TRS Election Pre-Outcome Analysis

Good news. No matter the outcome of the TRS election, David Kazansky will continue to do his workshops. See his video here.

A Bronx school

Friday, May 15, 2026

I'm about to head into Manhattan to prep for my Murray Hill tour tomorrow at noon. May 16 is Park Ave Festival where they close the southbound streets from 42 to 34 St. There will be all sorts of goodies and booths, including IMx Pilates on 39th and Madison, my new favorite place to exercise. But first I wanted to get these comments out before I drown in trying to analyze the TRS election.

The DOE run TRS election is over after the May 13 balloting in the schools in an election run by the DOE - how competent do you think that was? Well, depending on the school and principal. Any candidate and voter, or those denied the opportunity to vote (the rule was to vote after school only - and many could not stay) can probably find loads of reasons to protest the way it was run in some schools. I do know from the ABC chats that the active Kazansky people made sure the elections were run as correctly as possible in their schools by feeding the principal the correct info and keeping a close eye on the process. Reports from Unity-dominated schools are sketchy but the intense pressure from the leadership to get a big turnout for Tom Brown worked in some places and failed in others. The ABC crew seems to have done an amazing job for Kazansky from results I've seen, with 80-90% for him in some schools while in Unity schools the results for Tom Brown are more in the 50s and 60s. Frank Panebianco is also getting some votes but I heard of only one school where he won outright.

A May 13 post by A Better Contract titled DAY & NIGHT chronicled a comparison of the May 11 TRS Zoom held by ABC with about 170 people with the Mulgrew Town Hall.

The author, HS CL Thomas Hasler, who I met in MORE many years ago and now seems to be aligned with ABC, made a number of excellent points and I urge you to read his comments which I will post in a follow-up. He captured the essence of how the ABC crew operates:

The difference between Monday night’s ABC Town Hall hosted by Amy Arundell, a true leader, and David Kazanksy, the candidate for TRS Trustee, was in stark contrast to yesterday’s “Town Hall” hosted by President Mulgrew and the official UFT. The difference could not have been more like DAY and NIGHT. At ABC’s Town Hall on Monday, members were allowed to ask questions on their own in an open forum. At Mulgrew’s meeting yesterday, it was the OPPOSITE.

I will point to one more of his comments:

Chapter Leaders were told to send a picture of the election tally sheet from their school to their UFT District Rep. This seems like an attempt to pressure UFT chapters to vote a certain way. Or it could be interpreted this way.

This seemed to confuse a retiree who has been an oppositionist for decades who asked:

Just curious.  How does the request from the UFT that C/Ls send  a picture of the school’s tally sheet to their district rep represent pressure to vote a certain way?  Should the DOE be the only ones who see the schools tally sheet?

My response:

It is a method for unity to hold CL accountable if Brown doesn’t do well. 

The firings seemed to work as district reps have pressured people to push Brown. 

They were never threatened with losing until recently so elections weren’t viewed as life or death matters. David and Frank candidates represent a real threat as former Unity with a following. 

But in the end all candidates get a tally sheet of all schools that will indicate unity strengths and weaknesses as it will for oppo movements. 

I had been asking for such tally sheets in general uft elections but have been turned down. 

What happens to Unity CLs in schools where Brown only wins in a close race or loses? I'm betting on district reps and those CL being called out. And I've heard the outcomes of some of these schools. 

[Excuse the redundancies in this piece since I've been writing it for 3 days and am sick of editing it.]

Officially, the legacy caucuses (RA, NAC, MORE) sat this one out. though some individuals from New Action were involved, including Ben Morgenroth who ran as David's alternate. ABC immediately backed David, who was not part of ABC, but hoping he will be in the future. People were pretty impressed with his talents. His and  Leah Linn videos made a splash. Between them they have a large following I believe over 10k. The ABC view is to challenge the ruling Unity caucus on all fronts, all the time, while the legacy groups are always calculating how to be "strategic," the sense of being too aggressive will turn off the "normies" (not me). My disagreement with them over the past few years is that the revolt of the retirees and the paras in the 2024 elections was a call for more militancy rather than pacivity. 

Some important history related to David given some backbiting over his past. Mulgrew removed him from TRS 2 years ago for being too independent and replaced him with a total incompetent loyalist. The so-called oppositionist backbiters neglect to see there is a bigger struggle to remove Unity from power that includes poaching dissatisfied Unityites. I have thought for 30 years that a break in Unity was crucial and that break is occurring. I think this election will bring over some Unity people who resented the pressure. 

MORE officially took a no endorsement position because their ideology calls for a focus in divesting in Israeli bonds - they are behind the Educators for Palestine group. But individuals in MORE did see the impact of defeating Mulgrew's hand-picked candidate. In fact, since the 2025 election, a faction of MORE has been reaching out and working with ABC and some results coming in from schools with MORE CLs and contingents have favored David. There is a split in MORE between those wanting to be involved in UFT elections and those who don't and given the 14% ARISE received in the election, the no-election faction may have gained some power. An alliance of the pro-election faction with ABC makes a lot of sense because RA and NAC do not offer a punch at the in-service level. In fact, such an alliance could actually win the 2028 UFT election.

Will the hate ABC ideologues that were connected to ARISE rise once again as a spoiler in two years to try to assure Unity control of the UFT? If MORE officially sits that one out and allows the pro-election faction to ally with ABC, there is less chance of that happening.

What the legacy caucuses don't get is that we must take every opportunity to force Unity to defend itself in the electoral arena and the yearly TRS election had been neglected for decades until 2 years ago and I'm proud to be part of the team (pre-ABC) to have helped organize these elections and I hope next year and the year after there will be candidates to try to take down the Unity TRS candidate under the control of the UFT leadership.

Despite the 3-way TRS race, people in ABC still give David a chance to win, though given the 30k petitions turned in by Unity for Brown (David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election) it looked like the machine was in operation. Yet, from the reports I was getting, David was holding more than his own.

Let's see what the combined totals of David and Frank come out to. If over 40%, given the rigor Unity exerted, that is a danger sign for them and bodes well for defeating them. 

Don't forget, retirees and non-TRS members (ie BERS pension) can't vote, but PSC and CSA does vote. 

This election is a test of sorts of the strength of the leadership which went all out. If Brown gets 70-80% of the vote, it bodes well for the leadership --- signs Unity may have stopped the bleeding. If under 60%, danger signs will be blinking. It is also a test of  ABC, the only organized force in the UFT officially involved in the election.

ABC Rocks as threat to Unity hegemony grows

An important aspect of this election has been the re-emergence of the ABC network with new people like David and others, showing ABC is still alive and vibrant. Some schools with nominal Unity CLs came in heavily for David and ABC is hoping for more migrations. We've seen former Unity people who had been locked up behind a closed door emerging like birds released from their cages. The Mulgrew firings of competent people have not only hurt and degraded Unity, but have fueled an enthusiastic opposition based in ABC and affiliated independents and even some from the legacy caucuses. Yes, some Unity are still scared, but for how much longer? The flow from Unity to ABC will continue, which is why Unity leaders view ABC as the main threat, as do the legacy caucuses which also see ABC as a threat to their influence.

The ABC network seems resilient after a post-2025 election lull and as part of the "We Trust David" chat, it was thrilling to see the level of openness, cooperation and organization in operation. The chat also included non-ABC supporters from other caucuses. It has been so much more of a pleasant experience working with an open group like ABC compared to working with the legacy caucuses, MORE and Retiree Advocate, which was such a closed group after they won the RTC election and only recently opened up - to those willing to pay $50 dues to get a voice. ABC is free and open.

The ABC crew and affiliates has been fabulous for brainstorming and moving agendas. Results coming in showed the ABC crew did an amazing job in getting votes for David --- only if we had more people in more schools. Also even in some Unity schools Brown is not winning with 80 or more %. The third candidate definitely hurts but not too bad. 

The ABC operation seems to have found a formula for organizing -- it is open and flexible unlike the legacy caucuses.  (Another wing of ABC also affiliated with independents has also been activated around the way the RTC is being run by RA and the upcoming RTC chapter election, a dynamic group that more and more people are joining -- yes, it's free.)

From what I saw from reports coming in yesterday, in some Unity schools pushing the heavy Brown vote, there has been some counter reaction to Unity oppression. From one school:

We heard of more pushbacks against Unity pressure. In another Unity school, the vote went overwhelmingly for David which means exactly what? Maybe more hidden cracks. The Mulgrew terror campaign can only go so far.

In schools with Unity CL where David won handily, I can just imagine a new wave of firings or demotions. Yes, the firings last June did work on some Unity people. One district rep who was called in and threatened has apparently learned his lesson by banning some CL who backed David from his communication group.

Frank Panebianco, who is very well-liked and respected by everyone, including the ABC crew, was fired because supposedly TRS rep Victoria Lee wanted him out of the way because he complained to LeRoy Barr over her bossiness. (She is supposedly not well liked). She complained to Mulgrew. Mulgrew fired Frank but then rethought it and tried to hire him back. 

Frank thought he had put in the time and loyalty and wanted the TRS position when Mulgrew removed Kazansky two years ago but was jumped over by no-nothing Christina McGrath who shit the bed even worse than Tom Brown at an RTC meeting. They ran Lee the next year for the position, which Frank felt he deserved, a slap in the face.

Frank was willing to come back but wanted a raise, to be the next trustee and work out of the Bronx. Mulgrew wouldn’t agree to those demands so rather than accept his old job back, chose to go back to teaching. Give him credit for that. 

Speaking of Victoria Lee, check this out:

I have no comment other than how many other principals were in cahoots with a Unity CL?

A Unity HS CL with an after school job wined to the staff:

It was his job to get them to vote and he blames them.

And then there were complaints on why people couldn't vote.

NOTE: If you managed to wade through the mess above, you get the weekend off.