QUEENS CHRONICLE REPORTS CITY APPEALING TO KEEP MULGREWCARE

The Queens Chronicle has a very detailed article on the defeat of Mulgrewcare (Medicare Advantage Plus) in court.

Justice Lyle Frank of state Supreme Court in Manhattan ruled last week that the city could not charge retired city workers who don’t want the new Medicare Advantage Plan $191 a month for opting to keep their current Medicare plans.

Based on the court’s reading of city Administrative Code section 12-126, “so long as the respondent is giving retirees the option of staying in their current program, they may not do so by charging them the $191,” said Frank. “The city will pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of HIP-HMO.”

City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix said the city filed a notice of appeal on March 4. “The city ... is seeking a stay at the court’s decision while that appeal is considered,” Hinds-Radix said via email. “As the city considers its options, the Medicare Advantage Plus Plan will not be implemented on April 1.”

The plan, which was negotiated by former Mayor Bill de Blasio and representatives of the city’s unions, was initially set to take effect in January but was stalled until April 1, due to legal action.

The Chronicle explains why Medicare Advantage is not a good health plan:

The city has been paying for those health insurance plans, but they were going to stop as of April 1, but the court held that you cannot discontinue paying for them,” said Jacob Gardener, the attorney representing the retirees. “Anyone who opted out of the plan was going to have to pay a $191 a month premium and no longer has to.”

The plan had a limited provider network and a prior authorization requirement, said the attorney.

“In order for them to get certain services that they need the insurance company has to approve it,” said Gardener. “It creates procedural hoops that could be denied and prior authorization has been associated with all sorts of health risks. The insurance company gets to decide whether the patient gets the services that the doctor orders.”

A retired 30-year veteran teacher of the city Department of Education who lives in Forest Hills, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that he read about at least one retiree dying while waiting for a test to be approved.

“He was waiting for a test and it took so long that he died before the approval came through,” said the source. “That was absolutely horrendous.”

The best way to avert new healthcare concessions is to vote United for Change in the upcoming UFT election. We will draw a line in the sand and say no new healthcare concessions. 

Free healthcare with a choice of plans is in the UFT Contract. The city cannot offer less unless we agree to change the Contract. Reducing health benefits for retired teachers in NYS without cutting active teacher health benefits is against state law. 

Why Mulgrew agrees again and again to healthcare concessions when the law and Contract are on our side leaves me scratching my head. We can do better. 

MEDICARE (DIS)ADVANTAGE VIDEO

There is a good video on why you should never sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan. The only part of this that doesn't apply to Mulgrewcare (Medicare Advantage Plus) is the primary care physicians needing to make referrals for specialists. The pre-authorization for certain procedures is here. So while we normally don't publish commercial anything here, this sales guy gets it right. 

CAMILLE CAN ONLY WIN AND IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS WITH YOUR ACTIVE SUPPORT

I have heard over the last few days that Mulgrew's Unity Caucus supporters are accusing United for Change of overpromising. Unity says the steady hand of Michael Mulgrew is a better alternative in the April election. With Mulgrew, you know he will agree to more concessions on healthcare and subpar salary increases. In addition, you can safely bet that UFT member working conditions will continue to deteriorate. 

Camille knows she can start moving the ball in the right direction but to truly improve conditions for UFTers, she will need everyone's help. She hinted in a speech what it will take to improve working conditions. This is a major part of what she said:

My name is Camille Eterno and I am running to be the next president of this once great union. I have been an ELA teacher in NY since 1996. I have been a UFT chapter leader or delegate for 18 years. I have had to witness at close range this once militant Union that was not afraid to shut down the city through collective job actions deteriorate into a pathetic organization where President Michael Mulgrew couldn't even keep his members from being sent into unsafe buildings at the worst stage of the pandemic. In March of 2020, many of us became sick and scores of UFT members died from COVID-19 in part because of Mulgrew's inaction.. It is the members and student safety first if I am elected President and United for Change is running the Union.

On day one of a Camille Eterno presidency, if there is a school that is deemed unsafe for any reason by our Union experts including our people working within a particular school building, not the paid shills at the Department of Education, I will go to that school myself or have one of the other officers outside the building. We will be screaming as loud as we can to parents, UFT members and students that the UFT experts have deemed this school building to be unsafe and we recommend you do not go inside. If it is deemed unsafe by our people in the middle of the day, we will advocate that we all leave immediately! I don’t give a damn about the anti-strike provisions of the Taylor Law that President Mulgrew is so afraid of. Our lives matter more!

Those anti-strike provisions that include loss of two days pay for every day a member is out on strike in 2011 were ruled to be a human rights violation by a United Nations agency called the International Labor Organization. You won’t hear Michael Mulgrew complaining that this New York State law violates our fundamental human right to organize but any politician who wants a dime of UFT political contributions or help from our phone banks must agree to support repealing this inhumane provision of NYS law when United for Change is in power. 

Whether I am the president or Annie Tan (candidate for UFT Secretary) or Luli Rodriguez (UFC Treasurer candidate) or anyone else is, it won’t mean a thing if we cannot inspire the rank and file that it is in their interest to become active participants in their Union. Unions derive their power from the ability of the rank and file to take action collectively. You see there are 180,000 of us in the UFT. Our goal on July 1 when you elect the United for Change coalition into office is to organize that 180,000 strong force into a united collective that is ready to fight for what we believe in.

I am not going to make any promises that I alone can deliver a raise that keeps up with inflation or that we can lower class sizes to numbers that the Department of Education agreed to in settling a lawsuit for class-size limits of 20  in grades k-3, 22 in grades 4-8 and 25 for the high schools. I can’t by myself reduce guidance and other UFT title caseloads either or win us a fair evaluation system or make the schools as safe as they can possibly be. I can’t stop the healthcare cuts for active people and Medicare privatization for retirees by myself either. I can’t do anything alone but all of us together can draw a line in the sand and say no more concessions and then we can win back everything that Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew and their Unity Caucus followers have given away since I became involved in this Union.

CAMILLE INVITED MULGREW TO DEBATE; SHE IS STILL WAITING FOR A REPLY

The email below went out last week to UFT President Michael Mulgrew. Camille invited Mulgrew to debate her on March 1. Camille is patiently waiting for a reply as time quickly passes.

Update: As of Wednesday evening, March 9 at 11:51, still no reply.

March 1, 2022

Dear Mr. Mulgrew,

As the 2022 UFT Election is rapidly approaching, I would like to invite you to a live-streamed debate with a mutually agreed-upon moderator following rules that are acceptable to both of us. This debate should be made available to every UFT member.

Since there is so much at stake, I am committed to working with you to ensure that all UFT members know where we stand on the issues that matter most to them. This election should be an honest contest of ideas, and I hope you’ll accept this offer to give members an opportunity to hear for themselves about our visions for the union.

There is precedent for an event such as this between presidential candidates during election season. As you are aware, your predecessor participated in presidential debates in 1999 and in 2001. In addition, two Executive Board candidates debated on WBAI in 2007; there was a candidate forum in 2010 featuring representatives from multiple caucuses running in that election; and there were regular meet-the-candidate question-and-answer sessions when UFT District Representatives were still elected. The UFT has a long tradition of open discussion that needs to be revived.

I await your response. In order to make the necessary preparations, I ask that you notify me of your decision no later than March 8, 2022. I look forward to hearing from you, and I am anticipating a vigorous debate. 

In solidarity,

Camille Eterno

UNITED FOR CHANGE MARCHES IN ST PAT'S FOR ALL PARADE IN QUEENS

United for Change officer candidates Camille Eterno and Rosie Frascella were among the healthy contingent of United for Change UFTers who marched in today's St Pat's for All parade from Sunnyside to Woodside in Queens. Ballots for the UFT Election will be mailed out in early April.

This is your chance to vote out Mulgrew. Stop complaining and start spreading the word. 

Listen to our daughter Kara lead the chant of, "Vote for my mom!" 

MASKS OPTIONAL FOR NYC K-12 SCHOOLS EFFECTIVE MARCH 7

Starting Monday masks will be optional in NYC schools for anyone age 5 and over who hasn't tested positive or shown symptoms for COVID-19 in the last ten days. 

This is from NBC 4:

Come Monday, hundreds of thousands of public school students in the nation's largest district and their educators can ditch face masks indoors, Mayor Eric Adams said Friday as he announced the looming end of one of the most profoundly impactive and longstanding mandates of the COVID pandemic.

Businesses throughout the five boroughs won't have to check vaccine cards at the door either starting next week, though they can continue to do so if they choose.

Face masks will still be required for students younger than the vaccine-eligible age of 5, though, the Democrat announced, which affects some pre-K classes, all 3-K classes and many daycare and kids' programs overseen by the health department.

Parents of kids affected by the mandate's lifting can still send them to school with masks if they prefer, and schools will have face coverings handy for anyone in need. Adams acknowledged it may take time for some to feel comfortable without masks in certain settings and he says the city fully supports their right to discretion.

Further down:

Kids of kindergarten age or higher or staff who return to school after testing positive for COVID or experiencing symptoms also have to wear masks until 10 days have passed since the diagnosis or symptoms.

I asked my two kids what they want to do and they told me they both wouldn't mind continuing to wear their masks at school. We'll see how they feel on Monday.

The positivity rate is low now in NYC. That is good news. However, if anyone denies the impact of COVID-19, look at the CDC excess death figures cited in the Washington Post on February 15:

The United States has recorded more than 1 million “excess deaths” since the start of the pandemic, government mortality statistics show, a toll that exceeds the officially documented lethality of the coronavirus and captures the broad consequences of the health crisis that has entered its third year.

The excess-deaths figure surpassed the milestone last week, reaching 1,023,916, according to Robert Anderson, chief of the mortality statistics branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. The center updates its estimate weekly.

Although the vast majority of the excess deaths are due to the virus, the CDC mortality records also expose swollen numbers of deaths from heart disease, hypertension, dementia and other ailments across two years of pandemic misery.

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” Anderson said.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the CDC recorded 2.8 million deaths. But in 2020 and 2021, as the virus spread through the population, the country recorded roughly a half-million deaths each year in excess of the norm.

The virus emerged in China in late 2019 and began killing people there in January 2020. It did not spread significantly in the United States until that February, and it wasn’t until the final week of March 2020 that it began to send the excess-deaths metric soaring.

Later on:

Steven H. Woolf, director emeritus of the Center on Society and Health at Virginia Commonwealth University, said Tuesday that his published studies on excess deaths during the pandemic have consistently shown that 80 to 85 percent were caused by the virus directly. The remainder can largely be attributed to disruptions caused by the pandemic, he said.

“The economic and psychological stresses of the pandemic take their toll,” Woolf said.

The pandemic exacerbated existing health disparities and led to much higher mortality among Black and Hispanic people, particularly early in the crisis, research has shown. A Washington Post analysis last year found that at the time, in the 40-to-64 age bracket, 1 in 480 Black people, 1 in 390 Hispanic people and 1 in 240 Native Americans had died during the pandemic, compared with 1 in 1,300 White people and Asian people.

The United States on the whole has an unusually high rate of chronic health conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and has a long-recognized “health disadvantage” compared with other wealthy nations.

That disadvantage was exacerbated by a weak and scattershot response to the pandemic, Woolf said. Other countries that reacted more quickly or took more aggressive postures to control viral spread early on were able to limit their death toll as well as long-term economic impacts, he said.

“We did not handle it well. That’s glaringly obvious,” he said. “The other countries got hit by the same virus, but no country has experienced the number of deaths we have, and even if you adjust for population, we are among the highest in the world.”

If some are reluctant to say let's just move on and try to forget about the last two years, it's understandable. 

RETIREES REMAIN IN THEIR CURRENT HEALTH PLAN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE*

The UFT election starts in April and ends in early May. Ballots are by mail. Electoral politics might be playing a role in the UFT convincing the city to delay the implementation of  Medicare Advantage Plus (Mulgrewcare). Michael Mulgrew had been promoting Mulgrewcare until a judge ruled Thursday that the law says the city cannot charge retirees or active city employees for healthcare unless it is above the cost of the HIP plan. This is the language the judge used in citing the city's administrative code:

This section states unequivocally that “[t]he City will pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis.2”

The city and unions (the Municipal Labor Committee) were violating the law by agreeing to charge retirees who wanted to keep their current Senior Care supplemental Medicare insurance $191 per month if they opted out of the new privatized Mulgrewcare. The unions led by the UFT were trying to save the city hundreds of millions of dollars on the backs of retirees. Read the email below from the UFT and pay close attention to the words "until further notice" as to how long city retirees on Medicare can keep their current healthcare plan. The city and MLC could possibly try to force all retirees into Mulgrewcare and not offer them a choice. My educated guess is any changes will take place only after the UFT election.

United for Change will fight any and all healthcare givebacks if elected to run the UFT. We will use every resource the Union has including mobilizing our members. Active or retiree healthcare coverage must not be diminished in any way. What Mulgrew is going to do if he is reelected is unknown but look at his record. He has made cost savings on healthcare, otherwise known as givebacks, a major part of his negotiating strategy. It is reasonable to conclude that new healthcare givebacks for both active and retired UFTers will be coming when "further notice" from Mulgrew and Mayor Eric Adams is given. 

It's not fear-mongering to warn people that Mulgrew agreed to healthcare savings in the last two contracts and now must find more. United for Change will not be bound by past UFT folly and will use all legal means to preserve the healthcare coverage we are entitled to.

The latest from Mulgrew and Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy:

Retirees will remain in their current health plans until further notice

After the judge issued his ruling on Thursday, we have argued that the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus plan should not take effect until all of the legal issues arising from the court case get sorted out. Now we have just received word from the city that the new plan will not be implemented on April 1.

Medicare-eligible city retirees do not need to opt out of the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus plan in order to remain in Senior Care or their current health plan. All retirees will remain in their current plans at the current rates until further notice.

The city’s decision is the best course of action under the circumstances. We know this whole situation has caused great stress for UFT retirees, but we hope this latest news brings you some relief.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew will share the latest information at our next RTC membership meeting on Tuesday, March 8. If you have not already done so, please use this online form to register.

One of the opposition groups in United for Change is the Retiree Advocate. They have been against Mulgrewcare all along. They will be holding a Zoom meeting on Sunday evening.

*This post was updated.

MULGREW CONCEDES DEFEAT FOR NOW ON MEDICARE ADVANTAGE (MULGREWCARE)

Mulgrewcare appears dead for now with one of its chief architects, the UFT, issuing this statement after the judge made his ruling earlier today saying the city cannot legally charge its retirees to keep their current senior care plan. 

Make no mistake about it, Medicare Advantage Plus was in large part the UFT's plan and now Michael Mulgrew appears to be stung by this defeat in court. He admits in the statement that the savings were coming on the backs of our retirees who would have to pay for healthcare that is now paid for by the city.

I am wondering why all along the UFT could not read a simple part of city administrative code cited by the judge:

This section states unequivocally that “[t]he City will pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis.2”

The city pays, not us.

While Mulgrew sounds down, look at the first line of a CBS2 story on the decision:

NEW YORK -- There was a major victory Thursday for 250,000 retired city workers.

Workers win, UFT leader down. Something is mixed up here.

JUDGE RULES CITY CAN'T CHARGE RETIREES A MONTHLY FEE TO AVOID MULGREWCARE (MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLUS)

City retirees who want to keep traditional Medicare without paying a monthly premium scored a victory in court today. Medicare Advantage Plus is the privatized healthcare plan Michael Mulgrew and other union leaders agreed to with the city. This plan has gatekeepers who must approve many procedures that now in traditional Medicare are approved by a doctor and a patient usually. The city wants Medicare-eligible retirees to be automatically enrolled in the new Medicare Advantage Plus  It is what we call "Mulgrewcare". In addition, the city and unions agreed that Mulgrewcare would be the only free plan available for city retirees 65 and over. 

Tens of thousands have already opted out of Mulgrewcare so they can maintain traditional Medicare and stay in GHI Senior Care for supplemental insurance but the city wants to make them pay $191 per month to keep what they have. A judge didn't agree with the city and its union partners.

This is from the NY Daily News via AOL:

A Manhattan judge ruled Thursday that Mayor Adams’ administration cannot slap a financial penalty on retired municipal workers who opt out of the city’s controversial new Medicare plan, marking a significant win for a group of retirees who fought the health insurance switch in court for months.

The effort by the administration to levy a $191 monthly fee on retirees who want to keep their current coverage instead of enrolling in the new Medicare Advantage Plan runs counter to longstanding local administrative law, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle Frank wrote in a decision.

The law in question, Frank continued, requires the city to “pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents.” Any attempt to impose a premium or other cost for coverage is thereby illegal, he added.

“This Court holds that this is the only reasonable way of interpreting this section,” the judge wrote.

Further down:

Steve Cohen, a lawyer for the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees, said the judge’s order validates the concerns of his clients and amounts to an “incredible victory” for them.

“The city got greedy, and held a sword over the head of retirees and said, ‘If you don’t accept your new plan, we’re not going to pay for your health care,’” Cohen said. “The judge saw right through that and said, ‘No way, you can’t do that.’”

According to data reviewed by the Daily News, more than 45,000 retired city workers had opted out of Medicare Advantage Plan as of mid-February despite the now-rescinded financial penalty they would face.

Without the $191 monthly fee, how many will now opt out of Mulgrewcare to preserve what they have now?

This is not over yet as the city can appeal but the interpretation of the administrative law is quite clear. The city can also try to take away the option of keeping the current plan since they can no longer charge for that. (See a large portion of the actual decision for details.)

Is Mulgrew going to have the gall to try to spin this as another great UFT victory that he fought for? I hope not. 

 

Here are significant details from the decision:

However, based on this Court’s reading of New York City Administrative Code Section 12-126, so long as the respondent is giving retirees the option of staying in their current program, they may not do so by charging them the $191 the respondent intends to charge. This section states unequivocally that “[t]he City will pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis.2” Respondent and nominal respondent aver that the definition of “health insurance coverage”, as defined in Admin. Code§ 12-126 (a), stating “a program” as opposed to “any program” means that the City of New York need only pay for the entire cost of one program. This Court respectfully disagrees. NYC Admin. Code § 12-126(b)(1) is simply unequivocal and does not use terms like “provide” or “offer”; rather it uses the term will pay and it provides parameters of such payment. The definition in NYC Admin. Code§ 12-126 (a)(iv) simply provides what constitutes a program or plan that the City of New York is required by law to pay for, by defining the contents of such a plan. This Court holds that this is the only reasonable way of interpreting this section.

Of course, none of this is to say that the respondent must give retirees an option of plans, nor that if the plan goes above the threshold discussed in NYC Admin. Code § 12-126 (b)(1) that the respondent could not pass along the cost above the threshold to the retiree; only that if there is to be an option of more than one plan, that the respondent may not pass any cost of the prior plan to the retirees, as it is the Court’s understanding that the threshold is not crossed by the cost of the retirees’ current health insurance plan. This is buoyed by the fact that the current plan has been paid for by the respondent in full to this point.

CHANCELLOR DAVID BANKS HAS VISION FOR SCHOOLS THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE EXECUTIVE SUPERINTENDENTS

This was buried in a lengthy piece in silive.com covering Chancellor David Banks' vision for the schools that he introduced today:

Banks also announced on Wednesday that he will eliminate the position of executive superintendents.

“The reason we are doing that is because we have not gotten the level of value added to our schools that is needed for having that position, and here’s what we’re going to do in place of that,” he said. “We are going to be bolstering the superintendent’s position.”

The DOE has also asked each district superintendent to reapply for his or her job so it can assess whether he or she is the best individual to support innovative schools and school leaders.

Will this just be the latest shifting of the bureaucracy that signifies absolutely nothing or will this be a real change?

For those interested in the Chancellor's vision, it is based on 4 pillars:

1-Reimagining the student experience

-Career pathways

-Literacy

-Civics

-Virtual learning

-Early childhood

2-Scaling, sustaining and restoring what works

3-Student wellness

4-Building partnerships with parents

There's more on the speech Banks gave from Selim Algar at the NY Post:

“But think about it, $38 billion,” he said. “I want you to keep that number in your head. We spent $38 billion every single year to get the outcomes we get. Where 65 percent of black and brown children never achieve proficiency.”

Repeating many of the same themes he introduced after his selection as schools chief, Banks laid out policies that he said would reverse DOE decay and restore parental belief.

And finally, how about this gem?

Updating the DOE’s approach will require new training for city teachers, the chancellor asserted.

“Far too many of our teachers are smart, committed, hardworking — but they have not received the level of exposure to what the world of work really looks like,” he said.

What is that supposed to mean? Teaching isn't a real job. Try teaching five or six classes a day and see how you feel.

NICK BACON SPEAKS AT EXECUTIVE BOARD ON PRINCIALS IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT

Yesterday's UFT Executive Board Minutes, written by New Action's Nick Bacon, a chapter leader in Manhattan who is running with United for Change for the High School Executive Board. He addressed the Board.

Nick Bacon (open mic): Seeks support from and consultation with UFT leadership for his school. Speaks on the need for a robust PINI program and organizing committee, so that schools in need can rely on a real targeted response from the UFT when chapter organizing or district/borough conversations fall short. This is important for morale in chapters that have done everything but seen no results. If we do the work to build–really rebuild–our city-wide organizing infrastructure, we can co-organize with schools in need and show solidarity. Says he would sign up to picket with another school in need any day, and knows other members across the city would do the same. Also speaks on the importance of giving real say to teachers in the C30 process to prevent foreseeable issues. Thanks executive board for hosting him.

Leroy Barr: Thanks Bacon for coming and notes that staff will be in contact for next steps for school issues. 

ADAMS ANNOUNCES REMOVAL OF SCHOOL INDOOR MASK MANDATE FOR MARCH 7 IF COVID NUMBERS SHOW LOW LEVEL OF RISK

From Twitter

The latest numbers from NYC:

A Siena poll

52% OF NYC SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE FULLY VACCINATED; CHALKBEAT HAS THE SCHOOL BY SCHOOL LIST

The COVID-19 vaccination rate for each NYC school is at Chalkbeat. 

 Just over half of New York City public school students are fully vaccinated, according to data the education department released Friday.

In total, 59% of the city’s public school students have received at least one vaccine dose and nearly 52% are considered fully vaccinated.

The lowest vaccinated districts:

The data show that there are wide disparities by school and neighborhood. Schools in Brooklyn’s District 23, which includes Ocean Hill, Brownsville and parts of East New York, had the lowest rates of vaccination, with just 38% of students receiving at least one dose. Districts 16, which includes a significant chunk of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and 18, which includes Flatbush and Canarsie, both had vaccination rates of 43%. On Staten Island, the rate is 47%.

The highest vaccinated districts:

Manhattan’s District 2 has the highest vaccination rate, with 80% of students receiving at least one dose. That district spans much of Lower Manhattan, some of Chinatown, and the Upper East Side. Not far behind: District 3 in Manhattan, which includes the Upper West Side and part of Harlem, at 77%. Next is District 26 in Bayside, Queens, where 74% of students have at least one dose.

Update: The Borough breakdown

UFT RESPONSE TO DECLINING ENROLLMENT SHOULD INCLUDE DEMAND FOR LOWER CLASS SIZES

Chalkbeat had a recent piece on declining enrollments in NYC public schools. They cite state data showing that 75% of schools have had a decline in their student population this year. 

Chalkbeat says the bulk of the decline is coming from low-income families.

Although some schools with more affluent students have seen significant enrollment declines during the pandemic, with families decamping to the Hamptons or enrolling in private schools, drops among low-income students were far more significant. Enrollment among low-income students fell nearly 7% this year, more than twice the decline of students who are not classified as living in poverty.

For the actual numbers:

The state figures show that overall enrollment in the city’s traditional public schools dropped 5.6% this year among students in grades K-12 to roughly 821,000 students, according to a Chalkbeat analysis. Since the pandemic hit in the 2019-2020 school year, K-12 enrollment has dropped by 9%. City officials noted the state data does not include a slew of nontraditional programs, so the figures are lower compared with the city’s own enrollment tallies.

The city counts pre-k and probably 3-k too so its student enrollment numbers are higher. 

Including pre-K, enrollment is down just 1.9% with 938,000 students in the city’s public schools, not including charter schools, according to city figures released in October.

Enrollment declines matter because the majority of a school’s funding is allocated on a per-student basis. And if a school ultimately enrolls fewer students than the city projected, they may be forced to hand funding back, a practice that generated criticism last school year, as some schools owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

City officials wound up allowing schools to keep the funding they owed, and that policy will continue this school year, officials said. Reduced funding based on lower enrollment may also be offset to some degree by a boost to school budgets spurred by federal relief money and a long-term increase in state funding.

That long-term increase in state funding is supposed to be permanent. 

Has there ever been a better time to demand lower class sizes when the UFT Contract expires in September? Michael Mulgrew won't because he will claim that the money to reduce class sizes will have to come out of our raises. United for Change rejects that argument and says we can mobilize our members and school communities to make a real push for lower class sizes in our Contract along with raises that keep up with inflation.

99% OF UFTERS PARTICIPATING IN POLL WANT MULGREW-CAMILLE DEBATE

A recent poll on a Facebook group showed that by a 277-3 margin UFTers want to see presidential candidates Michael Mulgrew and Camille Eterno engage in a debate. This is an unscientific poll but still that 99 to 1 margin means something.

There were two UFT presidential debates, one in 1999 and the other in 2001.

Since Mulgrew became president in 2009, he has ducked all of his opponents including me.

I did debate Unity's Jeff  Zahler on WBAI before the Executive Board election back in 2007. In addition, candidate forums were part of the District Representative elections before Randi Weingarten ended these elections in 2003.

As it didn't hurt Mulgrew's vote totals, I see little chance of him changing his mind and debating in this election unless the rank and file demands it.

Unity's  worst fear is UFTers en masse demanding real representation.

Calling for change on a grand scale within the UFT is what this blog has done for 17 years. Perhaps the time is right for real change now, for United for Change.

MULGREW DOES NOT MAKE LIST OF NYS POWER 100 LABOR LEADERS

 City&State regularly puts up lists of top labor leaders. Tonight I was reading the latest New York State Labor Power 100.  I was surprised to see AFT President Randi Weingarten, NYSUT President Andy Pallotta, Council of Supervisors  President Mark Cannizzaro, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester teacher union presidents, and UFT lawyer from Strook Alan Klinger on the list. 

There is one notable name missing: NYSUT Board of Directors member-AFT Vice President-UFT President Michael Mulgrew. Mulgrew didn't make the top 100. To be fair, I am sure he makes the city top labor list and Mulgrew was number 1 in the state power 100 in 2020 but that makes his omission from this year's list all the more noticable. 

If a mainstream media outlet such as City&State can figure out that Mulgrew is not a major labor leader, I hope the members of the UFT can come to the same conclusion and vote United for Change in the upcoming UFT election in April.

UNITY ATTACKING CAMILLE'S UNION RESUME AS THIN SHOWS THEY CAN'T EVEN DO OPPOSITION RESEARCH HONESTLY

This post is for the Unity Caucus people who have made their line of attack on Camille Eterno that she doesn't have the experience needed to lead the largest union local in the country. They are wrong and most of them know it. If they won't bother to do the opposition research, we will do it for them. Camille has been active in the Union since 1998. She did take some time off to be with our two wonderful kids, Kara and Matthew, who are now 7 and 12 so maybe some of the newer Unity folks don't know her, but she never stopped being an activist fighter within the Union.

Camille was elected Chapter Leader at Queens Gateway when she was only in her second year as a teacher in 1998. Camille won grievances that the UFT said were not winnable. I recall she defended members successfully who were accused of infractions such as theft of services, misconduct in the classroom, lateness issues and so much more. One of her members called her "Chapter Leader Par Excellence". 

Camille was at most UFT functions including awards ceremonies, the Labor Day Parade, the Delegate Assembly, District and Citywide Chapter Leader meetings as well as High School Committee meetings. When the UFT had rallies (yes we actually had citywide rallies in the early 2000s), Camille was there with a healthy contingent from Queens Gateway to Health Sciences. Ask the people who worked with her at Queens Gateway if Camille has a thin union resume. They might disagree.

Did she catch the eye of the Unity leadership? She was invited to join Unity Caucus so many times one would think they were almost stalking her. Ask Randi Weingarten if she invited Camille to come to brunches in Brooklyn. Ask former Queens Borough Rep Rona Freiser if Camille was a good trade unionist. Camille was one of the first people Rona called to be on her District Consultation Committee when Rona was elected District Representative. (Yes, chapter leaders voted for district reps in those days.) Why did the leader of Unity Caucus at the time, Tom Pappas, call Camille personally to ask her to join Unity? Camille was even invited to go to a Unity meeting. Camille went and was repulsed by the top-down way they operated. The people who tried to recruit Camille into Unity were a who's who of the Unity hierarchy.

Long time UFT Secretary Michael Mendel would usually come and say hi and chat with us at DAs that Camille and I both regularly attended together before we had our two amazing kids. Did I mention Camille and I met at a Chapter Leaders meeting when I was Chapter Leader at Jamaica? If she wasn't an active unionist, we would have never met.

Now some of you might say that was a long time ago but what has she done in the Michael Mulgrew years? Camille moved on from Gateway and settled in at Humanities and the Arts High School where she helped get the school off the State's School Under Registration Review list. A collaborative principal, Mercedes Qualls, listened to her staff, including Camille. Within a year Camille was elected UFT Delegate.

Camille never stopped helping UFTers. She was a presence at many school closing hearings during the Bloomberg years. You can see both of us in action here. She is defending public education here; here she is part of the defense of yet another school.

When a new principal came in at Humanities and the Arts and brought in some anti-UFT assistant principals, Camille was ready for a fight but the UFT had changed under Michael Mulgrew and no longer put up much of a resistance against abusive administrators.

Vice President Janella Hinds knows Camille was actively involved in the Union. They sat together at the 2016 UFT vote count when Camille told Janella about the fight Camille was leading at Humanities and the Arts where Camille was the Delegate. Camille was risking her job to help others. State Senator Leroy Comrie is aware she was active on behalf of her school. By the way, Janella told Camille she was going to be in touch so she could help her school against the abusive administration. Camille is still waiting for that call. 

The UFT Grievance Department is fully aware that Camille knows the Contract. The Principal at Humanities and the Arts told Camille she was so busy defending other people so who would defend her. Camille soon thereafter was attacked viciously. 

Camille defended herself and the Chapter quite well. She was at the Grievance Department so often that then Director Ellen Proceda-Gatlin talked about offering her a job. Ellen said she wished she was on her team. Camille's record was totally cleared but she agreed to be an Absent Teacher Reserve rather than go back to her former school. You can check with Carl Cambria if you want to hear from someone who worked at the Grievance Department, now a borough rep, if Camille knows the Contract. 

Camille spent three years as an ATR in part due to UFT indifference to what was going on at Humanities and the Arts. She worked for a year at the High School for American Studies at Lehman College where the Principal, Alessandro Weiss, thought Camille was a highly effective, amazing teacher. They still keep in touch. The next year she was sent to Queens Tech where the administration worked hard to keep her for the year. She was then sent to Veritas Academy where Principal Cheryl Quatrano,  her assistant principals, and teachers saw Camille's teaching talents and picked her up permanently within a month. That was in October of 2019. The first chapter election after that was in 2022. Camille didn't want to take over anyone's job but as soon as there was a Delegate opening, she was recommended by multiple people and easily was elected. That was well before the first DA this school year.

Please ask Yasmin Colon why Camille was not credentialed for 5 months. Mike Sill's personal attack on Camille on Wednesday for not attending DAs was absurd. The UFT District Rep was aware of Camille's election in October as the Election Chair at Veritas entered the information multiple times but the UFT never processed it. The Queens Borough Rep, to be fair, did intervene and thought the situation was resolved. The lame excuse used this month was that she was somehow unsubscibed from the Delegate list. The UFT didn't officially credential Camille to attend live until 4:15 pm on Wednesday, February 16 after she emailed Leroy Barr. Barr saying it was suspicious that she just showed up was comical. Ask Leroy too if Camille hasn't been active. She was in his office in 2017 advocating for her  UFT Chapter and against abusive principals. 

Camille and I help any UFter who asks. For years, Unity supporter Arthur Goldstein would call us, sometimes multiple times a day, to ask for help with union issues. Arthur called on the cell and the house phone at all times night and day. If I wasn't around, Camille would help him out. It's kind of ironic that some of the advice she gave was that he should attend the DA when he used to think it was a waste of time.

Unity's attack on Camille was totally unwarranted and untrue. We've split the union and parenting duties. She is always there when called on.

Back to basics: Can any of our Unity friends make a substantive argument on why Camille's point of order wasn't valid on Wednesday? A deliberative body actually needs time to deliberate and not hear the President pontificate for the majority of its meetings. Camille backed her point of order up by citing Robert's Rules to substantiate how Mulgrew abuses the power of the chair regularly. I used to call him on it repeatedly. We sparred often and I was never called unhinged for arguing with him. Is it because Camille is a woman that Unity is using this line of attack?

Camille is an experienced unionist who will be every bit as tough on anyone who attacks the UFT as she was on Mulgrew. Unlike Mulgrew, she won't be afraid to hear from multiple points of view. I am honored to be her husband and am excited that she is carrying the Union torch now.

Vote United for Change!

CAMILLE CALLS FOR EQUAL TIME FOR OPPOSITION AT DA BUT IS REBUFFED BY BULLYING ONE SIDED DEBATE

I did not do a report for the February Delegate Assembly because Camille went to the DA live so I was with our two kids and of course, their needs come first. I was not able to listen to the DA but Camille told me what happened.*

After Michael Mulgrew was blabbering for almost an hour in his monthly misuse of the chair, where he basically speaks on most issues that could come before the DA (mayoral control, retiree healthcare, etc.), Camille raised a point of order noting that strictly speaking there are no officer reports in Robert's Rules so what gives him the right to filibuster every month and not allow a minority report? She cited Robert's Rules (page 476) but Mulgrew didn't fully listen and cut her off. Mulgrew responded that Camille was out of order because the Delegates make up the agenda. What? That answer was a huge head-scratcher. I was an Executive Board member, Delegate and Chapter Leader for 23 years and we didn't get to look over the agenda and approve it. When Camille and someone appealed, Mulgrew let only his cronies speak in the ensuing debate, including Staff Director Leroy Barr and Assistant Secretary Mike Sill. Camille had her microphone shut off even though she was demanding her right to speak. A man and a woman surrounded her to take the mic away. That's a real fair debate! Maybe not.

For Robert's Rules experts out there, let us go back to the 16th Century when the parliamentary principle was established of a speaker in favor of something followed by a speaker opposed. It is on page xxxiv of Robert's Rules: "Alternation of the floor between opposite points of view when assigning the floor: 1592. It was made a rule, That the Chairman shall ask the Parties that would speak... and the Party that speaketh against the last Speaker is to be heard first." It's on page 29 of Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised for modern times on how to alternate when assigning the floor.

For those who are not familiar with how the UFT operates at its monthly Delegate meetings, Camille was prepared to tell them how unfair it is but she didn't get the chance. In fact, nobody on her side ever got the opportunity to speak in the debate. Camille wanted to bring it to the DA and let the Delegates decide if the monthly meetings adhere to basic parliamentary principles of fairness. This is most of what she would have said.

Robert’s Rules states in the Introduction that Henry Robert based his rules of order on the United States House of Representatives and they were then adapted to other bodies such as labor unions, corporations, church groups, co-op boards, etc. because some congressional rules could not be applied to different kinds of democratic assemblies. The congressional principle of fairness for both the majority and minority was a main priority of Henry Robert. 

Let’s compare the DA to the U.S. House of Representatives: Imagine a Congress where there was an hour and 45 minute session and Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke from the speaker’s chair for an hour on virtually every major issue that could come before the House, and then had her assistant Steny Hoyer speak for a few minutes, and next up Speaker Pelosi took questions mostly from members of her own party for 15 minutes and then in the very short time when House Resolutions were up for debate, Pelosi called on members of her own staff who were on the Speaker's payroll as well as being Congressmen and women. Would you call that a fair system? That’s what we have at the DA basically. It's much closer to a one-party state that glorifies its leader than a democratic assembly.

It is called parliamentary law because it is based on the British House of Commons. We have been to the House of Commons and you can watch it in the USA on television. Every time someone from the government speaks, the opposition is then allowed to give their view. Even though the Conservatives have a huge 95 seat majority, questions are asked in rotating order between the majority party and the opposition parties. All reports, debates, and question periods follow this format. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson cannot speak for an hour without opposition Labour leader Kier Starmer getting equal time. The speaker is completely impartial in the House of Commons (and in the US when she is presiding from the speaker's chair).

Robert’s Rules specifically says that the chair must be impartial but at the DA, the president gives a marathon report where he is obviously partisan on virtually all of the issues that the union faces and then he answers questions often from members of his own caucus so he pontificates some more. This deliberative body which had a great history in the 1960s under Charles Cogen and Al Shanker, when there were real debates, has been reduced to listening to a chair abuse his authority by endlessly filibustering and relegating debate to often symbolic resolutions for a few short minutes at the end of each session and then usually with the president calling on members of his own caucus. The UFT needs basic fairness of equal time for the majority and the opposition. Robert's Rules says the president should say the least, not the most. The UFT runs its business in a way that Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong Un could recognize as opposed to Jeffersonian democracy. 

That was a major part of Camille's argument. For those thinking Leroy Barr was right in his defense that this is how it has always been done so it is correct, I submit to you page 19 of Robert's Rules which Camille also had ready:

“...If a customary practice is or becomes in conflict with the parliamentary authority or any written rule, and a point of order citing the conflict is raised at any time, the custom falls to the ground, and the conflicting provision in the parliamentary authority or written rule must thereafter be complied with.” 

The basic parliamentary principle violated for years at the DA is equal time for Unity and the opposition. The opposition is not going to get that time back if it does not demand it and fight for it.

I may need a break after this. I am not a violent man and wouldn't threaten physical harm on anyone. That said, I might not be quiet if I ever meet any of the people that abused my wife's position as the leader of the opposition yesterday.

*Here is a link to a Unity supporter's minutes of the meeting. We both pretty much concur on what happened. Debate was one-sided. The Unity people don't want to talk about the substance because they are 100% wrong.

OVER 45,000 CITY RETIREES OPT OUT OF MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLUS (MULGREWCARE)

 This is from the NY Daily News:

More than 45,000 retired municipal workers have opted to keep their current Medicare coverage for a price instead of enrolling in a free, controversial new plan offered by Mayor Adams’ administration — a situation one ex-city employee described as “a f-----g outrage” on Monday.

The new Medicare Advantage plan, which was first rolled out by former Mayor Bill de Blasio last September, has for months been a source of anxiety for many of the city’s 250,000 retired workers who fear it could dilute their benefits. While retirees are automatically enrolled in the new plan, the city allows those who want to opt-out from it to keep their current Medicare coverage — but at a new $191 monthly fee.

Despite the financial penalty, 45,646 retirees have declined the Advantage plan in order to maintain their current benefits, according to data provided to the Daily News by City Hall.

The data shows that the rate of opt-out filings picked up significantly after Feb. 6, the day Adams announced he would move ahead with implementing de Blasio’s Advantage plan despite growing concern from retirees.

In the five days after Adams’ announcement, 3,165 retirees submitted opt-out requests, with 925 filings on Feb. 9 alone, the data shows.

Hundreds of angry retirees gathered outside City Hall on Monday morning to protest Adams’ embrace of the Advantage plan and urged him to shift course before April 1, when the program officially takes effect.

Many retirees at the demonstration who spoke with The News said they had already opted out or would do so in coming weeks if Adams doesn’t have a change of heart.

“I‘m probably going to end up having to bite the bullet and eat that money, which is a f-----g outrage, because I’m not going on that plan,” said Susan Metz, 78, a retired Brooklyn public school teacher.

In honor of Monday’s holiday, protesters also signed a life-size Valentine’s Day card addressed to Adams in which they pleaded with him to “not break our hearts” by pushing through the Advantage program.

“Mr. Mayor, if you have a heart, don’t let Medicare Advantage start,” they chanted.

I would wager that many more will opt out before the April 1 switch to the Advantage plan with its multiple gatekeepers but one never knows. 

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS-PHYSICAL THERAPISTS NOT GETTING PAID IN A TIMELY MANNER FOR EXTRA WORK

We have have been made aware of how how new teachers are being cheated out of full pay and benefits. We have also documented how principals are not paying proper money for teachers who agree to teach a sixth class in a non-shortage area. Now up on the web we can see that it isn't only teachers.

This blog post from OTs &PTs for a Fair Contract shows many of these UFTers are being stiffed too and the UFT response does not seem strong enough to rectify the situation. They had put out a survey on pay.

The point of the survey was to prove that the failure to pay therapists in a timely manner for overtime, return from maternity leave, and per session work is not the exception but the rule. The survey results were used to pressure the UFT to file a mass grievance against the DOE to resolve this ongoing issue once and for all. This problem naturally impacts service delivery for children in Special Education.  Our chapter leader reached out to legal counsel at Advocates For Children to alert them to the problem. AFC took action by raising concerns with leadership at DOE Central. The systemic nature of the DOE’s inability to implement a process that is simple, effective and respectful of workers rights is nothing new. What is new however, is that the OT/PT chapter isn’t shying away from holding them accountable.

We can learn from the OT/PT Chapter. By the way, their Chapter Leader as of this term is not Unity Caucus in case you were wondering.