School Scope: Students Rally, NYC High Schools Cheat, Auto Workers Strike - The WAVE

School Scope:  Students Rally, NYC High Schools Cheat, Auto Workers Strike

By Norm Scott

For The WAVE - Sept. 27, 2019

Reports of cheating by pumping up graduation rates at a Queens HS by the NY Post have caused a stir. A lot of teachers have been saying “Duhhhhh!” Pressures to pass kids and increase grad rates began in the early years of the Bloomberg administration. Of course then, the NY Post, a Bloomberg supporter, bragged about those phony numbers. Bloomberg and his henchman Joel Klein incentivized schools to cheat by closing over 150 so-called “failing” schools which committed the crime of not being smart enough to game the system.

The reaction of the UFT under both Bloomberg and the mayor’s controlled DOE has been consistent: join in the accolades and ignore the pleas of teachers for an honest system. Former UFT president once bragged that the increase in scores was due to the work of teachers and therefore they deserved a raise when Bloomberg was balking at a contract. I warned Randi about that slippery slope – that if scores go down, do teacher salaries get cut?

The UFT is in a difficult place. The pressures on teachers by administrators is intense. Their recourse should be the UFT but in the absence of that option they will go to the press, in particular the NY Post which has an agenda that is not in our best interests and aims to take down the DOE and de Blasio and also casts shade on us as a union, especially with those teachers who come to feel the UFT functions as an apologizer for the DOE. We know the hypocrisy of the Post which advocates closing schools that are deemed failures. Many teachers are perfectly satisfied to go along since high grades and grad rates also make them look good. If we brag about how well schools are doing as UFT President Mulgrew often does, we don't look very good when these stories put all progress into doubt.

Climate march

I began my journey to the climate march last Friday at Grand Central Station, heading downtown to Foley Square a few blocks north of the Brooklyn Bridge and was met by masses of youngsters of all ages crowding the staircase and platform and onto the train. They broke into chants like “we want climate justice; if we don’t get it shut it down.” When we got out of the subway, the streets were so packed it was clear we weren’t going to get near Foley Sq. So many of us joined the front end of the march as it went down Broadway to the gathering point in Battery Park where 16-year activist Greta Thunberg was set to speak later. I sometimes listen to the alternate universe of right wing radio where climate change due to human activity is denied, and  Greta Thunberg and all the young people she has inspired are mocked. These pundits say we don’t know for sure if human activity is responsible and argue that attempts to intervene would harm the economy. Of course given the evidence of the climate changes since 1850 when the industrial revolution began in earnest seem rather obvious. Just think of the impact of accumulating auto exhaust over the past 100 years and how the numbers of cars have reached an astronomical number. Just raising mileage per gallon significantly would have a major impact. When I moved to Rockaway in 1979 I could see a clear line of pollution hanging over the Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. There was a clear difference in the air and another good reason to live in Rockaway. Due to the much despised government regulations some of that pollution has been cleared and everyone breathes a little better, but autos running on gas continue to spew carbon into the air.

When Jimmy Carter was president there were serious moves in the direction to average 35 mpg but Republican President Reagan reversed them in the 80s. Imagine what we lost over the past 40 years. Two Republican Presidents named Bush also supported the auto industry and probably Democrat Clinton didn’t do much on emissions either. Obama did try but of course Republican, or whatever he is, Trump has actually lowered standards, even challenging California’s higher standards, something even the auto industry has opposed. So if you wonder why I trash Republicans even more than I trash Democrats……

GM Strike
Speaking of the auto industry, workers at General Motors are on strike. They almost went bankrupt in 2008 and Obama came to their aid and so did the workers, who took a big hit. Now GM is very profitable and also closing plants and moving them abroad. Democrats have jumped on the bandwagon after losing so many swing state union votes to Trump. Republicans have always taken anti-union positions.

I found someone who reads this column who challenged me when I question how union members can support Republicans. The above is a partial response. More next time.

Norm blogs all too often at ednotesonline.com.

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