Sunday, February 24, 2013

Cavanagh Defends Seniority Rights in NY 1 Debate With E4E, UFT and E4E on Same Page on Ed Evals

Julie Cavanagh for UFT Prestident! She actually lit a fire in my chest and brought a tear to my eye. This is exactly the type of fight we need to bring to the media! ---Alex Torres in response to appearance on NY 1 debating E4E March 4, 2011 at 10:25:00 PM EST
....our union leadership must be responsive to its membership. Our membership and the parents we serve overwhelmingly support Seniority Rights. Seniority is the ONLY research-based method for laying off educators and hiring them back. Seniority is the ONLY objective method for lay-offs, and it protects educators so that they are not the targets of arbitrary firing or are otherwise a target b/c of race, sexual preference, or their advocacy for children. ---- Julie Cavanagh, March, 2011 in comment on Ed Notes in response to E4E
For those Unity slugs out there, point to some statements from MulGarten with as rigorous a defense of seniority rights as Julie has made. And of course there is the UFT/E4E commercials calling for the same thing.  Not so strange bedfellows, it seems.
 
See Julie in the March 3, 2011 debate with an E4Eer on NY1.

Leonie Haimson was hosting an event for Diane Ravitch's appearance on John Stewart the same night (my birthday -- and I dragged my wife over there after a great dinner at my fave B-day place, One if By Land) and I was at the party to tape as Julie appeared on the NY 1 report at 10PM and we all watched it together. Al Shanker's wife Edie was in the room along with Ravitch and Julie became a star that night. (I do have some tape somewhere of their reactions to Julie.)

Which is why Julie's candidacy is a major threat to the UFT as she transcends narrow UFT internal politics of the past -- as one Unity caller told me and said was voting for Julie. Even some New Action people have been jumping off that bandwagon. In the election there are 3 caucuses but only 2 choices for President.

I put up this report on Ed Notes and note the comments 2 years ago calling for Julie to run for UFT president. Who knew?

Julie went to the NY 1 studio by herself while the E4E was accompanied by Evan and Sydney who were giving Julie the once-over (this was before we released our film so Julie was not yet as well-known.) MORE is thinking of challenging E4E to a debate since Mulgrew won't do it (Randi did debate in 2 elections - 1999 and 2001). Since E4E and Unity are on the same page on teacher evals -- did they recycle the UFT commercials? -- they might as well be on the same team. But to paraphrase Lincoln, if A=B and B=C than A=C. Thus on ed deform eval E4E=Unity/UFT/AFT.

 Here was my March 4, 2011 report.

Diane Ravitch and Julie Cavanagh Kick Butt

Last Update: Friday, March 4, 10:45 PM

I was at the viewing party last night for Diane Ravitch's appearance on Jon Stewart with Diane as the guest and we all enjoyed not only watching her appearance but Stewart's wonderful defense of teachers and take down of the ed deformers.

We were also treated to GEM's Julie Cavanagh's kicking of an E4E member's butt from one end of the NY1 studio to the next on "Inside City Hall". And all the while doing it with civility and grace.

Here is the link to Julie:  http://www.ny1.com/?ArID=134963

Let me point out that Julie did what the UFT won't do: defend LIFO and seniority in a strong and well-thought out way. Was that the best E4E has? She contradicted herself time after time.

Here's a link to Ravitch on Stewart show. But watch the first part of the show too where Stewart lays out the ed deformers in a brilliant way.

From Leonie to those who attended the viewing party (I have some tape). (Yes, we survived by B-day celebration at One if by Land, a wonderful meal and headed uptown after I sobered up.)
Thanks to all of you who came last night to our viewing party, at such short notice, especially Diane, for being our hero and working so hard every day to advocate for rational policies in public education. 

The conversation and company was terrific and it was great to share it with all of you. 

I have posted links to all of yesterday’s shows on the NYC parent blog, including Inside City Hall with Julie Cavanagh about LIFO, the Daily show with Diane, and the NPR radio show that Diane and I were on yesterday here:

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2011/03/yesterday-was-great-day-for-real.html

Julie Cavanagh told me today that Errol Louis , the host of Inside City Hall, had a print out of our Parents Across America fact sheet on “why experience matters” in front of him during her debate.

http://parentsacrossamerica.org/how-teaching-experience-makes-a-difference/

If you haven’t yet subscribed to our Parents Across America newsletter, please do on the website at www.parentsacrossamerica.org

Thanks so much, and pl. keep in touch!

Leonie Haimson
The comments are interesting with some E4E types attacking Julie.

12 comments:

  1. Julie Cavanagh for UFT President!!!

    What a tremendous job done on NY1...

    -John
  2. Wow Julie Cavanaugh was absolutely fantastic. I want to thank her so much for such a wonderful debate. She kept her cool and just was terrific. No link on GS. It figures.

  3. Absolutely! Agreed with John. Julie Cavanagh for UFT Prestident! She actually lit a fire in my chest and brought a tear to my eye. This is exactly the type of fight we need to bring to the media!

  4. Julie Cavanaugh,
    PLEASE run for UFT president. You care for our children and for our teachers.

    You have my vote already!

  5. Julie Cavanaugh cited incorrect research, please cite your peer reviewed study! So what does Julie think is the way to dismiss an ineffective teacher? what criteria do we use. The anti accountability folks like to poke holes in all efforts for accountability but don't propose real alternatives.


  6. First, let me thank Stephane Barile and Liza Campbell, two young teachers from NYCORE and GEM who had the courage to put together an amazing letter for teachers w/ less than five years in support of seniority rights. That form letter, if you haven't signed it, can be found on the GEM site. They were contacted by Inside City Hall, couldn't do it, and passed the opportunity on to me- thank you ladies!

    Second, to the very flattering comments above. Thank you, and I will simply say this: our union leadership must be responsive to its membership. Our membership and the parents we serve overwhelmingly support Seniority Rights. Seniority is the ONLY research-based method for laying off educators and hiring them back. Seniority is the ONLY objective method for lay-offs, and it protects educators so that they are not the targets of arbitrary firing or are otherwise a target b/c of race, sexual preference, or their advocacy for children.

    Finally, to the corporate reformer above: the reasearch is clear, Jane and Mr. Louis spoke to it. There is a great fact sheet which includes much of the research I cited on the Parents Across America site found right in this post. And, if you are saying my research is incorrect (which of course it is not), than why do you need me to cite it?

    I did offer a solution which closed out the piece.

    Finally, I am not "anti-accountability", I am anti-attacks-aimed-at-undermining-public-education-and-dismantling-public-sector-unions. Most importantly, I am FOR KIDS. The only way we know, acccording to the research, to serve kids best is to give them small class sizes and experienced educators... let's do just that.


  7. Julie Cananagh, give me a break with your lies, lies lies.
    In our school I'm on the hiring panel and we invited over six ATRs to open positions not one called or had the courtesy to let us know they were not showing.

    Julie lied and said Mayor tells schools not to hire ATRs.
    Big Lie they are given financial rewards to hire ATRS. Why would someone want my workload of teaching five classes a day, calling parents, counseling kids, attending meetings and conferences when it is much easier to sub all day or work in an office. The vast majority of us teachers work hard day in and day out and my union keeps catering the to lowest common denominator. We will never be a union of professionals until we stop defending the unprofessional.

    Teach as if your own kids are in the class.


  8. The fact sheet that shows teacher experience matters for up to 20 years of more that Julie refers to is posted here:

    http://parentsacrossamerica.org/how-teaching-experience-makes-a-difference/

    It has charts and links to peer-reviewed studies. It also reveals how smaller class sizes and teacher experience are the only two objective factors correlated with better student outcomes. Sad the way the mayor is trying to undermine both.

    Secondly, if E4E really cared about kids they would focus on preventing layoffs, not using layoffs as an opportunity to attack experienced teachers.


  9. Come on, E4Anonymous, give it up. No one attacked teachers till budget-cutting, pro-privatization Bloomberg came along. This "best and brightest" and "do it for the children" scam is getting old.

    The education field welcomes new teachers through natural attrition and retirements. As far as the code words, "bad teachers", that's a principal's job to help, handle, and hew, if need be. (fairly, mind you).

    Now, get back over to your web site. Arne, Mike, and Bill want their latte's refilled.

    P.S. Julie, Leonie, and Diane Ravitch were fantastic. Congratulations.

  10. Don't be so sure it is E4 and not a Unity slug.

    And E4 = Wall Street's Poodles...ruff ruff


  11. I watched the show with Diane Ravitch, and I too appreciated John Stewart's raw wit in presenting his viewpoint of the ongoing debate on teachers today. As a teacher for almost 20 years I have decided to do what I can to reach the politicians who are making decisions regarding our schools. Teachers need a voice. VIVAteachers is a place where a teacher's voice is beginning to reach the political realm. We need teacher involvement!

  12. Ravitch's, Stewart's, and Cavanaugh's conversations are well-timed to capture a resurgence of awareness in the nation that something is wrong in the current superficial discussions of teacher effectiveness (the absence of the terms "equity" and "poverty," for starters).

    Meanwhile, back at headquarters, Cuomo is making nice with Bloomberg in private phone conversations. Check out the NY Times article:

    http://nyti.ms/i2Kxzb

    Another example of how politics trumps policy in education almost every time. Some teachers and myself created a set of policy recommendations to advocate for teacher perspectives on teacher evaluations, but we have been getting little response. Read our report and help us to advocate for policies that better address contexts within schools and the idea of professional collaboration:

    http://bit.ly/gGYZGK




Posted by Norm @ at
Labels: , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)