James Eterno: Mentor, Friend, Inspiration By Mike Schirtzer, UFT Executive Board

Mike Schirtzer gives James Eterno major credit for helping him become an activist in the UFT.

February 11, 2024

James Eterno: Mentor, Friend, Inspiration

By Mike Schirtzer

UFT Executive Board 

It is the day of a UFT Delegate Assembly sometime in 2013. James Eterno looks over at me and says “you’re motivating the resolution..” He wrote it. I helped a bit, but it was his idea. It is my first time speaking at the DA. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. A lot of old timers who had been in the union for over twenty years, our union leadership, and all my comrades in opposition are looking on. Mulgrew points to me. Oh no! But James has prepped me and I am ready. One of the earliest memories of my relationship with James Eterno. 

I started with “Good morning everyone.” President Mulgrew laughed and said “you meant good afternoon.” I replied “for those of us in school all day, it feels like one long morning.” The room broke up laughing. I looked at James next to me, who was hysterical. Later Norm Scott would say “You’re a natural you know how to win people over,” but my confidence was built on the preparation with James. 

The resolution called for the UFT to reject any evaluation system based on test scores, a major plank of the education deform movement, which the UFT leadership, ironically, supported, and our MORE Caucus rejected. Our side of the room was cheering while the front-center, dominated by Unity Caucus members and UFT staff, was hissing and mocking. 

When the first UFT staffer rose to speak against me, James immediately called a point of order. He carried a pocket size Robert's Rules of Order with him. I had no clue what a parliamentarian was, nor Robert's rules, and absolutely no clue what a point of order was. James was the master and he asked, in his cunning, working class New York City accent: “Can we at least have a classroom teacher, someone actually working in a school, speak against this?”  Our crew cracked up. It was classic James, always ready with an answer. Quick, smart, with knowledge of the contract and Robert's Rules, like a rabbi knows the Torah. The contract was James’ Torah.

When he was done arguing with the parliamentarian, James came right over to me and said, “Great job Mike, you were amazing today”. No compliment made me feel better than one from James. We may have won a few people over that day and it was the first of many resolutions we would write together.

Thanks to James’s mentoring and support, what could have been an embarrassing experience that might have made me gun-shy in the future, instead, built my confidence as an activist. Needless to say neither James nor I made many friends in the Unity Caucus that day. But James helped me discover a relaxed way of addressing even hostile forces in a manner that has worked for me over the past ten years.

James was a thorn in the side not only of union leadership, but even our comrades as well. It was fine to disagree with him and Norm. Boy did we disagree. We’re New Yorkers and trade unionists. Our disagreements may be a bit loud for others, but it was how we communicated. We never got mad, never hurt each other, and always laughed about it the next day. 

He had the unique ability to get under your skin but still make you love him at the same time. I think everyone knew he was coming from a good place, a love for our public schools and union. Over the years our debates made me a better union organizer and human being. He taught me you can disagree but be civil. On any union or contract question in my school he was my go-to. He was a lot of people’s go-to for his encyclopedic knowledge and the process of collective bargaining. 

Having a mentor like James Eterno had a major impact on so many people. Read the many comments on the ICE blog. After all, he was the chapter leader of one of the largest high schools in Queens, Jamaica High School. He served for a dozen years on the UFT Executive Board with New Action Caucus and then the Independent Caucus of Educators (ICE), which had merged with TJC and others to form MORE in 2012. That was when I first got involved in union politics. Outside of Randi Weingarten or Michael Mulgrew, James was one of the only UFT people recognized citywide. 

Needless to say, ICEers are devastated by the news of James' illness and death. ICE, whose open meetings always revolved around some kind of food - people don’t fight as much when they are not hungry -  continued to meet as an informal dinner group over the years. I was invited and made to feel very comfortable in what seemed to be a group with a sense of family that still resonates. Camille and James would often attend, sometimes with their kids. Norm would dominate with his rice pudding and long drawn out sermons that James and Camille would laugh at days after the meeting ended. Camille always joked that anything Norm says starts with a comma and ends with the ‘68 strike. One hilarious meeting was when James, Camille and I argued against Norm as to whether we should run in an upcoming union election. We were livid with Norm. We won the debate and Norm, as always, ended up leading the cause he had spoken against. 

We worked to win back Executive Board seats and celebrated when we finally brought one of James’ first UFT loves, New Action Caucus, which he had left in 2003, back into the opposition fold due to his willingness to reach out, forgive old grudges, and work together to win these seats. One of the best phone calls I ever received was from James telling me “Congratulations we won the Executive Board seats”, he was as excited as I was.

We were always planning, plotting, one strategy session after another. Often on daily chats and phone calls until he was felled by a stroke in May. We tried to keep MORE as a place for regular rank and file where everyone would feel welcome. We challenged the union leadership at DA’s, Executive Boards, district meetings, borough meetings, wherever and whenever there was a public platform. We challenged Unity on the state level at the 2014 NYSUT convention where James was a driving force, along with a local Long Island President Beth Dimino. James and my other UFT hero, Julie Cavanagh, decided I should be one of the two speakers along with Lauren Cohen representing MORE. Julie and James revised and edited the speeches (Video here.) 

When we got pushed out of MORE, James was half “I told you so,” always a naysayer to the far left influences within the group, but also upset that so much of his work had been lost. He mended fences with key players in MORE along the way. Despite being very anti-Unity, he gave me his blessing to run with them  when I had the opportunity. With James it was never personal, only political.

In the last few years James was a driving force in bringing the various UFT opposition groups together and forming the United for Change coalition of seven or so different union groups (not an easy feat) to run against Mulgrew and Unity. He willed it, even though these groups had different ideologies and personalities. His crowning moment came when his wife Camille, a fierce and outspoken unionist, was the 2022 UFT presidential candidate, echoing James’ 2010 presidential run against Mulgrew.

Although we ran on different slates, Camille, James and I had a hearty laugh on the night of the election results. Camille didn’t win, but we still enjoyed talking the night away. Our love for the UFT may have taken us down different paths, but it didn’t divide us. 

Being part of a chat group that touched base regularly often made my day. When my mom died James and Camille joined the rest of the group in a Shiva call. Not hearing his voice almost daily over the past nine months has left a major gap. One good friend told me upon hearing of Jame’s death, “some of the people who work at UFT don’t love the union as much as James did”. No truer words have been spoken. 

He was not only my good friend, but my mentor, my teacher, a fellow New Yorker, traveler, dad, husband, social studies teacher and dedicated unionist.

It’s been hard the last few months, since he got sick, to feel passionate about union work. Now that he has passed I wonder if that passion will ever return but just thinking of him and the work he did will inspire me.

I will miss James so much. I miss him more than these words can express. I loved him as a brother in arms.

 

Camille Eterno in The Chief -- Alford Speaks for UFT - A sign of Mulgrew's successor in case of election disaster for Unity?

I have faith in Camille Eterno running the UFT better than Mulgrew has. Insiders tell us he has even lost the confidence of many in Unity -- and even Unity retirees -- look at the opt out numbers -- 64k for all union retirees, probably many in the UFT. Will opt-outers who would have to pay almost $200 a month extra for what they were getting for free still vote Unity? A 50-50 split would be a win for United for Change. Word out of some Unity people is even they do not object to Camille as many know her. Look for more split ballots this time than usual.

In the past I discounted split ballots. But in a close election, individual rather than slate votes might push some people over. So Imagine a close election and say Camille gets a few hundred votes from split ballots and you can end up with a mixed AdCom and even a mixed Ex Bd. Actually that might be better for the union than winner take all. Or it could descend into the Republican vs Dem war where the Unity people try to sabotage Camille. Anyway, interesting thoughts for we wonks.

My other thoughts are that it is interesting that Elem VP Karen Alford is the UFT spokesperson here. I like Karen as to a lot of people. I met Karen on a charter school committee Randi formed in the late 90s chaired by then considered Randi successor and Elem VP Michelle Boden who a few years later disappeared to run the UFT charter school in favor of Mulgrew --- Randi's biggest mistake among many. Many of us really like Boden. The point I am making here is that bringing Alford into public light is a sign of possibly being considered as a Mulgrew successor - especially if this election is a disaster for Unity- and a disaster would mean UFC getting over 40% of the total vote and making serious inroads which would set them up for winning the next time and would necessitate Mulgrew's removal -- but in dictatorships even with disaster looming that is not all that easy. HSVP Janella Hinds right now is considered by some even in the opposition to be the most likely choice but maybe Karen is in the chase. More fun for us UFT wonks.

 

Teacher hopeful of turning the tide at the UFT

Queens teacher Camille Eterno, far right, part of the United For Change slate, is challenging the longtime president of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, in balloting that begins the second week of April.

By CRYSTAL LEWIS clewis@thechiefleader.com

For veteran teacher Camille Eterno, safety concerns for her fellow educators during the coronavirus pandemic were what prompted her to run to become the United Federation of Teachers’s next leader.

“We’ve lost over 100 UFT members to the Covid virus,” said Eterno, who is challenging the UFT’s longtime president, Michael Mulgrew, in balloting next month. 

A six-decade streak

Eterno is running as part of the United For Change slate, a coalition of six dissident caucuses that formed last fall to pose a greater challenge to the Unity caucus, which has led the UFT since the early 1960s. The upstart slate faces an uphill battle: Mulgrew has served as UFT president since 2009, and easily won re-election to a fourth term in 2019 with 86 percent of the vote.

But during a recent phone interview, Eterno argued that this was the perfect chance to transform the UFT, which she believes is a “top-down” organization, into a member-run union. United For Change aims to reduce class sizes, improve pay and empower rank-and-file members. 

“The feedback we’ve gotten has been very positive. People are hungry for a change,” said Eterno, who started teaching in city public schools in 1996 and has served as a chapter leader and delegate for 18 years.

Mulgrew was said to be unavailable for comment, but Karen Alford, who has served as the UFT’s vice president for elementary schools since 2008 and is also running for re-election, said the union’s goal is to “make sure that our folks are treated as a union of professionals—that there is a fair wage so that when we walk into the classroom we can do the best job possible.”

'We Do The Work'

Unity’s campaign slogan centered on “doing the work.” Alford pointed to a number of achievements by the UFT, including an arbitration ruling earlier this year that provided members who were forced to work during the canceled spring break in 2020 with vacation days as compensation. 

She also highlighted safety standards negotiated between the city and the union to protect students and staff from Covid, including testing, contact tracing and protective equipment in every school building.

“We are a model for this country for what health and safety looks like for educators. Schools that had broken ventilation for 20 years now have working ventilation,” Alford said.

But those achievements are not enough, Eterno argued.

“I don’t think Mulgrew fought hard enough for health care for retirees, for raises that keep up with inflation, or to reduce class sizes. He’s too busy making concessions,” she said.

Against retiree health-care changes

She believed the end of the seniority transfer list in the union’s 2005 contract was one such concession, which then led to the creation of the controversial Absent Teacher Reserve. United For Change also sought to reverse the city’s plan to move municipal retirees’ health coverage to a Medicare Advantage plan. 

In early March, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge ruled that the city must provide retirees with the option of keeping their current health insurance free of charge. Some retirees have expressed concerns that Medicare Advantage offered lesser benefits than traditional Medicare, or that it would be more costly.

UFT leadership supported the new program, but believed that it suffered from serious implementation problems. “We are still working to make sure that this is a plan that works for our members,” Alford said. “We want to make sure it is a plan that is cost-effective and takes care of their health needs. We don’t want a plan that feels like it’s being done to you.”

The slates also differ on the issue of mayoral control of schools. 

Eterno argued that mayoral control was responsible for many school closures, which then led to ballooning class sizes. Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, nearly 200 low-performing schools were closed between 2002 and 2013.

'Mayoral Control A Disservice'

“Mayoral control has done a disservice to public school children. I don’t think Mulgrew will fight hard enough against mayoral control, he wants tweaks,” she said.

But Alford argued that instead of reverting oversight of schools back to local school boards, there could be other ways to improve mayoral control, such as giving more power to parents through the Panel for Educational Policy.

“As opposed to throwing the baby out with the bathwater, is there a way to put in some checks and balances?” she asked.

One issue they agree on, though, was encouraging more members to participate in the election. 

“Only 23 percent responded to mail-in ballots in 2019—so the vast majority of the UFT members are not participating,” Eterno explained. Although the UFC candidate called for electronic ballots in order to encourage members to vote, Alford said “a multi-partisan election committee” decided to retain mail ballots.

“We want everyone to fill out their ballots so they can be counted,” she said. 

Ballots will be mailed April 8

Alford has been challenged by UFC’s Tameka Solomon, while Annie Tan is seeking to defeat incumbent LeRoy Barr for secretary. UFC's Luli Rodriguez and treasurer Debra Penny are among the other candidates facing off.

Ballots will be sent out April 8, and will be counted on May 10 by the American Arbitration Association.

Eterno said that if she wins, she wants to empower members so they know what their rights are, especially those facing harassment and retaliation. 

“To people who aren’t sure which way to vote, I would say, ‘Look around you,’” she said. “I would ask them ‘Are you better off now than you were two or three years ago?’”

UNITY Caucus Modus Operandi: Oppose debates and Attack Female Pres Opponents, Moms Camille Eterno and Julie Cavanagh on DA Attendance

What Really Happened at the February '22 DA with Nick Bacon, UFC Candidate for HS Ex Bd  - superb and not to be missed.

https://www.spreaker.com/user/14957478/ep-29-what-really-happened-at-the-februa

...to expect a young mother to teach a full day, tend to her infant child, and travel to meetings without fail is ridiculous at best, and misogynist at worst.... Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator, March 24, 2013- Should Working Mothers With Sick Babies Attend the DA?

Julie Cavanagh --- I certainly do not need to defend my attendance at Delegate Assemblies. While I do attend, often, DAs are not a democratic forum. As I am sure the commenters on the ICE and MORE blogs know, and as all Unity folks know, for most chapter leaders, the first DA in October is their last. Why? Because, the room is not even large enough for all of the CLs and delegates to be seated and when you do go and sit, you listen to Mulgrew practice his stand up routine for an hour or so, after which you *might* have the chance to ask a question or bring a resolution to the floor if Mulgrew recognizes you. Regardless, it is an effort in futility because it really doesn’t matter what you say, ask or bring to the floor; the ruling Unity caucus will disagree with it or vote it down, since they control the DA. If the UFT leadership actually held Delegate Assemblies each month that were informative and provided fair and ample time for discourse and discussion, I would be there in a New York minute....

instead of relaxing while my baby takes a nap, I am writing this in response to comments on the ICE and MORE blogs attacking my commitment as a unionist and chapter leader and questioning my worthiness as a candidate for UFT President. All of this because I, and the caucus I represent, had the nerve to insist that Michael Mulgrew engage in a forum or debate with me 

UFT Presidential candidate Julie Cavanagh, March 2013

February 21, 2022

The recent attacks at the Feb. DA by Unity hacks, led by the wailing of Leroy Barr and the bullying of Mike Sill, assaulting UFC Presidential Candidate Camille Eterno over her DA attendance record reminded us that they did the same to brand new mom Julie Cavanagh when she ran against Mulgrew in 2013. Of course Camille, due to Unity acceptence of fundamental ed deform that led to closing schools based in UFT supported high stakes testing, the end of seniority and the creation of the ATR pool, has had to shift over the past years from school to school, so attending the DA until recently was not an option, especially during the pandemic. Plus the fact that Camille's credentials were not sent in time for any of the DAs this year so she could attend in person.

Perhaps seeing the UFT under Mulgrew and Unity is a locked box, Julie went another route and became a supervisor. She is now one of the most respected (by teachers and other UFT members) principals in the city. Last week I met a teacher at her school who told me she felt blessed to find herself working for Julie.

They are not even creative enough to come up with something new. While you'll get a dry partial story on some reports from the DA you will get the full story by Nick Bacon, who was actually elected running on the Unity slate in 2019, but now in New Action and running for HS Ex Bd with UFC:

New Action – UFT Unpacking the February DA - The February DA was a farce, but not for the reasons our leadership would have you think. United for change has a problem: we haven’t been called on durin... 

And James:

ICEUFT Blog UNITY ATTACKING CAMILLE'S UNION RESUME AS THIN SHOWS THEY CAN'T EVEN DO OPPOSITION RESEARCH HONESTLY - This post is for the Unity Caucus people who have made their line of attack on Camille Eterno that she doesn't have the experience needed to lead the lar...

You can hear Camille on the Matt and Abie podcast - https://open.spotify.com/episode/5AsrTYY5hoboFYHU96Y4fI

Back to 2013 -  Sunday, March 24, 2013 NYC Educator post:

Should Working Mothers With Sick Babies Attend the DA?

There's a small ruckus on the MORE blog about whether or not UFT President Mike Mulgrew should debate his sole opponent, Julie Cavanagh. While the respondents are often more civil than the juvenile ravings that haunt the ICE blog comment section, their arguments are bizarre, to say the least. As it happens, candidate Julie Cavanagh has an infant son, and the best argument they can seem to muster against her is that she doesn't attend the DA frequently enough.

The implication that she would neglect her duties, as a result, is beyond offensive. With all due respect, Mulgrew is not a full-time teacher. It is one of his primary responsibilities to conduct the DA. Cavanagh's primary responsibility is to teach her classes. If she couldn't be bothered doing that, we might have something to discuss. Or, depending on the circumstances, we might not. But to expect a young mother to teach a full day, tend to her infant child, and travel to meetings without fail is ridiculous at best, and misogynist at worst. 

UFT members deserve to hear the ideas of those who'd presume to lead us in a free and open forum. If, in fact, Unity's ideas are so much better than those of the opposing caucus, it behooves them to demonstrate it.

The notion that the DA is remotely a substitute for free and open debate is preposterous. It is an insult to the intelligence of teachers everywhere. Anyone who contends the DA is a suitable forum for a debate between candidates is disingenuous and misleading, qualities I wouldn't seek in a chapter leader, let alone a union employee. 

and a follow-up on Mulgrew refusal to debate Julie: Saturday, March 30, 2013

Who's Afraid of Julie Cavanagh?

I think we saw at the Feb. 22 DA, nothing much has changed from this report 9 years ago - in fact the lack of democracy is worse.

James reported back in 2013

Thursday, March 21, 2013

• DA REPORT: PERSONAL ATTACKS INSTEAD OF DEBATE ON SCHOOL GOVERNANCE; UNITY VOTES NO TO UFT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DEBATE

 and here he prints Julie's response and challemge to Mulgrew to debate her.

• MORE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JULIE CAVANAGH TAKES ON HER UNITY CRITICS

Wow. While having breakfast with my husband and almost nine month old son (who is finally on the mend after more than a week of a fever ranging 102-104 every day, during the same time my best friend’s 18 month old daughter was in the hospital, who by the way is also a teacher and a single mother of two young children) I picked up my phone to see a mention on Twitter from Arthur Goldstein (teacher and chapter leader in Queens). I frankly couldn’t believe what I was reading. Usually a mention from Arthur has me in stitches, not this time.

Now instead of relaxing while my baby takes a nap, I am writing this in response to comments on the ICE and MORE blogs attacking my commitment as a unionist and chapter leader and questioning my worthiness as a candidate for UFT President. All of this because I, and the caucus I represent, had the nerve to insist that Michael Mulgrew engage in a forum or debate with me so that our members can be fully informed and engaged when it comes to their voting choices in the upcoming election.

First let me say that I do not feel I need to defend my role as a chapter leader. Nearly every UFT member in our school, signed my petition for UFT President, and many of my colleagues are actually running in this election with MORE. 

Second, I certainly do not need to defend my attendance at Delegate Assemblies. While I do attend, often, DAs are not a democratic forum. As I am sure the commenters on the ICE and MORE blogs know, and as all Unity folks know, for most chapter leaders, the first DA in October is their last. Why? Because, the room is not even large enough for all of the CLs and delegates to be seated and when you do go and sit, you listen to Mulgrew practice his stand up routine for an hour or so, after which you *might* have the chance to ask a question or bring a resolution to the floor if Mulgrew recognizes you. Regardless, it is an effort in futility because it really doesn’t matter what you say, ask or bring to the floor; the ruling Unity caucus will disagree with it or vote it down, since they control the DA. If the UFT leadership actually held Delegate Assemblies each month that were informative and provided fair and ample time for discourse and discussion, I would be there in a New York minute. As this is not the case, I attend as many delegate assemblies as I can, but sometimes other events such as a childcare issue, my son being ill or an important meeting in my community to bring a new partner into Red Hook to service children and families with disabilities will take precedence. I do not need to go to the delegate assembly to prove who I am or that I am committed to my union; I act every day in a way that highlights why I should be president of the UFT.

I am a mother and a teacher. I have been a teacher for thirteen years, and have been working with children with special needs and their families for even longer. I have stayed in the same community and school since moving to NYC in 2001, because I am committed to the process of leading school change and improvement from the school level. I became chapter leader at the request of my colleagues a few years ago and have worked hard with them, our parents, and our principal to make sure our children and our teachers have the best learning and working conditions possible. I fought for my school during the dictatorship that my union handed to the mayor, during a co-location of a charter school in my building that my union didn’t adequately help fight (which is difficult since the UFT leadership chose to co-locate its own charter), while our class sizes rise steadily and our budgets are slashed, while teacher’s choice was eliminated and insultingly reinstated to cover no more than a few boxes of pencils, while ATR’s rotate in and out of my building- some of whom have approached me on the brink of tears desperate for someone to listen to their struggle, during a time of a tidal wave of assaults on our children, our schools, and our profession. 

Throughout this time, I not only worked in my own school community, I worked with parents and union members across the city and the country to fight back. You can find links to some of my work here, but I will list a few highlights: I co-wrote/edited/produced/and narrated a film that stood up to corporate education reform, a film that has been seen by hundreds of thousands of people in every state and on every continent (except Antarctica); I have appeared on several TV and radio programs and written several articles where I have spoken out forcefully against corporate education reform and for the schools our children deserve -- and I was invited or asked in every single case to participate, so while those in Unity caucus pretend to not know who I am or what I have done (but yet "know", falsely, that I am not at DAs) apparently the national media does; I have also worked with other union members in the city and nationally -- I helped organize a conference, and attended and facilitated, in Chicago in the summer of 2011 with other teacher union members; I helped lead the solidarity efforts with Verizon workers at the end of that same summer. I have sued, with a parent and a student, Mayor Bloomberg for the right to protest school closings and co-locations on his block and successfully organized and co-led that protest. I was the only teacher petitioner in the effort to stop and overturn the appointment of Cathy Black and also recently the only teacher on record to join with parents in sounding the alarm of student and teacher data privacy issues regarding SLC/inBloom data systems (Randi Weingarten, by the way, sits on inBloom’s advisory board). I say all of this not because I think anything that I am or that I do is so special, I share this information to highlight the outlandishness of the attacks from people whose usual line is there should be no attacks on union folks because we are under attack from outside forces and therefore need ‘unity’. I also share this because these are the things the president of a union should do.

Beyond of all of this, if Unity caucus can attack me for the number of times I went to the DA (this year I believe I have been to four DAs), the number of grievances I have filed (none), the number of UFT trainings or committees I have attended (none), then I wonder why they nominated Randi Weingarten as their presidential candidate, since she never attended a DA as a chapter leader, was never a chapter leader, and therefore never filed a grievance, attended the trainings etc.  

I personally do not think any of those things are what makes someone qualified to run our union. What matters is leadership. What matters is vision. What matters is the philosophy by which one will govern and represent the membership. I believe in a union that is member led and member driven. When I, or a candidate from MORE caucus, become president of the union, you will not have to attend a DA and sit idly and listen. The DA will be yours. When we take over leadership of our union, we will organize, support and build fighting chapters at the school level with elected district representatives who are trained organizers.  When we run the union, leadership and staffers will make salaries equivalent to the teachers we represent -- there will be no extra perks, no double pensions.  When we lead our union, you will not go more than three years without a contract, at least not without organized job actions and a fight. 

When Unity’s stranglehold of the leadership of our union ends, the members will have representation that believes in solidarity with other unions and in the power of our collective action. You will have a union that educates, mobilizes, and organizes our members and the public and who organically partners with parents and young people. You will have a leadership that truly understands that our working conditions are our students' learning conditions, that a harm to one is a harm to us all, and that we must stand side by side with deep roots in the communities we serve to fight for social, racial and economic justice in our schools, in our city and across the country.

I am more than ready to share who I am with the members of the UFT and I am happy to answer their questions. In fact, that is precisely the reason I sent the email below to Michael Mulgrew. I believe a union membership with a less than 30% voter turnout needs to be engaged and exposed to open discourse and conversation between the two people who seek to represent them.

Mr. Mulgrew, I am still waiting for a response. 

My email to Mulgrew:

Sent: Mar 14, 2013 8:01 PM

Michael,

I hope this email finds you well.

While we have differences and disagreements concerning education policy and union democracy, we both are committed to our union and the children we serve. In that spirit, we should be able to engage in an open conversation during election season so we can ensure our fellow members are informed and engaged.

To this point you have ignored outreach regarding your participation in a debate or question and answer town hall with me. I would like to directly and formally ask you to participate in such an event.

I believe that our members deserve the opportunity to ask questions of their presidential candidates and I strongly believe this kind of open and honest discourse strengthens our union: an educated and engaged membership that is listened to and participates makes us stronger.

There is precedent for an event such as this between presidential candidates during election season.  As you know, Randi has participated in presidential debates in the past: one in 1999 and again in 2001.  

I am open to a debate format with a third party moderator or a town hall question and answer event with the membership. My only specific asks are that the event be filmed and/or livestreamed so that we can maximize member participation, that the date, which I am open to any, be agreed to a few days in advance, so that I can secure child care and that the date be as close to April 3rd as possible, so that we provide a fair amount of time for members during the election timeframe.

I look forward to your response.

In solidarity,
Julie Cavanagh