In a typical attempt to put up a straw man - or woman- as a way to distract delegates from the attempt to convince than that 4 more years of the hated BloomKlein gang would be tolerable, Randi Weingarten suddenly turned on former NY Sun reporter Elizabeth Green who is now reporting for Gotham Schools.
"Liz Green is reporting this meeting blow by blow as it occurs," Weingarten bleated. Liz, this is a private meeting and what you are doing is unethical. You are a better reporter than that." She went on to talk about how there are always leakers. Usually she looks my way when she says this but I was lurking way in the back of the vistors section after being banished there by Weingarten a few years ago. Speaking of leaking, I went out to pee, so I am not guilty of leaking (to Elizabeth). But I did call Elizabeth to leave a message that she was under assault.
Weingarten in an extraordinary show of demagoguery, left an impression that Green was somehow listening into the meeting. A number of delegates thought Green was in the room blogging live when in fact she was in front of the building interviewing ATRs at the time.
Green was outside inteviewing ATRs and had gotten a call from a delegate that the meeting was overflowing and about to discuss the term limit question. That was what appeared on the Gotham Schools blog.
Below are excerpts from Green's post at Gotham Schools that Weingarten referred to, clearly purely on hearsay. Green wrote, "It’s standing room only!” my source at the meeting just said via cell phone."
That's it? Calling Green unethical for telling the world it's standing room only? Maybe the real story is that DA's are held in a room that holds a max of 850 when there are over 3000 delegates (about a thousand showed up and many will not return after this wonderful experience.) Was Weingarten worried the fire marshalls would read Green's blog and rush in with hoses and axes?
No reporter has consistently pointed out the holes in the Tweed cheese and reported the point of view of teachers over the past year than Green.
Weingarten owes Green a public apology.
Right now at 52 Broadway, pressure to stand firmer on term limitsThe teachers union will vote on its final stance on term limits this afternoon, at a meeting of the union’s delegate assembly that is beginning now. (”It’s standing room only!” my source at the meeting just said via cell phone.) The expectation is that the delegates will support the resolution passed last night by the executive board, which urged a voter referendum rather than Bloomberg’s proposed City Council route for changing term limits.
But new amendments could be added, and whatever debate occurs will likely turn on how strongly the UFT should oppose Bloomberg. The resolution passed last night does not state a position for or against term limits, and it does not challenge the mayor on any points; rather, it projects, as president Randi Weingarten’s first statement did, a sense of the seriousness of the economic crisis — and keeps open a door for supporting a third Bloomberg term through a referendum. The idea communicated last night, according to one source who was there, is not to spend too much “political capital” on fighting the mayor on term limits, when other fights (such as the budget) are around the corner.
Not everyone at the union wants to play this safe route. Among teachers, there is a lot of animosity toward the Bloomberg administration, especially among the veterans who are the most active in UFT politics, and some are voicing that. Today, an opposition group that often pushes Weingarten, the Independent Community of Educators, will push its own resolution, which would have the union cut off funding from City Council members who vote for changing term limits, a member of ICE’s steering committee, Jeff Kaufman, told me. (The union’s PAC, UFT COPE, gives thousands of dollars to Council members each cycle.)
So far Weingarten has tended to angry members by drawing a line between him and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein: Klein is the bad guy, and she agrees he’s bad; Bloomberg is okay. But it’s hard to imagine Bloomberg tossing Klein, so supporting Bloomberg will be very difficult for Weingarten.
We’ll keep you posted on how the union votes.
Here is the link: http://gothamschools.org/2008/10/15/right-now-at-52-broadway-pressure-to-stand-firmer-on-term-limits/
Note Green mentions Jeff Kaufman, who was not at the DA (for those Unity huckleberries who look to blame the 10 plagues on Kaufman).
you are disgusting -- a union meeting is private and closed because it pertains to the welfare of its members and not the general public -- the fact that you violate the confidentiality a union meeting is entitled to which the majority of us hold near and dear proves you nothing more that a self serving pariah who has no business in that room – you and your kind should be ashamed of yourselves – but yet that would first require conscience which clearly is lacking – but don’t karma has never failed yet and your time too will come
ReplyDeleteYou're a typical Unity idiot and furthermore you can't read. There was NO violation of confideniality other than that someone (not me) had called Green to tell her the there was standing room only. Your esteemed leader used this to distract from the fact she is heling hand Bloomberg 4 more years. Talk about conscience.
ReplyDeleteI though you weren't coming to the DA anymore?
ReplyDeleteAnon 11:17
ReplyDeleteMaybe, too, we're sick of the "confidentiality" of Randi's backroom agreements with Bloomberg and Klein.
Maybe the ATR's are sick of the bad "karma", Randi has brought upon them.
Maybe, you ought to open your eyes and see the injustices being done to hundreds of teachers who've simply tried to help kids and make a decent living for their own families.
YOU disgust ME.
That wasn't me. I had bugs and secret cameras planted throughout and that was my image being projected. That was also Green's image that Randi thought she saw in the room.
ReplyDeleteTo the first ANON. You are the disgusting one. There are many RR and ATR teachers in the city and you are happy in your Unity job doing nothing for the members who pay their dues.
ReplyDeleteDITTO POGUE! You nailed it on the head!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to resort to "fighting words" by saying you "lied" or "failed," but you did in fact completely misrepresent Randi's words, tone, and untent in reference to Liz Green. Randi's aides were tongue-in-cheek and did not lend themselves to misinterpretaion except by those people who desired to do so. Randi to my knowledge has many time expressed respect and appreciation for Elizabeth's reporting. Please don't tar Randi in this way on this matter. It is absolutely ill-founded.
ReplyDeleteCorrection: Of course I meant "words" rather than "aides" and "intent" rather than "untent" in the above comment.
ReplyDeleteSo you are trying to say when Randi used the words "unethical" about Green she was being tongue in cheek? They must have had Kool-aid in the coffee.
ReplyDeleteUhm, Norm, are you being threatened by a union member?
ReplyDeleteDoes the anonymous commenter realize how many NYC teachers read this blog? Teachers, especially new teachers have so little respect for our union to start, how do you think they are going to react when they see someone threaten "your time too will come"
Is it any wonder that we can't get people to come to union meetings anymore?
No wonder we're being bashed by the public.