TRS Election Pre-Outcome Analysis

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

A Bronx school

Friday, May 15, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

I will point to one more of his comments:

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

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

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

My response:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ABC Rocks as threat to Unity hegemony grows

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

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

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

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

From what I saw from reports coming in yesterday, in some Unity schools pushing the heavy Brown vote, there has been some counter reaction to Unity oppression. From one school: People were getting sick and tired of being pushed to back one candidate.

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

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

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

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

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

A Unity HS CL with an after school job whined to the staff about so many not voting, blaming them. It was his job to get them to vote and he blames them.

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

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

ABC TRS Town Hall: May 11 @ 7pm -- A Better Contract

I was away on a tour of national parks and tried to keep up but internet was sketchy. The TRS election has all sorts of permutations and the "We Trust David" chat has been hot. I just don't have the bandwidth to get into all of it but if you attend the town hall tonight you (and I) will be filled in. I categorized Unity staff in the past as drones and have learned in working with former Unity like David that once freed of the cult they have a lot of skills. David has done a great job in organizing his campaign. Needless to say, the Unity machine leadership views this election as crucial and has pulled out all stops to promote its candidate as I reported in my April 22 report:  David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and Loathing Works

 

Educators of NYCMay 11 · The Wire: Powered by Educators of NYC

Join us, today.

ABC TRS Town Hall: May 11 @ 7pm

A Better Contract May 11

READ IN APP

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lHRQhNwyQkid3fhGeuciww#/registration

This Monday (5/11) at 7PM: The TRS Town Hall Every UFT Member Needs to Attend

A Better Contract (ABC-UFT) is hosting a TRS Town Hall this Monday, May 11 at 7pm, facilitated by Amy Arundell. We’ll break down how the TRS election should be run and explain why every member needs to vote for David Kazansky.

Don’t miss this crucial chance to protect our future and take back our union!

THIS IS ABOUT YOUR PENSION

This election helps decide who has a voice over your retirement. David Kazansky is the only independent, member-driven candidate focused on protecting pensions without political pressure. Let’s show up and make our voices heard.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/lHRQhNwyQkid3fhGeuciww#/registration

Register for town hall

 

David vs Unity Goliath in TRS Election as Fear and Loathing Works as Unity Delivers 30K Petition Sigs for Tom Brown

I'm not coming to the DA today because I resigned as a delegate. I couldn't take all the unkindness anymore.... A (former) retiree delegate.

One day I'll get into how Retiree Advocate and the RTC leadership frittered away the potential power of electing 300 retiree delegates, many of whom don't bother attending. I'm too dumb to get the message and I'm racing to finish this before heading off to another scintillating Delegate Assembly, or Derogatory Assembly.

I’ve worked with David (Kazansky) for nine years, and it’s been an absolute pleasure. We have had the opportunity to attend many meetings, travel around the country, you always attending the defined benefit pension plans. David has always acted as a true fiduciary, always had the interest of our members, any time we debated anything, he would always say, how would this benefit our members? He’s taken care of a lot of specific issues with our members, helping members..... Tom Brown 

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

I graduated from the 8 month training program at Brooklyn Botanic

Garden Tour guide program last week and here is the treat of the season there - but with more to come as spring moves on. Maybe see you there one day.

The Teacher Retirement System (TRS) race is one of the more interesting I've seen in the UFT. Recent discussions about investing pension funds in city housing and other investments have raised the issue of exactly what role our pension reps play on the TRS. Do they share investment info or strategies with the membership and if not why not?

David vs Unity. Goliath

David Kazansky Gets 2500 sigs, Frank Panebianco, 1400. Needed was 1,000. Kazansky had been a pension rep for 9 years before he was moved out by Mulgrew and subsequently fired. He is currently teaching elementary school in the Bronx. 

He is running as an independent with the backing of ABC as the only group to back him officially while the legacy oppo groups sit on their hands. (though some individuals have been on the campaign). Better dead than red is an old anti-communist theme. A version has infected the old legacy UFT opposition: Better Unity than opposition that doesn't meet the purity test. That is the theme of most of the oppo, which has been embalmed in a left wing ideological tomb for decades.

Panebianco, also back to teaching after being a UFT staffer fired by Mulgrew in a reign of terror. It seems to have worked, as the Unity machine saw the threat David presented and went hog wild in getting 31k signatures for Tom Brown, who is also a UFT officer. Unity is feeling enough heat to have run a massive campaign for Brown.

Of course petition signatures don't necessarily translate into votes when the election is held in a few weeks. Having third candidate Panebianco in the race certainly makes David's chances very slim. Is Panebianco a Unity stalking horse to assure a Brown win? Did they help him get the 1400 signatures? Sources say probably not. 

I'm actually pretty impressed with the campaign David has run - his approach and his organizational abilities - 2.5k sigs is pretty impressive and also shows that the ABC network is still operating. Note that petitions can be challenged and last year Unity managed to knock the opposting candidate off the ballot and no election was held. I don't imagine Unity will challenge Panebianco's signatures this time and David has too many sigs for a challenge to work but they may try to go after the main threat anyway.

There are 3 teacher pension reps, all for a 3-year term, staggered so that every year one of them has to run - if there is an opponent. For decades Unity has controlled all these positions and in fact there was never an election because no one ran against them. For many years I and others have advocated for someone to run against the Unity candidate. A victory or even a serious dent in the Unity vote would break the monopoly of the TRS teacher reps who are as subservient to Mulgrew's wishes as the Trump cabinet is to his. 

There are strict rules around the election process and the petitioning. The DOE, not the UFT, runs the elections in the schools on a day in early May. Ironically, retirees play no role in the election. Supervisors and college teachers can vote, so it requires a broad network. Two years ago, an hoc group of UFT members organized a vigorous campaign for a candidate who volunteered to run and with a tiny organizing effort he got a third of the vote. But Unity did not do a lot in that campaign.  We did not necessarily expect to win that election, but to use it as a learning experience for a future run. Last year there was a challenge on some minor issue and the candidate was knocked off the ballot. So this year is the first time of a real potential election. (Expect another election next year.) 

The election is run in the schools in one day by the DOE and the last one two years ago was so terribly run there was a law suit. Don't expect this one to be run much better. One interesting aspect it the results show how each school voted -- how many votes each candidate gets so there is a lot of room for analysis. Expect the Unity machine to hold its in school people and district reps accountable for the votes.

On the surface it may look like a slam dunk for Unity and it probably is. Now it's down to GOTV and let's see how well the candidates do. Unity might get 80% or 60%. Remember the 54% in last year's election. This will be a test of the Unity machine's GOTV operation, which a year ago was not too effective -- which I think led to the firings and warnings and even some demotions. But I will say that the tactics being used may work for a short time but fear and loathing of such tactics will lead to rising resistance. 

I'm working on a future blog titled: Will Unity defectors become the face of the opposition in the UFT? My thesis is - and actually has been for 30 years  - that Unity can never be beaten until there are cracks that lead to breaks -- and instead of trying to heal these cracks, Mulgrew has cracked down and over the long run -- those cracks and crackdowns will turn into an earthquake.

======

Afterburn: The Legacy Caucus sit on their hands

After initial reluctance, some key members of New Action supported the campaign two years ago, but MORE sat it out because their main concern is about BDS - dumping Israeli bonds. When I brought the issue to RA, one member refused to let them consider supporting the candidate over the potential BDS issue too. 

This year RA and MORE are again sitting it out, while there is some support from a few people in New Action. 

Ideology once again triumphs over winning, one reason the oppo in the UFT will always lose to Unity, which is already planning the 100th anniversary party of holding onto monopoly power in the UFT in 2062.

Retired Teacher Chapter Exec Bd meets gets sad news, Analysis of Texas Dem Primary - Surprise - Real Progressive Won, Is Iran winning?

The Kazansky/Brown race for TRS heating up as hundreds attend an ABC info zoom -- report coming soon. 

 

Respect Means Retirement Security... David Kazansky Mar 7

Monday, March 9, 2026

 

I attended the March 3rd (my birthday) Retiree Teacher Exec Bd meeting on Tuesday after rushing back from a weekend jaunt to attend The Philadelphia Flower Show, the nation's oldest and largest horticultural event, held annually since 1829. Most people I know think that I'm nuts and after attending the meeting I agree with them. 

 

There was an election taking place and I wanted to be there to stand up for the candidate I favored in a 4 way race. (She didn't win.) The RTC constitution gives the EB the right to replace any elected position, though when we try to replace the dozen delegates (out of the 300 we elected), the UFT says we can't -- you know, because they say we can't. We were told by a former Unity delegate that when they ran the chapter and had vacancies, Tom Murphy just replaced them. They make rules up as they go along.

 

The lack of aggressiveness by the RTC leadership only emboldens bullying by the UFT/Unity leadership. I think it goes beyond that and detect some fear by the ideologues in RA of adding new delegates who might not be pure enough ideologically --- but that's only my guess. One RTC Exec Bd member pointed out that adding a new batch of delegates would invigorate our contingent at the DA which has been shrinking to the point of irrelevancy, perhaps the major failure of the RA hierarchy.

 

There was an opening on the RTC Executive Board due to the resignation recently of Daniel Harkavy due to an illness - cancer that seemed to escalate quickly. We found out on Tuesday that he died on February 20, a real shock to many of us who had enormous respect for Daniel for his sense of humor, smarts, and judicious non-partisan advice. I wanted to touch base with him after he resigned and am kicking myself for failing to do so. Daniel taught chemistry at Brooklyn Tech for 26 years. 

 

At the RTC EB meeting last Tuesday, Arthur Goldstein, who got to know Daniel, paid an impassioned tribute to Daniel and followed that up with this post.

RIP Daniel: Daniel Harkavy passes:  Arthur Goldstein- Mar 06, 2026

I'm not sure how Daniel came to be part of the RTC EB - I didn't know him before. He tried to steer a neutral course during the UFT election follies last year, signing petitions for both ABC and ARISE, and attempted to run with both slates but was made to choose by ARISE. He ran with ABC because he felt ABC had the better chance to win but remained cordial with everyone. 

 

When ABC had a petition signing in Bayside, where Daniel lived, he showed up and met Arthur and was introduced to one of our officer candidates who is also a chemistry teacher who graduated from Brooklyn Tech a year before Daniel began teaching there. He was thrilled to meet her. 

 

For someone I barely knew, his passing was especially upsetting because when he posted he was in the hospital I intended to touch base with him as a fellow cancer patient who went through some tough days over the 6 months of chemo. To have been stricken with a deadly cancer at such a relatively young age - he was 63 but count the time leading up to it - is so sad and makes me feel relatively lucky at having reached 81 recently and still be fairly mobile and active. 

 

I barely knew him but will miss him.

 

Daniel was open and respected for openly saying that if he felt ARISE had the better chance he would have run with them. The ABC crew respected him for that view and we felt that if he would have been allowed to run on the ARISE too, he would have gotten 46% of the vote, the highest total of any non-Unity person in history. 

 

I advocated running hundreds of people on both slates and might have actually sneaked a few people in. At some point the people who made that decision for ARISE need to be held accountable. Actually, the entire leadership of ARISE.

 

As to the election for his replacement, as I said, my favored candidate who also ran with the ABC slate did not win and lost to someone who had no connection to the movement we built among retirees over the past 5 years. A very nice guy, by the way. But a message was sent by the New Action/Retiree Advocate dominated RTC EB and the result is not a positive development for a united front in the 2027 RTC chapter election. Details next time.

 

 =======

 

The Texas Primaries

I'm a political nerd and follow both mainstream and alt media.

 

On the broader political front,  I get some of the best political analysis at breaking points, an alt media outpost that includes the left and the right, with the great reporter Ryan Grim and Krystal Ball representing the left. But it's always good to see what the right is thinking, though this is not MAGA right. 

 

I've been getting about 10 messages a day from Talarico -- I want to send him some money, but then I will get 20 messages a day. 

 

Wednesday's discussion of the Talarico/Crockett primary was fascinating and for a deep dive I urge you to check it out: https://youtu.be/5ttTwSR60L0?si=ms2W31EGQwDyprjb 

 

Not knowing enough beforehand, I did not have a dog in the race, other than the sense that Talarico had a better chance to win than Crockett, whose performance-based political acts has never resonated with me. Some view her as squad-oriented but and someone said to me she was like AOC. Far from AOC or the squad, she is more cultural than economic left. And in fact it turns out according to the analysys below that Talarico made the better economic left case.

 

Mainstream media painted the race as the left (Crockett) vs the center (Talarico) and therefore a lesson for Dems to stay to the center. This analysis actually paints Talarico as a sort of left because he ran an anti-corporate Bernie type campaign, albeit with some religious twists while Crocket despite her performativeness actually avoided the wealthy vs the rest of us and was more of a Dem cultural

 

   

 

Republicans already spent more than $71 million to try to push Cornyn over the finish line, according to AdImpact, a media tracking firm. But all that money got him to only 42% in the primary against Paxton, who has been impeached, indicted, and rocked by multiple cheating scandals. 

• The New Yorker: In the Texas Primaries, a Good Night for James Talarico, and a Bad One for John Cornyn  

Cornyn, still the establishment conservative, raised roughly sixty-nine million dollars; Paxton just four million. In the final stages of the primary, the incumbent, still trailing in the polls, released a spot for the ages, which opened, “It’s voting time, so let’s cut through the bullshit. Crooked Ken Paxton cheated on his wife. She’s divorcing him on Biblical grounds.” Paxton’s camp deployed the candidate’s daughter in a last-minute response ad, and called Cornyn “a desperate shell of a man clinging to power.” But, on Tuesday night, neither candidate managed to get fifty per cent of the vote, which means they’ll face off again in a runoff, in May. In theory, Republican voters might have been ready to throw out the last vestiges of the pre-Trump party. But not for Ken Paxton. At least not yet.

Crockett’s challenge to Talarico had less to do with ideological difference than with style—a somewhat repetitive January debate between the two candidates kept returning not to policy but to the question of whether it was better to establish common ground with some conservatives in the hope of winning their votes (Talarico’s position) or simply to rally your side by making clear what you opposed (Crockett’s). Crockett seemed to see enemies everywhere, and closed her campaign lashing out at certain political consultants and reporters. The congresswoman’s team expelled Elaine Godfrey, who’d published a critical profile of the candidate in The Atlantic, from an event for being a “top-notch hater.” The resulting back-and-forth on social media, between the campaign and its liberal critics, consumed much of the race’s final days. 

Who's Winning the Iran War? A surprising view differs from mainstream media from the left and the right.

 

The left view - Ryan X Tim Dillon: https://youtu.be/3lTk2SOHeVM?si=TR1ZbwOmoACNLiI5

The right view from Saagar and Tucker on Iran winning - Saagar X Tucker: https://youtu.be/Dl78cDjOIRM?si=CTGDRVtSzXWTJYSJ

 

 

Cults: Unity Caucus Channels Republicans as UFT Delegate Assembly Echoes Trump State of the Union,TRS Election Adds Another Purged Unity Defector

Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026

Watching the Republicans leap up for joy at every Trump lie and bit of misinformation at the SOTU brought echoes of recent UFT Delegate Assemblies where we see a similar reaction from (fake) jocularity from the Unity Caucus cheering committee. The longest SOTU and most boring speech in history reminded me of some of Mulgrew's long-winded reports at the DA.

There was no better example than the Feb. DA where the main item was the endorsement for TRS of Unity candidate Tom Brown as one Unityite after another rose to give praise - and oh the cheers when the vote was taken to endorse him. Oppo people, like the Dems at the SOTU sat on their hands. There just weren't many of them and even for those who were there, there was no coordination. More and more oppo people are just not bothering to attend -- a boycott of sorts, like the Dems who stayed away from the SOTU. 

The only group that had a strategy - sort of - was ABC people, but I was lukewarm to not opposing Tom Brown on the grounds he was one of 3 Unity shills who would do whatever Mulgrew tells him to do. The argument for David Kazansky is that he would now be an independent voice - and yes, for 9 years he was a union leadership voice - publicly - but I suspect behind the scenes he was willing to ask questions about the fees we were paying, the role of private equity and investment strategy.

MORE on the whole has never felt the DA was an important venue. And the vaunted 300 Retiree Advocate delegates that replaced the Unity 300 in the June 2024 supposedly game-changing election which has not changed the game very much have been disappearing from the DA in droves, thus negating the impact of that election. MORE claims 100 DA. members but few show up, so the Unity staff and loyalist CLs dominate the room. Remember ARISE? No signs anywhere that they are alive since the embarassing 14% vote in the 2025 UFT election.

Even I, an over 50-year DA attendee, even when I wasn't a delegate, no longer see it worth it to hand out leaflets. I like to attend for social reasons to schmooze and  hang out with my pals.

The real changes in the UFT are happening underneath the covers and I am glad to be part of the various fragments of people connected to ABC. 

Mulgrew helps build the new opposition in the UFT

 

What the hell is happening at the UFT that 2 former pension reps are challenging the Unity candidate for TRS rep? 

 

Former UFT special rep Frank Panebianco is joining former 9-year Teacher Retirement System rep David Kazansky, pushed out of the job by Mulgrew two years ago and fired last June, in the race for TRS rep against Unity loyalist Tom Brown. Panebianco was among those staffers fired by Mulgrew. 

 

Is he a plant by Unity to divide the oppo vote? The guess is he is not but genuinely pissed off at the leadership. Is Unity cheering his candidacy against David? I'm thinking not as he is popular and  may well draw votes from Unity and turn this into a 3-person race. And of course David is popular in Untiy and will also draw votes. In a secret ballot, no matter the pressure from the leadership, there will be defections. Unity may punish district reps who don't turn out the vote -- we get a post-election report on the vote breakdown for every school. The key for Kazansky is to build a strong network of schools that will vote for him - right now there are 6 weeks to get 1000 signatures for each candidate. He has a shot at winning no matter what, but even if Brown wins the network built in the campaign can be used in the future. 

 

That two long-term Unity pension experts have challenged Unity candidate Tom Brown is indicative of the same kind of cracks we have been seeing in Uniy over the past few years. The massive retiree and para oppo wins in the 2024 chapter elections were clear indicators - the removal of Amy Arundell from Queens started a trend and her ability to bring some serious elements of Unity along with her in last year's union election has created a potential new oppo block in ABC outside the usual caucus suspects. 

 

Despite the firings by Mulgrew last June, while scaring some of Unity back into the fold, has still left some people seething. (One well-known school-based Unity recently declared privately "I'm done with them." Are they ready to be openly part of an oppo group like ABC? That may take some time and also depends on how capable ABC looks over the next few years. And don't forget that Unity 54% vote in the election. It takes some time for people who have been in a cult to wean themselves off. 

 

This look good for Unity - short term on the surface - but many of these people have actually learned some organizing skills, albeit in the rigid confines of Unity. But once freed, the creativity flows and excitement at the freedom grows. It is up to the legacy oppos to figure out how to join forces if they want to defeat Unity. There is a soft strucrure in place within the ABC coalition by the alliances built in last year's election and ties that bind continue to be built. 

 

Learn more about David at WeTrustDavid.org 

 

The Mulgrew reign of terror may work to keep staffers in fear and in line but the firing of well-liked and competent people also sends a message and degrades the structure from underneath. The firing of District 30 rep Ashley Rzonca has riled chapter leaders and rank and file in the district and is creating a cloud of resentment that will ultimately morph into open opposition. I never knew Ashley until she was fired last June and have come to see her abilities in various strategy sessions. 

 

Then there is Pissgate where a photo of Amy was placed in a men's room urinal at the Delegate Assembly and the culprit wasn't found despite months of investigation by an outside lawyer and despite cameras. 

 

There is a lot of residual fear and loathing of Mulgrew and his administration throughout the ranks. LeRoy Barr's retirement and the flippant way he announced it at the January DA that surprised Mulgrew won't help as he was able to keep many of the troops in line. Will LeRoy loyalists begin to jump ship too? He is still in charge of Unity Caucus so he will be a factor. Some say the simple solution for Unity is to replace Mulgrew and some see the Mike Sill rise as a solution. BTW- Mike was once a protege of Amy Arundell who was his boss. 

 

The woim toins.

 

Do you want to build your caucus or do you want to win an election? That was a question asked of leaders of the RA caucus and unfortunately it looks like caucus first. The same with NAC and MORE -- they will gladly take 14% of the vote forever as long as they can control their caucus. At a recent meeting one non-UFT person told me "it's all about control - having power in a small fishbowl." 

 

If the legacy caucuses wake up and join a movement like ABC, Unity would be in trouble.

 

 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-out-of-school/id1490313171?i=1000751049681 

 

David Kazansky speaks about the responsibility of the TRS Trustees.

https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=63921

A substantive, no-spin conversation about retirement security for NYC educators and retirees. 

 

Former three-term TRS Trustee David Kazansky.was interviewed by Daniel Alicea on WBAI in part 1 of a 2 part interview on Sunday. 

 

• David’s storied career as an educator, unionist and trustee

• What really happens inside the TRS boardroom

• Private equity and pension transparency

• Fiduciary duty and divestment

• Tier 6 and what reform would actually take

• The upcoming TRS trustee election — and what’s at stake

Part 2 also drops here next week and will be aired the next time Daniel hosts Talk Out of School.

Let’s stay informed.

— Dan Alicea

---

Learn more about David at WeTrustDavid.org

---

 

 

UFT Exec Bd Update: Kazansky Announses for TRS, LeRoy says Goodbye, Sill Replaces Him, Tom Brown Endorsed for TRS

I was trying to write this up last night but was seduced by the Olympics. Tonight or tomorrow morning I will report on the 1PM RTC Exec Bd meeting which I am leaving for ASAP. Oh, and before I forget - they served shrimp scampi last night.

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, 12:15 PM

Leaving my warm and cozy Rockaway abode, I reluctantly attended only my second exec bd of the school year last night because I had an early appointment at MSK to have my port flushed. I love a port flushing and if you don't know what that means, you're lucky. It was a brisk 15 block walk from my apartment but not that cold. I walked back downtown through Grand Central where I had coffee and an almond croissant before stopping at Neuhaus chocolate for a Valentine gift. Now that I've taken care of the important stuff, here is a report on the info-packed UFT Exec Bd. meeting last night.

LeRoy Barr made an appearance and was greeted warmly. I posted Rebel Teacher's analysis where the author surmised LeRoy was pushed out in a dispute with never teacher Ellie Engler who was backed by Randi Weingarten. Or possibly LeRoy just got sick of dealing with the lunatic fringe at 52 Broadway. No longer being a member of the UFT Exec Bd, he spoke from the mic in the ten-minute pre-meeting time. He followed former TRS pension rep David Kazansky, who was pushed out of the position two years ago when he was in Unity, but is now running as an independent and was endorsed by ABC. 

• Kazansky announcement. 

• A Better Contract-UFT unanimously endorses David Kazansky for NYC TRS Trustee; Ben Morgenroth tapped as alternate: We must put rank and file educators back in charge of $130 Billion pension fund. David Kazansky is the real and only choice.

David, who is back teaching 5th grade in the Bronx, was also greeted warmly by his former Unity comrades.  To learn more, visit: http://wetrustdavid.org

 

LeRoy enthusiastically endorsed his successor, Mike Sill and said there have been only 10 Secretaries in the history of the UFT, the longest running being Jules Kolodny under Shanker - yes, Virginia, I'm old enough to have been there when Kolodny was Secretary. I'm sure Mike Sill is looking forward to breaking Kolodny's record. The betting line on Sill being the next UFT President immediately went up at Kalshi.  Get your bets in now.

Speculation began on who would replace Sill as Assistant Secretary, a road to UFT President in the past (Randi and I think Sandy occupied that position). Some said Mary Vaccaro who is already a member of AdCome and would also need replacing. Others are thinking more widely. One dark horse: Emily James, who is serving her first term on the Ex Bd as a high school rep who no longer teaches but is based at 52 as a key Mulgrew advisor. 

The other issue that came up was the endorsement of Tom Brown to run against Kazansky for TRS rep that will come up at tomorrow's Delegate Assembly where expect the Unity crowd to immediately start petitioning as soon as the endorsement goes through. Some David supporters will be there to petition for him. IMPORTANT NOTE: Anyone who signs both petitions will have their sig cancelled. One thousand sigs are needed but it pays to get double because there will be cancellations. There has been only one TRS election in the past 40 years - that was 2 years ago when Ben Morgenroth ran. ED NOTES covered that election.

• May 8, 2024, Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pensi... 
• TRS Election Issues as Both Campaigns File Protest...
• Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Al...

Unity Caucus sent out this update at 8PM, one hour after the Ex Bd endorsed Brown:   

The Unity Caucus Steering Committee met and voted to recommend endorsing Tom Brown for another term as trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System. That recommendation was then brought to the full Unity Caucus membership and just after 8:00 p.m., members voted to endorse Tom Brown.

I guess they had to mimic ABC. It's nice to see Unity no longer hiding that they exist as a machine to run the UFT.

 

After the meeting I congratulated Sill and Barr, both of whom I like personally and have had a good relationship with. LeRoy mentioned that in his Facebook post with his pics, he made sure to include the late Ellen Fox. He also said he disagreed with Rebel Teacher's analysis that he was pushed out. I said I didn't totally agree either - I think Unity (which LeRoy headed) will miss him as will the UFT and his retirement weakens the machine. But on the other hand, I think in the short term the Mulgrew repression and firings and threats has brought people into line in maybe stopped the Amy Arundell like defections. We will see. 

 

and I could see the case for his leaving at this time though did mention that some couldn't understand why someone so relatively young and making so much money would give it up. "Living life," he said. "They say you should have the same number of retirement as working years." Hmmm. That's a tough one - I need another dozen years. Maybe LeRoy will make it. I asked why he wasn't at the RTC meeting last week and he said he will be there in the future. Some think he might be a candidate for Ch ldr against Bennett Fischer next year. If LeRoy is serious about retiring it makes no sense for him to take on that position. The Kalshi betting has been on Sterling Roberson, with a minority going for Leo Casey, who is not loved within Unity but is spending his time attacking Marianne Pizzitola who is a hero even to some Unity after saving them money. 

 

Read her latest response to Leo:

There is one highfalutin blogger named Leo Casey who insists retirees are in unions. And not matter the case law, the PERB or OCB cases, City, State or Federal we post against that theory- he resists. This is not debatable; retirees are not in union collective bargaining units. They are in retiree chapters like auxiliary members and their own bylaws show that their DA can vote with the support of their Executive Board as to whom can be included - but they are not full members. Even though retirees can vote - not every retirees’ vote counts as ONE full vote per person of more than 23,500 retirees vote as Arthur my retired union brother wrote yesterday in, “Are We Union.” The reason he fears the UFT losing the support of retirees is money. It’s why Leo attacks our organizations’ grassroots funding, our legal strategy, and the support we have because we are literally front and center fighting for retirees. Leo cannot say that about the UFT, like I cannot say that about DC37. This will be a future post very soon!

So let’s dive into history.

 

Some UFT History and the Retiree Connection

Marianne Pizzitola Feb 10