Showing posts with label Hakeem Jeffries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hakeem Jeffries. Show all posts

Friday, November 18, 2022

Pelosi Replacement Corporate Shill, AiPac darling, pro-charter Jeffries Is At WAR With Progressives - fights Left Dems more then Republicans

Back in 2009, A bunch of us went up to a court in Albany to oppose the appointment of Cathy Black as chancellor. Hakeem Jeffries was with us. It's the last time I viewed him as a progressive.
The hedge-funders and charter school backers,who have supported Jeffries in the past, are overjoyed.  Will Jeffries continue to wage an open war on progressives?
The notion that the Democratic Party establishment would put
a lawmaker beholden to AIPAC in that position is shameful. The far-right AIPAC supports numerous Sedition Caucus lawmakers, for starters....  Meet the new boss same as the old boss... Oh yea, another banking-industry shill. Just what we need... Comments on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4cIh52OWNc

"I’m a Black progressive Democrat concerned with addressing racial and social and economic injustice with the fierce urgency of now.  -- Hakeem Jeffries

But not so much addressing racial and social economic injustice when it comes to serious healthcare issues like Medicare for all.

While expected, the Jeffries appointment being celebrated by Dems based on identity politics is a dangerous road for Dems since Jeffries has mocked the left in ways that echo Trumpy mocking the libs.  Pro charter, he's a corp Dem all the way and guaranteed to stop any moves to Medicare for all.
 
Here's a section from today's Breaking Points/Counter Points with Ryan and Emily:
He created a PAC to undermine left. He openly opposed Jamaal Bowman but Bowman said he supports Jeffries. Huh? Hates AOC apparently. Left won't fight him - makes them look so weak and allows him to run all over them. DSA is a bigger target for him than Trumpies.
Ryan goes into the nature of personal relationships like Nancy having Omar's back so often and when the left attacks the squad for not opposing Nancy - well, Nancy did have skills. Does Hakeem have similar skills?
Jeffries tied into APAC and they want to exterminate the left --- Emily says it could rupture but Ryan says left too small - like a pothole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4cIh52OWNc
 

Jeffries, first elected in 2012, has long been considered Pelosi's heir apparent, rising through the ranks to land a perch in the party's House leadership.

However, he could face some opposition from the most vocal progressives in the House, who labeled him a centrist.

"I’m a Black progressive Democrat concerned with addressing racial and social and economic injustice with the fierce urgency of now. That’s been my career, that’s been my journey and it will continue to be as I move forward for however long I have an opportunity to serve. There will never be a moment where I bend the knee to hard-left democratic socialism," he told The Atlantic last year.

 Jeffries would be the first Black party leader in the House and would face the challenge of navigating a wide-ranging caucus, including progressive members he’s clashed with in the past. A former corporate attorney, Jeffries has faced distrust from some progressives for his support from and for business interests, as well as his backing of a political action committee aimed at defeating progressive challengers

It doesn't look like he will face objections from the left, fearing a racial backlash. Too bad.


Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Dem Party Goes After Nina Turner and Bernie Wing of Party

“I don’t begrudge anybody wanting to get involved in the race,” Ms. Turner said, “but the entire Congressional Black Caucus PAC? That’s sending another message: Progressives need not apply.

I just gave Nina Turner another $100 for the Ausgust 3 primary in Cleveland. I'm fascinated by these internal struggles between the left and center right inside the Dem Party, a much more fun group than Republicans where there is no longer a fight. In the next two weeks there will be a battle royal. Guess which side our own UFT would take?

liberal activists around the country have rushed to Ms. Turner’s defense, with money, volunteers and reinforcements. Her campaign has raised $4.5 million for a primary, $1.3 million in the last month. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York will be knocking on doors for her the same weekend Mr. Clyburn will be in town. Mr. Sanders will join the fray in person the last weekend before Election Day.

"We have worked very hard to center the poor, the working, poor, and the barely middle class in this election with a laser focus on the issues that will benefit working families. My opponent, however, is not running on the issues but on lies." — Nina Turner

CHIP IN $27 NOW TO HELP SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT >>>

DONATE

Let's bring this thing home!

- Nina 💜

KNOCK DOORS

MAKE CALLS TO VOTERS

 

Hilary, Obama, Clyburn, Jeffries, the Black Caucus --- their actions show serious fear of the progressive wing. Nina Turner is a threat to the Dem establishment. 

Nina Turner’s move from Bernie Sanders’s campaign co-chairwoman to House candidate has highlighted a Democratic divide between impatient young activists and cautious older voters.

The Democratic establishment is throwing copious amounts of time and money into an effort to stop Nina Turner, a former Cleveland councilwoman and Ohio state senator.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/us/politics/nina-turner-shontel-brown.html 

Monday, July 9, 2012

We Apologize

Easy to apologize now that they helped Jeffries win three to one.  Old riddle: How do Democrats organize a firing squad?   In a circle, of course ------JMB
  
Dear MoveOn member,
 
Last month, you received an email from MoveOn about Councilman Charles Barron, a candidate for Congress in your district. It was offensive and inflammatory—and we shouldn't have sent it.
 
On behalf of the MoveOn staff, I apologize to you and to the Brooklyn community.

The email was all too reminiscent of the kind of attacks that have been used by our opponents to divide progressives over and over again—white folks from African Americans, Jews from non-Jews, recent immigrants from descendants of immigrants, etc.

MoveOn is a community of 7 million of us from every corner of our country. There are MoveOn members of every race, religion, and color. We aspire to bring folks together to fight for racial and economic justice and democracy—with respect for everyone. This email did the opposite.

After the email was sent, we couldn't undo the harm it had done. But we wanted to do our best to avoid doing any more damage. So we didn't say anything further about Councilman Barron for the duration of the race, limiting our involvement to communicating the positive reasons that MoveOn members in the district chose to endorse Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries back in April.

We can't take back our actions. But we can do better going forward to make sure that we are uniting, not dividing, our shared communities.
 
Again, our sincerest apologies. And if you have any thoughts you'd like to share with us about the email or about how MoveOn can be a constructive force in local races and issues in the future, please don't hesitate to email me at justin_ruben@moveon.org.

Thank you for all you do.

Justin Ruben
Executive Director
MoveOn.org Political Action
 

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

UFT "Neutrality" in Jeffries-Barron Race is Support for Jeffries

Charles Barron, a former Black Panther out of East New York, has the the movers and shakers of this city aghast. All those Wall Street lawyers, hedge fund operators and charter school advocates who have poured money into stopping Barron’s bid for a Brooklyn congressional seat are worried.-- Juan Gonzalez
Jeffries was supported be DFER but then to cover his ass claimed he didn't want their money. There is no bigger supporter of ed deform than Jeffries yet the UFT would not support his opponent. I've seen Barron and his wife Inez at almost every single rally and event opposing Bloomberg control of the schools. Look at the money flowing into Jeffries and yet Barron is holding his own. I almost never contribute to a candidate but I may just do so now. (Barron has an office on Pennsylvania and Hegeman, a corner I used to walk by every day on the way to George Gershwin JHS, not to be closed.)

If you are a UFT member ask the leadership why they won't support Barron.

Juan Gonzalez really nails the issues in today's Daily News.
 

Charles Barron, a former Black Panther out of East New York, has the the movers and shakers of this city aghast.

All those Wall Street lawyers, hedge fund operators and charter school advocates who have poured money into stopping Barron’s bid for a Brooklyn congressional seat are worried.

A group of Democrats, from liberals like Manhattan Rep. Jerrold Nadler to neo-conservatives like Ed Koch, even blasted Barron this week as an “anti-Semite” and a “racist.”

All of them have suddenly realized that Barron, the most outspoken member of the City Council for the past decade, could be heading to Washington.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Not with all the money the people downtown poured into their choice for the newly drawn 8th congressional seat — State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries.

Jeffries, after all, is young, articulate, nonthreatening. He claims the mantel of a new generation of forward-thinking, technocratic black leaders, following in the footsteps of Newark’s Cory Booker and Barack Obama.

Jeffries’ list of donors reads like a who’s who. His latest campaign filing shows $500,000 raised, but he now claims to have surpassed $700,000.

Members of his former law firm, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, gave the most, $33,000; but a slew of other hedge fund operators, lawyers, bankers and philanthropists provided tens of thousands more.

They include John Petry and Joel Greenblatt, heads of Gotham Capital and the founders of the Success Academy Charter Schools ($2,500 a piece); Whitney Tilson of the KIPP charter schools ($1,000); Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the state board of regents ($2,500); Kathryn Wylde of the Partnership for New York City ($500).

Barron, on the other hand, lists a mere $50,000 in donations — most of it from himself.

Still, there was Barron Tuesday morning, sitting in a small campaign office on Nostrand Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, looking very much like a front-runner.

Sitting next to him was U.S. Rep. Ed Towns, who recently announced his retirement from the congressional seat he has held for 30 years.

Back in 2006, Barron challenged Towns and came very close to defeating him. Then last week, Towns shocked everybody by endorsing the rival he once called a “bomb thrower.”

“Even though we’ve been on different sides, we always shared a belief in making things better for this community,” Towns said. “I feel Charles will do a better job as my successor.”

Senior citizens, the most reliable of voters, have always been Towns’ base. And given that the unusually early Democratic primary on June 26 is expected to have record low voter turnout, Towns’ decision to throw in with Barron is a potential game changer.

Jeffries discounted the new developments.

As for donations from hedge fund mavens and charter school advocates, they will not influence his views on the lightning rod issue of education, he said.
“No one is fighting harder to stop public school closures than I am,” he said. “I’ve always held the same position on school choice, and supported lifting charter school caps,” he added.

Barron’s focus has been “on the sound bite, mine has been on substance,” Jeffries said.

Sure, Barron has been loud and outrageous at times.

But he has also been a fixture at scores of social justice battles in this city for decades. Few black leaders are better known. Few are more willing to challenge the city’s rich and powerful.

No wonder the money people in Manhattan are suddenly worried about a congressional race in Brooklyn - one they thought was a sure thing.
Author:
Juan Gonzalez
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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Unity/UFT On Sidelines in Jeffries/Barron Race

Neutrality in essence supports ed deformer/charter mole Hakeem Jeffries as the UFT wholesale sellout to ed deformers continues. Yes, boys and girls, the UFT at the Delegate Assembly yesterday said "no mas" allowing the deformers to capture a Brooklyn Congressional seat. Well, I predicted in yesterday's post that the UFT would actually support Jefffries but I guess they can't go that far. However, sitting this out is support, just like sitting out the mayoral race last time was supporting Bloomberg. (Just watch both Bloomberg and Mulgrew support Quinn, which should tell you something about there the UFT really stands.)

I'm not always a fan of Charles Barron over some of his bombast, but he and his wife, State Assemblywoman (and former teacher and principal Inez Barron, who I just love), have stood up for teachers, parents and community time and again in the WalBloomKlein years. Oh, and did I say he is adamantly opposed to mayoral control in any form – no tweaks like the UFT wants – and for local control that would empower parents and teachers at the school level, something that both Bloomberg, Bill Gates and Randi Weingarten/Michael Mulgrew all oppose.

At yesterday's DA, which thankfully I skipped, the Unity ant hill went along, leading their flock to slaughter.

Here is a post on the story from NYCTeachers.com


Mulgrew & UFT Execs Sit Out Another Important Political Race

We all know how spineless Michael Mulgrew and the UFT executives were when they sat out of the most important mayoral race ever in New York City.  The UFT helped Bloomberg get his third term as mayor when they sat on their hands and did not endorse William Thompson.  How the teacher's union can sit out of a mayoral race is beyond comprehension.
Mulgrew and the UFT executives are showing that they are still not looking out for the best interest of their members, as they sit out of the very important Brooklyn Congressional race between Charles Barron and Hakeem Jeffries. Barron and Jeffries are running for the seat that the retiring Ed Towns held for many years.  The UFT is not looking out for the best interest of their members and that is a huge problem.
Charles Barron has been endorsed by NYCTeachers.com because he is a strong supporter of the teachers of New York City, and he has been on the frontline fighting against school closings, teacher layoffs and public funding being used for Charter schools.  Hakeem Jeffries receives funding from Charter school organizations and Charter school advocates, which is a slap in the face to teachers of New York City and to the union.  The expansion of Charter schools is an attempt by Bloomberg. Klein and many of their friends, to bust the union and to control public education  dollars.
How can the UFT not fight against a guy like Hakeem Jeffries, who will play a part in busting their own union and hurting their own members.   DC37 is smart enough to understand that a vote for Jeffries is a vote against unions and teachers, so they have decided to endorse Charles Barron.
Mulgrew and the UFT executives MUST answer questions about this move or they should be ousted immediately, for not looking out for the teacher's best interest.
Teachers must go out in full support of Charles Barron if we care about our profession.  Pass the word on to all teachers and educators. 


======================

The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Real Story Behind UFT Push for Legislation on Charter Co-locations

  • Limited proposal to have local CECs vote on Charter Co-locos while closing schools removed from agenda.
  • No role for District Leadership Teams (DLTs) or School Leadership Teams (SLTs). 
  • Now that the UFT's two co-located schools in District 19 in East NY Bklyn will be removed after the UFT gets its own building, it is safe for them to enter the water of challenging co-locos.
  • Does UFT move undercut alliance to kill mayoral control?

Ask people at the 33 threatened closing schools or the ones already closed and threatened to be closed if they want CECs to vote on this issue --- but won't happen in UFT proposed legislation.


Amidst charges by some parents of a betrayal and hijacking of their agenda, the UFT will be holding a joint press conference on Tuesday Feb. 28 at 10:30AM at Tweed to announce proposed legislation that would give Community Education Councils (CECs  - the Tweed version of local school bds) a vote on charter co-locations in public schools.

Various parent groups and individuals had been working on legislation in the fight towards ultimately ending mayoral control and wanted inclusion of both colocos and school closings in the legislation but feel their efforts have been hijacked by the UFT who rounded up their usual arm candy/paid off usual suspects to join with them.

While lots of Assembly members have been invited among the usual suspects are DFER Darling Brooklyn Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries (who is running for Congress - see below if you think he is not a DFER darling) and Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright who not long ago declared he would oppose renewing mayoral control, (if you're asking why the UFT would climb into bed with a DFER Darling you haven't been reading this blog). Wright will be pushing the bill with Jeffries joining in -- when he isn't spending his DFER money on his congressional campaign. [I must throw in that Martine Guerrier is going to run for Jeffries' seat with lots of DFER support. Martine's story deserves its own post].

Wright deal after Wadleigh turnaround on closing: Do you smell school closing politics?

The Wright story is a prime example of how closing down of schools is political and not educational. Not long after Wright threw his bomb about not supporting mayoral control (coming from a supporter in Harlem this is not good news for the charter lobby or Bloomberg) the school he was trying to keep open  -- Wadleigh -- where Cornel West visited --- the DOE pulled them off the list and Wright goes silent on mayoral control. Watch the UFT leaders brag how they worked behind the scenes to keep the school open -- while selling everyone else out.

CEC would get vote on co-locations but not on closing schools
While the bill would keep the DOE from force-feeding charters into public schools –  some parents think this would be a significant victory even if mayoral control continues – a sister provision put forth by some parents requiring a CEC vote on closing schools was not included despite a big push from many real reformers, leading to charges that the charge of UFT hijacking.

No little irony here considering we have been attacking the UFT leadership for many years for putting on a phony show about fighting closing schools (after almost a decade of supporting this policy). Ask people from the schools closed and about to be closed if they wanted the CECs to vote on closing schools.

More usual suspects:
*AQE, NYCC and CEJ, all in some way receiving funds from the UFT will be in attendance supporting the gradualist approach to corralling the mayoral control monster. At the rate they are moving, we might see some progress by the next century. I hope you're all still reading ed notes then when we can trumpet the victory. *[Alliance for Quality Education, NY Communities for Change - formerly ACORN and Coalition for Educational Justice --- one day I'll do a piece on all these orgs -- are they real or are they memorex?]

All I will say now is, this deal is the ultimate in dirty politics where everyone from DFER to UFT leadership to Bloomberg get a little bit of what they want and preserve some of their power while parents and kids and teachers lose. Another example of a big tent created to serve multiple motives, instead of supporting truly parent led legislation that would really help our kids and reign in mayoral control which is out of control.

Charter lobby begin campaign to take control of selected CECs in districts they want to occupy --- in a year the UFT bill will be an anachronism. Note these 2 Gotham Schools reports.

Charter lobby pushes for seats on the CECs 
Feb 7, 2012 ... The request was the centerpiece of this year's Charter Lobby Day, which drew more than 1200 charter parents to Albany today to push the CEC ...
gothamschools.org/.../charter-parents-inclusion-call-yields-a-bill-but-not-city- support/
Feb 8, 2012 ... On Tuesday, more than 1200 charter school parents traveled to Albany as part of Lobby Day. Their main ask was that legislators set aside seats ...
gothamschools.org/.../city-actually-undecided-about-charter-parents-call-for- inclusion/
There is even more irony in that the charter lobby's main legislative ask is for seats on the CEC, their way of using their muscle to control the CECs so these selected CECs will vote for the charter co-locos.

In fact charter parents who live in the district already have the right to be on CECs via Borough President appointees or if they are a parent of kids in a district school in the past 2 years. Thus, gaining a "victory" as is usual with the UFT, may very well prove Pyrrhic if a quid pro quo is reached where CEC's are allowed to vote on charter colocos but charters get to use their money to push themselves into control of CECs. Can you imagine the day when Eva tosses an enormous pot of money into pushing her candidates for CEC? What would it take? Just buy off selected public and charter school parents in targeted districts for charters. If a public school parent works for a charter org that still allows them to be on CEC.

Push for more parent and teacher voice scuttled
Some parents were pushing for a role for SLTs and DLTs as a counter to the "CEC only" option but are being ignored in the deal, not surprising given that including SLT's, though also severely flawed, might allow for a rank and file teacher voice in the process. (Does the UFT fear that the teachers in the two schools the union charters co-locate might vote them out?)

What is a CEC and how is it chosen?
The CECs are the Bloomberg created versions of local school boards from the old days, but eviscerated of any real power and chosen in a severely limited process that is far more undemocratic than even the old school board elections pre-mayoral control. I won't get into any more detail here other than to say that with each election cycle the DOE screws things up more and more. [Parents sue to stop Community Education Council ... - Ed Notes Online].

Summing up
A coalition of parents were pushing a comprehensive plan to at the very least limit the absolute power a mayor would have over the school system, with an ultimate goal of ending mayoral control and were working with some political forces to accomplish some of their program. The UFT moves in and coopts them while severely weakening the controls they were asking for. Standard op procedure for the UFT.

Now also notice how deeply entrenched up the ass of DFER the UFT's partner, Hakeem Jeffries, is:
Just in case you have not had enough, this was posted to a listserve by a parent activist and former charter school parent:




The charters ALREADY have their bill introduced for charter parents to be on the PEP and CEC. It's been introduced in the Senate and Assembly. They're lobbying hard for this in an election year with loads of campaign cash to give out. Legislators haven't heard from any public school parents who object to charter parents being on the PEP or CEC's.

This is why parents AND teachers at all schools must have a say in school closings and co-locations. We already have charter parents who are BP appointees to the CEC's, we have those whose child has been in a public school in the last two years who are eligible to serve and now we'll have it in the law any charter parent can serve.

Funny thing is they're still not complying with the 2010 law requiring them to serve a comparable amount of students with special needs and ELL's and every charter have a PA/PTA but they want charter parents on CEC's and the PEP.

I guess it's okay to violate charter parent rights under the law and use us as puppets to undermine public school parental involvement structures to create more charters where more parents' rights will be violated.

Please start calling your legislators and tell them NO to charter parents
on the PEP and CEC's and that they should enforce the 2010 charter
reforms.

Thanks.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?sh=printbill&bn=S06100&term=2011

Read the bill below -- if you dare: