Rank and File teachers increasingly sick of Democratic party as UFT/NYSUT/AFT Continue to Pander

Our union is in many ways just an appendage, a weak one at that, of the Democratic party.  As the party sinks further into the money raising pit, don't expect to see much positive change. Democrats are not capable as currently constituted of doing much for us. Since our union bosses are a major part of the Democratic establishment, do not expect them to lead a movement to put real progressives on the ballot.  We'll need to do it ourselves at the grassroots level... James Eterno, ICE blog, BEWARE OF DEMOCRATS COURTING UNION VOTE

Two recent items caught my eye, the Eterno piecce and this
email from Roseanne McCosh on the same topic.

Hey Norm,

I got a call from the Democratic Party last night.  I politely listened to the gentleman who told me dems lost seats in the last election.  Dems who lost strayed away from the party and our president.  They want to back the best people who stay on message. The voter turnout was low.   When he was done I told him that if the democratic party showed a backbone and supported unionized teachers, then more of us would have voted for them.  But as things stand now I will not support them.  He responded with more rhetoric about Obama.  Then I told him President Obama has proven that he too is bad for unionized teachers.  His appointee Arne Duncan is a clear example of that.  He interrupted me as I was making that point and began to argue.  I told him I would wait to see how the dems behave going forward and they would have to earn my vote.  He continued to interrupt me so I told him I wasn't staying on the phone arguing with a stranger who wants my vote and I hung up.  Are there any other teachers (or unionized workers) you know of who have gotten this phone call lately?  

The absolute nerve of these people.....they turn their backs on us and then complain about low voter turnout.  I always vote....but I've gone Green Party last couple of elections....until the dems grow a backbone they aren't getting my vote.

Then James Eterno posted a great piece on the ICE blog today. The UFT/NYSUT/AFT has so tied itself to the Democratic Party -- it is so important for Randi to be able to play in that pen, they leave themselves little options.

James contrasts the Chicago Teachers Union.

Instead, we need to be more organized and much more militant. That should be our first priority but we can't stick our heads in the sand and ignore elections. Chicago Teachers are setting the example by strongly opposing Democratic anti-union Mayor Rahm Emanual's bid for reelection.  They might not win but they have earned respect for sure by forcing a runoff.

 And he attempts to answer the question raised by NYC Educator:

As for how the weakness of labor impacts teacher unions, NYC Educator did a piece about a week ago wondering why UFT/NYSUT/AFT leaders make decisions that actually harm their members. Why is our union supporting rubbish such as teachers being rated based on student test scores on standardized exams (junk science), the untested Common Core and plenty of other nonsense that the rank and file overwhelmingly abhors?  Why did AFT President Randi Weingarten make phone calls for anti-public school candidate Kathy Hochul in a contested primary last yea?  Why did Randi act as an apologist for our foe Governor Andrew Cuomo during the fall election campaign?
These questions are not that difficult to answer.
Our union is in many ways just an appendage, a weak one at that, of the Democratic party.  As the party sinks further into the money raising pit, don't expect to see much positive change. Democrats are not capable as currently constituted of doing much for us.