Saturday, June 26, 2021

Norms Morn: Sat, June 26 - Retiree Rally June 30 - come on down, Randi on Scotus - takes both sides, DSA mixed results in city, WTF- Rhode Island Dems charterize - With AFT Support?, Class size video

 

Multi-municipal union retirees to rally and walk - not run- to visit union HQ - joined by some young working teachers to hold us up and pick us up.

Join us in June 30 at 12 noon at the plaza in front of the Indian Museum across from Battery Park for a rolling rally where we will make some strategic stops - maybe even visit 52 Broadway. 

 

June 26 - Good morning and happy first day of vacation - 

Bipartisanship sucks - Infrastrucure is a gift to corporate Dems and Rep

 The Left and POC -

When we were in MORE and people would lament the lack of people of color we would say they are in Unity if you want to find them. So then the response to that was that those people were bought off -- the left can't understand that there may be more than bribery involved. Many black people especially reject the left -- but these are the older crowd and polls show younger blacks leaned to Wiley over Adams.

For those of us who lived through years of white progressives in MORE Caucus rending their garments over the failure to attract people of color, this one's for you:

A yearslong challenge for the left was starkly illustrated this week as its hopes faded in the New York mayor’s race. .. Adams' appeal adds evidence to an emerging trend in Democratic politics: a disconnect between progressive activists and the rank-and-file Black and Latino voters who they say have the most to gain from their agenda. As liberal activists orient their policies to combat white supremacy and call for racial justice, progressives are finding that many voters of color seem to think about the issues quite a bit differently.

https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/on-politics

There were some gains for the socialist left (vs the liberal left). The new mayor of Buffalo is a DSA and DSA was in contention in City Council races where they put their energy. Yesterday I posted Erik Mears' piece on the left and DSA. Erik is a leftist but also a West Point grad who served in Iraq. Mayhe he was the one Gen Wiley was talking about as he schoold Matt Goetz.  If you missed it:

DSA - as a member I often cheer and cringe at the same time -- but here's a mixed story

Gotham: Some Gains For DSA

The Democratic Socialists of America made modest gains in electing their endorsed candidates to the Council. Of the six candidates they backed, two are leading in their respective races. They include Tiffany Caban for the 22nd Council District in Queens (she is also claiming victory), and Alexa Aviles for the 38th Council District in Brooklyn.

Read More: How Far Left Will These Two Centrist City Council Seats Go?

The rest—including Adolfo Abreu for the 14th Council District in the Bronx, Jaslin Kaur in the 23rd Council District in Queens, Michael Hollingsworth in Brooklyn's 35th Council District, and Brandon West in the 39th Council District, also in Brooklyn—trail so far. With only two members of the DSA making some inroads, their influence doesn't appear to completely shift the Council's political ground to the left.

https://gothamist.com/news/six-takeaways-city-council-results-2021 

From DSA Queens update:

Electoral Working Group 

The EWG just wants to say THANK YOU to everyone for an amazing election season! Whether you did a shift a week or talked to your friends about our candidates, this was a group effort and we are so proud of Queens DSA. It seems we won't have a final result until July, so stay tuned for that news!

 

However, the results as of now:

In Jaslin’s race, 91.92% of in-person votes have been recorded (including early and Election Day voting, but not absentee ballots). The total of first-place rankings in the first round shows Jaslin in close second place, fewer than 600 votes behind Linda Lee. There's still a lot of race to go and everyone should be proud!

Image

In Tiffany’s race, she declared victory that night with 49.32% of first choice votes! While her race has not been “officially” decided, her lead is steep. Congrats Tiffany!

 

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The future of a unionless, privatized school system - backed by the AFT state union --- Can that possibly be true? O yes it can -- remember how the AFT  backed NCLB, Race to the top --- The neo-libs hand the union the knife and they stick it into themselves.

Rhode Island goes rogue by automatically enroll every child in lottery

From Ravitch:  

Rhode Island: Legislature Proposes that Every Child in State Be Placed in Charter Lottery

When Gina Raimondo, now Secretary of Commerce, was governor of Rhode Island, she was an enthusiastic supporter of privately-run charter schools. Her successor as governor was director of a charter school (Blackstone Valley Prep) before he ran for office.

Now, the Rhode Island House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would “automaticallly enter all public school students into charter school lotteries...” with parents having to actively opt their child out if they prefer the traditional public school in their community instead. …. 

The bill was sponsored by Democrat Rep. Edith Ajello of Providence and Democrat Rep. Joseph McNamara of Cranston and Warwick says it has the support of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.

https://www.wpri.com/news/education/opting-out-instead-of-opting-in-ri-house-wants-to-change-charter-school-system/

Remember who Raimondo it -- BIDEN'S Commerce Secty who was floated as Ed Secty until progressive nixed her. Sometimes I actually get some joy watching Republicans savage Dems.

See also https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/05/28/infante-green-removed-teacher-contract-negotiation-providence/7487933002/

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new video: why class size matters!

Check out and share our new video!

NYC educators, parents, students, elected officials explain how class size has a profound impact on learning and the quality of education, especially for disadvantaged and high needs students, and that for the sake of true equity, class sizes should be reduced in NYC and nationwide. 

If you agree, sign our petition to the Mayor .

Shorter version of the video here on vimeo here.

Thanks, Leonie Haimson

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SCOTUS decision on student free speech: Randi takes both sides - in the same article

Doesn’t this sound like the Randi and AFT switched positions? https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/23/supreme-court-snapchat-school-free-speech-495655

The nation’s second largest teachers union and education groups representing school boards, principals and superintendents, in an amicus brief, had urged the high court to side with the school district. The groups wanted justices to “reaffirm that the nation’s public schools retain the authority to discipline students, as warranted, for off campus student speech that threatens to interfere improperly with school operations.”...

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also lauded the opinion, saying “the court made a wise decision in favor of the student.”

“While off-campus speech by students can be the subject of discipline when threats or bullying are involved, there must be a higher standard when the speech occurs outside of school,” she said.

 

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