Why is the UFT promoting BloomKlein's survey....

... while parent groups are urging a boycott...

Was a question asked by a middle school Chapter Leader who received this from the UFT hierarchy:

Dear Colleagues:

Today at a press conference the mayor and chancellor announced that School Learning Environment Surveys will be distributed this week to all teachers, to all parents and all secondary schools students.
According to the Department of Education, the surveys “are designed to reflect the experiences, attitudes and perceptions of members of our school communities and to provide information each school can use to improve its learning environment. Survey results will be reported to schools this summer and factored into the new school progress report in the fall.” The survey is anonymous and voluntary.

UFT President Randi Weingarten said these surveys “are an important first step in engaging parents, educators and students in the most important conversation we can have:
How to improve our children’s education. There was a good process for drafting the survey and we had a lot of good input., particularly in the area of protecting confidentiality.
“The information that will be gathered is extremely important – but it must be valued and addressed. Listening is good; we have to make sure our voices are heard.”

Therefore, we urge you to tell the teachers in your school that it is very important to take the time to complete the survey.

Michael Mendel
Director of Staff

A high school Chapter Leader just called upset that the survey is going to be used to gather negative information about schools to be used against them.

Remember Weingarten's own words about the Tweedledees:
"They are assholes not to be trusted." So why trust them and support them on this? Especially when parent groups have said that important questions like those related to class size were deliberately left off the survey. I have always questioned whether Weingarten's commitment to class size was true or just part of a PR blitz to be used for political advantage. Why? Because she ignored the issue when we raised it in Ed. Notes and at the DA until fairly recently. True commitment to class size would mean when it is left off the survey, you do not tell people to cooperate.