Big Bucks at Tweed Can Lead to Becoming Next UFT President

See the list of 36 NYCDOE Tweed officials who make over $180,000 a year at Norms Notes here.

But they must be worth it. Klein says they could be making 2-3 times as much in the private sector. Maybe become the head of the UFT where they could make $350 grand.

And poor Klein. The DOE PR people actually made the point he hadn't received a raise in 5 years. Poor guy. Making a 100 grand less than Weingarten. I have an idea. Weingarten will be leaving soon and the BloomKlein reign is coming to an end. Klein is a lawyer with a similar background and he could use a raise. Let's start a campaign for

Joel Klein for UFT President!

Another angle emerges from the debate on NYC Educator on how the UFT blog Edwize defended James Liebman after his recent performance at the City Council hearings and his insightful comments in Samuel Freedman's column this week. NYC says:

First, "Maisie" wrote a piece about how Mr. Liebman was "smart and decent," and incredibly, defended him by explaining he was just following orders. I can recall cases where that defense proved ineffective. Most recently, they got a student to write for them, putting forth the preposterous suggestion that our supposed unwillingness to compromise was somehow setting back the issue of class size.

"Maisie" is NY Teacher reporter Maisie Macadoo, who doesn't write a word that is not checked by Randi Weingarten. My guess is that the UFT is laying the groundwork to hire Liebman after he leaves the DOE late this spring. Maybe Chief Accountability Office of the UFT.

See the GBN (satire as always) report on Liebman's consults with parents:

...the firing of a popular principal, Isaiah Wallace of MS 422 in Brooklyn, was actually the result of a consultation with a large number of people who overwhelmingly felt that he should be canned. At a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden, Chancellor Joel Klein consulted with a capacity crowd of nearly 19,000 people, many of them parents. He heard the clear consensus of this group as they chanted in unison, “Fire Isaiah”. The Chancellor realized that the group could only have been referring to Mr. Wallace, because his school had received an F on the recent school Progress Report. A source at the DOE confirmed to GBN News the authenticity of this document, and maintained that it proves Mr. Liebman had been telling the truth when he asserted that thousands of parents were consulted by the DOE. However, the source refused to confirm or deny that the DOE plans to soon replace the district CDEC’s with local movie theater audiences.

Liebman's experience in obfuscation and confusion at Tweed makes him the perfect candidate to explain how the UFT actually is a democratic institution.

But, hey, he's another lawyer. If Klein doesn't want to be UFT President, how about

Jim Liebman for UFT President.

Speaking of which, check out Richard Steier's in-depth interview with "Sister Randi" in The Chief,
http://www.thechief-leader.com/news/2007/1221/Razzle_Dazzle/ also posted at Norms Notes.