Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
For Unity, MORE, and New Action, this is an election gimmick...Mike S.
April 2, 2025
Mike, a candidate for HS Ex bd on the ABC slate, didn't mention that over 100 paras are running with A Better Contract through the Fix Para Pay group. This is the first time in UFT general election history that paras have joined groups running against Unity and Mike points out the failures of the past and even some current caucuses in their failures to work with paras - certainly United for Change in the 2022 election, of which I was involved, failed in this regard. I always wonder about all those teachers in the caucuses and whether they talk to paras at all in their schools. Retiree Advocate has few if any paras associated with it and I'm trying to come up with paras who ran for the 300 delegates to the RTC. Note: This is also a failure on my part and had been for decades so I don't take myself off the blame list.
There is no bill yet and the 10K bonus is
non-pensionable and looks like an election bribe but we still support
them getting that money and despite Unity attacks, ABC has supported the 10K and signed the petitions while also being critical of the tactic of using bonuses that are not pensionable.
Some schools are holding celebrations:
Holy Paraprofessional Day! by Mike Schirtzer
As an ICT teacher for almost 20 years, I can’t even begin to tell you how incredible it has been to work with so many amazing paras. Every single one I’ve worked with has made my students’ days brighter and better. They’ve helped me become a better teacher. They are the backbone of our schools.
And let’s be clear—the foundation of any union is negotiating strong contracts. That’s why we pay dues. It’s so our union leadership can sit across from the DOE and fight for real raises, benefits, and protections. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
But what are we being told now? That we have to beg City Council for a raise because our union leadership can’t get it done at the bargaining table? That’s an admission of failure. You’re telling me that every other union in this city negotiates raises for its members, but for paraprofessionals, the best we can do is hope and pray politicians throw them some crumbs?
Crumbs in our weekly paycheck—and we’re supposed to be thankful? We’re supposed to rally and wear blue, but whatever you do, don’t bring up the shady backroom political deal. Don’t bring up that it’s not pensionable. Don’t mention that we’re not doing this for school aides and parent coordinators in DC 37. Just smile, say thank you, and keep paying your damn dues.
And even if this raise, bonus, City Council gift, or whatever we’re supposed to call it actually happens—it’s not pensionable. So when paras retire, they’re left high and dry. This is the same scam they pulled on teachers with those garbage bonuses that don’t count toward pensions. Who in God’s name gave Michael Mulgrew the power to hand out non-pensionable “bonuses” like some Wall Street CEO, while refusing to fight for real raises?
And one more thing—because my brothers and sisters in A Better Contract (ABC) have been too kind about this: Let’s talk about New Action and MORE, running under their front group Arise.
New Action has been around for 40 years. MORE for over a dozen years. And now they’re running around pretending to care about para pay? Have they ever made fixing para pay a priority? Hell no. For Unity, MORE, and New Action, this is an election gimmick. For us, it’s about a union doing what it’s supposed to do—fighting for real raises and making our paras’ lives better.
We have worked alongside the leaders of Fix Para Pay—not only including them, but taking our lead from them. Isn’t that how a real union works? A real union listens to its members and fights for their needs. Unlike Unity, MORE, and New Action, who treat para pay as a political prop, we believe in doing the real work to make our paras’ lives better.
This isn’t about political maneuvering—it’s about securing fair, pensionable wages through proper collective bargaining, not backroom deals or non-pensionable bonuses. Our paras deserve respect and real compensation, not empty promises.
Meanwhile, ABC has been fighting to fix para pay from day one. We’re running actual paras for the Executive Board because we believe they should have a real voice in this union.
Unity, MORE, and New Action haven’t cared about para pay—yesterday, today, or tomorrow. Don’t be fooled.
An ABC supporter opines on this anonymous blog. (It's not me writing this stuff - too much research work for lazy me to do.)
Tuesday April 1 - and this post is not an April Fool Joke
I am tired of the caucus control of our union. This is our union. We need a better contract.
They ALL claim to be 'member-driven'.
But can you truly be member-driven while forcing your own personal
politics and personal agendas on union members? - Part 1
Do
Mulgrew, Weingarten, and their Unity caucus really think they speak for
us all? Who do they represent and speak for? Doesn't member-driven mean
we have a say?
Can
Michael Mulgrew, Randi Weingarten and their Unity caucus separate
personal politics and personal agendas with leading our union?
Do they even bother to ask us what we think when they act on our behalf?
Umm. No.
Here
are just some recent examples that they don’t give a darn about our
diverse views, nor do they bother to get our input before they act on
our behalf.
Congestion Pricing
- Mulgrew decided he’s against congestion pricing, therefore, the UFT
is against it. He never polled us. We never spoke about or debated
this issue at a UFT delegate assembly or UFT executive board. Like the
dictator he is, he used our dues to file a lawsuit without our consent.
Maybe
he has a point about how it affects working class folks? Maybe he’s
ignoring the body of environmental studies that prove him wrong? Maybe
some of us agreed with him regarding congestion pricing. Yet, we also
know just as many of us didn’t. Either way, he didn’t care to ask because he doesn’t think he has to.
Israel/Gaza
- This is an issue that has many strong, passionate, polarizing and
personal positions among Americans and our union members, alike.
Despite the inherent dissension this issue inevitably brings, Unity
decided they would pass several geopolitical resolutions locally and
nationally without speaking to members, first. Why bother, right?
Even
when some in Unity pushed back behind closed doors about the need to
make sure that any stated position included our union’s diversity of
voices, or that perhaps a press statement might be better, they didn’t
care to ask or include members in the discussion before writing and
forcing through geo-political resolutions with limited debate.
As
some know, Unity doesn’t just control our local union but Randi
Weingarten leads Unity’s equivalent in our national union, the American
Federation of Teachers.
Ask
most on the various sides of the Israel-Gaza issue and sufficed to say
that the majority these days may likely not support a “two-state”
solution. Some of us are not even sure our unions need to have a union
position on geopolitical issues.
One AFT delegate, Amy
Lesser, from Los Angeles, holds a view many others in our union have
expressed. She stated in a recent interview:
“We are
not international politicians,” she said. “And there is no foreign
government that has any interest in what the teachers union or any labor
union has to say about how they should function. . . . So the entire
purpose behind these motions and these resolutions is that they generate
a hostile teaching environment and learning environment for students.”
Divesting our pensions and union assets from Musk’s Tesla?
- We all know that Randi and Unity are tied to the hip of the
establishment Democrat machine. They may try to appear to be neutral
but those of us who attend delegate assemblies heard when Mulgrew
included us as part of the DNC’s operations. He blurred the lines with
the DNC when he spoke about ‘WE’ will be door knocking and campaigning
for the Harris for President campaign in Pennsylvania.
Now
that Harris lost the presidential election handily and Trump has
included Elon Musk in his administration, Randi is really mad and
obsessed about losing to the will of the American people, Trump and
Musk. She dedicates a lot of her time and effort these days in a
Twitter/X war with Elon and has gone as far as asking that pension and asset managers divest from Musk’s Tesla company.
It seems that her personal politics and petty partisan online bickering now affect our financial bottom lines, too? Randi, have you reflected about why so much of the working class isn’t voting for your side these days?
The New York Health Act
- Here’s a little secret Unity doesn’t want you to know. Retirees,
take heed. Our union’s official position according to our
highest-deliberative body is that the UFT SUPPORTS of the New York Health Act.
Did
you know that Unity is actually behind writing, motivating and passing
the two UFT resolutions that affirm the union’s official support for the
New York Health Act? They have a really crazy way of gaslighting us to
deflect from their own deeds.
In 2015, most of the
left and even centrist Democrats were staunchly behind Bernie’s
Medicare for All. For a season, it was politically cool and fashionable
to support single-payer universal healthcare. Following the political
headwinds of the day, Unity wrote and passed a resolution in support of
NYHA that seeks to a create a single payer healthcare system for all in
New York.
So
what changed? Why did Unity waffle on its own stance on the New York
Health Act? Did they see the light? Did they finally realize it may
affect retiree Medicare? Or did they have a “come to Jesus'“ moment as
to how to fund it? No, the Biden-Harris campaign for President in 2020
changed the DNC’s views on single-payer universal healthcare, at least
for now.
Circa
2020, the current union leadership pulled back on its own single-payer
healthcare position, despite their own resolutions in support of NYHA,
and they began to publish contradictory anti-NYHA messaging on our union
web pages. Mulgrew openly attacked the will of the union’s deliberative
bodies and blamed union activists, except it strangely was their own Unity caucus machinations.
So maybe they just
changed their minds? So why not use the executive board and delegate
assembly to change the union stance on NYHA?
These days they have
no guarantees in ramming things through the DA because of their
shrinking majority and why should they if Mulgrew can do whatever he
wants without consent, even if the consent is performative.
And
still our voices and input don’t matter to Unity in our union’s
political decisions. Member-driven? Not in 60 years. Not ever.
Member-divisive. Yes.
Up next: If a MORE-dominated ARISE coalition is elected, can it genuinely be MEMBER-DRIVEN?
Can MORE caucus
and its political front groups, like Educators for Palestine, separate
their own personal politics and personal agendas from leading our union?
We
need new leadership that’s committed to being member-led,
member-centered and MEMBERS FIRST. That’s why I’m voting for the A
Better Contract slate. Caucuses like Unity and MORE only pursue their
own self-preservation. While ABC believes in genuine member voice and
referenda — no more decisions on big issues like political endorsements
without bringing it to the membership, first.
NOTE - this blog post represents only my views and not those of ABC. But I am pissed off!
It's very simple and we can still do this: All ARISE has to do is say YES to allowing its AFT candidates to run with ABC.
So, why did ARISE put a roadblock on its candidates who want to run on the ABC slate, giving the Unity leadership an excuse to prevent these candidates from winning? Why did Unity agree with ARISE? ABC has agreed publicly to allow ARISE candidates to run. Why won't ARISE do the same? The say they want a formal agreement as New Action had with Unity for over a decade. Should we wear tuxedos?
New Action/Unity sign agreement for 2007, 2010 and 2013 elections
March 22, 2025
I've been too busy the past week to address the important issue of how Unity and ARISE united to keep people from running on multiple slates, an increasing level of ARISE focusing its attacks on ABC. Petitions were due last Monday, RTC Meeting Tuesday, DA Wednesday, R&R Thursday. Finally, I've had room to breathe.
Back in December I offered a leader of MORE an idea of how to run two slates and win a control of the exec bd and adcom. Cross endorse enough candidates (not all so as to leave room for organizing new people) - all AFT, 3 each for Adcom which would give us 6 out of 12, a majority of the divisional and at large exec bd. The idea was turned down because if we won how would we govern the UFT? I said we'd figure it out -- let's win first. But I question whether elements of the ARISE coalition really want to win and are focused on not letting ABC win.
My backup plan was to encourage AFT candidates to run on both slates.
I spoke to a few candidates who did sign up for both slates and if forced to choose they say they will choose ABC.
Here is a detailed account on how Unity Caucus and ARISE united in a way to help Unity maintain their monopoly of AFT delegate seats.
I met Rachel a few weeks ago and she has been a delight. A chapter leader in a large school building with multiple schools, she has been a tiger with the petitioning campaign.
Real Change Comes from Real Organizing: How ‘A Better Contract’ Candidates Delivered for NYC Math Teachers
By Racquel Blair McPherson, UFT Vice President of Education Candidate – A Better Contract!
This school year, NYC’s high school math teachers have been forced to
implement the DOE’s citywide rollout of Illustrative Math Algebra I — a
rigid, scripted program that strips educators of autonomy and deprives
students of meaningful instruction.
Let’s begin with a distinction that matters: this is not a curriculum.
Curriculum
is adaptable, aligned to standards, and developed with students and
educators in mind. What the DOE has forced into classrooms is a
purchased program — scripted, inflexible, fundamentally out of sync with
the needs of our students, and costing millions of dollars. Yet,
despite repeated concerns from educators and school communities, the DOE
didn’t pause to listen or adjust.
They didn’t have to. To my knowledge, the UFT wasn’t paying much attention.
Last year’s pilot revealed glaring problems:
Misalignment to Regents
Impossible pacing that left no room for remediation
Assessment overload
A top-down approach that prohibited teacher judgment or supplementation
Instead
of using this feedback to rework the approach, the DOE doubled down —
expanding IM citywide, even as student performance fell. Meanwhile, UFT
leadership stood by while teachers were micromanaged, frustrated, and
actively seeking support. Members weren’t just raising concerns — they
were looking for their union to fight back.
That work wasn’t
initiated by leadership. It was wrested from inaction by rank-and-file
organizing. I was one of the educators asked to participate, as was
Katie Anskat, our candidate for Treasurer. Alongside full-time classroom
teachers from across the city, all of us currently teaching IM Algebra
I, we spent a week reworking the scope and sequence for Units 5–8. With
support from the highly skilled professionals at the UFT Teacher Center,
we created Regents-aligned guidance, realistic pacing, and tools
grounded in classroom realities.
And when the DOE ignored the
work? When UFT leadership refused to share the letter we wrote to
accompany it — a professional, student-centered statement outlining the
necessary instructional flexibility? We kept pushing.
💥 Today, that advocacy forced a breakthrough.
On
March 12, 2025, the DOE released updated NYC Solves Algebra I
materials. And make no mistake: they reflect the very work we created
and fought to have recognized.
Included in the update:
✅ A “Pacing at a Glance” document that frames the pacing guide as support, not mandate
✅ Deprioritized lessons to allow time for reinforcement and Regents alignment
✅ A full-course mapping to NY Next Gen and Regents standards
✅ Revised unit overviews including “Misconceptions” and “Things to Remember” — drawn directly from our work
✅ Focus activities recommended by the UFT now built into the guides
✅ Updated implementation guidance that finally acknowledges teachers as decision-makers in instruction
This
didn’t happen because the DOE had a change of heart. It happened
because we didn’t stop. It happened because educators — including
candidates running with A Better Contract! —
pushed relentlessly for the DOE to recognize our professional expertise
and the UFT to fight for it to be respected and implemented.
But let’s not confuse this with a full fix.
Here’s what’s still missing:
🟡 No clear directive to principals requiring them to implement these changes
🟡 No removal of outdated implementation checklists still being used in classroom walkthroughs
🟡 No public acknowledgment or accountability for the DOE’s original rollout failures
🟡 And still, no recognition from UFT leadership of the teachers who made this progress possible
This
was a step forward — but only because educators kept the pressure on.
Without enforcement and clear messaging, these new materials risk
becoming another optional PDF that gets ignored while rigid compliance
continues in schools.
As your next UFT Vice President of Education, I will:
🧭 Demand that the DOE provide real curriculum — a coherent, flexible scope and sequence, not just a contract with a vendor
🚦 Ensure that teachers are in the driver’s seat, making the professional decisions that impact student learning
📢 Elevate and defend member-created solutions
💥 Back the UFT Teacher Center with organizing strength — so their work isn’t undermined, buried, or ignored
Katie
Anskat and I joined with our math colleagues to get this work done. We
stepped up because our students and our colleagues needed us to. When
educators come together, they make an impact.
And that’s exactly how we’ll lead.
Let’s win a better contract — and a better union.
Thanks for reading A BETTER CONTRACT - UFT MEMBERS! This post is public so feel free to share it.
This post is delayed due to a very busy schedule managing the petition campaign for A Better Contract. Petitions are due March 17 so it's almost over.
So as you can see I have the bald look due to the chemo - my last treatment was Feb. 11-13. And I got to bang the gong at MSK after they disconnected the contraption from my port.
If you had asked me if I would make it to 80 when I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on May 24, 2024 or when I got out of MSK 15 days after my June 26 operation- I'm Baaaack - Norm Almost breaks Medicare after 15 days in hospital - I would have had doubts. And having completed 6 months of chemo on Feb. 12 in relatively good shape, I am looking at things 3 months at a time between scans. The one two weeks ago showed a lesion in my stomach and I also have an abdominal hernia, so you may see me protruding. Pancreatic cancer is probably the worst in terms of coming back and the oncologist told me if it does come back he cannot cure it but manage it - with more chemo. Oh, goodie, something to look forward to. In the meantime I intend to enjoy the next 3 months before the next scan. As the oncologist said about the lesion. If it is cancer what would be do about it now since you just finished 6 months of chemo.
Anyway, I seem to have come out the other end of the chemo in fairly decent shape, other than my feet are often numb and I drool a bit. And I am gaining back weight but also the diabetes may be my biggest issue for now. But No worries.
My wife took me out to our usual birthday spot at One of By Land Two if By Sea for my beef wellington.
Last Friday night at the Rockaway Theatre yearly gala, I was complimented by people who thought I was shaving my head for my new look. But on the bright side, I was invited to join the RTC bald guy group - young guys who choose that look and are trying to convince me to keep it despite my hair beginning to grow back.
Nothing wrong with a beautiful woman blocking me out. I'll take her hair anytime.
By the way, I mentioned my last chemo lasted from Feb. 11-13. And Feb. 12, while still on my chemo pack, was a DA and the beginning of the petitioning and I was not sure if I could manage it but I had no loss of energy and organized a group of retirees to work that day to get the petitions ready for pickup by many ABC candidates and we pulled it off and it took the crew at ABC the shortest time to get all the sigs we needed and then went out and started signing up more people to run for AFT. I was contacted by someone who lives in Africa and a couple in Portugal who want to run with us. Just today I hear of 20 people who signed up to run for AFT. They are coming in from Florida too. We are taking new people right through Friday and even some late comers on Saturday. People are mailing me their wet signatures - a new wrinkle by the Unity elites to make it tougher to run.
You can still sign up if you are willing to drop off your signed petition by Saturday.
Fill it out and sign it and contact me on getting it to me at normsco@gmail.com.
Even if you are running with another group, ABC welcomes you to the slate. So yes run on multiple slates. If interested contact me asap -- if you can't get your signed petition to me we can try to arrange a pickup.
I kept getting asked the same question by some people who want to run on more than one slate. ABC has been open to anyone who wants to run for AFT/NYSUT Delegate on the ABC even if running on another slate. I don't get why there was ambivalence over that issue -- in fact I put that idea forth months ago to a leader of MORE as a way to run two slates against Unity and still win but there was little interest. But anyone who wants to take a shot at possibly winning as an AFT/NYSUT convention delegate and break the Unity monopoly, try to sign up to run with ABC and any other slate you are running on.
When I was asked I kept pointing to the years that New Action candidates were elected to the UFT Exec Bd by running on the Unity slate and their own slate. But for some reason, this history seems to have disappeared from the memory banks because members of their coalition are told they are not sure.
At Thursday's UFT Election Committee meeting it was reaffirmed that you can run on more than one slate and reap the total votes you get on all slates. Go to this link and fill it out. And if you do, email me to let me know as I have to send you a blank petition for you to sign and return to me. normsco@gmail.com.
Don't worry about getting the required 100 signatures as ABC has been and will be holding petition signing parties this week. Here is the Wednesday Brooklyn link: tinyurl.com/abc-2025-03-05. Friday Bayside link: tinyurl.com/abc-03-07-2025.
Tonight, join Daniel Alicea and Amy Arundell, our UFT presidential candidate for A BETTER CONTRACT, on Talk Out School on WBAI 99.5 FM at 7 PM.
You can also listen to tonight’s show online at: http://wbai.org
In
this first segment, they discuss her decision to run for UFT president
in the upcoming UFT election, emphasizing the need for a more
member-driven approach and a unified city labor movement.
She
also expresses her concerns about the union's current transactional and
service model strategy, inability to deliver raises that outpace the
cost of living and the current leadership's mishandling of healthcare
and Welfare Fund.
Join
us as Amy shares her evolution and journey to her decision to run
against the 16-year incumbent, Michael Mulgrew, and his establishment
Unity administrative caucus that has controlled the UFT for the last 60
years.
Tonight’s episode is part one of a multi-segment interview.
In
the next segments, which will be available as a podcast later this
week, Amy shares her thoughts and commitments to city retirees and
traditional Medicare, ABC’s support for Intro 1096, the current plight
of NYC paraprofessionals and their fight for a living wage, fixing Tier
6, the increased need for member voice in our political endorsements,
the importance of placing members first above personal and partisan
politics, and much more.
Join the ABC slate as a CONVENTION DELEGATE
As you’ve probably heard by now, A Better Contract has
finalized its officer and Executive Board slates. The last component we
now need to fill is our slate of delegates for the AFT Convention and
NYSUT Representative Assembly. We are asking for anyone interested to
fill out the Google Form below.
Our
national union, the American Federation of Teachers, meets once every
two years, typically in July. The convention is always held in a
different city and lasts a few days.
Our
state union, New York State United Teachers, meets annually, typically
in late April or early May. The convention is usually held in Albany,
Rochester, or midtown Manhattan and also lasts a few days.
*What are the responsibilities of a convention delegate?*
As
a delegate, you will be assigned to a committee that discusses, amends,
and approves resolutions to bring to the main convention floor. The
resolutions are then discussed, amended, and voted up or down by the
full body.
*What else do I need to know?*
The
UFT provides delegates with a generous stipend to cover expenses
including travel, lodging, and meals. The conventions are a great
opportunity to meet not only fellow UFT members but educators from all
across NYS and the United States.
Disclaimer:
This communication is from the “ A BETTER CONTRACT - UFT” slate. It is
not from the official site of The United Federation of Teachers. The ABC
site title describes a group of dues-paying UFT members organizing for a
better contract with NYC and our union leadership. Information shared
by us should not be considered officially from the UFT organization. It is from UFT members, just like you.
I attended a tribute to the late great labor organizer Jane McAlevey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_McAlevey) last night at the CUNY grad center and was inspired. But her story and history got me to thinking about Amy Arundell and how she was buried - her choice - inside a non-organizing union model for 20 years.
Has Amy been a caterpillar waiting to burst out into a butterfly who will reform the UFT and allow it to reach its potential?
Amy
flanked by Steve Swieciki and Leah Lin, all tossed out of Unity. Steve
and Lia are chapter leaders in a high school and elementary school
respectively. Steve and Lia are running for VPs of their respective
divisions.
I ask people who question the Amy Arundell candidacy which candidate do they think is best equipped to run the UFT and even the anti-Amy people pause - and admit she knows the inside and out of the UFT machinery and would be in a position to handle it -- but also to know best what needs to remain in place and what needs reform. I'm not one of those people who want to toss the baby with the bathwater.
But then they ask - but what if she's new boss same as the old boss? What if she is gaslighting you all? Even her most ardent critics admit she is super smart. One told me she is smarter than all of us and she still holds the same ideas and would keep the Unity machine intact, only with her in charge.
Well I certainly have faced down with Amy over the years and she is a touch cookie to argue with. She is one tough cookie in many ways and after getting to know her a bit over the past few months I see she has leadership skills that have been thwarted inside the Unity machine. When we see so many in the union, even oppo people, be like marshmallows who complain about being harmed because someone spoke to them in a loud voice and who melt at the slightest heat, one refrain I hear is "What will they do if they have to negotiate a contract with the awful and often nasty people at the DOE?"
So I want feisty and even nasty - when its directed at the right places.
One tough cookie is fine for me.
But if Amy resists calls for change and turning the UFT into an organizing model union, my response is we first try to pressure her and if we see stalling, we kick her out.
And we have had no better chance of kicking out a union president we don't like than now due to the weakening of Unity caucus. I do not want to see any caucus be dominant again - even an oppo one. I like checks and balances. The ABC adcom is designed to have people on there who will never be a rubber stamp. The same with the ABC executive board slate. We have long and short time pains in the ass on there -- no rubber stamps with this crowd.
What worries me about caucuses choosing the candidates is that these are often loyalists who will be rubber stamps if they win.
If you examine the caucus led slates they are loaded with caucus loyalists. ABC is different. Many of us are just meeting each other -- it is an eclectic collection of people, some who have been in caucuses and either left or were purged for daring to disagree. Want to talk about new boss, same as the old boss? I've seen dangerous Unity-like tendencies including censorship and attempts to ice out those who don't go along with the majority.
Believe me, if Amy strays she will hear it from me and others. ABC is not a "loyal to Amy" group.
But it says something when you get attacks from both Unity and the other groups running against Unity. You must be doing something right. Not only Amy, but ABC has come under attack from all angles. Makes us feel good about our organizing efforts. And it is all about organizing. ABC did not go into this thinking, "Let's win and then organize."
No, ABC went into this to use the election process as an organizing tool -- one difference from the caucus models which use their caucuses to organize, which one would hope they are doing all the time instead of just for elections. The issue I have with that model is that it has not bore many results. Now you might say look at RA winning --- well they had a boost from Marianne. And the fix Para Pay victory was not from a caucus but independent actions, which is why FPP is with ABC. The caucus model means a steering committee choosing the candidates in closed meetings. While ABC has been also holding closed meetings, those meetings have opened up to new voices as they expressed interest.
I heard time and again last night at the McAlevey event that Jane hated sectarianism and thought sectarians were the biggest obstacle to union organizing. And ABC is non-sectarian.
Amy
shares her story. Together we will build our collective power to
deliver A BETTER CONTRACT with the City of New York and A BETTER social
contract with union leadership.
Feb 18, 2025
For 34 years, I have been a part of the New York City public school
system. I was a middle school teacher, delegate, and chapter leader in
one Bronx school. I became a Teacher Center specialist in another.
Never, during all this time, did I imagine that I would be in this
position: running for UFT President. The culture of the UFT has long
been one where leadership handpicks their successors, deciding who they
believe should be the next to carry the mantle, and for years, I played
by those rules, trusting that this process served the best interests of
our members and that the best, brightest, and most committed to our work
as a union would rise to positions of leadership.
Times have changed, our school system has evolved, and our union must
evolve as well. More and more members are expressing deep
dissatisfaction with the direction of our union. Decisions are being
made that I can no longer stand behind. It has become increasingly
difficult to look my fellow members in the eye and tell them that what’s
happening is good for them because it isn’t. These decisions are not
the result of listening to members and then gathering our experts and
specialists and making decisions consistent with union values, and the
interests of the members and their students. More often than not, the
most important decisions are made by only a few, behind closed doors.
The recent election losses in the retiree and paraprofessional
chapter elections were not a result of flashy slate names or strategic
maneuvering, they were a direct response to the growing frustration
among our members. The message is clear, the status quo is failing us.
Our
union should be the beacon of fairness, inclusion, and strength.
Instead, we have reached a point where sexism, harassment, and bullying
have tainted our internal culture. Morale is at an all-time low. I’ve
been around long enough to remember when we could come together, debate
and discuss issues openly, and leave the room knowing we had made the
best decision for our members and the union as a whole. Those spaces and
that culture no longer exist under the current leadership. I’ve tried,
others have tried but today, questioning decisions can end careers, and
there are far too many examples of this reality. I refuse to silence my
own principles and beliefs to campaign for anyone who perpetuates this
type of leadership and these union values.
My candidacy is not
about serving any particular caucus or ideology, it is about serving our
members in the way they deserve and that furthers the cause of public
education. Now that I have been ‘expelled’ from my former caucus, I
stand as the only candidate who is beholden to no faction. My allegiance
is to the educators, teachers, paraprofessionals, school-related
professionals and retirees who make our union strong and to the students
who we are all responsible for educating.
These values are not
the only thing that make me the right person to serve as UFT president
in this critical moment; I am qualified, experienced, and connected. I
have served in a variety of roles, both as an educator in schools and as
a union representative.
In my first year of teaching, I remember
celebrating when the union negotiated that our lesson plans were no
longer required to be collected. It changed my professional life. I was a
chapter leader when the SBO process became a source of leverage for my
chapter to have a voice in how our school was organized. I was a teacher
center specialist in a school when the first 100 minutes were added to
the school day and I was tasked with making those minutes as relevant
and helpful to our school community as possible, despite our
membership’s obvious unease with the additional time.
As a UFT
staffer, I implemented the 2005 contract. I supported pedagogues in the
ATR pool and advocated for them. I provided support to members in using
the new transfer system. I educated people about the power of the SBO
process and how to interpret school budgets. I helped hundreds of people
with leaves and staffing issues. I am very proud of that work. I was
part of the negotiating team on evaluation, and learned a lot about what
members want and what others think is best for them. I tried to help
members see the power in what we negotiated, and also acknowledged that
what we negotiated did not achieve our goals. I was the union point
person for the creation of teacher leader roles, and visited the many
schools that implemented these roles. I was inspired to see what
teachers can do when given the opportunity. I know many schools that
have benefited from those roles.
Then, I became the Queens
Borough Representative and learned how out of touch our central UFT
representatives could be. Hundreds of people invited me into their lives
and their schools, and we made amazing things happen. It was by far the
role I loved the most and it allowed me to connect to members and
students in deep, new, and meaningful ways.
I have a vision for
our union. A union that is strategic about building power, that
prioritizes members and their students above DOE management or city
government desires. We build power by organizing and being connected to
members above all else. That is why the leadership of ABC will fight
tirelessly with our members for better working conditions, fair salary
increases, and an end to the reckless practice of surrendering our
healthcare benefits in exchange for inadequate compensation increases.
It’s
time to reclaim our union. It’s time to have leadership that listens,
respects, and truly advocates for its members, not one that demands
blind loyalty and is deaf to their core needs. Together, we can restore
integrity, transparency, and strength to the UFT. I ask for your
support, not just for me, but for the future of our union and the
dignity of its members and the future of the students we serve.
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