....What a farce 3
The response from the Unity gang at Lafayette to the posts of comments by current and former teachers at the school is so indicative of how Unity operates. They brag about how they got rid of the doctor even though the patient died. And add on some egregious statements that confirm the charge of one teacher about how they play both sides against the middle.
Unity: The DOE had the support of the Alumni.
ICE: They distributed to all staff the recent op-ed by well-known Lafayette alumnus Jerry Della Feminina denouncing Klein for closing Lafayette and calling for a rally of alumni to keep the school open.
Unity: Support the 2005 contract and denounce the ICE person at the school for being anti-union for opposing the contract.
ICE: They ostentatiously denounce the 2005 contract as the "worst" contract ever.
The anon. Unity comment "the ICE guy MELTED during the fight against Rohloff" is interesting considering he was the one who openly was quoted in the NY Post about the lack of textbooks in articles as he stood up despite Rohloff's attacks. That has to be put in the context of the comments from the teachers who were attacked by Rohloff (as posted in both What a Farce items below) that they did not feel the Unity people really fought for them. Besides, as one of the fairest-minded people I know, the ICE guy always felt that, though Rohloff was so wrong-headed, he felt she had some positive things about her and never gave up the idea of getting her to function in a better way. Idealistic? Maybe. But he kept his eye on the prize - keeping the school open.
Contrast the actions of the Unity people at Lafayette with the way the Tilden chapter responded as both scenarios played out at the same time. Weingarten, who in the initial stages did not respond at Tilden, was forced to do so when the chapter activated itself to engaged in an active fight to keep the school open, a fight that they are still engaging in, as Meredith Kolodner pointed out in last week's article in The Chief.
I posted a series of articles on the evolving situation in Tilden on this blog. (Do a search of the blog for the Tilden tag to read them, in particular the comments of ICE's John Lawhead, one of the leaders of the fight keep Tilden open.
Of course having a user-friendly principal at Tilden helps, so the cases are not exactly equal. But the ICE person tried to get the chapter at Lafayette to unite behind the idea of keeping the school open.
When Weingarten said that Lafayette should be closed -
"It is no secret that there have been problems at Lafayette, so its closing is not surprising. We are working with the DOE to create a redesigned school - and potentially two new schools - that parents will want to send their children to and where educators will want to teach."
-that was the death knell for any action by the Unity reps there to engage in such a fight. The Unity gang owe allegiance to Unity and the leadership over the members at Lafayette - remember, there are free conventions to attend and other perks. So when the leadership decided getting Rohloff's scalp took priority over a battle to keep the school open, it was game, set and match for the demise of Lafayette. The people at Tilden may not win the fight and end up being closed anyway, but they are still in the game.
The Unity "victory" over Rohloff has resulted, and will result, in many of the teachers at Lafayette ending up as ATR's. The anon. Unity commented,
"As the unity folks at Lafayette have seniority, more than 60 years combined in teaching, they have a right to remain until excessed. Or do you and the ICE person begrudge them that?"
With the Unity abandonment of seniority, resulting in so many senior teachers under attack despite, and maybe because of their high salaries, this comment shows they are not too worried. Just another perk of being in Unity.
6 comments:
There we go again:
Stick to the topic, do not involve Randi Weingarten or the leadership, you always attack them but not the issue.
Your Guy thought we could work with Rohloff. That is your and his claim. The chapter knew as soon Manhattan Center will know, that you can never work with a principal like Rohloff. You skirt the issue, and turn a chapters struggle into a criticism of the UFT leadership. You are clueless, Rohloff had to be removed, saving Lafayette like all high schools under attack from the DOE is a political decision not an educational one. We could have fought and wasted energy needed to oust Rohloff. You have no idea how Rohloff tortured a majority of the staff including the AP'S. Did you know that 1(one) AP also had to take a leave due to mental stress. Major issues, health issues, mental health issues, Klein backed Rohloff all the way. Randi responded to the needs of the chapter and will do so at the Manhattan Center when that becomes an issue.
In fact, more than any high school chapter, the Lafayette Chapter has fought the long and lonely struggle for years due to the incompetency of the administration, and has fought more publicly than any school in the city. Until Rohloff arrived we had very few if any U ratings over the past decade-plus. Perhaps our public support for the leadership of the UFT had some role in that. The DOE knew and knows that Lafayette was and will continue to be until it ends a strong union school. A school that utilizes the contract and knowledge of the system in keeping the members rights protected. By the way, many excessed teachers have found positions via the open market in schools such as FDR, Murrow, ST IS Tech, New Utrecht, Lower East Side Prep, Bklyn Tech, and more. That is as of June 27. Maybe the ICE guy will wind up in a good spot too. We wish him good fortune. We wish all members good fortune as true unionists.
"Rohloff had to be removed, saving Lafayette like all high schools under attack"
But you didn't save Lafayette.
You talk about the teachers who got other jobs spouting the Unity line on how wonderful the Open Market System is when there's so much info coming in about how high salaried and older people are having trouble. Give us the facts you keep calling on me to stick to:
how many excessed? how many found jobs? how many didn't? their ages and salaries?
As to being critical of a union leadership that should be criticized, you jump on the Unity bandwagon that there is no room for criticism. The typical totalitarian regime response. You can't be critical not because it helps your school but because you can't be in Unity if you are and personal ambition is part of it. I have a long memory.
To ED Notes:
33 members are in excess as of June 27. So far 18 have found positions-17 within the system, 1 outside of New York. Four are veterans with more than 15 years, the rest average between 3 and 10 years. Also, other members are awaiting as they have been interviewed.
My point to you is why be critical of veterans not being excessed, again I see the role of the union in the school as one which should do all possible to assist members in finding positions via the open market. I hope that all members will receive positions and not rely on ATR status. License areas so far accepted include, science,math,foreign lang/esl,english,secretary.
Those are facts, also AP's have found poaitions within the system 2 as of July 1.
"My point to you is why be critical of veterans not being excessed."
Twisting words. I'm not critical of vets at all but am pointing to the fact that the Unity people have less to worry about than other vets due to the perks of Unity.
As you said, the ICE person is one of the most fair minded and nicest people that anyone could ever encounter. I understand his position as not keeping Lafayette open just so that he could have a job ( though I'm sure that was a consideration), but, for the greater good of the students. How mean spirited of those UNITY people to attack him, just so that they could save their own miserable backsides and reap the rewards of their own misguided loyalty to a so called "union" that has sold out both its' members and the children of the city. Incidentally, the Unity people were not too fond of the teacher that was accused of changing Regents grades, either. Why are they trying to say that this particular teacher was "much loved" by the staff? What hypocrites!
Seriously, does ICE even serve a real purpose other than to drive a wedge within our union? Has ICE ever accomplished anything worthy of mention? And no, a sham presidential candidate in the last election, shoddy quality YouTube films, and heckling during the Delegate Assembly doesn't count.
-Son Of Unity, the next generation
I'll be back!
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