You come after one of us, you deal with all of us ---- Michael Mulgrew.
Karen Lewis led it off and Mulgrew finished it, with Detroit's Keith Johnson and someone from Colorado whose name I didn't get in between. We get a sense that we are all in this together and if we don't fight this together no one can win.
Listen to the Colorado union rep if I remember correctly 2 years ago there was so much excitement about the "collaboration" in Colorado which she says has now been thrown out. Yes, are people learning that even when you try to give them much of the loaf and keep a piece for yourself, they don't even want you to have that piece.
And Detroit Fed Teacher head Keith Johnson who seemed so smug in Seattle got up and made a rousing speech about the overwhelming attack going on in Detroit and other cities. Lisa and Gloria were sitting with a Detroit teacher who told them her salary this year was $8000 less than last and she will finish her career making less than what she started with.
http://youtu.be/nFczwUFc6Nk
I know many of you guys are saying it's all bullshit. But I was in Seattle in 2010 the Gates fiasco and the climate here has turned. Will they act on it or are these just words? I truly believe the UFT and the AFT will back Chicago all the way. There is no choice. I told Randi the other day that Chicago was bringing us all together. While I will continue to hammer them when needed I am also looking for areas where we can agree.
I was impressed and shook Mulgrew's hand afterward. When they do the right thing we should say, "Right on" and the message Mulgrew sent and the way he delivered it was Right On!
Read Biden speech, NYC Educator style:
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Previous @AFT Ed Notes Reports (in reverse chronological order)
- Video @AFT Special - Solidarity Resolution - Mulgr...
- @AFT - Chicago Teachers Protest RTTT During/After ...
- @AFT - Chicago Teachers Show Displeasure at Uncond...
- Breaking @AFT - Before Biden Speech: STOP RACE TO ...
- RAVITCH ROCKS @AFTConv12
- @AFT Share My Lesson = No Speeches
- @AFT: NYC/Chicago Showdown Over Moratorium on Cha...
- @AFT: Stephen Sawchuck on Unity Caucus and Leo Cas...
- @AFT 11PM Friday UPDATE - A Walk and Talk With Ran...
- @AFT - Friday July 27 11:30AM - Solution Driven Un...
- @AFT - Friday July 27 10AM Report
- @AFT Convention: Thursday July 26
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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.
It's all bullshit. Randi's full of shit. Mulgrew's full of shit. Leo Casey's full of shit. Dick Ianuzzi's full of shit. The entire AFT, the UFT and the NYSUT leadership are full of shit.
ReplyDeleteDon't believe your ears.
Believe your eyes.
New teacher evaluation system based upon Common Core Federal Standard tests coming to a school district near you - two kinds! State tests AND local tests! Signed off on by the AFT, the NEA, the UFT and the NYSUT! Yayy! Isn't collaboration fun!
New evaluation system incorporates 40% from test scores, but you come up negative on that part, you automatically get an "I" rating.
UFT and NYSUT happily agreed to this, with Mulgrew and Ianuzzi onstage shaking Cuomo's hand!
Whee! Isn't standing up for teachers fun!
New Danielson rubric, with its 57 page checklist, ensures every classroom observation can be an "I" rating (too much technology! not enough technology! not the right kind of technology! not News Corp. technology!) And it's shilled by the UFT and Mulgrew!
Sorry, Norm - nothing's changed except the rhetoric. This is all a pre-election light show, making sure reality doesn't seep into the teaching corps. and they stay home on Election Day.
But make no mistake, corporate ed deform as co-sponsored by Randi, Mulgrew, et al. will back better than ever next school year - more sell-outs! More school closings! And don't forget merit pay!
Whee!
And of course the "I" rating firings will commence as soon as they can do them - again, fully agreed upon by the unions.
As always, hope to be wrong on this.
But until the current leaderships at the AFT, the NEA, the UFT and the NYSUT are either replaced by genuine labor leaders willing to fight for teachers (like Lewis) or carted out on RICO charges for the corruption that is endemic around them, nothing will change.
They're putting on a show to fool people, but the machinations they've engaged in will continue unabated.
But as I say, happy to be wrong here.
Just doubtful that I am.
I've seen too many sell-outs to believe the rhetoric.
I agree 100% with Reality Based Educator. It is not what the UFT/AFT/NYSUT says, it is what the do. They sold out all NY State teachers by agreeing to a horrible evaluation system that is designed to get rid of teachers every 2 years. This was done for what? Blood money from the State and Feds that WILL NOT be used to reduce class size or make any positive changes in the actual classroom. (The money will be used to further develop more tests) The only hope I see is if the UFT refuses to step to the table with Bloomberg on the local evaluation measures. Of course the rag papers are going to say that the evil UFT refuses to accept more money for the "sake of the kids". However, we all know that any money will not be used for anything other than more testing for teachers. The UFT must wait till we get a new mayor. If the new mayor does not want to step to the table, then we can wait him or her out as well. This is going to be a long fight and patience is key. The fact is that there are quite a few states in the US that refused to make changes to the teaching profession at the hands of a hostile government hell bent on destroying what is left of the great craft of teaching.
ReplyDeleteNorm,
ReplyDeleteTime to clean your glasses and get rid of those roses.
You really should do some research before shaking hands. According to today's NYTimes, Mulgrew thinks it's okay for Pearson to now evaluate teachers for NYS certification. So when RBE say, "see what they do", maybe you should heed that advice. How much of our tax dollars should Pearson be getting at this stage of the game. Yesterday the NYTimes ran an article on how a Texas professor found Pearson's statistics so faulty, they shouldn't be used for evaluation purposes. But I suppose it's okay to have Pearson pay any one they want $75/hr (I think that's the salary) to judge who the next crop on NYC teachers will be.
Yes Norm, Randi and Mulgrew are rocking the convention. They are rocking it right into the hands of privatization.
Norm-You went down this road with Randi in the nineties. I remember. Please be careful.
ReplyDeleteI like the attitude here Norm. They need to be hammered because hammering them may do some good. How would the deformersm Arne and Obama like it if a strike in Chicago meant one in Madison, Buffalo and Pittsburgh too ? Imagine a nationwide strike for that matter. This only works if we are serious and I don't know very many teachers who are laughing at this point. Solidarity is Sanity in 2012.
ReplyDeleteYes Sean I do believe they need to be hammered at every point, not that it does much good. I'm not really interested in the leaders but in the rank and file which is the group we have to talk to. Question I am having is what impact hammering the leadership constantly has on the average teacher? My sense after talking to people in Chicago is to hammer less but more effectively and praise when appropriate. Get them to move or Give them enough rope to hang themselves.
ReplyDeleteI will be posting some interesting points from some of the people near the top in Chicago about Randi and given their political astuteness I have to take that into account.
I agree with you, Norm. When they say the right thing, we need to praise them. I told Randi I appreciated the fire in her speech on Friday.
ReplyDeleteDeeds, not words: these people are public figures, and are skilled at tailoring their speeches for their audience. In 2010, Weingarten felt the need to impress Bill Gates - and also introduce her members to TINA (There Is No Alternative). This time, she felt the need to sway them with faux militancy.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I looked, they still supported mayoral control, VAM , Common Core, Danielson and every other vehicle for attacking teachers.
They endorsed Obama without demanding any kind of concessions on Race to the Top.
As for solidarity with the CTU, unless Weingarten is somehow kept away, she will support Karen Lewis and the teachers of Chicago the way a noose supports a hanged man.
Fiorello is correct. The Kool Aid is so strong. They deserve no praise. They have helped to create the mess we are in. Perhaps we should praise Vichy France too.
ReplyDelete