. Asked whether students will be responsible for repaying tuition from prior years if their GPA drops below the minimum, the governor's office said it would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
The graduation requirement alone would make most students ineligible for Excelsior scholarships. On-time graduation rates at CUNY community colleges have remained consistently below 10 percent since at least 2005. The four-year graduation rate at SUNY schools is 48.9 percent according to the most recent data available, higher than the national average. The governor's office says the requirement is intended to incentivize on-time graduation: If finishing your degree on time means free college, the thinking goes, those rates will improve.
We understand that many community college students work and go part time to college so they need longer than two years to get a degree. Some would attend school full time and benefit from the Cuomo program. But no, most students do not drop out or take longer than two or four years to obtain a degree because they have to work to pay for college. Many do not finish because they are not prepared for higher education.
On time community college graduation rates under 10% do not surprise me in the least. Those numbers are not a knock on the community colleges who are maintaining some academic standards.
How far below 10% are the graduation rates at the CUNY community colleges?
Here is part of Susan Edelman's piece from 2015 in the NY Post:
Overall, just 4.1 percent of first-time enrollees at CUNY’s six community college students snag a diploma in two years, the latest available data show. About 16 percent graduate in three years, and 23.5 percent get a degree in four years, similar to peers nationwide. Many drop out.
Hostos Community College in the South Bronx posts the city’s lowest two-year graduation rate — a pathetic 1.4 percent.
Obviously, most of the students graduating from the Joel Klein, Cathy Black, Dennis Walcott and Carmen Farina New York City diploma mills, otherwise known as many of our high schools, are not ready for the next level. Pushing kids through high school, while expecting nothing of them, has consequences that show up in college statistics. Each one of those statistics is a person who was handed a high school diploma by the NYC Department of Education. What does that diploma mean in 2017?
Next time you see Mayor Bill de Blasio or Chancellor Farina touting some rise in the New York City high school graduation rate, just ask why there has been no corresponding increase in the community college graduation rate? If they answer that it's CUNY's fault and they call for mayoral control of CUNY, just run for the hills.
If the government politicizes college graduation, as they have with high schools, this society could be in real trouble.
Friday, April 21, 2017
JAHODA NOT APPOINTED PERMANENT PRINCIPAL OF TOWNSEND HARRIS
After month of public protests and complaints from students and parents, the Department of Education finally moved by not appointing Interim Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda to the permanent principal position at Townsend Harris HS in Queens.
The story originally broke yesterday in The Classic, the student newspaper at Townsend Harris that has done fantastic reporting on the situation at the school. The new principal will be Brian Condon, who will be moving from his principal position at the School of Hospitality and Tourism in the Bronx to take over Townsend Harris.
We will try to gauge reaction from other schools fighting abusive principals such as Central Park East 1, Humanities and the Arts High School, John Bowne High School, Bryant High School and many others where the battles go on.
At the April Delegate Assembly, the UFT refused to support a resolution raised by the elected Delegate from CPE 1calling in part for the Union to work to remove Principal Garg from that school. The Union believes that back channel communication with the DOE is the best way to go. UFT Secretary Howie Schoor in speaking against the CPE 1 resolution said that once we pass a resolution calling for the principal to be removed, it stops all communication with the Board of Ed. That strategy is questionable after both the Delegate and Chapter Leader from CPE 1 have been removed from the school. Directly going after school union representatives is not acceptable.
There was no direct attack to remove the Union leaders at Townsend Harris that I know of. The students and parents led the charge against Jahoda. The UFT will claim their behind the scenes strategy worked here. Let's hope this is not just an exception. It took an enormous effort just not to have one disastrous interim acting principal appointed permanently.
The story originally broke yesterday in The Classic, the student newspaper at Townsend Harris that has done fantastic reporting on the situation at the school. The new principal will be Brian Condon, who will be moving from his principal position at the School of Hospitality and Tourism in the Bronx to take over Townsend Harris.
We will try to gauge reaction from other schools fighting abusive principals such as Central Park East 1, Humanities and the Arts High School, John Bowne High School, Bryant High School and many others where the battles go on.
At the April Delegate Assembly, the UFT refused to support a resolution raised by the elected Delegate from CPE 1calling in part for the Union to work to remove Principal Garg from that school. The Union believes that back channel communication with the DOE is the best way to go. UFT Secretary Howie Schoor in speaking against the CPE 1 resolution said that once we pass a resolution calling for the principal to be removed, it stops all communication with the Board of Ed. That strategy is questionable after both the Delegate and Chapter Leader from CPE 1 have been removed from the school. Directly going after school union representatives is not acceptable.
There was no direct attack to remove the Union leaders at Townsend Harris that I know of. The students and parents led the charge against Jahoda. The UFT will claim their behind the scenes strategy worked here. Let's hope this is not just an exception. It took an enormous effort just not to have one disastrous interim acting principal appointed permanently.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY ASKS MULGREW TO FOLLOW THE RULES WE EXPECT IN KINDERGARTEN
Here is the exact text of the Parliamentary Inquiry I mostly gave at the April Delegate Assembly. Feel free to chime in as to where Mulgrew tried to cut me off. I think I got almost everything in.
Parliamentary Inquiry
Page 293 of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised says, “A parliamentary inquiry is a question directed to presiding officer to obtain information on a matter of parliamentary law or the rules of the organization bearing on the business at hand.”
The last two meetings I have been unceremoniously called out of order so I need clarification.
I was told last month I could not amend a resolution when I had the floor but on page 386 in Rules Governing Debate it says, "...a member having been recognized for any legitimate purpose has the floor for all legitimate purposes." I can offer an amendment during my speaking time according to Robert's Rules.
Also, two months ago five speakers spoke in favor of endorsing the mayor and one spoke against. Robert's Rules says this on page 31 in a part called assigning the floor, "In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the floor have opposite opinions on the question..., the chair should let the floor alternate as far as possible between those favoring and opposing the measure." Robert's Rules then gives suggestions on how to accomplish this.
The majority caucus in this body operates under a principle called democratic centralism. A decision is made internally and then the caucus members (almost always) follow it here. The chair knows who his caucus members are and knows who the opposition is mostly. Opposition is entitled to half the speakers if there is a debate including responding directly to the person who motivates something. The majority caucus can move to end debate anytime you want when it's your turn. We can do what we want including raising amendments when it's our turn.
Will this simple rule known in kindergarten as taking turns be followed here?
The President responded by saying he would get back to me. I went right to the Parliamentarian after the meeting. We went over the pages in question together. UFT lawyer Adam Ross joined us. Ross told me they would give me an answer.
If anyone thinks I am quoting out of context because I tried to edit my Inquiry for brevity, please read the entire sections that are referred to and are copied below.
Page 30, Line 31- Page 31, Line 26:
While a motion is open to debate, there are three important cases where the floor should be assigned to a person who may not have been the first to rise and address the chair (but who did so before anyone had actually been recognized).
These cases are as follows:
1) If the member who made the motion claims the floor and has not already spoken on the question, he is entitled to be recognized in preference to other members.
2) No one is entitled to the floor a second time in debate on the same motion on the same day as long as any other member who has not spoken on this motion desires the floor.
3) In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the floor have opposite opinions on the question (and the member to be recognized is not determined by [1] ot [2] above), the chair should let the floor alternate, as far as possible, between those favoring and those opposing the measure. To accomplish this, the chair may say, for example, "Since the last speaker spoke in favor of the motion, who wishes to speak in opposition to the motion?" or "Since the last speaker opposed the motion, who wishes to speak in its favor?"
A member cannot rise for the purpose of claiming preference in being recognized (as this right is called in all of the above cases) after the chair has recognized another member. If at any time the chair makes a mistake, however, and assigns the floor to the wrong person--when preference in recognition was timely claimed or in any other case--his attentions could be called to it by raising a Point of Order (23), and he should immediately correct the error.
It isn't that hard to take turns. We teach it in Kindergarten. It is a parliamentary procedure established in 1592 as Page xxxiv bullet one says explicity in Robert's Rules:
Alternation between opposite points of view in assignment of the floor: 1592. It was made a Rule, That the Chairman shall ask the Parties that would speak, on which side they would speak... and the Party that speaketh against the last Speaker is to be heard first.
Duh!
Do we have the right to propose amendments when we have the floor?
This is from page 386, Line 22 in part of a section called,
Summary of Procedures Incident to Debate
While debate is in progress, amendments or other secondary (subsidiary, privileged, or incidental) motions can be introduced and disposed of--and can be debated in the process, if they are debatable--as explained on pages 116-18. A member may both speak in debate and conclude by offering a secondary motion, which is a particular application of the principle that a member having been recognized for any legitimate purpose has the floor for all legitimate purposes.
That's about it folks. We have the right to propose amendments when we want and I had that right to propose the UFT take legal action to save JHS 145.
Now all we need for the DA to be a different body each month is for everyone to compel the chair to follow the rules. I believe more Delegates would show up if the discussions were fairer at the DA.
Page 30, Line 31- Page 31, Line 26:
While a motion is open to debate, there are three important cases where the floor should be assigned to a person who may not have been the first to rise and address the chair (but who did so before anyone had actually been recognized).
These cases are as follows:
1) If the member who made the motion claims the floor and has not already spoken on the question, he is entitled to be recognized in preference to other members.
2) No one is entitled to the floor a second time in debate on the same motion on the same day as long as any other member who has not spoken on this motion desires the floor.
3) In cases where the chair knows that persons seeking the floor have opposite opinions on the question (and the member to be recognized is not determined by [1] ot [2] above), the chair should let the floor alternate, as far as possible, between those favoring and those opposing the measure. To accomplish this, the chair may say, for example, "Since the last speaker spoke in favor of the motion, who wishes to speak in opposition to the motion?" or "Since the last speaker opposed the motion, who wishes to speak in its favor?"
A member cannot rise for the purpose of claiming preference in being recognized (as this right is called in all of the above cases) after the chair has recognized another member. If at any time the chair makes a mistake, however, and assigns the floor to the wrong person--when preference in recognition was timely claimed or in any other case--his attentions could be called to it by raising a Point of Order (23), and he should immediately correct the error.
It isn't that hard to take turns. We teach it in Kindergarten. It is a parliamentary procedure established in 1592 as Page xxxiv bullet one says explicity in Robert's Rules:
Alternation between opposite points of view in assignment of the floor: 1592. It was made a Rule, That the Chairman shall ask the Parties that would speak, on which side they would speak... and the Party that speaketh against the last Speaker is to be heard first.
Duh!
Do we have the right to propose amendments when we have the floor?
This is from page 386, Line 22 in part of a section called,
Summary of Procedures Incident to Debate
While debate is in progress, amendments or other secondary (subsidiary, privileged, or incidental) motions can be introduced and disposed of--and can be debated in the process, if they are debatable--as explained on pages 116-18. A member may both speak in debate and conclude by offering a secondary motion, which is a particular application of the principle that a member having been recognized for any legitimate purpose has the floor for all legitimate purposes.
That's about it folks. We have the right to propose amendments when we want and I had that right to propose the UFT take legal action to save JHS 145.
Now all we need for the DA to be a different body each month is for everyone to compel the chair to follow the rules. I believe more Delegates would show up if the discussions were fairer at the DA.
LIVE BLOGGING AT APRIL DA (kind of edited)
I apologize for any errors from smartphone.
Mulgrew Report
Federal
Texas doing public school proud well. Feds challenging PTA'S not red or blue issue. People like their public schools. Hard to comment on much else in DC.
State
Charter school tuition frozen. Charters wanted three year lag in past. Not now. Charter cap they wanted lifted. We beat them. Lag is gone. Charters baselines at what they got last year which is $14,000 per student. Public schools get $21,000 per student. We educate most challenging students who have more needs. We bombarded Republican Senators with our lobbying.
State budget gives over a $1 billion increase in state aid for NYC. Teacher Center increased by 40%. Increase in community schools. Tax deduction in NYS for union dues.
Next challenge is constitutional convention. We must vote no. Bad people with outside money coming in. We need the package on how to do a vote no on a constitutional convention out to all chapter leaders. AFL-CIO has a campaign manager on this issue.
Regents
DeVos threw out ESSA regulations. Team going up to Board of Regents. In May should see changes in career and tech ed regs we have been pushing for for 15 years.
City Budget
City in decent shape but worried about cuts from DC. Schools cannot set up for Sept and then cut later. NYS anti Trump state.
Governor protecting public schools now. City priorities are Teacher's Choice, community schools and others.
City has changed protocols on lead in water.
Texas is doing well with public school proud Want grassroots events so Texas won't outdo NY in public school proud. Must make a big, big loud noise in September when school starts.
We will load up the public school proud van and do events in each borough.
May 1 is 4.5% pay raise. It will be reflected in May 15 paycheck.
Staff Director's Report
Howie Schoor filled in for Leroy Barr and made announcements including immigration rights forum at UFT.
Question Period
Question about lead in water
Mulgrew Answer: Teachers should go to doctor. If parent asks, send him/her to principal.
Question: ELA and math state tests. People with no preps.Is it an emergency as Principal says?
Answer: We have a right to go to bathroom. Tests are not an emergency.
Q:Student led parent teacher conferences. What are regs?
A: Must have SBO. Superintendent should have set up a plan. It should not be a mandate.
Q: People since election feeling more union pride?
A: Elected officials don't want to fight parents. Use AFL-CIO. Do something at school.
Q: Mayoral control coming up in June. What is our position?
A: We would like mayor to not have a majority of PEP. Different forms of mayoral control. Problem with school boards. Don't want to go back to community boards. Don't know what will happen. We won't support this form of mayoral control.
Q: NYSUT catastrophic insurance back with short window.
A: Not open for enrollment for 6 years. Gives you additional coverage over medical plans. Great benefit. May 1-June 15 open enrollment. Mulgrew recommends getting it.
Q: Must have lunch but not preps on testing day. Clarify please.
A: Correct but must be able to use bathroom.
New Motions
Endorse Eric Gonzales for Brooklyn DA and Cy Vance for Manhattan DA. Added to agenda.
Lengthy resolution to support CPE1 for next month's agenda. They want teachers back and principal gone.
Delegate removed last March. Delegate said all veteran teachers under investigation. Chancellor not responsive. Principal abusive. Resolution is for 800 pound gorilla (UFT) coming down on DOE at school.
Howie Schoor from Unity says we tabled this at Executive Board. If we pass resolution, it will shut down communication with DOE. UFT very supportive. Many including Leroy Barr at school. Board of Ed must resolve this.
Voted down.
Mulgrew said we are doing everything to support CPE1.
I made a pariliamentary inquiry about the president alternating between speakers for and against on all debatable motions and us having the right to make amendment's when it is our turn to speak. Mulgrew tried to stop me but I made my point. (I will print it later.)
Special Orders of Business
Support for Andrew Hevesi's home stability program passed unanimously.
Resolution for Healthcare for all. Single payer.
Amendment: Mike Schirtzer: UFT will not support candidates for office who are against single payer or affordable care act.
Dave Pecararo argued that these were two separate issues and moved to split amendment into two separate issues.
Mel Aaronson said these amendments should be defeated. We would be a one issue organization. That ended the debate. Amendments failed. Original resolution passed.
Final resolution was on a voter registration drive among eligible high school students. It passed unanimously.
Mulgrew Report
Federal
Texas doing public school proud well. Feds challenging PTA'S not red or blue issue. People like their public schools. Hard to comment on much else in DC.
State
Charter school tuition frozen. Charters wanted three year lag in past. Not now. Charter cap they wanted lifted. We beat them. Lag is gone. Charters baselines at what they got last year which is $14,000 per student. Public schools get $21,000 per student. We educate most challenging students who have more needs. We bombarded Republican Senators with our lobbying.
State budget gives over a $1 billion increase in state aid for NYC. Teacher Center increased by 40%. Increase in community schools. Tax deduction in NYS for union dues.
Next challenge is constitutional convention. We must vote no. Bad people with outside money coming in. We need the package on how to do a vote no on a constitutional convention out to all chapter leaders. AFL-CIO has a campaign manager on this issue.
Regents
DeVos threw out ESSA regulations. Team going up to Board of Regents. In May should see changes in career and tech ed regs we have been pushing for for 15 years.
City Budget
City in decent shape but worried about cuts from DC. Schools cannot set up for Sept and then cut later. NYS anti Trump state.
Governor protecting public schools now. City priorities are Teacher's Choice, community schools and others.
City has changed protocols on lead in water.
Texas is doing well with public school proud Want grassroots events so Texas won't outdo NY in public school proud. Must make a big, big loud noise in September when school starts.
We will load up the public school proud van and do events in each borough.
May 1 is 4.5% pay raise. It will be reflected in May 15 paycheck.
Staff Director's Report
Howie Schoor filled in for Leroy Barr and made announcements including immigration rights forum at UFT.
Question Period
Question about lead in water
Mulgrew Answer: Teachers should go to doctor. If parent asks, send him/her to principal.
Question: ELA and math state tests. People with no preps.Is it an emergency as Principal says?
Answer: We have a right to go to bathroom. Tests are not an emergency.
Q:Student led parent teacher conferences. What are regs?
A: Must have SBO. Superintendent should have set up a plan. It should not be a mandate.
Q: People since election feeling more union pride?
A: Elected officials don't want to fight parents. Use AFL-CIO. Do something at school.
Q: Mayoral control coming up in June. What is our position?
A: We would like mayor to not have a majority of PEP. Different forms of mayoral control. Problem with school boards. Don't want to go back to community boards. Don't know what will happen. We won't support this form of mayoral control.
Q: NYSUT catastrophic insurance back with short window.
A: Not open for enrollment for 6 years. Gives you additional coverage over medical plans. Great benefit. May 1-June 15 open enrollment. Mulgrew recommends getting it.
Q: Must have lunch but not preps on testing day. Clarify please.
A: Correct but must be able to use bathroom.
New Motions
Endorse Eric Gonzales for Brooklyn DA and Cy Vance for Manhattan DA. Added to agenda.
Lengthy resolution to support CPE1 for next month's agenda. They want teachers back and principal gone.
Delegate removed last March. Delegate said all veteran teachers under investigation. Chancellor not responsive. Principal abusive. Resolution is for 800 pound gorilla (UFT) coming down on DOE at school.
Howie Schoor from Unity says we tabled this at Executive Board. If we pass resolution, it will shut down communication with DOE. UFT very supportive. Many including Leroy Barr at school. Board of Ed must resolve this.
Voted down.
Mulgrew said we are doing everything to support CPE1.
I made a pariliamentary inquiry about the president alternating between speakers for and against on all debatable motions and us having the right to make amendment's when it is our turn to speak. Mulgrew tried to stop me but I made my point. (I will print it later.)
Special Orders of Business
Support for Andrew Hevesi's home stability program passed unanimously.
Resolution for Healthcare for all. Single payer.
Amendment: Mike Schirtzer: UFT will not support candidates for office who are against single payer or affordable care act.
Dave Pecararo argued that these were two separate issues and moved to split amendment into two separate issues.
Mel Aaronson said these amendments should be defeated. We would be a one issue organization. That ended the debate. Amendments failed. Original resolution passed.
Final resolution was on a voter registration drive among eligible high school students. It passed unanimously.
49 SCHOOL DAYS LEFT BUT WHO'S COUNTING?
We go back to school today. For me the day when vacation ends is traditionally one where I have a somewhat restless night with only a little sleep because I try to make sure that everything is ready for my return to work.
Even after many, many years in this business, sometimes I still get that teacher nightmare where I step in front of a class and have no idea what to do. This usually happens the night before the end of a vacation or before an observation. I have these trepidations and I work in a school with a supportive administration. My heart goes out to those of you coming back to school who work for incompetent and/or abusive principals or assistant principals.
In the interest of attempting to be optimistic, I counted the school days left on this year's calendar.
There are 8 school days remaining in April.
There are 22 school days in April.
There are 19 school days in June.
By my simple math that means there are 49 school days left in the 2016-17 school year.
We'll get through until summer vacation.
For equal time, it is time now to look at the glass as 1/4 empty. The big stretch begins today as we go from April 19th straight through to Memorial Day Weekend (May 27th-29th) without any days off. By my calculations that is 28 school days in a row or 5 and 3/5 weeks. This is one of those times of the year when students normally feel quite restless no matter what the teacher does.
Oh and there is a UFT Delegate Assembly today. After driving for 16 hours with two kids the last two days on the way home from visiting Camille's brother and sister and their children in Georgia and not sleeping much, I might not have the stamina to sit through a DA this afternoon. I will see how I feel later.
Even after many, many years in this business, sometimes I still get that teacher nightmare where I step in front of a class and have no idea what to do. This usually happens the night before the end of a vacation or before an observation. I have these trepidations and I work in a school with a supportive administration. My heart goes out to those of you coming back to school who work for incompetent and/or abusive principals or assistant principals.
In the interest of attempting to be optimistic, I counted the school days left on this year's calendar.
There are 8 school days remaining in April.
There are 22 school days in April.
There are 19 school days in June.
By my simple math that means there are 49 school days left in the 2016-17 school year.
We'll get through until summer vacation.
For equal time, it is time now to look at the glass as 1/4 empty. The big stretch begins today as we go from April 19th straight through to Memorial Day Weekend (May 27th-29th) without any days off. By my calculations that is 28 school days in a row or 5 and 3/5 weeks. This is one of those times of the year when students normally feel quite restless no matter what the teacher does.
Oh and there is a UFT Delegate Assembly today. After driving for 16 hours with two kids the last two days on the way home from visiting Camille's brother and sister and their children in Georgia and not sleeping much, I might not have the stamina to sit through a DA this afternoon. I will see how I feel later.
Monday, April 17, 2017
TEACHERS OVERLY STRESSED IN ENGLAND; WHAT ABOUT NY?
This came to me while checking out Facebook today. UK's Daily Telegraph is reporting on a poll of teachers in England found that 83% of teachers say that the job has had a negative impact on their health in the last year.
83%? Even if it was a poll designed to get a certain response, that is a remarkably high figure.
From the article:
A new poll indicates that more than four-fifths of school staff (83 per cent) think that their job has had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing in the last 12 months.
More than a fifth (22 per cent) had been turning to alcohol more often, and the same percentage (22 per cent) said they had increased their caffeine intake.
Just under a fifth (19%) said they had lost their appetite and over one in 10 (11 per cent) said they had started to use, or increased their use, of anti-depressants.
Around nine per cent had had a relationship break down, while around seven per cent had started to take, or were taking more, prescription drugs.
These are disturbing results.
My guess is that if we polled New York's teachers the numbers would be similar because of what teaching has become in our schools. We are subjected to Danielson drive-by observations combined with test scores on tests that aren't designed to rate teachers being used to rate us. Or we are rotating Absent Teacher Reserves. Many of us are being judged by incompetent and/or viscious administrators and we have to put up with unruly students who in many cases are unwilling learners. It is a recipe for deteriorating health for teachers. Throw in a union that won't fight back in public and we are in real trouble.
Here is a major difference between England and New York. In their official response to the poll, England's Department of Education stated in part:
"Where staff are struggling, we trust headteachers to take action to tackle the causes of stress and ensure they have the support they need."
In New York, one of the main priorities of too many administrators seems to be to add to that stress.
How is the stress level of our readers? As we head back to school on Wednesday, we certainly are interested in hearing how you feel about the impact of the job on your health.
83%? Even if it was a poll designed to get a certain response, that is a remarkably high figure.
From the article:
A new poll indicates that more than four-fifths of school staff (83 per cent) think that their job has had a negative impact on their health and wellbeing in the last 12 months.
Given a list of issues and symptoms they may have experienced, some 84 per cent of those polled by the NASUWT teaching union said that they have lost sleep due to their work, while three in four (54 per cent) have experienced anxiousness and a similar proportion (74 per cent) reported low energy levels.
Just under a fifth (19%) said they had lost their appetite and over one in 10 (11 per cent) said they had started to use, or increased their use, of anti-depressants.
Around nine per cent had had a relationship break down, while around seven per cent had started to take, or were taking more, prescription drugs.
These are disturbing results.
My guess is that if we polled New York's teachers the numbers would be similar because of what teaching has become in our schools. We are subjected to Danielson drive-by observations combined with test scores on tests that aren't designed to rate teachers being used to rate us. Or we are rotating Absent Teacher Reserves. Many of us are being judged by incompetent and/or viscious administrators and we have to put up with unruly students who in many cases are unwilling learners. It is a recipe for deteriorating health for teachers. Throw in a union that won't fight back in public and we are in real trouble.
Here is a major difference between England and New York. In their official response to the poll, England's Department of Education stated in part:
"Where staff are struggling, we trust headteachers to take action to tackle the causes of stress and ensure they have the support they need."
In New York, one of the main priorities of too many administrators seems to be to add to that stress.
How is the stress level of our readers? As we head back to school on Wednesday, we certainly are interested in hearing how you feel about the impact of the job on your health.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
DE BLASIO OPPOSES TEACHER FREE SPEECH
The first and only time I met Bill de Blasio there was just something about the encounter where I thought this is someone who really might not be listening. When I subsequently called his office for help for Jamaica High School, not surprisingly we got nowhere.
News came from Staten Island this week that does not shock me at all. Mayor de Blasio took a position against teachers speaking out on education policy.
This is from silive.com.
An IS 61 teacher asked de Blasio why teachers are under a "gag order" not to speak ill about state tests, when teachers elsewhere encourage their students to opt out of tests.
"Think of what it would lead to" if teachers openly criticized every education policy they disagreed with, de Blasio said.
It would lead to a better school system if someone in power actually listened to working teachers.
It would improve education immensely if teachers had our free speech rights respected. Free speech is necessary in a healthy democracy. It is stifled regularly these days.
We'll keep trying to exercise those free speech rights here. For example, I very much doubt I will be supporting the Mayor's reelection. Also, I totally oppose de Blasio keeping control of the school system..
News came from Staten Island this week that does not shock me at all. Mayor de Blasio took a position against teachers speaking out on education policy.
This is from silive.com.
An IS 61 teacher asked de Blasio why teachers are under a "gag order" not to speak ill about state tests, when teachers elsewhere encourage their students to opt out of tests.
"Think of what it would lead to" if teachers openly criticized every education policy they disagreed with, de Blasio said.
It would lead to a better school system if someone in power actually listened to working teachers.
It would improve education immensely if teachers had our free speech rights respected. Free speech is necessary in a healthy democracy. It is stifled regularly these days.
We'll keep trying to exercise those free speech rights here. For example, I very much doubt I will be supporting the Mayor's reelection. Also, I totally oppose de Blasio keeping control of the school system..
Thursday, April 13, 2017
NYSUT ELECTION RESULTS REMARKABLY LIKE UFT ELECTION RESULTS
We have a breakdown of the New York State United Teachers election from last Saturday's Representative Assembly. Votes in the NYSUT election are weighted. I can't begin to explain how it is done but can say Unity won big in the election. That is not good news for teachers but these figures reveal a great deal about the state of our statewide umbrella union.
Here are the results:
Office-Candidate Name- Results- Percentage:
President Andrew Pallotta 255,356.0627 74%
President Michael Lillis 90,673.7738 26%
Exec. VP Jolene DiBrango 247,856.8425 72%
Exec VP Bianca Tanis 94,339.2187 28%
1st VP J. Philippe Abraham 244,455.4361 71%
1st VP Megan DeLaRosa 98,441.0310 29%
2nd VP Paul Pecorale 303,043.1747
Sec. Treasurer Martin Messner 251,302.1856 74%
Sec. Treasurer Nate Hathaway 90,263.4510 26%
If we look at our analysis from the 2014 election, the number of weighted voters this election is a little higher than last time (346,030 total for president compared to 328,014 for president in 2014). Unity did much better compared to 2014 and Stronger Together lost a significant number of votes compared to 2014. I was warned by two people in the know that this was going to happen.
In 2014 the UFT made up 34% of the total number of voters. If we assume a third this time, that makes 114,190 from the UFT. Take away those 114,190 UFT votes (they all vote as one) from Pallotta's total and Pallotta still has 141,166 votes while Mike Lillis keeps his 90,674 votes we can assume all came from outside of NYC. It is competitive without the UFT but Pallotta still wins a majority of the non UFT votes.
Unity's reach is mind boggling considering how badly things have gone for public schools over the last few years.
In fact, the percentages in the NYSUT election are remarkably close to the 2016 UFT election where Unity received over 70% of the total vote. However, there is a robust opposition at both the city and state levels that represents tens of thousands of NYSUT members. That is a decent opposition base.
Stronger Together had an uphill struggle for sure at NYSUT with the Unity people in NYC all voting as one. ST did what they could but the Unity machine is as strong as ever, if not stronger. As stated above, this is not good news for all of us as Unity's concessionary union strategy has not led to much in the way of improvements for any of us.
As for the future, Mike Schirtzer, who sits on the UFT Executive Board representing the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) and sat on the Stronger Together Executive Board also representing MORE, told me recently that the main opposition to Unity are MORE-NEW ACTION's seven High School Representatives on the UFT Executive Board. I think we can add to that opposition many small locals around New York State who voted against Unity at NYSUT. Also, a majority (52%) of the union locals in NYS (smaller unions) didn't make it to NYC for the Representative Assembly to vote. Maybe, some of them are with us.
Now, can we please all work together?
Here are the results:
Office-Candidate Name- Results- Percentage:
President Andrew Pallotta 255,356.0627 74%
President Michael Lillis 90,673.7738 26%
Exec. VP Jolene DiBrango 247,856.8425 72%
Exec VP Bianca Tanis 94,339.2187 28%
1st VP J. Philippe Abraham 244,455.4361 71%
1st VP Megan DeLaRosa 98,441.0310 29%
2nd VP Paul Pecorale 303,043.1747
Sec. Treasurer Martin Messner 251,302.1856 74%
Sec. Treasurer Nate Hathaway 90,263.4510 26%
If we look at our analysis from the 2014 election, the number of weighted voters this election is a little higher than last time (346,030 total for president compared to 328,014 for president in 2014). Unity did much better compared to 2014 and Stronger Together lost a significant number of votes compared to 2014. I was warned by two people in the know that this was going to happen.
In 2014 the UFT made up 34% of the total number of voters. If we assume a third this time, that makes 114,190 from the UFT. Take away those 114,190 UFT votes (they all vote as one) from Pallotta's total and Pallotta still has 141,166 votes while Mike Lillis keeps his 90,674 votes we can assume all came from outside of NYC. It is competitive without the UFT but Pallotta still wins a majority of the non UFT votes.
Unity's reach is mind boggling considering how badly things have gone for public schools over the last few years.
In fact, the percentages in the NYSUT election are remarkably close to the 2016 UFT election where Unity received over 70% of the total vote. However, there is a robust opposition at both the city and state levels that represents tens of thousands of NYSUT members. That is a decent opposition base.
Stronger Together had an uphill struggle for sure at NYSUT with the Unity people in NYC all voting as one. ST did what they could but the Unity machine is as strong as ever, if not stronger. As stated above, this is not good news for all of us as Unity's concessionary union strategy has not led to much in the way of improvements for any of us.
As for the future, Mike Schirtzer, who sits on the UFT Executive Board representing the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE) and sat on the Stronger Together Executive Board also representing MORE, told me recently that the main opposition to Unity are MORE-NEW ACTION's seven High School Representatives on the UFT Executive Board. I think we can add to that opposition many small locals around New York State who voted against Unity at NYSUT. Also, a majority (52%) of the union locals in NYS (smaller unions) didn't make it to NYC for the Representative Assembly to vote. Maybe, some of them are with us.
Now, can we please all work together?
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
TEACHER ACTIVISTS UNDER ATTACK
It is perilous to one's career as a classroom teacher to stand up for your school, your students or your fellow educators these days.
This blog has reported on Marilyn Martinez at CPE1 in Manhattan who took on an abusive principal on behalf of her school and is now facing a termination hearing. It appears from this vantage point that Marilyn's main offense was to disagree with Principal Monika Garg, which is now a misdeed in the New York City school system where a teacher's job can be put on the line.
We have also noted how my wife UFT Delegate Camille Eterno has defended teachers and others at Humanities and the Arts Magnet High School in Queens against a very abusive administration led by Kayode Ayetiwa and AP Matina Stergiopolous. Administration has retaliated by writing up Camille in a negative way because of her advocacy work. Camille is taking a childcare leave but the heat continues at the school. The Chapter Leader has been hospitilized and Camille is still receiving threatening letters and improper negative observation reports. We featured Humanities in the Arts as part of a piece on horrible administrators in Queens High Schools we did at the end of last year. Nothing I know of has improved since that time in any of the schools we wrote about.
Union activists should receive extra protection from their union but in 2017 activists are not safe. That has a chilling effect on the rank and file.
Being active in the opt out from testing movement is also now a dangerous career move if one is a teacher.
We can add our colleague in Chicago Sarah Chambers to the list of teacher union activists under attack. Chambers is facing a dismissal hearing. We hear that the awful crime she allegedly committed was encouraging a student to opt out of the state PARRC Exam.
This is from Chicago DNA Info.
LITTLE VILLAGE — A lauded special education teacher at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in Little Village soon could be fired, and parents across the city are fighting her ouster.
Sarah Chambers, an eight-year teacher at the school and a leader who has advocated for students with special needs across the city, has been suspended from her job, she confirmed last week. On Monday, Chicago Public Schools officials said they have moved to fire Chambers.
In a statement, CPS officials said Chambers is accused of violating Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Board of Education policies.
"Ms. Chambers engaged in misconduct that created cause to move to dismiss her," said Emily Bittner, a CPS spokeswoman.
Bittner declined to say what CPS policies Chambers allegedly violated. Chambers said she is accused of encouraging a student to opt out of the PARCC test, an annual standardized test given to students in third through eighth grades and high school, a charge she denies.
Chambers said Saucedo parents come from a "strong activist culture" and make their own decision to opt out of PARCC testing.
Chambers now can present her case against dismissal to an independent Illinois State Board of Education hearing officer. A hearing has not been scheduled, a Chicago Teachers Union official said.
The union said CPS is moving to fire Chambers for criticizing CPS, and it will fight the firing, union spokesman Ronnie Reese said.
When news of Chambers' suspension spread, parents and teachers launched a petition online in support of her, urging CPS not to fire the "distinguished, award-winning teacher."
Within 24 hours, more than 1,000 people had signed the petition. As of Tuesday morning, more than 2,100 people had signed.
Chambers, who is co-chairwoman of the union's special education task force, was notified of the suspension Thursday. She claimed CPS is moving to fire her in retaliation for union organizing and for standing up for the needs of her special education students.
"I was in complete shock. I'm a distinguished teacher, and I've never been written up before," Chambers told DNAinfo. "I truly believe it's because I'm being a leader and advocating for the rights of special education students around the city."
Please sign the petition to support Sarah Chambers.
Since it is open season on union activists and it looks like is a national problem, where is our national union, the AFT, led by Randi Weingarten? We need more than some petitions and grievances.
This blog has reported on Marilyn Martinez at CPE1 in Manhattan who took on an abusive principal on behalf of her school and is now facing a termination hearing. It appears from this vantage point that Marilyn's main offense was to disagree with Principal Monika Garg, which is now a misdeed in the New York City school system where a teacher's job can be put on the line.
We have also noted how my wife UFT Delegate Camille Eterno has defended teachers and others at Humanities and the Arts Magnet High School in Queens against a very abusive administration led by Kayode Ayetiwa and AP Matina Stergiopolous. Administration has retaliated by writing up Camille in a negative way because of her advocacy work. Camille is taking a childcare leave but the heat continues at the school. The Chapter Leader has been hospitilized and Camille is still receiving threatening letters and improper negative observation reports. We featured Humanities in the Arts as part of a piece on horrible administrators in Queens High Schools we did at the end of last year. Nothing I know of has improved since that time in any of the schools we wrote about.
Union activists should receive extra protection from their union but in 2017 activists are not safe. That has a chilling effect on the rank and file.
Being active in the opt out from testing movement is also now a dangerous career move if one is a teacher.
This is from Chicago DNA Info.
LITTLE VILLAGE — A lauded special education teacher at Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy in Little Village soon could be fired, and parents across the city are fighting her ouster.
Sarah Chambers, an eight-year teacher at the school and a leader who has advocated for students with special needs across the city, has been suspended from her job, she confirmed last week. On Monday, Chicago Public Schools officials said they have moved to fire Chambers.
In a statement, CPS officials said Chambers is accused of violating Illinois State Board of Education and Chicago Board of Education policies.
"Ms. Chambers engaged in misconduct that created cause to move to dismiss her," said Emily Bittner, a CPS spokeswoman.
Bittner declined to say what CPS policies Chambers allegedly violated. Chambers said she is accused of encouraging a student to opt out of the PARCC test, an annual standardized test given to students in third through eighth grades and high school, a charge she denies.
Chambers said Saucedo parents come from a "strong activist culture" and make their own decision to opt out of PARCC testing.
Chambers now can present her case against dismissal to an independent Illinois State Board of Education hearing officer. A hearing has not been scheduled, a Chicago Teachers Union official said.
The union said CPS is moving to fire Chambers for criticizing CPS, and it will fight the firing, union spokesman Ronnie Reese said.
When news of Chambers' suspension spread, parents and teachers launched a petition online in support of her, urging CPS not to fire the "distinguished, award-winning teacher."
Within 24 hours, more than 1,000 people had signed the petition. As of Tuesday morning, more than 2,100 people had signed.
Chambers, who is co-chairwoman of the union's special education task force, was notified of the suspension Thursday. She claimed CPS is moving to fire her in retaliation for union organizing and for standing up for the needs of her special education students.
"I was in complete shock. I'm a distinguished teacher, and I've never been written up before," Chambers told DNAinfo. "I truly believe it's because I'm being a leader and advocating for the rights of special education students around the city."
Please sign the petition to support Sarah Chambers.
Since it is open season on union activists and it looks like is a national problem, where is our national union, the AFT, led by Randi Weingarten? We need more than some petitions and grievances.
Monday, April 10, 2017
STRONGER TOGETHER LETTER TO MEMBERS
Stronger Together's letter to its members is printed below. Note the caucus won some Board of Director positions and a resolution passed at the RA calling for us to lobby for the end of mandatiing that student performance being part of teacher ratings.
As NYC Educator told us today, the frustrations of teachers having to be part of NYSUT and the UFT, two organizations that do not run elections on a level playing field, may soon have consequences internally as union locals are talking about pulling out of NYSUT.
James --
ST Caucus Executive Committee
ST Caucus
As NYC Educator told us today, the frustrations of teachers having to be part of NYSUT and the UFT, two organizations that do not run elections on a level playing field, may soon have consequences internally as union locals are talking about pulling out of NYSUT.
James --
We would like to take a moment to thank you for your participation and support during this weekend’s NYSUT Representative Assembly in New York City.
We also want to thank Mike Lillis, Bianca Tanis, Megan DeLaRosa, and Nate Hathaway for their campaign for the NYSUT Officer positions. Over the past four months, they have helped define the vision of the ST Caucus and communicated that vision to NYSUT members around the state. While we lost in our attempt to win the officer positions, we have won in our continued desire to change the narrative within NYSUT.
We are happy to report that seven members of the ST Caucus won positions to the NYSUT Board of Directors as Regional Directors including Kevin Coyne and Laura Spencer, members of the ST Caucus Executive Committee. We remain optimistic that these BOD members will be able to hold NYSUT accountable to the will of the membership that was established at the Representative Assembly.
You should be aware that two important resolutions (#15 and #17) were enthusiastically endorsed by the ST Caucus, fought for in committee debate, and subsequently, unanimously ratified by NYSUT’s delegate body. Here are some important NYSUT positions adopted this week with the significant support of Stronger Together;
- NYSUT refuses to participate in any endeavor to promote, support or organize efforts to have teachers write test items for the NYS Math and ELA tests in grades 3-8 until the career and college ready benchmarks have been corrected.
- NYSUT will oppose, through legislative lobbying efforts, any teacher evaluation regimen mandating the use of student performance measures. NYSUT will lobby to have the current law (3012-d) changed to make student performance measures non-mandatory.
We anticipate that these resolutions can be the start to an unwavering pushback against the corporate reform agenda that the members of ST Caucus demand.
While the RA has come to a close, the work of the ST Caucus will continue as we advocate for the needs of educators and students around New York State. We are thankful that we were able to meet so many of you this past weekend and look forward to working with many more of you throughout the course of the year.
We remain, STRONGER TOGETHER!
In Solidarity,
ST Caucus
Saturday, April 08, 2017
LIVE BLOGGING FROM DEAD NYSUT RA
I stole the title from Norm Scott with his OK since he could not get EdNotes out from here at day two of the NYSUT Representative Assembly.
Today the floor is fairly empty. There were some speeches, resolutions and now awards are going out for social justice.
In the NYSUT election, Unity's Andy Pallotta won. No surprise there. I cannot tell you his margin of victory because the Election Committee would not release the numbers.
As you can see from the photo, it is not exactly a packed house here on day two. This picture was taken before the election winners were announced.
UPDATED AND CORRECTED*: Pallotta in his victory speech said he would unite the union. He would hear and activate every local and every member. He quoted Thomas Jefferson after the contested 1800 US election trying to unite the country. Earlier today, Unity Secretary Treasurer Martin Messner compared our situation as a union to what England faced when it was close to being invaded by Hitler in 1940. He quoted the famous British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saying how Britain would fight with everything it had to "defend our island" when he took power at the low point of World War II.
It is difficult for me to be inspired by two men who can cite Churchill and Jefferson but in their careers as Executive Vice President and treasurer, have acted more like Churchill's predecessor, Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain practiced a policy of appeasement with the Germans to keep Hitler happy by giving him half of Chechoslovakia in 1938. Look at how we have done in Albany under Pallotta. We have already given away more than half of what we had. Appeasement at its finest to keep Governor Andrew Cuomo content.
For those who hate Nazi analogies, I apologize but Unity brought it up.
I do wish Pallotta well. He will need to develop new skills very quickly if NYSUT is to recover.
*Earlier versions said the Churchill analogy was from Pallotta. Ed Notes cited Messner and we will go with that version. If anyone can correct us, please do so. We endeavor to be accurate but Unity leaders start to sound alike after a while.
Today the floor is fairly empty. There were some speeches, resolutions and now awards are going out for social justice.
In the NYSUT election, Unity's Andy Pallotta won. No surprise there. I cannot tell you his margin of victory because the Election Committee would not release the numbers.
As you can see from the photo, it is not exactly a packed house here on day two. This picture was taken before the election winners were announced.
UPDATED AND CORRECTED*: Pallotta in his victory speech said he would unite the union. He would hear and activate every local and every member. He quoted Thomas Jefferson after the contested 1800 US election trying to unite the country. Earlier today, Unity Secretary Treasurer Martin Messner compared our situation as a union to what England faced when it was close to being invaded by Hitler in 1940. He quoted the famous British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saying how Britain would fight with everything it had to "defend our island" when he took power at the low point of World War II.
It is difficult for me to be inspired by two men who can cite Churchill and Jefferson but in their careers as Executive Vice President and treasurer, have acted more like Churchill's predecessor, Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain practiced a policy of appeasement with the Germans to keep Hitler happy by giving him half of Chechoslovakia in 1938. Look at how we have done in Albany under Pallotta. We have already given away more than half of what we had. Appeasement at its finest to keep Governor Andrew Cuomo content.
For those who hate Nazi analogies, I apologize but Unity brought it up.
I do wish Pallotta well. He will need to develop new skills very quickly if NYSUT is to recover.
*Earlier versions said the Churchill analogy was from Pallotta. Ed Notes cited Messner and we will go with that version. If anyone can correct us, please do so. We endeavor to be accurate but Unity leaders start to sound alike after a while.
STATE BUDGET DEAL DOES NOT INCLUDE MAYORAL CONTROL EXTENSION
There's a budget deal up in Albany. It appears an extension of mayoral control of the New York City schools will be dealt with in June or maybe our fifteen year nightmare in school governance will be allowed to expire in June. This is from Politico New York:
Mayoral control of New York City schools, at one point planned to be extended by a year, will now lapse at the end of June as scheduled.
I hope that isn't a misprint or inaccurate information.
The Post and Daily News editorial boards can blame the mayor for losing mayoral control but we know it is a system completely lacking in transparency that has led to bogus inflated high school graduation rates. Nobody else besides Bill de Blasio and maybe Michael Mulgrew and the education bureaucrats will be upset if school governance changes.
Here are some other details on the budget:
The budget will increase spending for K-12 public schools by $1.1 billion in the coming fiscal year, Cuomo said, and routes $700 million through the foundation aid formula. The budget also contains language raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, reviving the 421-a housing tax break, authorizing ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to operate outside of New York City, spur municipal service consolidation and increase college tuition subsidies.
Mayoral control of New York City schools, at one point planned to be extended by a year, will now lapse at the end of June as scheduled.
I hope that isn't a misprint or inaccurate information.
The Post and Daily News editorial boards can blame the mayor for losing mayoral control but we know it is a system completely lacking in transparency that has led to bogus inflated high school graduation rates. Nobody else besides Bill de Blasio and maybe Michael Mulgrew and the education bureaucrats will be upset if school governance changes.
Here are some other details on the budget:
The budget will increase spending for K-12 public schools by $1.1 billion in the coming fiscal year, Cuomo said, and routes $700 million through the foundation aid formula. The budget also contains language raising the age of criminal responsibility from 16 to 18, reviving the 421-a housing tax break, authorizing ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to operate outside of New York City, spur municipal service consolidation and increase college tuition subsidies.
Friday, April 07, 2017
LIVE BLOGGING FROM NYSUT REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY
I arrived at the New York State United Teachers Representative Assembly after school. Beth Dimino fom Port Jefferson Station obtained a guest pass for me. We will try to report anything of any significance. Saturday is when the election for President takes place.
I (not ICE, MORE or NAC) support Mike Lillis and the Stronger Together Caucus over Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus. Unity has annointed former UFT District Rep from the Bronx Andy Pallotta to take over as President.
Stronger Together meeting at RA was very well attended this afternoon.
Went to dinner with Brian St Pierre, Jia Lee, Bianca Tanis and two others. Came back and visitors are buried on the second floor to watch on video.
Constitutional Amendments:
Amendments failed at committee. They were brought to the floor. Decision was to approve committee recomendation or oppose it and send amendments for a vote where they would need 2/3 to pass.
Nate Hathaway spoke for the first amendment to cut number of NYSUT officers from 5-4. Locals use field services. The speaker against the amendment said officers should not have to do more with less.
Then there was a vote. The amendment failed but had plenty of support.
The second amendment was on democracy. Mike Lillis spoke in opposition to committee recomendation and for the amendment.The amendment was to allow people to vote for NYSUT officers at their regional office instead of only being able to vote in NYC at RA. Lillis said it would further democracy to allow people to vote in their region instead of traveling to NYC. Said people had to travel through a blizzard to get to RA today to vote.
Someone from UUP came on and said 90% represented. (Lillis said it was 30%.) Woman said RA for more than voting for officers.
Someone from New Rochelle asked about 90% being there. What is source? Answer from Evelyn DE Jesus from UFT was 88% of members are represented. Someone asked for the percentage of locals represented?
Brian St Pierre asked if this amendment would preclude people from attending RA. Ruled out of order. Evelyn came back and said 47% of locals were represented.
Karen Magee asked for vote in favor and against. Against sounded much louder.
She called for a standing count that took some time.
Results 1710 voted.
Over 900 against amendment, over 700 in favor. Amendment close to having a majority.
Third amendment to try to get more democracy. Not sure what it was exactly. It got close but failed.
Amendment 4 on Board of Directors elections to get rid of at large directors.
Again the vote was close but the Unity side won so no change.
Andy Pallotta spoke next. Nothing much there to report on.
Then it was Martin Messner, the Secretary Treasurer. Not much there to report on either except he stated that NYSUT has run a surplus three years in a row and built up reserves to pre-great recession levels. He added that pension fund is in better shape too but budget picture could soon worsen.
I (not ICE, MORE or NAC) support Mike Lillis and the Stronger Together Caucus over Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus. Unity has annointed former UFT District Rep from the Bronx Andy Pallotta to take over as President.
Stronger Together meeting at RA was very well attended this afternoon.
Went to dinner with Brian St Pierre, Jia Lee, Bianca Tanis and two others. Came back and visitors are buried on the second floor to watch on video.
Constitutional Amendments:
Amendments failed at committee. They were brought to the floor. Decision was to approve committee recomendation or oppose it and send amendments for a vote where they would need 2/3 to pass.
Nate Hathaway spoke for the first amendment to cut number of NYSUT officers from 5-4. Locals use field services. The speaker against the amendment said officers should not have to do more with less.
Then there was a vote. The amendment failed but had plenty of support.
The second amendment was on democracy. Mike Lillis spoke in opposition to committee recomendation and for the amendment.The amendment was to allow people to vote for NYSUT officers at their regional office instead of only being able to vote in NYC at RA. Lillis said it would further democracy to allow people to vote in their region instead of traveling to NYC. Said people had to travel through a blizzard to get to RA today to vote.
Someone from UUP came on and said 90% represented. (Lillis said it was 30%.) Woman said RA for more than voting for officers.
Someone from New Rochelle asked about 90% being there. What is source? Answer from Evelyn DE Jesus from UFT was 88% of members are represented. Someone asked for the percentage of locals represented?
Brian St Pierre asked if this amendment would preclude people from attending RA. Ruled out of order. Evelyn came back and said 47% of locals were represented.
Karen Magee asked for vote in favor and against. Against sounded much louder.
She called for a standing count that took some time.
Results 1710 voted.
Over 900 against amendment, over 700 in favor. Amendment close to having a majority.
Third amendment to try to get more democracy. Not sure what it was exactly. It got close but failed.
Amendment 4 on Board of Directors elections to get rid of at large directors.
Again the vote was close but the Unity side won so no change.
Andy Pallotta spoke next. Nothing much there to report on.
Then it was Martin Messner, the Secretary Treasurer. Not much there to report on either except he stated that NYSUT has run a surplus three years in a row and built up reserves to pre-great recession levels. He added that pension fund is in better shape too but budget picture could soon worsen.
Thursday, April 06, 2017
MAYORAL CONTROL LOOKS LIKE IT IS GETTING ANOTHER ONE YEAR EXTENSION; WHY?
The Daily News reported that there is pretty much a deal in Albany to give Mayor Bill de Blasio yet another one year extension of mayoral control of the schools.
Prior to the breakdown in [budget] talks, lawmakers had already agreed on a proposal that would grant Mayor de Blasio a one-year extension of the law giving him control over the city schools, which was set to expire in June.
Politico New York also reported on the deal:
State legislators are expected to include a one-year extension of Mayor Bill de Blasio's control over New York City schools into the late budget deal, city and state officials said Wednesday.
Later they add:
But the late addition of an extension, quietly inserted into a chaotic budget process, may save City Hall some embarrassment in the long run.
For the last two years, Senate Republicans have used the debate over renewing mayoral control as a months-long — and largely unfavorable — referendum on de Blasio's education agenda.
In turn, de Blasio and his allies have accused Republicans, most of whom do not represent New York City, of naked political calculation at the expense of students.
Now, both the Senate Republicans and de Blasio will be able to skip over those uncomfortable negotiations entirely.
Note to the Legislators in Albany from a NYC teacher:
The schools in NYC are a mess in many ways. The increased high school graduation rate is based on virtually eliminating standards in many high schools. Money from Albany doesn't get to the classroom in too many schools.
Doesn't anyone up in Albany see that virtually nobody would shed a tear if Mayor de Blasio lost control of the schools and Chancellor Farina was sent back into retirement? Mayoral control is a disaster. Does anyone up there read a newspaper or a blog?
Some politicians do understand what is going on as there is a bill in the State Legislature in Albany (S 3730) (A6440) to change the makeup of the 13 member Board of Education (known unofficially as the Panel for Education Policy) by taking away four appointees to the Board of Education from the Mayor's current total of eight and giving those four appointees to the City Council.
I would support that bill as a necessary huge step in the right direction as it would take away the Mayor's majority over the Board and allow the Board of Education, not the Mayor, to appoint the Chancellor. This surely would limit the mayor's power over education. That would surely be an improvement.
Here is the Senate's rationale:
However, I don't see the UFT using its lobbying voice to push this bill up in Albany.
Prior to the breakdown in [budget] talks, lawmakers had already agreed on a proposal that would grant Mayor de Blasio a one-year extension of the law giving him control over the city schools, which was set to expire in June.
Politico New York also reported on the deal:
State legislators are expected to include a one-year extension of Mayor Bill de Blasio's control over New York City schools into the late budget deal, city and state officials said Wednesday.
Later they add:
But the late addition of an extension, quietly inserted into a chaotic budget process, may save City Hall some embarrassment in the long run.
For the last two years, Senate Republicans have used the debate over renewing mayoral control as a months-long — and largely unfavorable — referendum on de Blasio's education agenda.
In turn, de Blasio and his allies have accused Republicans, most of whom do not represent New York City, of naked political calculation at the expense of students.
Now, both the Senate Republicans and de Blasio will be able to skip over those uncomfortable negotiations entirely.
Note to the Legislators in Albany from a NYC teacher:
The schools in NYC are a mess in many ways. The increased high school graduation rate is based on virtually eliminating standards in many high schools. Money from Albany doesn't get to the classroom in too many schools.
Doesn't anyone up in Albany see that virtually nobody would shed a tear if Mayor de Blasio lost control of the schools and Chancellor Farina was sent back into retirement? Mayoral control is a disaster. Does anyone up there read a newspaper or a blog?
Some politicians do understand what is going on as there is a bill in the State Legislature in Albany (S 3730) (A6440) to change the makeup of the 13 member Board of Education (known unofficially as the Panel for Education Policy) by taking away four appointees to the Board of Education from the Mayor's current total of eight and giving those four appointees to the City Council.
I would support that bill as a necessary huge step in the right direction as it would take away the Mayor's majority over the Board and allow the Board of Education, not the Mayor, to appoint the Chancellor. This surely would limit the mayor's power over education. That would surely be an improvement.
Here is the Senate's rationale:
To distribute the appointing authority of the board of education of
the city school district of New York City among each borough
president, city council, and mayor of NYC, to give parents and
education professionals a greater voice in the process, and to grant
the authority to appoint the city school district chancellor to the
board of education.
This would seem to make sense to anyone following education news over the last fifteen years.However, I don't see the UFT using its lobbying voice to push this bill up in Albany.
Wednesday, April 05, 2017
ROBERT'S RULES MISUSED AT EXECUTIVE BOARD SO UFT DOESN'T HAVE TO TAKE A STAND ON ABUSIVE PRINCIPAL (Updated Thursday)
We have exposed over and over how the UFT leadership misuses Robert's Rules of Order to suppress debate at the UFT Delegate Assembly. Howie Schoor, the Secretary who chairs the Executive Board, generally does a much better job of being fair than UFT President Michael Mulgrew who is known for butchering the rules when chairing the DA. However, on Monday night, the Executive Board misused the rules in order to stop debate and avoid taking a vote on a resolution (see below) to back the people at Central Park East 1 school who are fighting an abusive principal.
Here is a portion of Arthur Goldstein's report of Monday's Executive Board meeting. It starts with Norm Scott taking the open mic. Norm is retired but was a Chapter Leader when he was active.
Norm Scott—MORE--Abusive principals—Mulgrew said this was our biggest problem. The biggest crisis in our union is the power imbalance between union and teachers. I felt I had a little leverage, feel we don’t now, and feel union responsible. CLs leaving and principals have unfettered power. There is sword hanging over many people, including JHS 145. We’ve left them in a hold—will they get a job? What is their future?
CPE1 Run by Debbie Maier. We’ve watched that place be destroyed. Fariña is anti-union, anti-teacher. We continue to support mayoral control which enables this. We’ve seen manipulated charges hurting people, DRs know. Maybe that was Munich and maybe removal of Marilyn is invasion. This is crime against children. Blandness in this room very disturbing. There is no sense of outrage.
Townsend Harris—Same person destroyed math dept. at Bronx Science. We need to use our resources.
Thursday event at CPE1. This union owes it to that school to be there in force. At PEP Rich was there. Our presence may have moved votes. We owe it to them to be there. We need to be accountable for what goes on in these schools.
The MORE-NEW ACTION representatives later presented a resolution supporting CPE 1. It was added to the agenda. Note it was the last item of the meeting. Arthur describes what happened:
Whereas 4 out of 7 tenured teachers who exercised their free speech and union rights by signing an open letter to the principal have now either come under investigation or been pushed to resign, while all have faced some kind of disciplinary action, thus showing these actions to be retaliatory in intent,
Whereas these investigations have targeted the union’s strength specifically, with both the school’s chapter leader, Marilyn Martinez, and union delegate, Catlin Preston, facing charges,
Whereas parents at the school have organized an unprecedented show of support for these teachers, with more than 90 showing up to support Marilyn Martinez at her 3020a hearings, several attending our recent Executive Board hearing and dozens writing statements in support of the teachers,
Whereas parents believe that the principal’s actions are causing substantial harm to the children in the school by removing teachers without warning and carrying out investigations in which children as young as 6 and 7 are interviewed privately without their parent’s knowledge or consent, and in which parents feel that their families were manipulated in order to build cases against teachers while children were left without guidance or support,
Whereas the impact of these actions can be seen in the results of last year’s school survey, in which Monika Garg saw the steepest declines in both parent and teacher dissatisfaction of any school in the city, with 0% of teachers saying that they trust the principal and 0% of parents saying that the principal works hard to build trusting relationships,
Whereas both the teachers and the parents of Central Park East 1 have asked us for their support, and parents have been demanding the removal of the principal for over a year, with over twothirds of last year’s parents having signed a petition stating this, and are planning a public rally in conjunction with their next SLT meeting on April 6th,
Whereas Superintendent Alexandra Estrella has received hundreds of emails from parents and has ignored most and has acknowledged few of their requests, and
Whereas Estrella promised a facilitator, to improve communication at the school, and told elected parents that is was already in place several times… even though no facilitator has ever shown up, and
Whereas Estrella appointed Garg, a principal with no commitment to CPE1’s mission, to head the school.
Therefore be it resolved that the UFT leadership join the UFT staff of CPE1 in taking a public stance against this pattern of harassment and retaliation against teachers at Central Park East 1; and
Be it further resolved that the leadership supports the return of Chapter Leader Marilyn Martinez and Delegate Catlin Preston to their classrooms at Central Park East 1 immediately should their hearings find that they are entitled to retain their positions with the Department of Education and work in the classroom, and
Be it further resolved that the UFT publicly supports the overwhelming majority of parents at Central Park East 1 who are asking for the removal of Principal Garg and will support their planned April 6th rally, by utilizing the UFT press office, sending a speaker and issuing an action alert to mobilize UFT members and leaders to attend, and
Be it further resolved that the UFT leadership will publicly admonish Superintendent Estrella to respond to CPE1 parents and faculty, to respect agreements she has made with them, and to respect the mission of the school.
Update Thursday: According to Norm Scott on Facebook, Leroy Barr and five other UFT reps along with many parents, a group from MORE and others showed up at the CPE1 School Leadership Team meeting on Thursday after school. There were so many people that the meeting had to be moved to the auditorium.
We give the UFT credit for attending but still cannot understand why they would not support a resolution in support of this chapter's heroic efforts against an abusive principal.
Norm is updating us by telling us that the parents won't leave and that there are about 30 police officers waiting outside the auditorium to arrest the protesters at CPE 1.
Norm is also reporting that "Students at Townsend Harris High School sent CPE1 a statement of support."
PS Norm reports no arrests. Parents held another rally Friday morning.
Here is a portion of Arthur Goldstein's report of Monday's Executive Board meeting. It starts with Norm Scott taking the open mic. Norm is retired but was a Chapter Leader when he was active.
Norm Scott—MORE--Abusive principals—Mulgrew said this was our biggest problem. The biggest crisis in our union is the power imbalance between union and teachers. I felt I had a little leverage, feel we don’t now, and feel union responsible. CLs leaving and principals have unfettered power. There is sword hanging over many people, including JHS 145. We’ve left them in a hold—will they get a job? What is their future?
CPE1 Run by Debbie Maier. We’ve watched that place be destroyed. Fariña is anti-union, anti-teacher. We continue to support mayoral control which enables this. We’ve seen manipulated charges hurting people, DRs know. Maybe that was Munich and maybe removal of Marilyn is invasion. This is crime against children. Blandness in this room very disturbing. There is no sense of outrage.
Townsend Harris—Same person destroyed math dept. at Bronx Science. We need to use our resources.
Thursday event at CPE1. This union owes it to that school to be there in force. At PEP Rich was there. Our presence may have moved votes. We owe it to them to be there. We need to be accountable for what goes on in these schools.
The MORE-NEW ACTION representatives later presented a resolution supporting CPE 1. It was added to the agenda. Note it was the last item of the meeting. Arthur describes what happened:
Arthur Goldstein—MORE—Tonight we have a school and a school community in crisis, a school suffering under the wholly gratuitous tyranny of an out of control principal. Ironically, this school is one founded on principles of functional democracy, a school that ought to be a model for us all. It’s deplorable to see the ostensible leader of this school trod all over its basic premise, a premise developed by renowned educational activist Deborah Meier. As President Mulgrew told this body just two weeks ago:
"Our biggest issue hands down is (the DOE’s) lack of responsibility with reigning in their principals. We will go after them at the school level. By law the superintendent is in charge. They are responsible for the actions of the principal. It is always best to have documentation when bringing any issues forward."
Here is our chance to put those words in action. We have abundant documentation. We have firsthand testimony at our fingertips and in this very room. This is a golden opportunity for the United Federation of Teachers to walk the walk. Not only will we be giving much-needed support our brother and sister unionists and community members, but we’ll also be making a stand for the kind of innovative instruction and independent thinking we need to foster and enable for the students we serve.
I urge you to support this resolution (which you can read in full right here) and bring it to the Delegate Assembly this month.
LeRoy Barr—Rises to table motion. (Several seconds jump up instantly.) Says we’ve heard of all the work we’re doing. We clearly stand with you. Heard from borough rep, about outreach. We agree with a lot of this stuff. Wants to table this because we are meeting with DOE and bringing this issue forward. Want to give them opportunity to work with this. Asks people to stand.
Schoor—Says I am not standing. Asks me to be sure to comment on that. I most certainly will.
Barr—Says he will come to rally, bring people to rally, and speak at rally. Still asks that we table this.
Jonathan Halabi—New Action—After reso was written, DOE has raised the stakes. Not only is there no reconciliation, but they’ve gone after another non-tenured teacher today. Wants to argue against tabling.
Schoor—Not debatable
Halabi—New Action--Neither was motion to table. (Barr has commented on this.)
Schoor—Giving you two minutes, Thinks it’s against Robert’s rules.
Halabi—New Action--immediacy here, DOE escalating These people live at their school. In past chapters weren’t ready. This chapter is ready.
Schoor—Calls motion to table. Resolution is tabled. We are adjourned.
"Our biggest issue hands down is (the DOE’s) lack of responsibility with reigning in their principals. We will go after them at the school level. By law the superintendent is in charge. They are responsible for the actions of the principal. It is always best to have documentation when bringing any issues forward."
Here is our chance to put those words in action. We have abundant documentation. We have firsthand testimony at our fingertips and in this very room. This is a golden opportunity for the United Federation of Teachers to walk the walk. Not only will we be giving much-needed support our brother and sister unionists and community members, but we’ll also be making a stand for the kind of innovative instruction and independent thinking we need to foster and enable for the students we serve.
I urge you to support this resolution (which you can read in full right here) and bring it to the Delegate Assembly this month.
LeRoy Barr—Rises to table motion. (Several seconds jump up instantly.) Says we’ve heard of all the work we’re doing. We clearly stand with you. Heard from borough rep, about outreach. We agree with a lot of this stuff. Wants to table this because we are meeting with DOE and bringing this issue forward. Want to give them opportunity to work with this. Asks people to stand.
Schoor—Says I am not standing. Asks me to be sure to comment on that. I most certainly will.
Barr—Says he will come to rally, bring people to rally, and speak at rally. Still asks that we table this.
Jonathan Halabi—New Action—After reso was written, DOE has raised the stakes. Not only is there no reconciliation, but they’ve gone after another non-tenured teacher today. Wants to argue against tabling.
Schoor—Not debatable
Halabi—New Action--Neither was motion to table. (Barr has commented on this.)
Schoor—Giving you two minutes, Thinks it’s against Robert’s rules.
Halabi—New Action--immediacy here, DOE escalating These people live at their school. In past chapters weren’t ready. This chapter is ready.
Schoor—Calls motion to table. Resolution is tabled. We are adjourned.
Now, let's take a look to see what Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised says about tabling:
Section 17 Lay on the Table is covered on page 209. It states:
(To interrupt the pending business so as to permit doing something else immediately)
The motion to Lay on the Table enables the assembly to lay the pending question aside temporarily when something else of immediate urgency has arisen or when something else needs to be addressed before consideration of the pending question is resumed,
What was the urgent business?
Adjournment! I guess the Unity majority wanted to get home to watch the college basketball finals. Voting to support a school fighting an abusive principal is not union work these days. What a shame.
Robert's Rules continues on page 210 in explaining how the motion to Lay on the Table is often used erroneously:
This motion is commonly misused in ordinary assemblies--in place of the motion to postpone Indefinitely (11), to Postpone to a Certain Time (14), or other motions. Particularly in such misuses, it also is known as a motion "to table."
By adopting the motion to Lay on the Table, a majority has the power to halt consideration of a question immediately without debate. Such action violates the rights of the minority and individual members if it is for any other purpose than the one stated in the first sentence of this section. In ordinary assemblies, the motion to Lay on the Table is out of order if the evident intent is to kill or avoid dealing with a measure. If a time for resuming consideration is specified in making the motion, it can be admitted only as a motion to Postpone (14), in which case it is debatable (see also pp. 215-217).
What does it say on pages 215-217?
MISUSES OF THE MOTION. As stated at the beginning of this section, the motion to Lay on the Table is subject to a number of incorrect uses that should be avoided.
It is out of order to move to lay a pending question on the table if there is evidently no other matter requiring immediate attention.
The only other matter facing the Executive Board on Monday was to adjourn.
This was a classic Unity violation of the rules because they don't want to take an official position that might offend the anti-teacher Chancellor Carmen Farina and anti-teacher Mayor Bill de Blasio. Note it says in Robert's Rules that tabling "violates the rights of the minority..." Violating the rights of the minority is how Unity Caucus operates unfortunately.
I hope our friends on the Executive Board will call out Barr, Schoor and the Unity majority on their improper suppression of debate and refusal to publicly take a position in support of their members under attack.
 |
| The CPE1 people at the Executive Board standing |
The Resolution presented by MORE-NEW ACTION:
Resolution in Support of Central Park East 1 Teachers and Parents
April 3, 2017
Whereas the Principal of Central Park East 1, Monika Garg, has engaged in a persistent pattern of harassment of teachers and other unionized staff over the last 18 months,April 3, 2017
Whereas 4 out of 7 tenured teachers who exercised their free speech and union rights by signing an open letter to the principal have now either come under investigation or been pushed to resign, while all have faced some kind of disciplinary action, thus showing these actions to be retaliatory in intent,
Whereas these investigations have targeted the union’s strength specifically, with both the school’s chapter leader, Marilyn Martinez, and union delegate, Catlin Preston, facing charges,
Whereas parents at the school have organized an unprecedented show of support for these teachers, with more than 90 showing up to support Marilyn Martinez at her 3020a hearings, several attending our recent Executive Board hearing and dozens writing statements in support of the teachers,
Whereas parents believe that the principal’s actions are causing substantial harm to the children in the school by removing teachers without warning and carrying out investigations in which children as young as 6 and 7 are interviewed privately without their parent’s knowledge or consent, and in which parents feel that their families were manipulated in order to build cases against teachers while children were left without guidance or support,
Whereas the impact of these actions can be seen in the results of last year’s school survey, in which Monika Garg saw the steepest declines in both parent and teacher dissatisfaction of any school in the city, with 0% of teachers saying that they trust the principal and 0% of parents saying that the principal works hard to build trusting relationships,
Whereas both the teachers and the parents of Central Park East 1 have asked us for their support, and parents have been demanding the removal of the principal for over a year, with over twothirds of last year’s parents having signed a petition stating this, and are planning a public rally in conjunction with their next SLT meeting on April 6th,
Whereas Superintendent Alexandra Estrella has received hundreds of emails from parents and has ignored most and has acknowledged few of their requests, and
Whereas Estrella promised a facilitator, to improve communication at the school, and told elected parents that is was already in place several times… even though no facilitator has ever shown up, and
Whereas Estrella appointed Garg, a principal with no commitment to CPE1’s mission, to head the school.
Therefore be it resolved that the UFT leadership join the UFT staff of CPE1 in taking a public stance against this pattern of harassment and retaliation against teachers at Central Park East 1; and
Be it further resolved that the leadership supports the return of Chapter Leader Marilyn Martinez and Delegate Catlin Preston to their classrooms at Central Park East 1 immediately should their hearings find that they are entitled to retain their positions with the Department of Education and work in the classroom, and
Be it further resolved that the UFT publicly supports the overwhelming majority of parents at Central Park East 1 who are asking for the removal of Principal Garg and will support their planned April 6th rally, by utilizing the UFT press office, sending a speaker and issuing an action alert to mobilize UFT members and leaders to attend, and
Be it further resolved that the UFT leadership will publicly admonish Superintendent Estrella to respond to CPE1 parents and faculty, to respect agreements she has made with them, and to respect the mission of the school.
Update Thursday: According to Norm Scott on Facebook, Leroy Barr and five other UFT reps along with many parents, a group from MORE and others showed up at the CPE1 School Leadership Team meeting on Thursday after school. There were so many people that the meeting had to be moved to the auditorium.
We give the UFT credit for attending but still cannot understand why they would not support a resolution in support of this chapter's heroic efforts against an abusive principal.
Norm is updating us by telling us that the parents won't leave and that there are about 30 police officers waiting outside the auditorium to arrest the protesters at CPE 1.
Norm is also reporting that "Students at Townsend Harris High School sent CPE1 a statement of support."
PS Norm reports no arrests. Parents held another rally Friday morning.
Monday, April 03, 2017
200 ATRS HIRED
Norm Scott just emailed me that UFT Personnel Specialist Amy Arundell reported at the UFT Executive Board tonight that 200 ATRs have been hired. That would leave 800 ATRs according to Amy.
As one of those hired permanently, all I can say is it feels so much better to be a regular than waiting around for an email every week to find out where next week's employment will be.
I hope that 800 number includes people hired provisionally but we'll see what more we can learn.
Arthur Goldstein should have a full report from the Executive Board soon. We'll see if anything interesting occurred.
As one of those hired permanently, all I can say is it feels so much better to be a regular than waiting around for an email every week to find out where next week's employment will be.
I hope that 800 number includes people hired provisionally but we'll see what more we can learn.
Arthur Goldstein should have a full report from the Executive Board soon. We'll see if anything interesting occurred.
IT'S LIKE OLD TIMES WITH LATE STATE BUDGET
Governor Andrew Cuomo likes to boast about how he gets the state budget done by the April 1 deadline but not this year. We're in overtime on the budget and the Governor is now proposing an extender budget to last through May.
What are the sticking points? This is from the Daily News:
Raising the age of criminal responsibility (from 16 to 18) has proven to be by far the most stubborn policy issue in the budget.
A plan floated by Cuomo would allow youths charged with misdemeanors and other non-violent offenses to be diverted to Family Court, while those charged with violent and other serious crimes would be handled by a special youth court created within the criminal court system.
That plan, however, has met stiff resistance from Democrats in the Assembly and Senate, who want more of the offenses to be handled by Family Court —a stance that the GOP-controlled Senate and many district attorneys oppose.
Other issues that needed to be resolved Sunday included funding for education and charter schools, and an effort to revive an expired tax credit for developers who build affordable housing.
I can't wait to see if there are comments on raising the age of criminal responsibility. Have fun guys.
As for charter schools, this is a real problem for us if the cap on the number of charter schools is lifted for what are essentially private schools as they don't educate everyone like public schools do. Public schools don't have "Got to Go" lists like some charter schools do. Private schools should not be funded by the state.
What are the sticking points? This is from the Daily News:
Raising the age of criminal responsibility (from 16 to 18) has proven to be by far the most stubborn policy issue in the budget.
A plan floated by Cuomo would allow youths charged with misdemeanors and other non-violent offenses to be diverted to Family Court, while those charged with violent and other serious crimes would be handled by a special youth court created within the criminal court system.
That plan, however, has met stiff resistance from Democrats in the Assembly and Senate, who want more of the offenses to be handled by Family Court —a stance that the GOP-controlled Senate and many district attorneys oppose.
Other issues that needed to be resolved Sunday included funding for education and charter schools, and an effort to revive an expired tax credit for developers who build affordable housing.
I can't wait to see if there are comments on raising the age of criminal responsibility. Have fun guys.
As for charter schools, this is a real problem for us if the cap on the number of charter schools is lifted for what are essentially private schools as they don't educate everyone like public schools do. Public schools don't have "Got to Go" lists like some charter schools do. Private schools should not be funded by the state.