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!
We must stick to
the union principles of solidarity, honesty, open democratic
discussion, and service to the students of this city. Let our union lead
in embracing differences of opinion and mending relationships among our
members and the communities we serve. ... Amy Arundell was instrumental in helping
us with trying to resolve the issue of micromanagement in our school (Aviation HS).
Unfortunately, she is no longer working with us which has left us
members feeling; as if we are being let down by our Union. As a result, I
am here to remind the Union leadership that the fight for respect,
trust, professionalism, and teacher autonomy is raging on, therefore, it
is up to the UFT’s leadership to help the members of the rank and file
who are feeling the brunt of the abuse in our school, to get the support
their need from the UFT... Ibeth Mejia, CL Aviation HS, UFT Ex Bd member at Oct. 23 UFT Ex bd
Mulgrew responded in his president’s report with a monologue I would
frankly characterize as despicable. While customarily vague, the
president specified in no uncertain terms that he thought supporters of
Amy Arundell’s reinstatement were actually doing the work of those who
want to destroy the union – a claim so ridiculous and divisive that it
led to audible gasps... Nick's Notes
Aviation HS teachers organize:
Thursday, October 26, 2023
I'm heading down to DC tomorrow for the NPE conference where we will see heavyweights in the battle for public ed like Ravitch, Bowman, and even Randi. And today is the first retiree chapter meeting at 52 at 1PM. Retiree Advocate will be there. And then I hear Mulgrew will be at a district meeting in Brooklyn where he can freely attack his critics as being terrorists. Some protesters may even show up. Not me - I'm going to stay in Manhattan and eat me some rice pudding.
There was much ado about something at Monday's Executive Board UFT meeting, loaded with issues that bear further examination, which I will attempt in upcoming blog posts. Highlights were the Mulgrew speech accusing internal critics of practically being anti-union right wing terrorists and LeRoy Barr's attempt to cool the waters with a heartfelt speech. But I would ask LeRoy if he wants more unity (we know he wants more UNITY) give the other views in the UFT some space at the Delegate Assembly as a start. Ironically, it is Unity and the other views who show the most consistent interest in the union and we have that in common. Give them some space.
Nick has the NAC on the meeting with detailed notes and analysis, a must read.
Aviation HS CL and UFC Ex Bd member Ibeth Mejia was a star at with a dynamic speech she gave under the district reports section of the meeting. After Mulgrew's diatribe, she gently asked him to stay for the district reports but he said he had another meeting, only to be seen scurrying out of the alley next to 52 by Arthur and Jonathan. I was joking about what Randi would have done in the same situation. She would have stopped to chat for 20 minutes and maybe take them to coffee. That's her political skills. Looking forward to seeing her this weekend.
Ibeth had a lot to say and the ten minute opening period she knew would be broken up by numerous speakers and the question period time did not fit, so she chose the district report time to make her speech. We handed out hard copies as she spoke in defense of Amy Arundell but she took things beyond Amy's situation.
Ibeth has worked over the years with James and Camille Eterno (the king and queen of UFT dissidents, both having run against Mulgrew) for a long time before she became CL of Aviation HS. When the UFT wouldn't or couldn't help out with issues that arose in previous schools, James came to the rescue.
I know that James' incapacitation has hurt Ibeth deeply and she visits James once a week. Soon after becoming CL she filed a major grievance over 6th period pay where the DOE has been getting away with underpaying teachers for decades, while the UFT did nothing about it. James helped out. Ibeth won the grievance. James and I reported the story.
The
DOE claimed the UFT was basically permitting the DOE to ignore the
Contract for over 20 years which made the grievance completely untimely
now since the UFT never challenged the Department of Education's policy
of improperly paying coverage pay rather than the higher sixth-period
rate. The DOE reasoned that the they had established a policy that the
Union had accepted..
The UFT/Unity leadership in a nutshell.
Ibeth led the school recently into a rally/protest with tee-shirts supporting each other (see above). The UFT barely reported the story.
At first I was surprised Ibeth was speaking up for Amy as their relationship had not always been great -- I even noticed a heated exchange after an Ex Bd meeting early this year, but they smoothed things out.
Ibeth had asked for Amy to be allowed to work with Aviation on these important issues even while she was in limbo and was turned down by UFT leaders.
Here is Ibeth's entire speech - interrupted by LeRoy Barr at one point - Nick has the entire exchange in his notes.
I rise as chapter leader at Aviation High School and as
an elected representative of the high school teachers in New York City
on the UFT Executive Committee.
As you know, this union has often been
at the center of this country’s political controversies. We can take
pride in the fact that all the great issues of the day come right into
our classrooms and our job is to deal with them with our humanism and
compassion. We should also not forget a dark period in our union's
history of blacklists and loyalty oaths.
Therefore, let us not govern
ourselves by the passions of today but with our wisdom and integrity.
We
do not ignore, nor do we exclude. We teach.
Therefore, we must stick to
the union principles of solidarity, honesty, open democratic
discussion, and service to the students of this city. Let our union lead
in embracing differences of opinion and mending relationships among our
members and the communities we serve.
As President of this union, I
think you will be supported in that endeavor. I also want to say that we
are one UFT; and what affects our members at Aviation H.S. affects us
across the NYC public schools.
Amy Arundell was instrumental in helping
us with trying to resolve the issue of micromanagement in our school.
Unfortunately, she is no longer working with us which has left us
members feeling; as if we are being let down by our Union. As a result, I
am here to remind the Union leadership that the fight for respect,
trust, professionalism, and teacher autonomy is raging on, therefore, it
is up to the UFT’s leadership to help the members of the rank and file
who are feeling the brunt of the abuse in our school, to get the support
their need from the UFT.
Over the past few weeks there has been much
discussion among UFT members as to how to respond to these events.
Therefore we have decided to present the matter to this body .
Let me
state that this issue goes beyond Amy. There are 3 big issues that need
to be addressed.
The first is freedom of speech within our union. I have
spoken to high school history teachers who have expressed the worry
that if minority views are suppressed within the teachers’ union, where
does the classroom teacher stand when discussing controversial topics.
The second is union democracy. Although procedurally, the UFT President
may re-assign an appointed official, it shouldn’t happen without
consultation of this body, nor without the consultation of the elected
chapter leaders with whom the borough president works.
The third issue
is the changes that we are trying to initiate on the related problems of
micromanagement, supervisory intimidation, workload, teacher evaluation
and student assessment systems that work for neither teacher nor
student. These are not caucus issues. It is something we all have a
stake in.
At Aviation, we were hoping, with our chapter solidarity, and
working with the district rep and the borough president, that on the
issue of micromanagement, we could set in motion a process that would
improve teaching and learning. We would like to know what happens with
that important struggle after this reassignment
Look for some live blogging from the NPE conference over the weekend.
When you're a Unity You're a Unity all the way
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin' day.... Opening line from my newly created Unity Caucus theme song
Unity Caucus is an enemy, but not all Unity Caucus members are enemies
Monday, Oct. 23, 2023
A major story in the UFT has been the recent removal of Queens borough rep Amy Arundell, popular with Queens chapter leaders and some rank and file, and even within Unity. There have been petitions going around in her favor calling for due process for her, and even a few Unity people have offered support for Amy. Also a lot of misinformation, some spread by anonymous anti-Amy forces in Unity. Claims she did stuff at the DA last week are not true -- she may have said some things at the rehearsal for the DA before the meeting. Yes, darlings, Mulgrew has to hold a rehearsal for a meeting. There has been some longer term friction between Amy and Mulgrew, as I chronicle below.
Some think AmyGate will cause a deep split in Unity. We hear there is a level of anti-Mulgrew sentiment due to his leadership style, but a revolt? You will see further down my treatise on how Unity operates like any totalitarian regime to keep control.
The story floating around: the reason for her removal is that she retweeted some tweets sympathetic to Palestinians.
I don't think that is the real reason, and that all you have to do is look at the pro-Amy reaction from all ends - internal, oppo and rank and file - for the real reason: her widespread popularity and the contrast to so many other in UFT staff positions, from middle management (District Reps) and up. But if it was something she said, a number of Jews who are pro-Israel back her. I hear she called for the UFT reso to be more fair to both sides. She also did a bunch of tweets and someone told me she was called out on similar tweets the last time there was friction in Gaza.
I've also seen that Amy, based on her public posts, may be an Irish nationalist and looks at things from the perspective of the brutal British occupation of Ireland. Not a bad point and as a history nerd and a liberal Jew who sees Israeli brutalism under a semi-fascist leadership, I get it.
I think removing Amy from real contact with regular people is the goal and she will probably be buried in a desk job at a good salary - if she accepts that. But if she takes an active part in pro-Amy protests --- well that may be a different story. She would have to go- and then she becomes an outside instead of an inside threat if she should begin to work with the opposition.
At today's Oct. 23 UFT Ex Bd, there may be an organized response in favor of Amy by some - shocking - Unity people, maybe even some from a middle level. Or maybe not --- assume there is a leadership attempt to stop or dampen it down.
I'm giving up a free dinner for volunteers at the elegant Palm house at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden today to go to this meeting so LeRoy better come up with a meal for the ages.
MORE caucus has called for people to come out to show support for Amy. Is this focus on Amy or the perception she was sympathetic to Palestinians? Call it a draw.
There is genuine support for Amy from people she has assisted. People who have been helped.
Some current and former oppo chapter leader constituents like former ex bd Arthur Goldstein and current Ex Bd member Ibeth Mejia -
"It’s been a remarkable week for UFT Unity. In addition to the ongoing shitshow of their massive health care sellout (coming soon to rank and file near you), they’ve added what I’m going to call Amygate. In fairness, Amy Arundell is not an elected official. However, by following the virtually unprecedented technique of actually doing her job, she’s earned a lot of loyalty and faith from those of us who do the nuts and bolts of union work."
Going beyond the Amy story and into a deeper analysis of how the UFT works - or doesn't work.
A just released new prototype video podcast from Arthur and Jonathan Halabi about Amy's work, a must watch two-parter and pro-Amy but also a deep analysis of what's going wrong at the UFT/Unity operation. And how Amy's removal is endemic to an tottering empire.
In part 2 they talk about Amy as a true blue Unity supporter, even pushing bad policy - like healthcare. But contrast her as one who serves members, in contrast to Unity hacks who only push their line and do little else. So it's an honest assessment. And they do a segment on the middle east issue - smart and informative.
I'm so looking forward to this type of smart talk, so missing from the UFT - even from the opposition. I've talked about doing something like this for years with some union pals, so glad to see it done.
Both
Arthur and Jonathan, newly retired, have joined Retiree Advocate in its
campaign to win the retired chapter election this spring.
Other views, not all favorable to Amy
There has been a battle of sorts on the ICE listserve between some oppo people who feel Amy should be supported by the oppo and others who feel a Unity is a Unity all the way. If James were able to, I'm not sure where he'd stand as he has been critical of her in the past, but I think he would stand against Unity tyranny. Camille too - we just spoke.
One retired Queens chapter leader said:
Amy did and does not forget the caucus she chose and the one to which
she continues to belong. With the todo being made by the Queens chapter
leaders and beyond why
would Mulgrew reinstate her? Mulgrew has not changed his mind or
actions regarding what he has done to retirees and continues to do to
active rank and file members.
Does anyone think that oppo people supporting Amy actually helps her with the paranoid Unity leadership? But if the goal is organizing opposition to Mulgrew, this is a hot button topic and may impact the 2025 UFT elections - if the oppo can get it together.
Some think a broad Unity internal revolution will be sparked by AmyGate. I think not - When You're Unity, You're Unity all the way.....
Let me repeat why I don't believe Amy was removed because of her comments on Israel or Palestine: The Mulgrew team using that as an excuse to remove someone who was way more popular with
members than Mulgrew.
Totalitarian regimes have a paranoid fear of palace coups. And there are a number of Unity staffers licking their chops to be her permanent replacement (Middle School VP Rich Mantel is the temp). Some Unity whisperers are calling them back stabbers. Borough reps are amongst the highest paid UFT staffers with over 200K a year.
Based on my own pure speculation and analysis of the leadership dynamic (I am, after all, a 53 year expert on Unity Caucus), Amy was perceived as an internal threat by some in the leadership. There's a backstory to this going back years but I'm not going there until I get some confirmation from Unity sources.But here are a few instances:
Calling for due process for Amy even though she is an at will employee
There is no union for UFT employees. Why? Because Shanker set it up that way. The real genius of Al Shanker. (When people in Chicago took over they were saddled with sludge from the old guard and called me to ask how Shanker did it.)
I have an idea - let's start a drive to unionize UFT staff - We can call the union Unity Hacks United - UHU.
Leadership has the right to move people around and
has done so all the time, borough reps in particular.
Seriously, there is a case to make for calling for UFT staff to be unionized not only to protect them but to protect the membership in a sense from having their advocates removed for, well, being their advocates.
This is not the first time. Debbie Poulos was removed as Brooklyn rep in July 2016 because she was supposedly too aggressive in battling principals, violating some possible hands off agreement between the UFT and CSA. Ed Notes broke the story on the eve of the July 2016 AFT convention.
Ironically, just a few days before, Debbie was hanging out with oppo people at an event in Washington and even put on a MORE shirt as a joke. I joked that she was at risk. The kiss of death.
Debbie has landed on her feet at 52 and is considered a go to person by insiders and outsiders. Will Amy face the same "fate"?
More background of possible longer term friction:
Amy was moved
from 52 Broadway into the Queens office c. 2016 or 17 which we (oppo) viewed
as a way to get her out of HQ at the time where she was very visible. That was my take, which may be wrong.
A too aggressive woman for Mulgrew to handle? She was saddled with the Queens staff - some viewed the Queen boro office pre-Amy as the worst in the city - so maybe she was sent in to clean up the mess, as Howie Schoor was once moved from Brooklyn boro head (Debbie's predecessor and mentor) to clean up the mess at the Bronx office. And he supposedly did.
Amy showed more aggression on fighting closing schools and opposing charters and some mixed results on fighting abusive principals. She got involved in getting rid of the Forest Hills principal after some pressure from below. But give her credit for responding. My big argument with Amy over the years was her claim the union will respond when the staff organizes and I said the union must get involved more deeply in weakly organized schools.
And I hear some of the former dead wood in that office came somewhat to life under her. I was especially impressed by her battle to keep two Rockaway schools open, one of them Daniel Alicea's school and he was quite appreciative and even supported Unity in the 2019 election, partly due to the work Amy did. Let's say relations were not quite as good when Daniel went over to the oppo. I was at rallies at the schools and Amy brought out the Queens staff to show support.
She was more knowledgeable and aggressive as borough rep than others and that may have created pressure on them and they may not be happy being compared unfavorably to Amy by rank and file. Possibly Knives
were out for her beyond Mulgrew. I'm thinking of one particular Borough which shall remain nameless. But that's just speculation on my part.
Amy was removed as UFT election chair for the 2022 elections
Things went very smoothly when I worked with Amy when
she was in charge of UFT elections in 2013, 16 and she also handled the 2019 -- she was so totally open to requests for information and the observation process at vote counts was much more open that it's become.
But for the 2022 election Manhattan Borough president Carl Cambria was put in charge and no one knows why
that was taken away from Amy - unless she didn't want to do it any more. But we viewed this removal as a slight from Mulgrew.
There has been some sense that the top level leadership is 3 men in a room and there has possibly been some resentment by some woman and maybe that seeped out.
So, there is some pre-history of friction between Mulgrew and Amy and some proof to my thesis that her comments on the middle east were just an excuse to remove her. But
Amy is a loyal Unity soldier, but also willing to speak her mind
In reality, this is paranoia and Amy is not a real threat, as she has shown intense loyalty to the leadership with especially harsh comments directed at the opposition, both on social media and in person at Ex Bd meetings over the past few years (see some of Nick's reports for details), even fraying some personal relationships she had with some oppo people. I know I was pissed. But is it possible she has been viewed as being too cozy with some people in the oppo? As you will see below, too much contact with opposition can prove to be fatal. But her contact was part of her job. Maybe pulling her back into 52 will allow them to keep an eye on her.
Knowing Amy, I suspect she's willing to call bullshit internally when she sees it and that may have grated.
Now, I am not a suspect in being too close to Amy, though we did hug at the labor day parade --- oh, shit, maybe it's my fault.
But I have no personal relationship with Amy and have never spoken to her outside of union business and occasional chiding each other, but she's been my go to person when I need to help someone. I do like her personally and have had arguments with her and she is sharp and not easy to argue with. "Smart and efficient" are the words often used to describe her. Would the oppo love to have someone with her skills on their side? No worries, it won't happen if she is placed in another position. But if dismissed -- well, who knows? Some oppo don't care for her but I'd welcome her. I'd bet she could make the same effective arguments for our side. I know some people are dreaming of a fusion election ticket of ex-Unity with UFC. Dream on. No one is giving up their Unity gravy train gig unless forced to.
The mechanisms of internal Unity control, modeled on totalitarian parties.
Someone will accuse me of red-baiting, but Unity controls are modeled on the leftist political factions the early leaders of the UFT were involved in --- they morphed from anti-Stalin Trotskyists to straight out anti-communists, but they learned how factions in control manage to keep control -- an often faux democratic centralism where a supposed democratic process leads to a vote and everyone comes on board to support the majority - a vote often rigged from the top faction. Unity operates under a mock internal democratic system. Think Stalinism. Except for the executions - though I think of bringing a food taster to ex bd.
They use isolation or outright purges and an internal spy network. In 50 years of work in the oppo, I came in contact with many factions and saw how these groups operate. The word Independent in ICE means "not under the control of an outside party." ICE was founded on the principal of the anti-Unity. No controls at all.
Totalitarian regimes hold onto power not only by suppressing and controlling outside opposition - UFT top-down structure and control of the DA, but also by establishing mechanisms to prevent internal rogue elements from organizing and building opposition - making sure there is no coup by purging potential opponents or striking fear into them.
Unity Caucus falls into this category. Unity may be a failure in many areas, but in managing itself internally and controlling the membership and the opposition (even buying some off with jobs), their over 60 year reign is proof of their success in keeping revolts down.
There is no Unity democracy internally - orders are handed down from the top. Like who will be running for adcom- Unity rank and file don't get to vote. They are told what the slate will be.
An elected staffer (when there were elections for Dist rep) who was non-Unity and a leading voice for opposition over decades and viewed by leadership as an enemy, told me this story.
He became friendly with a top level NY Teacher reporter, who wrote about the history of the UFT (Class Struggles). Jack used to slip money for Ed Notes to my friend. They went to lunch and as they were leaving the restaurant, a UFT/Unity hack staffer who had been close to Shanker (very close I heard) was walking by and saw them. Jack said, "this will be going into my file." He assured my friend they keep such files. I may be mistaken but I think there was a follow up and he actually got to see his file and sure enough there was a note about him being seen with my friend -- but don't hold me to it.
I have a bunch of other stories about people running to tattle on each other if they suspect too much contact with a perceived enemy. I believe Jim Callahan was fired because a former oppo person who wangled a job from Randi at the NY Teacher started bad mouthing him as being a leaker to Ed Notes - he even took some copies of Ed Notes to leadership and claimed Jim had said similar stuff to him.
Unity is also very clever in identifying people in the opposition who might be vulnerable to lobbying and they often assign a compatible person to woo them and over the years have had some success in weaning people into Unity who were formerly sympathetic if not active with opposition.
I could detect when people who I had been friendly with who usually greeted me warmly, even with hugs, and even distributed Ed Notes, suddenly started ghosting me by walking right by my at DAs and barely nodding or looking away. They didn't want to be seen even saying hello to me.
Let me close with this:
Too much contact with opposition can prove to be fatal.
-------
AFTERBURN: The Ed Notes Scoop on Debbie Poulos removal
ed notes broke this story and there was outrage from
Unity people who worked there and leaked it to me. Debbie was supposedly
too aggressive in going after abusive principals - the UFT the former
UFT president Sandy Feldman hinted at that after I made a reso at the DA
in 1997 to take away principal tenure to weaken their power. Debbie has
landed on her feet and has been one of the key people at 52 in helping
teachers. Amy may end up in a similar position. I'd ask people who
support Amy and are in other boroughs to demand their reps do similar
work as Amy or get someone in who will. That will shake the Unity tree.
And let me point out that free speech has not existed for Unity Caucus
in 60 years. In the 60s people who spoke out against the Vietnam war
were punished, so this is nothing new.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Mulgrew Removes Brooklyn Borough Rep Debbie Poulos - Was She too aggressive on certain abusive principals?
"Mulgrew
may think Poulos doesn't have the right temperament for the job," a
Unity source told me. "She doesn't kiss ass enough."
Night of the long knives at the UFT
Sunday, July 17, 2016
A
central office UFT Unity source contacted Ed Notes with an unconfirmed
rumor that UFT President Michael Mulgrew was removing popular Brooklyn
Borough Rep Debbie Poulos. Poulos will be given another position in the
UFT. The announcement is due to be made sometime tomorrow to the
Brooklyn reps at the AFT convention in Minneapolis. Mulgrew often uses
the occasion of AFT conventions to make these type of staff changes. It
wouldn't shock me to see other changes coming.
Poulos
had a good working relationship with members of the opposition in MORE
who worked in Brooklyn and a bunch of us hung out with her last Friday
at the SOS march in Washington - she even took a photo with us wearing
MORE shirts. "This won't get you into trouble," I joked. She laughed.
But
that has nothing to do with this change. Behind the scenes Debbie has
been known to be more aggressive than other UFT officials in hassling
certain abusive principals. She supposedly had a top-10 hit list of
principals. She played a role in the John Dewey story with the removal
of principal Kathleen Irvin, sending in special reps to assist chapter
leader Michael Solo in his battle. Michael left MORE and joined Unity
Caucus because he was so appreciative of the help.
Debbie
was a chapter leader early in her career under an abusive principal and
full well knows the score. I put up a reso in the late 90s calling got
more protection for chapter leaders due to the situation Debbie was in.
Unity Caucus turned it down overwhelmingly.
There
is speculation that Poulos had stepped on some toes in the UFT
hierarchy who have especially close relationships with officials in the
Farina's DOE administration who are unhappy with UFT officials who are
considered too aggressive. There are rumored names of those in the UFT
hierarchy who had it in for Debbie but at this point that info is not
confirmed - Unity slugs are welcome to speculate in the comments
section.
Mulgrew,
not wanting to endanger his seat at the DOE table, may be sending a
message to those few reps who stand up for teachers too rigorously. When
I checked with another source in Unity I was told they might try to
turn the Brooklyn office into another Queens borough office which is
considered by some to be the worst - or equal to the Bronx -
I
know my old pal Howie Shoor will take exception to that but he is no
longer Bronx borough rep, being replaced by Mary Atkinson who at one
time was an Ed Notes distributor. Howie has moved up to 2nd in command
as UFT Secretary. Howie was Debbie's guide and mentor and I wonder how
he feels about this.
Debbie
Poulos is popular with the Brooklyn reps who feel she has their backs.
I don't know all details but I've never considered the people I know in
the Brooklyn office of being especially aggressive. But I am not
plugged in to that info.
We'll report from the convention if we hear anything more.
If we find tomorrow that none of the above is true I will have to find a nice Minneapolis hat to eat.
Some of the comments on the story were not positive to Debbie and some were - similar to what we read about Amy - you can't satisfy everyone. By the way - the story was true - and Arthur Goldstein and I roomed together at the AFT convention and hung out with Jonathan Halabi. It was too damn hot - 100 degrees and we actually had lunch with Paul Egan who was also disappeared from the UFT -- holy cow, we are the kiss of death. Next time I see a Unity person I like I'm walking on by. My memory is not what it was but I think Debbie told me she had an abusive principal as chapter leader and I made a reso at the DA c. 1999 defending her and other chapter leaders - which was turned down by Unity. I also did extensive reporting on that convention - remember July 2016 and we did not expect Hillary to lose. Check the Ed Notes archives from that month if you want to know more. And Arthur and Jonathan did some great reporting too.
