From the Courier Journal in Louisville:
Due to approximately a third of teachers being absent and
the inability to safely cover a large number of classes with substitute
teachers, all @JCPSKY schools will be
closed Thurs., March 14, 2019. @YMCALouisville
CEP “Snow Day” sites will be open: https://goo.gl/7H9q3o
Here is a summary of the Kentucky sickouts from World Socialist Website.
The work
actions have been called in response to multiple anti-public-school legislative
initiatives aimed at privatizing public education through vouchers, charter
schools, and the funneling of tax money into homeschooling, private and
religious operations. The legislation has been endorsed by US Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos and the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council
lobbying organization. Many teachers who called in sick have travelled to the
state capitol in Frankfort to protest during the last days of the legislative
session, which ends on March 28.
Are these teachers courageous? You better believe it.
Here is what their union told them and a reaction from a teacher:
The Kentucky
Education Association issued an opinion to the Jefferson County Teachers
Association that regardless of whether a school district cancels classes,
teachers who call out sick to protest at the Capitol could face disciplinary
action.
For Rovira,
who is four years from retirement, potentially risking her job to be at the
Capitol is worth it.
“I can’t
retire until I’m 65 because of the insurance,” she said. “I’m risking more than
most people here, but you know, people have died for issues like this. Nobody’s
threatened my life. I’m sacrificing a lot less than a lot people have done.”
Now I would argue that Kentucky teachers' fundamental existence is being threated by these awful bills but teachers are risking everything for this fight.Here in New York, where teachers are paid better than in the south, there is a sense of calm. Lobby day in Albany was business as usual with UFT reps going and performing their kabuki style play with the Legislature looking for more money.
Nothing yet on UFT website but I did see this from NYSUT:
With a dais
busting with high-profile union presidents and officers, emcee Anthony Harmon
turned the tables and introduced the audience, calling them “the biggest,
baddest trade unionists this side of the Mississippi River!”
Harmon,
staff director for the United Federation of Teachers, was talking about
the hundreds of grassroots volunteer members of the UFT who came to
Albany Monday to share their front-line stories of conditions in New
York City classrooms with state lawmakers.
After a
quick lunch and an uplifting briefing with leaders, the lobbyists-for-a-day set
out to push for the state to fund what they know works — things like Teacher
Centers and Community Learning Schools, which provide medical and social
services in schools where they make a difference every day.
NYSUT
President Andy Pallotta reminded them that UFT, NYSUT, the Board of Regents and
education groups across the state were united in calling for a $2.2 billion
increase in education funding. Both the Senate and Assembly recommended nearly
doubling the governor’s insufficient K-12 aid proposal, which shows “that
united front is moving the debate.” But budget negotiations continue, with an
April 1 deadline.
In meeting
with lawmakers, give credit where it’s due, Pallotta said: “Thank them for
restoring the funding for Teacher Centers, which the governor wants to
eliminate... and thank them for passing APPR legislation to end the mandate
that test scores be part of a teacher evaluation.”
The Empire
State Plaza Convention Center was chock full of activists from every borough of
New York City.
“God knows
what we’re doing up here is his work … or her work,” said UFT President Michael
Mulgrew. “It is because of the people — including parents and lawmakers — in
this room that the state has continued to invest in public education. The
problem is, the need is great.”
American
Federation of Teachers President Randy Weingarten introduced a social media
campaign called #FundOurFuture. Saying the Trump/DeVos agenda in Washington,
D.C., aims “to make the rich richer and the poor poorer,” she called on New
York “to continue to put working- and middle-class people first.”In NY, we have plenty of charter schools that suck resources from the public schools while not having the same accountability. Class sizes have not been lowered in half a century in NYC even though state law said they should be reduced over a decade back and the evaluation system is still a mess. In addition, in too many schools it is unsafe to teach and teacher autonomy is a dream from another universe. Test and punish is alive and well with terribly flawed state tests coming and the UFT doing absolutely nothing to starve the data beast by pushing opt out.
Maybe the UFT approach is the way to go. It is the corporate Democrat model. Who am I to say it does not work as I retired last year with a decent pension? However, a newer Tier VI teacher won't get that same pension and from from what I hear in the schools, we should be considering thinking about maybe contemplating talking about taking a more Kentucky style approach to lobbying in what is our deep blue state. Perhaps we could go on offense and stop performing the kabuki play.
7 comments:
If our leaders at the state level, NYSUT, were serious about Union power , the number one legislative priority should be securing the right to strike. Amazing results in the rest of the country. Any labor leader who is not in support should be closely questioned. What we have is not working for the average rank and file member
NYSUT/UFT leaders would argue that we have it so much better than teachers in other states even without right to strike.
Yeah, if you like being abused.
Just one more reason to opt out.
"Just one more reason to opt out. "
I thought you had moderation on. Same jerk every time.
James wants these opt out comments because that is what he really wants to see happen but doesn't have the guts to say it. So he lets this guy do it for him.
People are entitled to their opinion. For the record, I strongly oppose opting out of the UFT. I would only
consider giving support for dropping the UFT if people were organizing a better alternative union. We need a strong union now as much if not more than ever. I don't see that organizing occurring.
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