I never met James, but read his blog religiously. When I was considering running for chapter leader in the spring of 2021, I emailed James unsolicited for advice, and he gave it.
After being elected chapter
leader, I reached out for guidance about filing an operational complaint
against my principal, and again James gave me advice. Then, through
negotiation I got my staff (at least) a partial remote day. Something
that wouldn't have happened if I just listened to my district rep. When I
emailed James later to let him know how things turned out he
congratulated me for "getting something out of nothing".
James
was a wealth of information, and his blog remains one. He held
leadership accountable but now there is one less voice left to "do the
work".
During the start of my fifth year
teaching I was excessed. As a special education teacher, this was
shocking, but the worst part was finding out my role wasn't even
replaced. My school was able to get by completely without me. You can
put in all the time in the world to make the school day a little more
special for your students, but in the end we're cogs, and when one pops
out, another one goes in. A disheartening realization, but a realistic
one.
I mention this because James is far from
replaceable, and the opposite of a cog! The UFT has lost a member of
value, a transformative leader, one who stood up for all of us, and I
will miss James even though I never met him.
Mike Muntner
No comments:
Post a Comment