Showing posts with label Brian Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Jones. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

UFT Delegate Assembly/MORE Announces Election Candidates

MORE chooses Julie Cavanagh, Brian Jones, Camille Eterno and Marissa Torres to head slate in UFT elections with more candidates to come.
The first UFT Delegate Assembly of the year, and the last one for many new chapter leaders and delegates will take place this afternoon. I have been at these meetings since 1972, with over a decade hiatus in the 80s through '94 when I became chapter leader and resumed going to the meetings. Ed Notes has been a regular since 1997. See my late August post (on the 6th anniversary of the ednotesonline blog): My Path from Ed Notes to MORE Through ICE and GEM Part 1 of 4. (Okay, okay, so I never did do the other 3 parts -yet.)

Before I get to the news of the MORE candidates (check the MORE blog - morecaucusnyc) –

Today is a special DA that takes place every 3 years. Let me explain.

Elections for chapter leaders and delegates take place on a 3-year cycle (2009, 2012, 2015) and the October DA following the previous spring election is the first one the newly elected will attend. With enormous turnover in these positions in so many schools, expect a vast new crop of people to show up. (Portelos as the only CL ever elected from the rubber room should be there -- I'd love to see him live stream the DA but that would get him more severe penalties than he is getting from the DOE -- imagine, being put in a UFT rubber room.)

And once these newbies experience the level of control exerted over the meeting by the Unity/leadership, many often never return. Though do expect a batch to have already been recruited into Unity -- they know not what they do.

I should point out that with over 1700 schools and at least one delegate and chapter leader in each, plus extra delegates in the larger schools, plus the potential 300 Unity caucus retirees and assorted other delegates, the potential audience could be 3700. But the main room only holds 860, with the overflow sent to overflow rooms so they can watch on TV. (Hope they show reruns of the Simpsons instead of Mulgrew pontificating and laughing at his own lame sense of humor.)

What does that tell you about the interest in the leadership in holding meaningful meetings?

Over the years I've seen up to 1500 people show up at these triennial meetings, the highest total over the 3-year period. Expecting these numbers in the past, the meetings were often held at a major hotel to give at least a semblance of interest in a democratic process (and those macadamia nut cookies at the Brooklyn Marriott were oh so delicious). But that has long been abandoned by Unity, so expect a very crowded and often unruly crowd jostling in narrow spaces. Some will turn around and just go home in disgust.

MORE chooses Julie Cavanagh, Brian Jones, Camille Eterno and Marissa Torres to head slate in UFT elections with more candidates to come. 

Well, this is getting long enough and I will wait to do my own personal tribute to Brian, Camille and Marissa later on. But just a few words.

How interesting that Brian has a 3 or 4 year old, Camille a 2 and a half year old and Julie a 14 week old. And Marissa is so young. Truly a mixture of an old and new generation of teacher/parent leaders.

I love working with Marissa on any project we have worked on --- I'm sure many will get to know her well.

Camille is one half of the wonderful power couple with her hubbie James. Just amazing long-term activists who broke away from New Action in 2003 when they sold out and helped found ICE.

On November 9 Brian will be doing a one on one at Cuny with the great Jonathan Kozol -- what does that tell you about the enormous respect there is out there for the work he does? And his work on our film has made him a national figure.

I don't have to tell you how much I have admired Julie since I met her a little over 3 years and have been proud to call her not only a political colleague but a true friend (and I don't always make many) --- you know, the kind you feel perfectly comfortable calling in the middle of the night if you need help (and she has promised to visit me in the home). I wanted to do a film for so many years and Julie was the key to making that happen, the kind of partner I so desperately needed to work with. I am eternally grateful.

I truly believe Julie has the same leadership potential as Karen Lewis --- interesting that both did not have extensive involvement in union politics until the ed deform crunch hit them and their kids head on. Both truly organically (Julie's favorite word) grown activists. I know Karen knows and admires Julie very much. As do teachers and parents and activists around the city and all over the nation who have worked with her and seen what she can do.

But Julie really does not want this election to be about her and she will probably be pissed at me for even writing this.

Anyway, I look forward to assisting with the installation of the nursery in the president's office at 52 Broadway.

Support the MORE slate in the 2013 UFT elections


Julie Cavanagh for President.

Julie is a UFT chapter leader who has been teaching in Red Hook, Brooklyn since 2001 and contributed extensively to the fight for public education. In 2009-2010 Julie, alongside a NYC parent and student, sued Mayor Michael Bloomberg for the right to protest school closings and charter schools, and later she joined with parents as the only teacher petitioner in a lawsuit to fight the appointment of then NYC Schools Chancellor Cathy Black. Since 2009 Julie has worked with various grassroots groups to organize protests and forums in an effort to educate and engage the public to challenge the corporate education reform movement and to promote real reform in our schools and communities. Much of this work can be seen in the film she co-narrated and co-produced, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. Her writings have been featured in the Huffington Post, Daily News, Labor Notes, and Public Sector Inc and she has appeared on MSNBC’s Up with Chris, Fox and Friends, and Inside City Hall.


Brian Jones for Secretary.

Brian has taught elementary school grades for nine years, and has organized teachers and parents to challenge budget cuts, charter co-locations and the high stakes standardized testing. Brian faced off against Michelle Rhee and Geoffrey Canada on national TV, and co-narrated the film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. Historian Diane Ravitch has called his writing about public schools "brilliant". Brian has contributed to several books on education, and to publications as diverse as SocialistWorker.org and the New York Times.


Camille Eterno for Treasurer. 
Camille has been an English teacher in New York since 1996. In her second year as a teacher, she was elected to be chapter leader at the Queens Gateway to Health Sciences. As chapter leader, Camille won grievances that even the UFT leadership said were not winnable. She helped organize her chapter into an activist force that was a major presence at many union rallies. As a leader in the Independent Community of Educators, she was instrumental in the nearly successful battle against the giveback laden 2005 contract. Camille developed a well deserved reputation throughout Queens High Schools as a chapter leader who was not afraid to stand up to management when they wrongfully abused UFT members. She is currently serving in her third term as a teacher delegate from Humanities and the Arts High School in Queens.




Marissa Torres for Assistant Treasurer




Marissa has been an elementary school teacher and a union activist since 2002. She taught ESL students in West Harlem where she served as Co-Chapter chair and organized teachers and parents to challenge budget cuts and co-locations. She now serves as a delegate for PS261 Brooklyn. She is committed to the fight for public education and is excited to be a part of a caucus that wants to build a broad social justice movement with parents, students, and teachers.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Brian Jones Made Sure to Touch on Ruelas Suicide on Education Nation Forum

Boy I bet they are sorry they allowed the fox into the pen. Standing all alone (don't count Randi on his side), among all the other points, Brian Jones made sure to bring up the suicide of Rigoberto Ruelas toward the end of the forum on MSNBC's ed deform fest.
People have been asking for links but I can't find any. Since Brian's points dominated the discussion, they probably burned the tapes.

We will be at Rockefeller Plaza today at 4pm with Leonie Haimson, Mona Davids, Julie Cavanagh and others - Parents Across America, Class size matters - CAPE, GEM and NY Charter Parents Association - to let them know what we think about this sham. map here.
After Brian brought up the story, LA Teachers Union President AJ Duffy called out from the audience to confirm the story about a well respected teacher being so distraught over the embarrassment of having been publicly identified as a poor teacher. For most people it is hard to imagine but when a teacher goes so far beyond the call like Ruelas seems to have done, the devastation must have been intense. (See Brian's panel here: http://tiny.cc/wf4jh).


Sunday night I and a whole bunch of bloggers wrote about Rigoberto. You can find links in this post.

Blood on Their Hands

This morning GEM received this email from a colleague of Rigoberto:
Hello Fellow Educators,

I am a teacher at Miramonte Elementary School located in South Los Angeles. Recently, the elementary public school teachers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have become the subject of a series of articles published by the LA Times which focus on the creation of a database that publicly ranks our performance as educators using a highly controversial evaluative method known as Value-Added Methodology (VAM). The pressure to increase test score output, along with the humiliation that came from receiving a widely disseminated poor review have seemingly resulted in the loss of one of our most beloved educators, Rigoberto Ruelas. This type of evaluation that is so highly regarded by proponents of "Race to the Top" brand of educational reform has caused irreparable damage and is being used as a weapon to destroy public school education. I ask for your help in spreading the word about what has happened to us and to stand in solidarity with us as we fight on behalf of our dear friend, Rigoberto Ruelas, and all educators and students across the nation who are being damaged by the policies of NCLB and the current administration.

Here's a link to an article about Mr. Ruelas:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/27/rigoberto-ruelas-lausd-te_n_740544.html

Peace and Justice,
Grace Marroquin
Also read this piece in the LA Times, which is trying to wash the blood off its hands.

Monday, September 27, 2010

GEM's Brian Jones on MSNBC at 4:30 - streaming live

Brian Jones who works with GEM and ISO will be on a panel today at NBC - unless they shoot him - with Rhee, Randi and Canada. Ed Deform apologist and slug Steve Brill will be moderating.

Brian was at our rally at WFS on Friday and I did an interview with him and another teacher from his school on how the invasion of one of Eva's schools has impacted on their school.



Brian has written a piece for the International Socialist web site that is as good as it gets. There is so much good stuff in this essay that you have to read it 3 times. He closes with this:

There's a racial dimension to these questions that can't be ignored, either. It irks me to no end to hear hedge fund managers refer to the charter school cause as the "civil rights movement of our generation." Education Secretary Arne Duncan says that Waiting for Superman is a "Rosa Parks moment."
Interestingly, Black voters in Washington, D.C. and in Harlem recently--and overwhelmingly--rejected pro-charter school candidates. That's why I think it's more appropriate to call this a Glenn Beck moment. That is, a moment when we should realize that these people are wrapping themselves in the mantle of a movement to which they bear no relation.
Dr. King once said, "The forces that are anti-Negro are by and large anti-labor." Apparently, Black voters are beginning to think that the reverse is also true.
But folks from the business world have an extremely hard time shaking off their faith in free-market principles and their hostility to unions. Evidence and research be damned.
There is more than a slight element of hypocrisy here. To hear the billionaire school reformers tell it, class size doesn't matter, resources don't matter, and experienced teachers are standing in the way of success. But when these same people spend five figures to send their kids to private schools, what do they insist on? Small classes, excellent resources and experienced teachers.
How can we make every public school a great school? Those three things--the things that the wealthy demand for their children--would be a perfect place to start.

NYC Teacher Brian Jones: What I want to say on NBC today: Stop scapegoating teachers

Answer No. 1: Stop scapegoating teachers

As part of its "Education Nation" summit, NBC invited New York City teacher Brian Jones to participate in a panel discussion on the future of the teaching profession. Joining him on the panel are Michelle Rhee, the Schools Chancellor of Washington, D.C.; Geoffrey Canada, CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone Project, a network of charter schools; Allan Golston, president of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association; and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
The title of the panel is "Good Apples: How do we keep good teachers, throw out bad ones and put a new shine on the profession?" The discussion will stream live at MSNBC.com today at 4:45 p.m. (Eastern time).
First, though, Brian has a few thoughts to share before the bell rings.
The entire essay at Norms Notes