INDEPENDENT UFT MAYORAL FORUM SUNDAY AT 7:00 PM

There is a special Delegate Assembly on Monday afternoon to endorse a UFT candidate for mayor. Everyone guesses the UFT will endorse Scott Stringer with some believing Maya Wiley has a chance to be second. Is this the right decision? Is the UFT top-down endorsement process fair?

If you are looking for a real discussion on the mayor's race and the Union's involvement, you will most likely be out of luck at the DA as it will more than likely be tightly controlled by Mulgrew. I predict a very long Michael Mulgrew filibuster where he will tout his chosen  candidate(s) as greater than FDR and JFK combined and then the hand picked Unity Delegates will be called on to agree with everything that Mulgrew says.  A dissident just might get to speak for 2 minutes but don't expect more than a token opportunity for someone to voice opposition to Mulgrew's chosen candidate(s).

For a complete discussion of the UFT's political endorsement process, join Daniel Alicea's Educators of NYC on Sunday evening on Zoom. Daniel is bringing together representatives of a number of groups within the UFT, including ICEUFT for this forum. My wife Camille will be representing our caucus. I will certainly be on the Zoom.

To register, go here.

MULGREW-UNITY'S SHOCKING DA ENDORSEMENT DEFEAT ANALYZED BY UFT RETIREE ON ICE-MAIL; A FEW WORDS IN SUPPORT OF DAVID WEPRIN AND AGAINST MAYORAL CONTROL (Update: UFT Mayor's Endorsement coming Monday)

It has been two days since the Wednesday Delegate Assembly and I am still having a tough time understanding the significance, if any, of what actually happened when the UFT leadership was rebuffed by a majority of the Delegates on a political endorsement. A clear majority of 55% voted to reject the endorsement of Corey Johnson for comptroller and four other candidates.

The Delegate Assembly is normally a rubber stamp for Michael Mulgrew, Leroy Barr, and the rest of the Union's leadership from Unity Caucus. Many, possibly a majority of the Delegates, belong to Unity  where they sign a membership obligation that binds them: "To support the decisions of Caucus / Union leadership in public or Union forums." In exchange, they get perks from the UFT. Leadership positions are never rejected by the Delegates but it happened on Wednesday. For those who do not understand the possible importance, please take a look at analysis from a veteran retiree who is no stranger to UFT politics that was at ICE-mail and EdNotes:

I think that anger over the current UFT mayoral endorsement forums was a contributing factor to the rejection of Unity's endorsement reso at yesterday's DA.

First you had Unity Guy [Dave] Pecararro throw a wrench into the works by feeling compelled to speak against the reso (ironically because of an anti-democratic, arbitrary Unity rule about amending resos, or unbundling endorsements, or something).

Then, the other speaker was also against the reso, and both he and Pecarraro were well spoken and clear. That presented a very negative overall picture before the vote. 

Add to that, that there is an institutional memory of similar DA objections to Unity endorsements in the past, often made very eloquently by Jonathan Halabi.

Then there is the burn factor: The fact that the UFT's mayoral endorsements are the kiss of death. (By the way, do you remember that Bill Thompson's education advisor, and probable choice for Chancellor was Meryl Tisch? Yes, Meryl fucking Tisch! And UFT endorsed him!)

Then there is the pandemic era anonymous digital voting that lets Unity members have some cover to vote their conscience.

And the cherry on top was the mayoral forum charade where Yang - because of "viability" - was invited at the expense of other more progressive, more pro-labor candidates; as though all the forums (crappy as they were) leading up to the "Final 4-um" meant nothing. All that mattered was public polling. That pissed off more people than Mulgrew realized.

Add it all up and you've got an endorsement smackdown and a very shaken Unity leadership.....

Because of electronic voting at the DA's, Staff Director Leroy Barr can't see who is voting against the leadership like in live meetings. District Representatives keep chapter leaders and delegates in line by sitting together to make sure they do what they are supposed to. 

What happens next? I doubt there will be that many more electronic DA's with secret ballot voting. But for now, according to Michael Mulgrew, the UFT is planning a special DA for a mayoral endorsement where I have heard from multiple sources that the Union will be endorsing Scott Stringer and maybe Maya Wiley as a second choice (rank choice voting is here but few understand it). The question to ask is this: Is that what our rank and file want? I don't know what the answer to that is.

I would like to add that I do support what David Pecoraro said during the DA about David Weprin for comptroller over Johnson. Weprin is a Jamaica High School graduate who took a principled stand to support the school and then went way above and beyond to save our school when Joel Klein-Dennis Walcott-Michael Bloomberg-Bill de Blasio-Carmen Farina closed us. 

Weprin was with us all the way opposing the Department of Education from the start of the closure process in 2009 (we were delayed for a year by a judge) to the final graduation ceremony in 2014. Even in 2013-14 when we were in the last year of phasing out but there was a new mayor, Weprin formed a committee and he worked with us to try to turn what was left of Jamaica High School into a school that would survive as a small school within the school building. He sent a representative to our still very functioning School Leadership Team on several occasions and helped us with a resolution for the local Community Board in support of keeping the school alive that carried unanimously.

Weprin along with Borough President Melinda Katz, several other politicians, and the UFT Chapter made a valiant last stand. Only Bill de Blasio and Carmen Farina know why we were turned down. The main problem with the schools in 2014, as it has been since 2002 and still is in 2021, is mayoral control. We need to discuss that as much as who the next mayor or comptroller will be.

Update

This just came our way on Twitter:

UFT special delegate assembly announced for Monday, April 19th at 4:15 pm.  EXEC BD will meet at 3 PM.  Mayoral endorsement to be voted on and announced.

 

 

LIBERTARIAN-REPUBLICAN PRIVATIZATION, ANTI-UNION AGENDA REVEALED BY FORMER LOBBYIST

If you have any doubt about the Republican-libertarian-right wing agenda to privatize public schools, please read this piece from a Washington Post blog written by Valerie Strauss called The Answer Sheet. In it, the Network for Public Education's Carrol Burris interviews Charles Siler, a former lobbyist for the school privatization people. Understand that the privatizers want to destroy public education and unions and they have loads of money to do it.

The beginning of the interview:

BURRIS: Let’s get straight to the point. It is becoming more obvious that all of the voucher and charter expansion legislation we see this year is part of a larger mission being pushed by libertarian Republicans. First, am I right? And second, what is the ultimate goal?

SILER: There’s virtually no other initiative in the education space that’s a bigger priority for the Right today than creating and expanding unaccountable, unrestricted, universal voucher programs. The easiest way to recognize this reality is to look at the incredible number of school voucher bills being pushed across state legislatures just this year.

They aren’t doing it because their constituents are demanding these programs. Voters continually reject voucher programs, and in any state where a public response is permitted, the wave of public opposition to these programs dwarfs the astro-turfed support for them. They also fervently refuse to include any kind of measures to mitigate fraud, waste, abuse and lack of accountability in these voucher programs despite having evidence from established programs. But simply setting up voucher programs isn’t their ultimate goal; it’s just the current next step towards their ultimate goal.

Their ideal is a world with as minimal public infrastructure and investment as possible. They want the weakest and leanest government possible in order to protect the interests of a few wealthy individuals and families who want to protect their extraction of wealth from the rest of us. They see private wealth accumulation as a virtue signal because a person can only become wealthy by creating something of exceptional value for the public. In their world view, the more money someone has, the more moral life they've lived, and any attempt to take that money through taxation or other means is a moral issue.

That's why they work so diligently to undermine public infrastructure, whether that's public schools, public transportation, military spending, and even the carceral system.

They also work to undermine collective action in the form of unions, voting blocks, protests, and more. To them, it's equally immoral for a union to demand higher wages of a business owner as it is for voters to impose a higher minimum wage on business owners. The same people pushing for school privatization are the same ones pushing for voter suppression, and that's why. They fear the power of people.

On charter schools:

BURRIS: We are now seeing charter expansion legislation paired with voucher legislation. How do charter schools fit into the agenda?

SILER: Charter schools are part of the incremental march towards full privatization. Sometimes charter schools are part of the hook for large donors. A number of wealthy privatization financiers have become part of the movement by funding large grants and other programs for charter schools.

Also, charter schools can be set up in a number of different ways depending on the local political climate, all while starting the shift of public funds into private investments. Charter schools also help garner the support of white voters as charters often find creative ways to discriminate against students of color, increasing segregation. Charters create a number of loopholes in the public education space, from financial and academic accountability to legal protections for marginalized students, which begin to normalize those problems for the general public. In many ways, charter schools are the gateway to total public school dismantling.

And more:

BURRIS: Who are the major funders of the so-called school choice movement, and why are they hostile to public education?

SILER: I can’t speak about specific funders or donors who haven’t been identified already in a public way, but some are pretty obvious. Former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has made dismantling public schools part of her life’s work, and through the DeVos Family Foundation, she funds privatization efforts across the country. Her work as a financier likely has done and will do more damage to public schools than her entire tenure with the Trump Administration.

The heirs of the Walmart fortune, the Walton family, also funds privatization across the country — especially charter schools. The Koch Foundation is probably the most publicly villainized supporters of dismantling public schools, and in many ways, there wouldn’t be such a vast network of pro-privatization advocates had it not been for the tireless support of Charles and David Koch. There’s also the Bradley Foundation which contributes to numerous conservative groups and is also a financial driver of school privatization.

But it's not just billionaires. It's also local businesses funding privatization efforts, either through donations made by their owners or investments into state and local chambers of commerce. It's individuals, small donors, too. But they really aren't sufficient to make the entire machine, the industry of school privatization, function. It truly takes the massive investment of the exceptionally wealthy to drive the privatization agenda.

Their hostility to public education is best described as being the nexus of three parts. First, they want to minimize any government spending whatsoever, and public education is one of the largest line items in any state budget. Getting rid of public education spending would massively reduce the tax burden on wealthy individuals at the state level.

Public schools are also incredibly popular, and they don’t want the general public to view public institutions as effective or popular. It’s why they’ve driven a false narrative about “failing schools” for decades now, and it’s also why they continually attack Social Security, Medicare, public pensions, public transportation, and more because they know it’s impossible to get people to share their vision for limited government when people have so many positive experiences with government programs. And lastly, it’s about diminishing collective power. Taking down public schools also means taking down teachers’ unions, PTO’s, local school boards, and all the other ways those of us who aren’t exceptionally wealthy come together to push for collective investment in our communities.

Public schools and the communities around them represent the kind of togetherness privatization advocates despise.

MAYOR RELUCTANT ON EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE

The article below by Bob Hennelly is from the Chief Leader Civil service newspaper. Thanks to a friend who got it from behind the Chief's paywall.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew is in quite an awkward position on the Early Retirement Incentive. He is arguing that since we received the best funding ever in the State budget, we should reduce class sizes but at the same time he wants to encourage thousands of senior teachers to retire early.  He has to convince the city that they can hire many more cheaper new teachers with the savings from the ERI. Will that be a persuasive case? 

Beware of Mayor de Blasio asking for something back from us. Mulgrew talked up the ERI since last year. Can he afford not to close a deal now?

Mayor Pumps Brakes On Extensive Use Of Retirement Incentive | News of the Week | thechiefleader.com

Mayor de Blasio was less than encouraging April 13 about offering an early-retirement incentive to city employees after state legislators included that option for non-uniformed employees as part of the state's $212-billion budget a week earlier.

He explained that while it was his call on whether the incentive was extended and to which employee groups, he was "also very concerned about getting done the work we need done for the people as we try to bring this city back."

'Does It Make Sense?'

"It just happened," he said during his daily media briefing. "We are trying to look at it and decide if it is something that makes sense for New York City, and how to proceed. And we will be talking to our union partners."

The push for the retirement incentive, which would provide eligible employees with a month of additional pension credit for each year of service up to 36 months, came from the Municipal Labor Committee beginning last summer in the wake of his threatening to lay off up to 22,000 city workers unless the unions agreed to $1 billion in savings to deal with a $9-billion budget gap caused by the impact of the coronavirus.

The unions had produced $800 million in short-term savings by deferring payment of wage and/or benefit increases by the time Congress approved President Biden's American Rescue Plan which provided the city with more than $6 billion in added Federal aid. The union savings came in return for a no-layoff guarantee through June 30, which the Mayor said would be extended for another 12 months if the city received at least $5 billion in combined state and Federal funding above what it previously had been given.

Although the no-layoff guarantee had sharply diminished the urgency for a retirement incentive to reduce the number of city workers, Albany sources said District Council 37 and the United Federation of Teachers had continued to press the bill.

'Fair and Just'

In a statement following its inclusion in the budget, DC 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido said the retirement incentive was "not only fair, but also just" for employees who kept the city's "roundthe-cloc essential services" running throughout the pandemic.

The bill, sponsored by Assembly Committee on Governmental Employees Chairman Peter Abbate, stipulated that city employees deemed eligible by the Mayor and their agency heads would have the option to retire early, either based on having reached age 55 with 25 years of service or getting up to three years of additional service time and pension credit to make them eligible to retire at a younger age and with less time on the job.

According to union officials, the coronavirus, which has killed more than 300 city workers, has taken a particularly heavy toll on older employees at a higher risk of suffering long-term health consequences if they recover from the virus.

Shelly Shulman, the president of the Managerial Employees Association, which has 16,000 members who are ineligible for union representation, said in an April 13 phone interview that they were concerned that they would be excluded from the program.

'Don't Exclude Us'

"We want to see transparency and as many people as possible eligible to take it, and we don't want to see anyone harmed because they don't have a union," he said. "It should be based on what the legislation said, not on union politics."

Mr. Shulman noted that MEA members were often required to serve in jobs that left them vulnerable to infection.

"We lost Derik Braswell, who worked at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens--Ground Zero for the pandemic," he said. "He, along with others, had to go out on the hospital floor and help feed the patients.

Mr. Braswell was part of a trio of employees at Elmhurst Hospital that included Wayne Edwards and Communications Workers of America Local 1180 shop steward Priscilla Carrow, who managed the personal protective equipment inventory and all died early on in the pandemic.

'Give Managers Fair Shot'

"Older people are happy to see the possibility of early retirement, but everyone is paranoid other people are going to get it and they won't," Mr. Shulman said. "Managers should have a fair shot based on their title."

"We are working with the unions right now to try and figure out just who will be eligible, but there are far fewer people who will actually qualify," City Council Member I. Daneek Miller, who chairs the Committee on Civil Service and Labor, said during an April 13 phone interview.

He explained that the de Blasio administration had to assess the consequences if significant numbers of people in some job titles took the incentive "on the impact on the services getting delivered." The lack of civil-service exams the city has given since the pandemic meant there was a limited pool of replacements on hiring lists.

"The city hasn't done a lot of hiring in a lot of titles over the years," he said. "We have to really take a look at how efficiently we have been, or not been, delivering services. Just how prepared are we?"

Mr. Miller said raised concerns before about the lack of replacements for a municipal government that "even before COVID was likely to see two thirds of its workforce eligible for retirement over the next five years."

Current Attrition a Factor

Gauging which employees, and in which agencies, the city can afford to lose will be informed by the existing attrition rates for those jobs.

The Independent Budget Office just reported that last year the city's headcount shrank by 8,000. The Mayor had implemented an attrition plan early in the pandemic to not fill 5,000 civilian employees jobs as they became vacant, allowing agencies to fill just one of every three positions as staffers left.

For 2021, the planned headcount reductions included 723 in the Department of Social Services, 308 for the Administration for Children's Services, 297 for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 175 at the City University of New York and 141 for the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Last year, according to the IBO, the largest headcount declines were in the NYPD, which lost 1,802 uniformed employees; the Department of Education, which lost 1,767 pedagogical staffers; and the 893 uniformed staffers lost by the Department of Correction, the 558 civilian NYPD staff who departed; and 536 uniformed workers in the Department of Sanitation and 486 in the Fire Department.

LIVE BLOGGING FROM THE APRIL DA (Delegates Vote Down UFT Leadership Recommended Endorsements for Comptroller and Other Positions)

I'm ready to go this afternoon right on time. Listening to UFT musac waiting for Mulgrew. 

President's Report

Michael Mulgrew thanks the Delegates for attending says that now there is a long stretch between spring break and Memorial Day. He thanks Delegates.

Federal level:

Much is based on the stimulus package. (I lost the signal for a while and then got back on.) One year later from last April, we are not facing layoffs. Elections matter. Our endorsements are recommendations but people make their own decisions.

State Budget

Best state budget we have had in twenty years. Technically, it is not officially the state budget because it has not been signed yet by the governor. It will be signed. There is an Early Retirement Incentive for NYC for non-uniformed employees. The next stage is that it has to be negotiated with the city on what the terms of the ERI will be. It will probably not be an easy negotiation. Mayor didn't accept it in Bloomberg years, even when the state passed it. We are not negotiating by ourselves. We will get something out to members who qualify. People above the age of 50 included.

Contracts for Excellence is in the State budget. State is meeting its obligation. It is a phenomenal accomplishment to get the State to acknowledge its obligation in State funding for NYC. Legislature had the numbers to overturn a veto. Our resolutions to get revenue from superrich helped. New revenue will help when federal money sunsets. Thanks Cassie and folks from NYSUT and we will thank the governor when he signs it. Teacher Center was also funded. Best budget that we can remember that ever happened. Thanks to people who were politically active.

5 point plan coming out of the pandemic. Addressing learning loss, extended summer plan, a project for smaller class sizes even though we can't do this all at once, graduating seniors and where they are headed with college and careers. Training ourselves to recognize social emotional issues in students and also recognizing it in ourselves. MAP program extended. Meeting with DOE on extended summer programs. We want a combination of academics and social-emotional support. Pushing for kids to have some fun. Trying to get city schools back and running as more kids come back to in-school learning, especially in September. Pushing with city and state governments.

City

Meeting tomorrow with CSA and DOE to see that plans are in place for returning in September. CDC put out safety measures that are based on studies from rural areas. We are working with State Education Department, the governor's office, and the Department of Health but our work was moot because of a lawsuit filed outside of Buffalo by parents who want schools fully reopened. Judge ordered districts to put plans into place and judge ordered State to put out new guidelines that adhere to CDC new guidelines. Stakeholders have to engage in a process. 

Only elementary schools could go to 3 feet now. Middle schools and high schools may qualify later. Mayor told DOE to go to 3 feet. Now that State has put out guidelines, they have to do the process with the UFT. These are procedural rights. The opt-in period just finished. 51,000 opted their children in. 10,000 opted out. 41,000 net coming in. Schools being reprogrammed. Must let us know of operational issues. If a school is going to 3 feet distance now, get us the information immediately. Nobody is going to 3 feet unless they follow the process that is not in place yet. Must still be 6 feet outside of the classroom. Eating still requires 6 feet. Signage has to be changed. Students that might want to follow this and do it have to do it properly. Joint site visits to schools and Building Response Teams involved. We are still at only 35% of total school population who are in school buildings. We must protect our school system but we are going to have a problem if we don't get a lot of kids inside of school buildings by September. 

We need our kids to come back in. Positivity rate going down. We do know kids are getting COVID with the variants. We are not asking if people are vaccinated but a large majority of our membership has been fully vaccinated. We need to get our students back. Work is much more effective when kids are back in schools. City will not get back to normal until kids are back in school buildings. We have no idea how many kids are in the system. To protect the profession, we have to make parents understand that we are open and it is safety first. Kids aren't coming back this year but we need to bring the children back into school. We have to do this by September. This will protect our profession. 

We had conversations with the mayor about the two cases non-linked rule. With the massive safety and contact tracing system we have, adult positivity rate is going down with vaccinations, but students are getting infected more. When we know where positivity is in a school, we are shutting down schools. If it is spreading inside the school, we shut the school. We don't have to do that any longer with 2 cases because of the testing. If there are two cases, the school goes to 40% testing. Our program for vaccinations is open and you can get a fast appointment

APPR

State didn't waive it. We have our agreement. There have been 5 ineffective observations before the agreement and they have been removed. We will have guidance on MOSL soon. We recommend citywide MOSL. State testing for students: Remote students must opt in for testing days to take it live in the building so we can have a safety plan for them. 

Politics

440 members volunteered to do interviews with city council and borough president races. Thanks them. Massive undertaking. Committees make recommendations and Executive Board and Delegates have agreed. Don't cast aspersions on the people doing the work. Thanks volunteers again. Everybody doesn't get what they want. It is a tough process. Many emails from members. Volunteer committees made recommendations based on what is best for workers and our profession as well as healthcare for nurses. Political website has had 1.4 million views. No mayoral endorsement today.

We are still working on rank choice voting. Special DA for mayoral endorsement that will be based on the information, surveys, money candidates have raised, viability. We have endorsed in the past and candidates have not won. Comptroller and Manhattan DA are all under consideration.

Pay raise on May 3. It kicks in on different days for different payrolls. 3% raise is the last raise for this contract.

Healthcare 

Municipal Labor Committee (public sector workers for NYC) having issues with hospitals. We negotiate with insurance companies. Majority of members in GHI. We have been reaching out to hospitals. We are a passive consumer. We want to become active consumers in healthcare. We are going to get involved. Getting double digit annual increases in healthcare is not going to work. MLC responsible for 1.3 million lives. We call that buying power. We are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars so we are going to use our buying power as leverage. We are using our power. We put out a proposal for retirees. We want to fully audit. We pushed as pricing at hospitals is widely different. We are not looking at managerial bonuses for hospitals. We want to use our buying power to get the best prices. 

Calendar is tight for next year. We are trying to get in the 180 days. Looking at safety, livelihood and profession.

Staff Director's Report

Leroy Barr said that they had meeting with 1000 election chairs on chapter elections. Workshops on rank choice voting coming up. HS awards on April 29. Nurses recognition day is May 6. Next DA is May 12.

Question Period

Question: Thanks Mulgrew, principal wants us to prepare classroom for 27-29 with seats within 3 feet. What should we say?

Mulgrew Answer: Get information to district rep and borough rep. This isn't happening. Principal would be legally liable if many get COVID. Let DR and borough rep know. Principals are not medical experts. 3 feet seems a possibility for September, maybe only masks. 

Question: ERI, will we know by June?

Answer: Traditionally, it would be done by the middle of June. Pension department is ready to rock and roll. Must be an opt in period. Traditionally, in the past it is in July and maybe early August. We still have to negotiate this with the mayor. Pension department is ready to go. We've gone over it. We don't have an agreed upon ERI yet with the mayor. 

Question: Will there be fully remote choice for September?

Answer: City talking about a remote option for September. We will open as long as it is safe. If we get 85-90% back in, some doctors say because of medical conditions, somr should not take vaccine. If we get kids vaxed, if it is only 5-10% non-vaccinated, can we do remote academies? Have to change when medical advice changes. Not looking to do blended. We don't know where student population is. Schools held safe-harmless. Nobody will be in the red next year. We can't have DOE telling schools how to program in August.

Question: What does tight calendar mean? Holidays will be in there?

Answer: All of the holidays are during the week so calendar is very tight. We can't cancel a holiday because it's been done by the City Council. We are still trying to get two prep days before the beginning of the school year. That is the last issue.

Question: 683, how is that going to work for 12 month positions?

Answer: Most medically fragile students are in 683. No argument that we need a remote option there. We will have a massive expansion of summer school. We will work through the process of who is in person and who is remote. Medical accommodations good through June 30. Conversations between city unions and the city on accommodations. Majority of summer school will be in-person. When we have more information, we will get it out.

Question: Question about lump sum payment.

Answer: We are getting it in the summer. Mike Sill reports it will be in the second pay period in July.

Question: Class sizes. Reduce class sizes were supposed to be through C4E. What is the UFT plan to reduce class sizes?

Answer: Five-point plan has as a major component the reduction in class size. Candidates for it but when they get in office they say they don't have the space. Class size is number one issue for parents and us. We are asking for city to take 100 schools and reduce class sizes. Let's look at square footage and number of kids coming into a school. We have to prove this can be done at the local level. Bloomberg always said we don't have the space. We have academic loss and social emotional crisis but we have C4E so we have to get to lowering class sizes.

Question: Clerical day and chancellor's day in June: Will they be in-person or remote?

Answer: We will put that on consultation agenda with chancellor.

Question: Preference sheets on hold, why?

Answer: It is on hold so we can figure out a program. Last year it was a big mess. That is why we are meeting weekly with DOE. First, we must finalize a calendar and then we can start with SBO's. Then we have to do chapter leader and delegate elections. When we know how schools will be programmed preliminarily for September, we can put out preference sheets. 

Question: Teachers getting the shaft at York College High School. Teachers not getting tenure. Crazy circumstances.

Answer: Not a lot of that under COVID. Some are comfortable with COVID style schooling. Get information to Amy, the borough rep. We will attack the behavior. Let's put this together through the avenues we have. We will deal with executive superintendent and then it can get to me.

Question: Capacity for every school room, if we go to 3 feet, will we get new square footage reports?

Answer: At 3 feet citywide, we can accommodate 92% of the students taking into account using non-traditional classroom space like auditoriums. Principals should not want to make these decisions. Who knows what will happen in the future? Legal liabilities are in play. Principals should be asking DOE how many can be in a classroom. 

  Motions to the Agenda

Motion for next month to support a bill to prevent HIV infections by getting prep p medications. Bill is in the state legislature. HIV aids epidemic has not ended in COVID timex. Medications not readily available. This bill would help.

Someone else spoke in favor. 

96% vote yes to put it on next month's agenda; 4% no.

Resolution for next month to commemorate Stone Wall Riots for LGBTQIA community. Two speakers speakers spoke in favor.

A speaker came out against who argued against this commemoration. Not all are in favor of these commemorations.

81% Yes-19% No

Special Orders of Business

Brooklyn borough rep Elizabeth Perez spoke in favor UFT endorsement for various candidates for city offices. Corey Johnson for Comptroller and others. A speaker endorsed Alvin Bragg for Manhattan DA. David Pecoraro tried to amend to separate the Comptroller from the others but Mulgrew said amendments are not permitted. David then spoke out against the Johnson endorsement because David Weprin is giving up his assembly seat and he is well qualified and he actually wants the position. He added we need a fiscal expert and Johnson is not one. Another Delegate spoke against saying doing multiple candidates at one time is wrong. 

55% No and 45% Yes, 

Leadership Endorsements Defeated.

The 5 candidate endorsements the Delegates voted against were:

-Corey Johnson: Comptroller

-Alvin Bragg: Manhattan DA

-JoAnne Simon: Brooklyn Borough President

-Selvina Brooks-Powers: City Council D31

-Dweinie Esther Paul Dorsainvil: Judge Brooklyn

(I have been involved in UFT Delegate Assemblies since 1994. I never recall the Delegates rejecting a leadership recommended endorsement until today.)

Resolution to support World Aids Day commemoration. Peter Lamphere presented a point of order on why the tax the rich resolution was taken off the agenda that this is a violation of democratic procedures since he made the motion. Mulgrew said the bill already passed but he would look into it. (I thought points of order were not permitted under the remote DA rules?)

90% Yes-10% No

CHICAGO HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS REMOTE ONLY WORK ACTION (Updated with Agreement on Thursday)

This is from the Chicago Teachers Union, more than a little different from what the UFT Delegate Assembly will be like this afternoon. We will try to live blog.

Chicago Teachers Union

Our remote action is on as voted by the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates on Sunday. All “Wave 3” CTU members are expected to work remotely starting tomorrow morning, which includes all high school teachers, PSRPs, clinicians and other members who have been working remotely until this week.

Wednesday is the first day of the remote work action. We hope to land an agreement with CPS soon, but if we can't, we will continue the work action on Thursday.

Our union’s decision to act has had an impact at the bargaining table, but we must keep up the pressure.

Work your regular schedule. If you are not able to swipe or enter telework, send an email to your principal or manager to document your work for the day. Let your admin know when you start and end your day that you are working remotely. and that you are available for your regular duties. There is some sample language and helpful advice at ctulocal1.org

The mayor and her CPS team may have admin try to scare you out of standing together by threatening your pay, like they did to other members earlier this year. But if you teach, enter data, submit lesson plans, work on IEPs or contribute any labor the district accepts, that is acknowledgement that you are working. To withhold pay is wage theft.

Bargaining update

We continue seeking more progress in four key areas: accommodations for medically vulnerable families or those with acute child care issues, modified high school schedules, remote work that minimizes the possibility of virus transmission and vaccination programs for eligible high school students and their family members. Our updated bargaining chart contains a draft summary of the main issues at the bargaining table.

Remember, remain working remotely until you hear otherwise from the Union. If anyone is issued formal discipline or locked out of their classroom account as punishment for working remotely, please quickly notify your delegate or the CTU field representative and organizer for your school.

Solidarity means strength at the table

We have some crucial issues to work out for the safety and health of our students, and for your most vulnerable colleagues and their families. We will stay at the bargaining table as long as it takes. Your unity will make CPS listen. Stay the course, stay united and have each other’s backs.

We will provide additional updates via text and/or email later in the day.

In safety and solidarity,

Chicago Teachers Union

Update Thursday from CTU Twitter

BREAKING: We have a tentative framework with CPS for a return to in-person instruction for high school students. The CTU House of Delegates is holding a special meeting today at 4:30 p.m. to review and consider the recommendation from our rank-and-file h.s. steering committee.

RETIREE ADVOCATE HELPS LEAD IN FIGHT AGAINST MLC FORCING MEDICARE RETIREES INTO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE

When NYC Municipal government employee retirees turn 65, Medicare becomes the primary medical insurer. We hear from multiple sources that there are negotiations taking place between NYC and the Municipal Labor Committee, the umbrella group of city government employee unions that negotiates our health benefits, to change retiree healthcare for city retirees.

According to reports, the MLC and City are closing in on a deal that would force Medicare retirees into a Medicare Advantage plan or something similar for their part B (doctors office visits) expenses. That would limit medical choices including quite possibly choice of doctors.

The Retiree Advocate, a group of independent retirees, has a Delegate Assembly resolution to have transparency on this subject (see below).

The Professional Staff Congress (the PSC CUNY union that I also belong to) had a retiree chapter meeting on Zoom. We were informed retiree PSC meetings normally attract 50 people. Last week they had 300 on the Zoom. Retirees are concerned. There is a Change.org petition on this issue.

We will keep you updated when we have more information.

The petition:

There is a “Preserve Medicare Part B for NYC Retirees” petition that someone in COMRO started and is gathering lots of signatures:

https://www.change.org/p/mayor-de-blasio-preserve-medicare-part-b-for-nyc-retirees?signed=true

The UFT Retiree Advocate DA resolution:

Resolution for Transparency in Health Care Negotiations With New York City, put forward by Retiree Advocates/UFT, on behalf of all UFT retirees and in-service members.

Whereas, Retiree Advocates/UFT is an umbrella group of concerned activists within the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter; and

Whereas, the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC) is an umbrella group comprised of representatives of NYC's nearly 100 municipal labor unions, including the UFT; and

Whereas the MLC negotiates health care benefits with New York City on behalf of its rank-and-file members; and

Whereas, the MLC is tasked with finding cost savings for the city - to the tune of $1.1 billion during the current negotiation period (2018-2021) - including $600 Million in fiscal year 2021 alone; and

Whereas, the effects of those cost savings affect the health and welfare of 70,000+ UFT retirees as well as the UFT's 130,000+ in-service members; and

Whereas, the MLC is currently engaged in negotiations that may change the quality and amount of Medicare Part B reimbursements to UFT retirees (or eliminate them completely); and

Whereas, current negotiations between the MLC and the city threaten to replace original Medicare with a Medicare Advantage plan; and

Whereas, Medicare Advantage plans limit their members to use only doctors and hospitals in their network; and

Whereas, the MLC's negotiations occur behind closed doors, without transparency to UFT membership; therefore, be it

RESOLVED that UFT leadership will regularly report on MLC negotiations to its members, (both in-service and retired, at DAs and RTC general meetings); and be it further

RESOLVED that UFT leadership will keep its members apprised of proposed changes in Medicare Part B coverage, particularly changes that may diminish the quality, limit the quantity, and increase the individual costs of health care coverage to its members; and be it further

RESOLVED that UFT Leadership request a moratorium be placed on a final decision regarding proposed changes to Medicare part B until such time that the membership is apprised of all the details involved with any changes, a full discussion has occurred, and input has been received from membership.

NYC MANAGERIAL EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION POSTS ON EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE

Thanks to a reader for sending this information out on the Early Retirement Incentive from the NYC Managerial Employees Association. We learn from them that as of Friday Governor Cuomo had not yet signed the ERI.

This blog will not be offering uninformed, irresponsible pension advice. We will, however, print publicly available information on the ERI.  In addition, we don't recommend taking advice from anonymous commenters. Call UFT or TRS for pension advice. 

The NYCMEA statement on the ERI:

The New York State Legislature has passed budget bills S2509C and A3009C, including an Early Retirement Incentive (ERI) {part KKK} and sent them to the governor on April 7, 2021. If and when the Governor signs the bill, the City will have the option of implementing it or not. The Mayor can deny any individual or title or unit deemed “critical” for revenue or public safety reasons. He can designate each agency’s commissioner to make these decisions for their respective agencies.

MEA Pension Consultant Jay Warshofsky has analyzed the bills’ basic points to note to potential participants:

●The bills include NYCERS, TRS and BERS members only {subpart C.}  NY State and local pension systems are not mentioned.

●If approved by the Governor and the Mayor, the ERI in NYCERS cannot start before June 30, 2021 and end no later than October 31, 2021.  The ERI in TRS cannot start before April 1, 2021 and end no later than August 3, 2021. The open application period for both will probably be 90 days. Any retiree must provide at least 14 days notice.

●All pension members would retire under the rules of their current tier and plan.  To be eligible they must have a minimum age of 50 with minimum 10 years pension credit. 

●Employees both age 55 or older and with 25 years or more of pension credit will not incur an age penalty.

●The ERI provides one month additional credit for each year of credited service with a maximum of 36 months credit.

We await details and procedures from NYCERS, DCAS, OLR and each individual agency if and when our Mayor signs the executive order to initiate the process. We will share them with you as soon as we receive them and will schedule a Zoom seminar with Mr. Warshofsky to help answer questions that you may have after the procedures have been posted in your agencies.

MULGREW EMAIL ON NEW 3 FEET SOCIAL DISTANCE GUIDELINES: "THIS IS THE UNFAIR WORLD WE ARE ALL LIVING AND WORKING IN"

This is from Michael Mulgrew's latest email (see below) on the new 3 feet between students social distancing guidelines:

After all that we have been through since the start of this pandemic, it was our hope that there would be no further changes. But this is the unfair world we are all living and working in. We know that many times those in charge make decisions without realizing that we are the ones who have to do the hard work of implementing these changes.

Michael Mulgrew never ceases to amaze me on how little he understands that the union president's job is to make sure with rank and file backing that UFTers work in a fair world. He is supposed to stand up to the government when "those in charge make decisions without realizing that we are the ones who have to do the hard work of implementing these changes." 

If we had a union leadership and unified membership that was willing to defy the corporate Democrats and Republicans, we could do more than just "hope there would be no further changes."  

At least Mulgrew isn't out there claiming this is another great UFT victory. I suppose that is a small step forward. 

For those wondering why we are concerned since adults are eligible to be vaccinated, this NY Times piece on the rise in spread of COVID-19 variants may help in understanding. In addition, CIDRAP at the University of Minnesota has a good article on the 3 foot policy.

Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, publisher of CIDRAP News, is worried B117 will lead to a different level of transmission than the country has seen before.

"We're already seeing substantial transmission," said Osterholm, who had supported the opening of K-8 schools given the dynamics of the wild type virus. Osterholm said the CDC recommendations were based on data done when only the original, wild-type virus was circulating, not B117.

"What little science supports 3 versus 6 feet goes out the window here. Is 6 feet even safe?" he said.

Mulgrew's email:

Dear _______,

There have been many conversations over the last few weeks about the CDC’s recent recommendation to reduce social distancing between students to three feet in classrooms. Now, in the middle of these discussions, an upstate judge has ordered the state Department of Health to issue guidance on the new rules. Local school districts, including New York City, must plan how to implement the new guidelines by working together with all stakeholders.

Your safety remains the top priority, along with the safety of your families, your students, and their families.

After all that we have been through since the start of this pandemic, it was our hope that there would be no further changes. But this is the unfair world we are all living and working in. We know that many times those in charge make decisions without realizing that we are the ones who have to do the hard work of implementing these changes.

Under the new state guidelines, school staff must still maintain six feet from other adults and from students. The guidance also says students must maintain six feet apart in any public area, such as gyms, hallways and lunchrooms. Students and teachers must be in distinct cohorts throughout the day.

With the wide availability of vaccines and our other safety protocols still in place, we are in a good position. But we need to remain vigilant. In the coming days, we will be taking all steps to make sure that any school that moves to the three-foot guidance can do so safely.

The immediate impact of this change will be limited to predominantly elementary schools where space limitations mean some students now attend fewer than five days a week.

As we near the final stretch of this difficult school year, your patience and perseverance are appreciated. We will be in touch with more information as soon as it’s available.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew

UFT President

CHIEF LEADER PUBLISHES STORY ON EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE

Thanks to a friend for sending this out. This is from the Chief Leader civil service newspaper. It is behind a paywall so if you used up your free articles, we have it in its entirety below. There is not one word from the UFT in the piece.

The part that may concern most of you is this:

The measure they obtained will not be extended to the city's uniformed workers, and Mayor de Blasio and municipal-agency heads have discretion as to which job titles will be offered the incentive, according to Brooklyn Assemblyman Peter Abbate, who chairs the Committee on Governmental Employees and was the bill’s prime sponsor.

Does this mean Chancellor Porter or Mayor de Blasio can say DOE employees will not be offered the ERI? I hope I am reading that wrong or that the Mayor is on board.

The full Chief article:

Thousands of city employees may have the option to retire early while getting up to 36 months' additional pension credit under a provision included in the state's $212-billion budget that was approved April 6.

The Municipal Labor Committee since last summer had urged the de Blasio administration to consider an early-retirement incentive at a time when it was threatening up to 22,000 layoffs unless it got at least $1 billion in savings from the unions to close what then loomed as a $9-billion city budget gap caused by a drop in tax revenues caused by the impact of the coronavirus on the city's economy.

Unions Kept Pressing

The layoffs were avoided after many of the unions agreed to defer wages and fringe benefits that would have come due in the current fiscal year, which runs through June 30, producing $800 million in short-term savings for the city as it awaited relief from the Federal Government.

But even after the city's share of the American Rescue Plan that was approved by slim, all-Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress at President Biden's request, District Council 37 and the United Federation of Teachers pressed their case for an early-retirement incentive in Albany.  

The measure they obtained will not be extended to the city's uniformed workers, and Mayor de Blasio and municipal-agency heads have discretion as to which job titles will be offered the incentive, according to Brooklyn Assemblyman Peter Abbate, who chairs the Committee on Governmental Employees and was the bill’s prime sponsor.

“As an example, he [the Mayor] could say I don’t want to include Health + Hospitals right now because of COVID-19,” he said during an April 7 phone interview. “He has to also pick two dates now; a date for when city employees can start applying and a cutoff day."

How Credit is Computed

Mr. Abbate continued, “There are two parts; Part A is for those 55 years of age with 25 years of service in, and Part B—you get one month for each year you worked up until three years. You can only pick one of them, and it’s the city’s option who they want to offer it to.”

He expressed the hope that the incentive would provide relief for veteran front-line city workers “burned out” by the pandemic after falling it will the virus. “Some of them really went through a lot and are just in fear of going back into the office,” he said.

More than 300 city workers died from COVID and thousands more were sidelined, some of whom are still convalescing.  

According to State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, chair of his house's Committee on Civil Service and Pensions, the legislation was necessary “because the city is not out of the fiscal woods yet." If conditions worsened, reducing the payroll through additional retirements because of the incentive would help city avoid laying off newer employees and “incentivize the next generation into staying with public service,” he said.

Money-Saver in Past

More than six months ago Republican City Council Member Joseph Borelli maintained the program had the potential to yield hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings, citing a 2010 incentive authorized by then-Gov. David Paterson. He said more than 9,300 city and state workers took advantage, and even with the added pension costs, the net payroll savings of $680 million annually for the state and city made it a worthwhile program.

In a statement, Henry Garrido, the executive director of DC 37, said the retirement incentive was “not only fair, but also just” for the “unsung heroes of New York City” who kept the city’s “round-the-clock essential services” running throughout the pandemic.

United Probation Officers Association President Dalvanie Powell said, "Giving hardworking civil servants the option of an early retirement will help the city maintain essential services. reduce spending and do right by the workers who have bravely and selflessly served our community."

Joe Puleo, president of DC 37 Local 983, who pushed hard for the retirement incentive, said in a text message, “A lot of eligible members now feel they have taken control of their future.”

EMS Union: Why Not Us?

During an April 7 phone interview Anthony Almojera, vice president of DC 37 Local 3621, which represents Emergency Medical Service officers, protested the exclusion of that union's members based on their being considered uniformed workers.

“They want the best of both worlds,” he said of city officials. “They offer us a lower civilian wage package contractually, but then they say we are uniformed services for the purpose of denying us early retirement.”

NEW SCHOOL BUILDING CLOSURE RULES FROM MULGREW AND DE BLASIO

 

Dear ______,

Since September, our stringent safety policies have proven successful — keeping the percentage who test positive within our schools low throughout the year. Thankfully, as school staff get more access to the vaccine, the number of adults accounting for new positive cases in our schools is decreasing.

But our children don’t have access to the vaccine yet, and we need to keep monitoring them inside schools to keep them safe. While the mayor has been fixated on removing the two-case rule for some time, we knew we must follow the science and the advice of our independent medical experts during any change in policy. Our independent medical experts have advised us to shift our attention from unlinked cases within schools to the cases within schools that can be traced to a common source. Our focus should shift to even greater monitoring inside the schools. We need to maintain a strong pulse on what’s happening in our schools to avoid spread.

We understand that as circumstances and science evolve, policies should shift to keep up. We have negotiated with City Hall to create a new protocol for closing classrooms and schools that will take effect on Monday, April 12. The goal of these negotiations was to preserve our current level of safety, mitigating spread within schools, while reducing classroom disruptions for our members, students and families.

Here are the details of the new protocol for classroom and school closures:

• We will continue our very strong classroom closure rule. If there is a positive case found within a classroom, that classroom must move to remote learning for 10 days.
• If any school has two or more positive cases in different classrooms within seven days, in addition to moving those classrooms to remote learning for 10 days, testing will be increased to 40 percent for that school building for the next weekly testing cycle.
• If four or more cases are found in different classrooms within one school in a seven-day period, and those cases can be traced to a common exposure within the school, the entire school will move to remote learning for 10 days.
• Co-located schools within buildings will be considered separate from each other, as long as the schools can prove that there is no physical interaction with the other schools.

It’s been a long road, but as a city, we are making progress against this virus. We have undergone so many changes this year, and I know how flexible you have been to provide as much stability as possible for the students you serve. These new safety protocols will take us through June and give us more consistency while continuing to keep us all safe.

Sincerely,

Michael Mulgrew

UFT President

MULGREW ON FOX 5: GET RID OF THE RULE COMPLETELY THAT SAYS TWO UNLINKED COVID CASES CLOSES A SCHOOL BUILDING

Michael Mulgrew in an interview on Fox 5 this morning said the UFT thinks that with the increased contact tracing and testing, we should be able to monitor in-school spread of COVID.

Mulgrew stated that we can get rid of the rule completely that mandates that if there are two unrelated cases in a school, the building closes. He claimed the city just needs a plan and they had a very good conversation yesterday.

For those who don't want sit through the interview Leonie Haimson gives a succinct summary on Twitter:

This looks like an almost complete about-face from Mulgrew compared to what he put out in a statement on Monday.

That must have been one really productive meeting Mulgrew and the mayor had yesterday.

We have a comment from a teacher on Twitter on what it's like in an actual classroom. Even Mulgrew admits to increasing COVID spread among children.

My students are at the point where they take their masks off and turn them into slingshots and roll their eyes when I tell them that a mask over their mouth and nose is not negotiable.

EARLY RETIREMENT INCENTIVE ALIVE IN ALBANY; Update: ERI is in Revenue Bill

This is from Buffalo reporter Tom Precious on Twitter. There is an update with a link to the bill below.

Some budget numbers from Cuomo:

The ERI is in the revenue bill. You can read it yourself.

Here is Dan Clark's piece:

Kudos to GratefulKaz for pointing this out on the last post.

The Early Retirement Incentive is only for New York City teachers, and certain public employees. You can find the details in Part KKK on page 183 of the Revenue bill. Here's a link to the Revenue bill again.

(The page numbers are the numbers in the center of the text.)

Happy reading!

Don't expect me to translate from legaleze to English.

PK-12 FUNDING DOES VERY WELL IN STATE BUDGET; Updated with Statement from Arthur Schwartz

This is from City and State on the state budget:

Public education 

Democratic lawmakers scored a big victory over Cuomo after getting $1.4 billion in school funding into the Education, Labor, Housing, and Family Assistance budget bill introduced this morning. Additional details for education funding will likely fall into other bills that have yet to be unveiled. State lawmakers have also rejected his proposed consolidation of expense-based aids and attempts to replace state aid with federal stimulus money. Higher education has been tougher for lawmakers, with a proposed New Deal for CUNY likely out of the the budget though the final version of the spending plan will not have tuition increases at SUNY and CUNY campuses. 

The Alliance for Quality Education put this out: 

WE WON. 

This morning, New York State at last made a commitment to fully fund public schools in the state budget. a plan that will ensure schools receive ALL the Foundation Aid that it owes them over the next three years, and to continue funding them thereafter. 

This is great news but some questions remain as decades of experience with the DOE lead me to be to see clouds in every silver lining: 

How will certain administrators cry poverty when the almost 30 year fight for fiscal equity is finally in the state spending plan?  

What excuse is there going to be not to fully fund each school in September? 

Will this state money go directly to the classrooms oorcan principals divert it or can the central DOE siphon off the money?  

I hope there will be major strings attached like fulfilling the promise from 2006 for lowe class sizes.

Long time activist attorney now City Council candidate Arthur Schwartz reacts to funding increase:

Today, the State Assembly and Senate forced Governor Cuomo to agree to blockbuster deal that will funnel $4.2 billion in additional aid to public schools across New York state over three years to comply with a  court ruling which has been ignored for 15 years.

In the Campaign for Fiscal Equity ruling, the Court of Appeals in 2006 found that Albany’s underfunding of New York City’s public schools denied Big Apple students a “sound, basic education.” That is the minimal level of education required under the State Constitution. One of the biggest barriers to a good education in New York has always been a lack of funds: for classrooms, teachers and school resources. And throughout his 11 years as Governor, Cuomo has stood in the way. But this year he was forced to back down.

Under the budget bill passed this morning, $4.2 billion will be funneled to schools statewide over three years, or $1.4 billion per year, to abide by the CFE case.

The money would be distributed under a progressive “foundation aid” formula aimed at steering more funds to New York City and other poorer school districts.

There is nothing more critical to the future of this City than school funding. As a lawyer who litigates to enforce people's rights and to defend the rights of children to a good education (see https://dianeravitch.net/2021/04/04/arthur-schwartz-the-lawyer-who-beat-success-academy-charter-chain-in-court) it has been astounding to me how Andrew Cuomo has stood in the way for so long.

A good education, along with affordable housing and universal healthcare are the three key pillars to achieving income equality, and addressing the underpinning of racism and sex discrimination. It can end the debate about rationing out educational opportunity in our City. As a NYC public school graduate, and as a parent I know that there is nothing more important for our children.

Congratulations to some key players in this fight, especially the Alliance for Quality Education and Class Size Matters, and my friends, Assembly members Harvey Epstein and Senators Robert Jackson (the original plaintiff in the CFE case)

And I am proud to say that I have earned the endorsement of Kids PAC, the leading public school parents advocacy group in the City.

 - Arthur Schwartz

NEW YORK STATE GRADES 3-8 TESTS ARE OPT-IN ONLY THIS YEAR

There's no need to opt-out of 3-8th grade state tests. This is part of a letter from my daughter's middle school.

How do I sign up for the exams?

If you would like your child to participate in this year’s State exams, please complete the google form at https://forms.office.com/r/kWGFDstigK by Monday, April 12th. If you do not wish to have your child test you do not have to take any further action.

If we do not hear back from you by April 12th, your child will not participate in state testing.

If my child is already learning in the building, do I still need to sign up for the exams?

Yes. You must let us know if you would like your student to take State exams, whether they are learning in-person or remotely.

My child is fully-remote. Are they expected to come in to take the exams?

No. Students receiving fully remote instruction are not expected to come to school to take the State exams. However, if you would like your student to take the exam, they can be included—just notify us using the contact information above.

If my child does not take the exams, will they be penalized?

No. Any student who does not participate in the 2021 NYS ELA, Math, or Science exams will not be penalized.

DE BLASIO WILL ALLOW KIDS TO SIT CLOSER TOGETHER AT SCHOOL AND WILL CHANGE RULE THAT CLOSES A SCHOOL FOR TEN DAYS WITH TWO COVID INFECTIONS AS EXPERT WARNS THAT CHILDREN ARE MAJOR SPREADERS OF UK VARIANT; Updated with Mulgrew Statement

This is from Yahoo via Bloomberg:

(Bloomberg) -- New York City schools are looking to expand in-class attendance by changing a rule that closed buildings for at least 10 days where two Covid-19 infections were reported, and by permitting students to sit closer together.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said the new considerations may encourage more parents to choose in-class learning over remote instruction, so he extended an opt-in period to Friday from Wednesday.

“We’ve looked at the data, we’ve looked at the facts and decided it’s time for a change,” de Blasio said Monday at a press briefing.

de Blasio said new policies will lead to more classrooms and schools being open and a more stable schedule. The majority of New York City students are learning from home.

The mayor's timing makes no sense. He is willing to put students at risk as the B117 variant is spreading and impacting children more than original COVID-19. Remember, kids under 16 cannot get vaccinated.

This is from ABC 7 Chicago:

CHILDREN NOW PLAYING 'HUGE ROLE' IN SPREAD OF COVID-19 VARIANT, EXPERT SAYS

New developments in the COVID-19 pandemic has one leading epidemiologist re-evaluating his own advice.

Dr. Michael Osterholm is the Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He was also a member of Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board during the time between Biden being elected president and inaugurated.

Osterholm previously supported sending children back to school. He said the virus was not a major threat to children. Now, the situation has changed.

"Please understand, this B.1.1.7 variant is a brand new ball game," Osterholm said on NBC's Meet the Press. "It infects kids very readily. Unlike previous strains of the virus, we didn't see children under 8th grade get infected often or they were not frequently very ill, they didn't transmit to the rest of the community."

The B.1.1.7 variant was first identified in the United Kingdom. It's now ripping through parts of the country.

In Minnesota, Osterholm said more than 740 schools reported cases of the variant. In Michigan more young people are ended up in hospitals fighting more serious symptoms than previously seen in children with COVID-19.

This is similar to what health officials have seen in other countries.

The British Medical Journal wrote two months ago that "emerging evidence from Israel and Italy (shows) more young children are being infected with new variants of COVID-19."

Seeing that happen in his own backyard, Osterholm is now questioning his own previous advice.

"Anywhere you look where you see this emerging, you see that kids are playing a huge role in the transmission of this," Osterholm said. "All the things that we had planned for about kids in schools with this virus are really no longer applicable. We've got to take a whole new look at this issue."

Vaccinations are expected to help fight off the B.1.1.7 variant. However, Osterholm said there's simply not enough time to just rely on vaccinations.

"We're not going to have nearly enough (vaccine doses) in the next 6 to 8 weeks to get through this surge, and we're going to have to look at other avenues to do that just as every other country in the world who's had a B.1.1.7 surge has had to do."

Leave COVID policy on variants to Bill de Blasio and Andrew Cuomo. What could go wrong? 

UFT President Michael Mulgrew is saying that updating COVID rules in schools is a state issue so de Blasio can't change NYC school COVID policy without state approval. Let's see where this goes.

The full Mulgrew statement:

Here are the latest NY COVID numbers from the NY Times:

THE LATEST ON STILL UNRESOLVED STATE BUDGET; Updated Monday with ERI News

We have an update from Albany from the Buffalo News. We recommend reading the entire piece but here are some highlights:

ALBANY – The 2021 state budget, set for likely passage this week, will include a large tax increase on wealthy New Yorkers and some corporations, restoration of a planned annual phase-in of a middle class tax cut program and relief for homeowners and tenants affected by the economic downturn associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Planned tuition hikes at the State University of New York will be blocked for 3 years under the looming deal.

The final pieces of the budget, which was due by March 31, are still under negotiation, but officials are banking on legalization of mobile sports betting to be in it to help finance massive spending hike desires.

Further down:

The state’s aid to public schools will rise by about $1.4 billion in the coming year under a tentative agreement between Gov.  Andrew M. Cuomo and the Legislature.

The governor’s proposal to use federal stimulus bailout money to supplant about $2 billion in expected state funding was rejected. Various education stakeholders raised widespread concerns about that plan because it would leave the state’s public school system facing a financial cliff when the federal aid money runs dry in a couple of years.

And the part you are all waiting for is at the end:

The final state budget will end up totaling more than $200 billion.

Lawmakers have three budget bills – out of a total of 10 – that were introduced over the weekend and can be passed on Monday. They previously passed one budget bill last week to authorize the state to continue to pay on its debt load.

Last to be seen – besides likely individual school district aid amounts from Albany – will be a massive bill into which, if tradition carries on again, all kinds of items will be sneaked at the very end.

Maybe that Early Retirement Incentive will be in that final bill which in Albany they call "The big ugly."

Update Monday Morning

This is from Dan Clark:

UFT FINAL 4 MAYORAL CANDIDATES INCLUDES 2 PRO-CHARTER SCHOOL SUPPORTERS

I am filing the UFT's mayoral endorsement process under the bizarre category, even by Unity Caucus standards. 

Why would President Michael Mulgrew even consider candidates such as Yang and Adams who are not teacher union friendly? Shouldn't we be opposing candidates who stand against our core principles? The weirdness doesn't stop here. 

The UFT eliminated progressive Dianne Morales who issued this statement:

As a longtime UFT member and analyst, I truly don't get the UFT-Unity thinking on the mayor's race.

UNITY RETIRED TEACHERS CHAPTER WON'T AGREE TO SUPPORT ANY OPPOSITION REPRESENTATION AT DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

The most democratic way of apportioning seats in a democratic assembly is by proportional representation. If a political party gets 20% of the vote, that party is entitled to 20% of the seats in an elected body.

The UFT abhors proportional representation as it may lead to them having to answer tough questions or deal with groups that won't listen and follow everything Michael Mulgrew says. Michael Mulgrew's political party is called Unity Caucus. Unity members must sign a membership obligation that forces them to support all of the decisions Mulgrew and his followers make inside of Unity Caucus in union and public forums. Dissent is not allowed. 

Unity is the caucus that has run the UFT since the 1960s. Unity controls its members by offering part-time and full-time union jobs as well as free all-expense-paid trips to AFT Conventions and NYSUT Representative Assemblies in return for absolute loyalty. They take this obligation very seriously. If an opposition group wants to change the UFT, they must defeat this highly successful political machine that serves itself better than its members. The Unity machine is at its most powerful after teachers and other UFTers retire.

If anyone wants to change the UFT, they have to deal with the retiree issue. The Retired Teachers Chapter is 70,000 strong which entitles it to 300 Delegates at the Delegate Assembly. That is the Delegate Assembly that makes policy for the entire Union, including active teachers. The RTC is by far the largest chapter in the UFT.

For anyone who still doesn't think ousting Unity chapter leaders and delegates is important to changing our union, I submit for your consideration this story that was covered in  EdNotes online. 

The leaders of the Retiree Advocate, the group opposed to Unity in the Retired Teachers Chapter, approached Unity Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy to ask Unity to support five Retiree Advocate candidates for Delegate Assembly positions as a show of union solidarity. Recall there are 300 retiree delegates so this would be a tiny sign of union solidarity. 

Since Unity supported three independents for the 102 person UFT Executive Board that constitutionally runs the UFT in the 2019 general union election, Retiree Advocate figured 5 out of 300 at the DA was possible. That's less than 2% of the Delegate Assembly seats that the Retired Teachers Chapter is entitled to. Unity said NO. Retiree Advocate has run for years in the Retired Teachers Chapter Election and has received up to 30% of the vote in the past and garnered about 20% in the last election. They asked for less than 2% of the seats and were rebuffed. It is all about power to Unity. Only you can change that.

For full disclosure, Norm Scott of Retiree Advocate approached me about the possibility of being one of the five and I said no as Unity would not approve me. More importantly, I wouldn't want their endorsement. I was elected to the UFT Executive Board for a decade without a Unity endorsement because opposition to Unity won the high schools.

I will be running for a Retired Teachers Chapter Executive Board position on the Retiree Advocate slate this spring. If you are a retired UFT member, email Norm (information below) to join the slate. It won't be easy, but let's make Unity worry that there is strong opposition even among the retired teachers. 

Those 300 retirees that are Unity are all going to do whatever Mulgrew tells them to do at the Delegate Assembly. Understand that as we move forward. If you are active, tell your retired colleagues to support the Retiree Advocate. We are a diverse group of independent thinkers.

UFT Retirees are invited to join us (you must still be a union member)

We have a few more days left and I thought that if there any retirees left reading this blog I'd invite you to join us. Email me with name, address, phone, file # or last four of social and email if interested to normsco@gmail.com or retireeadvocate@gmail.com. 

CARRANZA TAKES JOB AT IXL

 This is from Gothamist:

Less than a month after leaving the nation’s largest school district, former New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has a new job at a Silicon Valley e-learning platform. According to a company press release, Carranza will be the Chief of Strategy and Global Development at IXL Learning in San Mateo, California. 

Carranza left his job at the helm of the city’s public schools system in March, saying he needed to take time to grieve the loss of 11 loved ones and close friends to the coronavirus. His abrupt departure came during the school system’s fraught process of reopening amidst the pandemic. 

I don't blame Carranza for taking a new position when it was available. What a shock that he was not being totally honest when he resigned as Chancellor, or perhaps the new job offer helped him get over his grief.

This guy has one skill for sure: he knows how to land jobs.  

NOW IS THE TIME TO DECIDE TO RUN FOR CHAPTER LEADER OR DELEGATE

UFT Solidarity and the ICEUFTblog sent the update below to Solidarity members and to ICE-mail concerning UFT Chapter Elections that will be taking place this May or June in all schools and non-teaching chapters. 

Procedures will be somewhat different this year with telephone voting due to the pandemic for in-school elections and voting by mail for functional (nonteaching) chapters. It is crucial that members know the rules.

If you are thinking about running for a position, nominations will be earlier this year than usual as the American Arbitration Association is running the school-based elections which before were run exclusively by school election committees. The committees will still exist and take nominations so it is important to know what is going on in your school, even if you are not running but want to support a candidate for chapter leader who is not beholden to the principal and/or to Michael Mulgrew's Unity Caucus.

Remember, Unity Caucus binds their chapter leaders and delegates to:

• Support the decisions of Caucus / Union leadership in public or Union forums.

This is nicknamed the Unity Loyalty Oath.

This blog has a different independent idea of being loyal to chapter members for chapter leaders and delegates:

• If elected to a UFT position, I pledge to be loyal only to the will of the majority of the members of the UFT Chapter that elected me and to my conscience, not to the decisions of any caucus or whims of school administrators.

You may want to watch our Zoom session (see below) to hear from Solidarity leader Lydia A, my wife Camille, Johnny Hinsley, and me about the chapter election process and what the jobs of chapter leader and Delegate involve.

The Solidarity ICEUFTblog email:

Hello all!

We hope you all have been enjoying your break. Just wanted to send out some gentle reminders:

1. You should have been notified who is on your UFT Election Committee. The due date was March 23. If your chapter leader has not informed the chapter you must: email you District Rep and copy your borough rep. If you don't hear from them by early next week, reply to your prior email and copy Leroy Barr.

2. It is still not too late to throw your hat into the ring to run for Chapter Leader or Delegate or Para Rep! If you need ideas on campaigning, next steps, or if you need someone to convince you to do it reply all.

3. If anyone missed our training on March 20th, the video recording is here.

Happy Holidays to all who are celebrating Holi, Easter, or Passover!

All best,

Lydia, Johnny, and James