So we had the big reveal of the ABC officer slate last night at a meeting that had 900 register and more than half show up which breaks even out own mold of attendance at ABC events.
I'm a bit busy today with petitions so won't go into too much detail. After each of the candidates spoke, there was an intense Q and A and my faith in Amy increased by the way she handled them. She's been a candidate for only 2 days and I already see her growth.
She came under attack by what were clearly Unity trolls and dealt with it well.
And even after the meeting ended officially we were there until 10PM. Here is the leaflet for today
6 comments:
I am all in for Amy but with a a tad of trepidation: She was an entrenched Unity member and backed most of their crappy polices and contracts. Will she be speaking out how she is now a changed person? It won't be ok for her to just say she was following orders from Mulgrew/Unity. We need to hear what she disagreed with and why she disagreed with it when she was serving under Unity. I am not alone in thinking this way as some other teachers at my school feel the same way. (However, we are going to support her in the election) Would also need to hear the exact shenanigans and back room dealings she witnessed under the Mulgrew presidency.
Inexplicable to me why Paul Egan is also on the ABC slate which held so much promise.
I had some of the same skeptical ideas about Amy's switch but have also had some indirect contact over the past 2 years about what she was thinking. In fact I was somewhat involved in a situation that had Mulgrew fuming at her when she endorsed Maya Wiley for mayor before Mulgrew endorsed Adams and she got in big trouble for that move and in fact I wrote about that and then took it down to protect her. So why would I protect Amy almost 4 years ago? Because over the past 10 or more years I had access to her for assitance for people who came to me. Was she always able to help? No but she seemed to try. I know some people don't think that way but she has been the only UFT official I have felt comfortable going to. For me that counts for something and I will say that we are building ABC as a non-caucus with no loyalty oaths and she supports that and knows we will hold her feet to the fire -- Adcom and Exec Bd has been built to avoid a cult. As for Paul Egan - there is some baggage but he does have inside knowledge of how things work and what needs to be fixed and he was expelled from the cult of Unity 5 years ago. Does he have a grudge? Maybe but I think we take a chance as sometimes a grudge can drive people to make things better. So why not Paul who does have a following even inside Unity -- and an election is about bringing votes, so what do we have to lose?
Is Amy still a card carrying/loyalty oath registered/paid employee of Unity? I want to trust her and vote for her but there is not a lot of, "proof" that she is/was against the Unity machine. As far as I know, she does not have a blog or large online presence which shares her criticism of Mulgrew's policies. Is she actually still working/getting paid in the Queens UFT office as a Unity employee? If so, that kind of speaks a lot about her priorities. Seems like she has to support Unity policies right now or she would have been fired by Mulgrew and be sent back in the classroom by now, correct? If she honestly is a changed and "reformed" Unity member, we need to be hearing it from her right now. Folks are saying that she has not been in the classroom for 20 years and she has not been subject to the crap that Unity has thrown at teachers in that time. Amy needs to be speaking out right now about how she feels. But as we all know, saying one thing and doing it is another.
Amy has been labeled an antisemite on Facebook’s NYC Retired Teacher Talk. Some retired teachers on there are working themselves into a lather of hate and fear. She needs to strongly repudiate what is quickly becoming an ever devolving manufactured image, which is being used as a means to destabilize and undermine overall resistance to Unity and Mulgrew.
They didn't do themselves any favors with this slate. With all the hype leading up to Tuesday to see the same cast of characters was really disappointing.
So the people that started the ABC "movement" are all on the officer slate? Appears self-serving. And Paul Egan...this doesnt feel serious
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