The Battle of Pro-vs anti-Mandates Petitions comes to the UFT - Vax Resistance not just from the right crosses racial lines - Only 27 Percent of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated -

Just one kid dying from covid that is traceable to a school where contagion might have come from an unvaxed teacher will cause a firestorm that makes Greece look like an iceberg.

PETITION FOR SAFE SCHOOLS OR SAFETY WALKOUTS

Daniel Alicea from Educators of NYC and others including me wrote some clear demands that the NYC Department of Education should meet before anyone returns to NYC schools. Schools need to be safe. This evening Daniel turned it into a change.org petition. --- ICE/UFT Blog.

Countered by:

petition against vaccine mandates: NY Teachers Against Vaccine Mandates for Educators (over 17,000 signatures and rising!)

Dueling petitions inside the UFT. Check the wild west comment section on the ICE blog. The EONYC petition is hitting 700 in less than 24 hours - so if you want to see mandates head on over. a change.org petition.

Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator and UFT Ex Bd member, makes the case for mandated in an appearance at Bloomberg News - 

"It's our duty to keep our students safe.. and to keep ourselves safe ...I do not understand some of my colleagues [who are opposed]. My kids come in from other countries and when they are not vaccinated the nurse comes in and tells them they can't attend school until they are...."

The waffling UFT leadership is leaning toward mandates but fears the much more vocal anti mandate crowd. Full disclosure -- I'm working with the ICE crew and lean toward mandates but my libertarian tendencies keep popping up. But I get that Mulgrew fears taking the lead -- Randi came out for mandates but personally with the AFT most likely to take a position, especially since the NEA just did so. From what I hear, the leadership has been inundated by the organized anti-mandate crowd while the disorganized pro-mandate crowd has had little impact - so far - but seems to be rearing up.

I mean there's this:

Four Broward County Educators Lose Battle With COVID-19 In Less Than 24 Hours...

I bet they weren't vaxed. People are scared, in some ways worse then last year when there were lots of options. Now the option is a crowded classroom. 

As I said I'm torn but also pissed at the possibility of non-vaxed spreading sickness. I can afford to stay in hiding. But what about the children in school factor? The unvaxed under 12 and the over 12 students who have not chosen to get vaxed. The report of resistance in the Black community is a real problem for progressives - I have more on this further down.

Just think of a school where most teachers are vaxed but some aren't, as are many parents and almost all students are not vaxed. The vaxed teachers are fairly safe -- maybe not the older ones but still pretty safe. But what kind of environment? Do unvaxed teachers work as freely as vaxed? What about the testing for unvaxed - even if every week, what about between tests and the mingling that goes on?

Just one kid dying from covid that is traceable to a school where contagion might have come from an unvaxed teacher will cause a firestorm that makes Greece look like an iceberg.

Resistance to the vax resisters grows --back to the petition that calls for mandated vax for teachers - a list of demands - sign it here- a change.org petition

We DEMAND:

1.  Mandated vaccinations - Anyone 12 years of age or older entering a DOE facility, including but not limited to school buildings, should possess proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The unvaccinated must not be allowed entrance in instructional spaces (unless there is a documented medical exemption).
2. Mandated masking - Everyone within the premises of a DOE facility must have a mask on at all times, except for eating at proper times. Failure to do so will result in their immediate removal.
3. Heightened COVID Testing and Tracing Protocols - Weekly random testing of at least 33% of the entire school communities. There must be baseline testing for all students and staff in September. We expect clear, strict and concise procedures in place for quarantine and closing down schools when there is a COVID outbreak. This includes a return to a school-wide 14 day quarantine based on a total threshold of 3 or more positive cases within the school community.  Baseline testing for all those returning from quarantine.
4. Strict adherence to social distancing - There must be strict adherence to at least 3 feet of social distancing at all times. Distance is subject to increase if authorities deem so.
5. Proper, Science-Based Ventilation in all DOE facilities- We demand for scientifically proven methods to control and monitor the spread of airborne diseases, including COVID, that include enhanced ventilation with outdoor air, and high efficiency filtration. Sites must be inspected and certified by a board certified industrial hygienist before anyone is allowed in the facility.
6. A Remote Option - A remote learning option for all parents/guardians that want to opt for one.
7. No Learning Loss Screenings/Diagnostics and Focus on SEL, trauma-informed supports - There will be no academic screening/diagnostic assessments for so-called deficit of learning/learning loss. Rather, we must focus resources on the social-emotional well-being of our students by funding after school programs, PSAL, counseling, social service and weekend programs.  We desire a pause in required high stakes state standardized testing until performance based alternatives are explored.
8.  Increased transparency, tracking capability and reliability in COVID-19 data reporting - We demand an updated COVID-19 city wide dashboard that is more transparent, meaningful and reliable in its data reporting of COVID-19 incident cases, hospitalizations and deaths that tracks over 90 day intervals and shows vaccination rates.
Failure to implement these demands will result in a coalition of educators and parents urging UFT members, families and students to stay out of buildings deemed unfit until they are safe for teaching and learning.

Sign the petition, please!

There is a racial component to the anti-vaxers, which has given some progressives pause:

 "as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting Covid-19..." Politico

This is an eye-opening report from Politico, but not surprising. Over the past week a few of us were engaged in a debate on ICEUFT listserve with a black retiree who was an adamant resister. I really get where that resistance is coming from - there is massive mistrust of the medical community by Black people, often well-deserved. 

“Why Only 27 Percent of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated,” by The New York Times’ Joseph Goldstein and Matthew Sedacca: “A construction site safety manager in Queens said that as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting Covid-19. A graduate student in the Bronx who had not gotten vaccinated said her worst fears seemed confirmed when a vaccine that the government was directing to Black and poorer neighborhoods was briefly suspended over a small number of dangerous blood clots. And a civil rights activist in the Bronx said he grew suspicious when he heard last year that politicians were prioritizing minority neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccinations. ‘Since when does America give anything good to Black people first?’ said the activist, Hawk Newsome, a 44-year-old Black Lives Matter leader who is unvaccinated.

“All three situations reflect a trend that has become a major concern to public health experts: Young Black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the Delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks. City data shows that only 27 percent of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 years are fully vaccinated, compared with 48 percent of Latino residents and 52 percent of white residents in that age group

I had a conversation with a white over 80 retired unvaxed teacher, a Trump supporter, who told me she was not getting vaxed because she didn't trust Fauci, having heard he was financially involved with the vax companies. She already had a fairly mild case of covid this past March. She doesn't seem worried. Am I over-reacting?

With my libertarian tendencies, I don't like mandates and I hate wearing a mask. I also hated to be circumcised without my permission. And it hurt like hell. Still hurts. I balance that with fear of getting sick. And those who don't get vaxed are threats to me and others. I can support their position -- but do I have a right to know? If it was Ebola and not Covid would they claim a right to privacy? I'd like to see a blinking patch in foreheads.

But in fairness, let's look at: NY Teachers For Choice

our petition against vaccine mandates: NY Teachers Against Vaccine Mandates for Educators (over 17,000 signatures and rising!)

They seem to be against forced testing. Will they now protest rules for other vax requirements or are they basing their resistance to this vax because it is so new? I can see that point but so far 150 million people make for a pretty good test. Unless in a year or so I might find unexpected outcomes from the vax -- maybe my circumcised foreskin will grow back.

Word is this group has bombarded the UFT leadership and that is a factor in the UFT leadership's waffling over mandating a vaccine. They foresee a massive dues sucking machine.

Their steering committee has a bunch of NYC teachers:

Michael Kane, Queens, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Renee Lucca, Staten Island, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Jessica Anderson, Queens, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Bonnie Skala Kiladitis, QueensNY, United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Dennison Joyce, Brooklyn, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Monique G., Suffolk County, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Garret Ramirez, Queens, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT/AFT)

Crystal Bozeman-Palacio Brooklyn, NY: Teacher

Anthony Bloch, Queens, NY: United Federation of Teachers (UFT)

My question -- if you teach in a school with one of them, how do you react when you are in the same room? I don't think a vaxed teacher would have to worry but what about they become a carrier? What about unvaxed kids in your school?  Let's say you are an unvaxed teacher and kids under 12 get sick in your class. Are you potentially viable?

The anti-mandate people are holding a multi-union rally on August 25 opposing medical mandates. Is there enough pushback from the teachers and parents who would have to be in schools with the unvaxed to counter that? I hear their voices all the time but they are not yet organized enough -- though in my follow-up to this post I will point to some things going on in the other direction. A counter protest by those who want safe schools would indicate whether this group represents rank and file teachers.  Indications are from Florida and Texas that we may see rampant spread in schools in kids and and unvaxed teachers, with lots of school closings, but if we don't see that happen in the 6 weeks after school opens, we may have escaped.

What I would say to the anti-mandate people --- beware of long covid. Maybe wake up and smell the coffee -- if you can smell anything post-covid.

They do claim progressive voices support their campaign:

Tramell Thompson will be speaking at our August 25th Protest in NYC at City Hall. Thompson is an NYC Transit worker and Local 100 Union member. We would also love other Local 100 Union leaders to speak at our protest as well, if they are so inclined to do so. However Thompson has far-and-away been the most outspoken at the forefront of opposing forced vaccination for his union brothers and sisters for many months now.

Thompson is a fearless neighborhood and labor leader whose progressive track record speaks for itself. He was calling out Cuomo as an anti-labor tyrant

I hate the word "Choice" because that is the charter school and neo-lib buzz word. Choice is a great PR move but once you dig down you find that choice is destructive. Even when it comes to picking between snickers and 3 muskateers -- because if I have the choice I will eat both -- like I said - destructive.