Today: New Teacher Underground Discusses UNIONS! 5 PM

I was really hoping to make this today but it is the last day with our 20 year old cat who while still a fighter seems to be suffering too much. But if you can make it check it out. Gotham funder Ken Hirsh, my favorite hedge funder, said he will stop by. Sorry I'll miss him because we have had some great conversations.

I posted this on the "Ruben Brosbe is leaving" thread at Gotham, urging him to attend this so he can go off to Harvard with a little perspective. Go add your 2 cents.


The New Teacher Underground

5-7pm Thursdays all summer long (Extended time to 8 pm for continued conversation)
Lolita Bar, 266 Broome Street-- Find us downstairs
B/D to Grand, F to Delancey, J/M/Z to Essex

The New Teacher Underground is a social space for new and alternatively certified te

achers to find support and dissect the current realities of education in NYC. Teachers of any experience level will be able to engage with the discussion and help contribute to the development of our thinking, and you are welcome whether you have attended every week or have yet to join us. So far this summer we have had four great conversations on topics such as privilege and power, the history and structure of the NYC public schools, the nature of alternative certification programs, mayoral control and high stakes testing, etc. These sessions have been both socially and intellectually engaging; coming together with newer teachers to strengthen our understanding of education in New York City has been rewarding.

This coming Thursday our topic is Your Union and Social Justice Unionism where we will have an opportunity to engage with questions like, What do teacher protections like tenure and contracts mean for us and for our students? How does the UFT organize us and what more should it do? We will be joined by three experienced and knowledgeable individuals who will share their thinking and help facilitate our conversation. Peter Lamphere, chapter leader and member of the Grassroots Education Movement, will provide some context for why teacher protections are important and can share his knowledge about the history of the UFT and its relation to labor movements in this country. Sam Coleman, NYCoRE member and Fight Back Friday organizer, will help us think about how our union could be functioning differently. Natalie Havlin, organizer with Teachers Unite, will help lead us in an activity where we envision the type of effective collective actions in which teachers could be engaging. We will also have resources for teachers in charter schools who may be interested in thinking about their relationship to the teachers unions. And we will be sure to have plenty of time for discussion, with extended time until 8pm upstairs for those who want to keep the conversation going.

We will have a few copies of the great article "Who's Bashing Teachers and Public Schools and What Can We Do About It?"originally published in Rethinking Schools, but if you'd like to read it before the session on Thursday it may include some useful ideas to bring to the conversation. We hope you will join us!

Please forward this email to anyone who might be interested, and feel free to contact us at newteacherunderground@gmail.com or check us out on facebook or at our blog on the NYCoRE website.

The New Teacher Underground5-7pm Thursdays all summer long (Extended time to 8 pm for continued conversation)
Lolita Bar, 266 Broome Street-- Find us downstairs
B/D to Grand, F to Delancey, J/M/Z to EssexJuly 14th: What it Means to be a Teacher in New York City Right Now
Developing a people’s history of the New York City public schools
July 21st: Privilege, Power and Public Schools
Unpacking the concept of the “achievement gap” by addressing privilege and power in our school system and in our classrooms
July 28th: The Meaning of Alternative Certification
What are the histories of Teach for America and the New York City Teaching Fellows programs? What role do they play in today’s education climate?
August 4th: Welcome to Teaching
Understanding mayoral control, high-stakes testing, privatization and other top-down policies that impact our classrooms
August 11th: Your Union and Social Justice Unionism
What do teacher protections like tenure and contracts mean for us and for our students? How does the UFT organize us and what more should it do?
August 18th: The so-called “No Excuses” Classroom
…and other educational jargon in your teacher training reading material. What do “accountability” and “data” really mean to our work?
August 25th: Anti-Racist Classrooms & Anti-Racist Curriculum
How to circumvent institutional racism in schools and develop culturally relevant curriculum that connects students to the world outside the classroom
September 1st: First Days…
How can you really prepare? What is most important? What strengths will you bring to the classroom? What is your teaching core?