Showing posts with label Fighting Back Fighting Smart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fighting Back Fighting Smart. Show all posts

Saturday, July 24, 2010

How the UFT/AFT Fights Smart - Readers Choice

OK, gang. You've seen numerous examples of the how the UFT/AFT is executing its new slogan:

Fighting Back.
Fighting Smart.

In Washington DC the AFT under Randi Weingarten forged a deal with Michelle Rhee for a new contract, all the while making sure there would be no regularly scheduled election since one of the leading candidates was opposed to that contract. Now that Randi handed her the power, Michelle Rhee is firing scads of teachers.* See Afterburn

In NYC, the UFT under Randi's successor Michael (Ironing Board) Mulgrew went to court to stop the closing of schools, but did not go to court to stop Klein from discouraging potential enrollees at these schools and then made a deal to allow Tweed to insert new schools into the building that were being closed.

Given these brilliant moves, now it's your turn to come up with more ways how our union leaders can continue to FIGHT BACK. FIGHT SMART.



I'll get you started:

Here's an idea that fits right in. Get Bloomberg to give us our 2% raise and in exchange we let them fire ATRs who can't get a job in a year. That's the FIGHT BACK part. We FIGHT SMART by telling the members Bloomberg wanted to fire the ATRs immediately but we held out for a year. Leo Casey before he leaves to join Randi in DC will lecture us on how we don't understand the conditions in today's world and besides, look at the Autoworkers Union.

The UFT continues to organize teachers in charter schools but makes sure there is a blackout on the use of the words "Merrick Charter." Here is the FIGHT SMART part. Whisper to charter school managers that all the UFT wants is to be able to list the school as UFT organized for PR purposes but they can write any contract they want and the UFT will sign it. As long as the teachers have to pay dues.

LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. READERS WILL VOTE FOR THE BEST FIGHT BACK, FIGHT SMART IDEA. MULGREW HAS PROMISED THAT THE UFT WILL MAKE THE WINNER OFFICIAL POLICY.

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After burn

  • Michelle Rhee fired 241 of 4,000 D.C. teachers (6%) today citing poor performance. (WashPost)
  • 737 of D.C. teachers were rated “minimally effective” by the new IMPACT eval. (Teacher Beat)

It takes a WaPo blogger to go after Rhee while the FIGHT SMART crowd at the AFT are silent. Leonie wrote:

Valerie Strauss points out the absurdity of the DC IMPACT system, supposed to measure 22 aspects of teacher quality in 30 min. observations; including designing teacher to fit “tactile” learning styles. Not to mention that the DC exams, meant as the base of 50% of the eval system for teachers in 4-8 grades, weren’t designed to evaluate teachers. Neither were the NY state exams, now shown as fraudulent, but still will be used as basis of 40% of NYC evaluation system for teachers in grades 3-8th. Is there any area of public life where the reigning ideology is as patently absurd as in public education?


The problem with how Rhee fired teachers

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/the-problem-with-how-rhee-fire.html?wprss=answer-sheet