Is Black Lives Matter Divisive, as Leroy Barr Claims?

There is a lot of controversy swirling around the MORE resolution at the January DA and the blow back the union is receiving and their response by attacking MORE. I have issues with both the UFT's position and the way MORE has presented the issue and will go into more depth in followups because this issue scratches at flaws in Unity, the UFT and in MORE.

Throughout this debate I feel I have two opposing forces on my shoulders arguing with each other. Yin-Yang.

MORE is claiming repression of debate. Unity is claiming MORE is engaging in dishonest and misleading statements by indicating the union doesn't support BLM when it was really against the MORE reso. But Leroy Barr did not specifically argue about what in the reso was divisive but lumped it all into BLM as being divisive.

Below is a piece I wrote over the weekend for the Another View newsletter I put out with some other MORE members and some who are not very enamored of MORE at this point. At least 2 MORE people whose partners are people of color and UFT members told me their partners oppose the MORE reso. Yet that debate does not take place in MORE at all -- so when MORE declares the UFT only debated the issue for 5 minutes it would be interesting to see MORE debate the fallout and not assume unanimity. There is a meeting Saturday so let's see.

I will add more on upcoming posts as the issue develops.

Read the DoeNuts Blog view by a MORE member:
BEWARE of those who start fires - "Low blows" and "cheap shots" are taken by both parties involved... http://nycdoenuts.blogspot.com/2018/02/beware-of-those-who-start-fires.html
And NYCEducator, another MORE member:
http://nyceducator.com/2018/02/unity-publicly-humiliated-goes-straight.html

Here is my piece.

From Another View Newsletter - Feb. 2018

Is Black Lives Matter Divisive, as Leroy Barr Claims?
By Norm Scott

At the January Delegate Assembly the argument that BLM was divisive and in the time of Janus was a dangerous place to go was the basis of Barr’s and the leadership’s opposition to the MORE-UFT Caucus’ resolution calling on the UFT to support Black Lives Matter week (Feb. 5-11) which educators from a number of NYC schools are participating in. BLM has often been misinterpreted, leading to the perception that it might be divisive. February is Black History month for decades and we recently celebrated Martin Luther King’s birthday. For some people, even UFT members, these events might be divisive and often the reason is race-based. Let’s not act like this doesn’t exist in our own ranks. The job of a union where many of its members are people of color who have been discriminated against, and with a student population that is 80% children of color, is not to duck the issue but to take it on and address why some members question BLM.

As a member of MORE I have questioned the process by which MORE decided to bring the resolution to the DA, given that back in December, Leroy Barr and Janella Hinds, both Black, told a MORE leader that the union would not support the resolution because they considered it divisive. Could some compromise have been worked out? Should MORE have gone to the schools and ask for chapters to back the reso as a way to build more grass roots support? Why did a number of delegates who are Black vote against the reso? Was it solely because many are adhering to the Unity line? All questions worth exploring.

(See the NY1 story on the reso featuring myself and Jia Lee at: http://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/education/2018/01/26/black-lives-matter-debate-splits-teachers--union
and MORE response to Barr: https://tinyurl.com/ya6ofavn).

As for Barr’s justifying the union’s position on BLM as analogous to not taking a position during the Vietnam War, if you saw the Ken Burns documentary, or lived through those times as a UFT member there is way more to the story. See my blog: https://tinyurl.com/y9vh4p7q

MORE response: We Want a Union That Believes Black Lives Matter - https://morecaucusnyc.org/2018/02/02/we-want-a-union-that-believes-black-lives-matter/

Is the UFT Delegate Assembly a Relevant Space for MORE and Other Opposition?

There is no organized push back against Unity Caucus at the UFT Delegate Assembly and hasn't been for years. If you read Mike Schirtzer's piece a few days ago (Mike Schirtzer on How Unity Caucus Votes) you can see the landscape of the DA and how Unity Caucus controls an undemocratic union.

Over the years MORE has basically neglected the UFT Delegate Assembly as a forum, which some MORE CLs and Delegates often fail to attend, and if they do, play little or no role in the proceedings. The same has been true on the whole for New Action, which often does hand out something. Though I see some people from Solidarity they too don't participate. Sometimes you do hear an independent voice raise a question.

MORE also has not produced a consistent piece of literature for the DA other than from January through June 2017 when I took on the task and we had something to hand out at each DA - either a DA newsletter or the MORE general newsletter.

In contrast, MORE and New Action have been very active at the UFT Ex Bd, a much narrower body of Unity control, since they elected 7 high school members who took office in Sept. 2016 and will serve until June 2019. Why the difference? We'll explore this issue in this post. Harry in his comment below on Mike's piece points out:

As Mike says, winning high-school seats on the Executive Board has at least allowed our allies to raise difficult questions and demand some small amount of accountability from UFT-Unity leadership and members. But this fixation with the DA is something I've never and still don't understand.

The EX Bd has been a success so far because we have the opportunity to raise resos and ask unlimited questions, which we can't do at the DA. But if Arthur didn't report back every 2 weeks this would be like the tree falling in the forest.

Is it also worth the time and effort at the DA, a monthly meeting controlled by Unity Caucus and where there is little space to take action? MORE by default is voting with its feet, not feeling the DA is a space to engage other than special occasions. This has not been a formal decision reached by MORE, which is why I say "by default". But as Harry points out there may be better ways to spend their time.

A few MORE members feel we should not abandon the DA and this year I am working with Arthur, Mike, and James to produce our own version of a DA newsletter, Another View in The UFT.

Harry left a broad comment on Mike's piece and raises a question about how much time and energy should MORE spend on the UFT Delegate Assembly given the realities.  First his points and then my response.

Harris L. has left a new comment on your post "Mike Schirtzer on How Unity Caucus Votes":

Good work, Mike.

I sometimes like to pose questions for the sake of the question--hoping that it will stir some discussion but not necessarily because I support a particular approach.

But when it comes to the DA and its usefulness, I'm reminded of MORE meetings that I attended in 2013 and 2014, when I was an active member. Many of the meetings, which could be interminable for lots of reasons, turned on long and anguished debates about resolutions to be brought to the next DA. I didn't understand the point of it all then and I still don't.

When I was a teacher at the Gautier Institute for Law and Public Policy (!)--or GILPP--in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx from 2009-2012 I never once heard of the Delegate Assembly or about anything that had happened at one and I had one of the all-time great chapter leaders, Zulma Villalba. I doubt that one in 50 teachers in Canarsie, Astoria or Tottenville has ever heard of the DA or cares about anything that happens at one.

I've been told that the DA is an opportunity to educate and organize union leaders who may be sympathetic to the idea of a democratic and transparent UFT. How many delegates are open to any of that besides the members of MORE and the handful of others not directly affiliated with Unity? I've never been persuaded that the DA is worth all the time and energy expended by union democrats. It exists. I get that people do what they can when and where they can and that the DA is an obvious "thing" to try to penetrate. But has the last four years of resolution-submitting that I'm familiar with accomplished anything concrete? Anything that doesn't rely on simple assertions that it is an effective way to organize and educate delegates, themselves, much less actual teachers in actual schools?

Chapter outreach and organizing is a very hard and painful process that may take years to show tangible results. Does all the work put into DAs and DA resolutions detract from other, perhaps more useful but difficult work? Is it possible that monthly DAs are like the proverbial shiny objects that get dangled in front of people to mesmerize them. As Mike says, winning high-school seats on the Executive Board has at least allowed our allies to raise difficult questions and demand some small amount of accountability from UFT-Unity leadership and members. But this fixation with the DA is something I've never and still don't understand.

[One last thing, 'democratic centralism' may be the mark of the Unity caucus but I remember it being in plain display at almost every MORE meeting I ever attended--part of the reason I stopped going to MORE meetings in early 2015]. 

My response:

Harry raises some very valid points. Maybe I am just a creature of 45 years of habit -- actually, I was active at the DA in the 70s and early 80s, then a 10 year hiatus and came back in 1994 when I became chapter leader, developed Ed Notes in 1997 which attracted enough people (though a small number) to start ICE in 2004, GEM in 2009 and MORE in 2012 and have been at almost every DA since then to hand out something, either as a rep of one of the groups or as my own view in Ed Notes.

Harry's analysis is fundamentally correct. But I also think that if you are in a caucus that opposes Unity and feels the union needs to change and have been elected by your colleagues to be a CL or Del, not going to the DA is in some sense shirking your job - especially if you are a delegate and that is the only function of your job. I mean, if you don't go to DAs then resign as delegate. If we call for democracy in the union then that starts in your own school.



Educating your chapter
When I was CL I used what happened at the DA to educate the people I worked with by reporting before the DA (even asking them to tell me how they wanted me to vote on special issues -- ie contract) and after the DA on the issues that affect them -- getting their input and analyzing the actions of the leadership. So using the DA is also school-based education as a way to counter the UFT/Unity party line. Since some people supported that party line my reporting also spurred debates in my school at times.

Why bring up resolutions? 
Why not? I only remember a few instances in the early days when MORE took a lot of time at meetings. Mike and I pushed for a DA committee to take on this task and a few times Mike organized conference calls and got people out to the DA and we did pretty well on those occasions, with a lot of MORE people signing people up as school contacts. Fact is there is a group of people who are not in Unity or in the opposition and even it they remain independent they are also willing to vote with us -- but if we never give them anything to vote for or organize around we lose the opportunity to move them, even if they are a few, in our direction. In contrast at the Ex Bd meetings there are only Unity and the opposition, no independents unless we bring them to the meeting. So the organizing around the EB is about getting people to attend the pre-meetings and use the 10 minute mic time and than have Arthur blast out what happens to the world. (If Arthur ever retires from the EB even that reporting will disappear.)

Handing out literature
I also feel it essential to have a valid piece of lit to hand out before and after the meeting that relates to the type of issues being raised there and at the EB. It offers the opportunity for personal contact every month with people who get to know you, come over the chat and hopefully become regular readers of what we have to say. 

Unity by the way has people who agree with us on some issues and even if they vote against us can at least be shaken in their outright support -- plus the fact that some of them do get fed up with Unity at some point and move in our direction.

Reporting on the meeting
I don't often go up to listen to the meetings but they are an opportunity to hear where the leadership is coming from and do some analysis. Arthur does that regularly.

Here's the point --- why do Arthur and James Eterno (with two young children at home) shlep to the DA every single month while so many others don't bother?  They take the operations of the union seriously. 

Going to the DA is an element of saving our union
I wonder how MORE can take on a "Save Our Union" campaign in the atmosphere of Janus and generally ignore the one time a month that every school in the city has an opportunity to send its reps to gather with others - even if most don't even bother? To me that is a sign of MOREs exercising a theory of organizing vs the reality. 

Activists in the union need to be reporting to their colleagues on the actions of the leadership if they truly want to organize at the school level and try to expand that reporting into neighboring schools in their districts. They need to go to meetings and interact with others even if they are Unity.

The motto of Ed Notes is Educate, Organize, Mobilize in that order. Participating in the DA and reporting is the Educate step. 

Another View in The UFT - Our New DA Newsletter

• If APPR Is So Great, Why Do People Want Out? By Arthur Goldstein, CL Francis Lewis HS,
• What We Do at the UFT Executive Board By Mike Schirtzer, Delegate Leon Goldstein HS, UFT Ex Bd, MORE/UFT
• High School Teacher Emily James Makes The Case For Paid Maternity Leave
•   Unity Caucus/UFT Leaders vote down resolution to reduce the 4 observations the UFT agreed to down to the 2 in the rest of NY State
•   Mulgrew To Delegate Assembly: These Are Best Of Times For NYC Public Schools By James Eterno, Delegate, MORE/UFT, ICE
• Chalkbeat: Lack of Knowledge, Lack of Experience By Jonathan Halabi, CL School of American Studies, UFT Ex Bd, New Action/UFT
• Tottenville HS Teachers Castigate Principal Scarmato; 

Email me for pdf if you want to share with your colleagues.

I like standing at the DA handing out something I consider relevant and something that over time people may want to read even if they disagree. I enjoy the interaction with people, some of whom I've known for decades. But I also like to hand out content I am comfortable with and also that I think is relevant. At times I go back to my own production of Ed Notes. But I've been looking to partner with people who can continue the project when I decide to hang up my spikes. Thus----

Arthur Goldstein, Mike Schirtzer, UFT Ex Bd members, James Eterno and I, all members of MORE, have begun a newsletter, "Another View in the UFT", aimed at attendees at the Delegate Assembly. The 5-700 people who attend DAs regularly are not the average UFT members. They have committed their time and energy to taking a more activist role in the union, whether they are in the ruling Unity Caucus, opposition groups or independents. Thus we all have something in common even when we disagree.

Most of the content will be abridged versions of the issues covered on our blogs but also some additional content. Newsletters will be timely and often last minute based on breaking news. Content will be aimed at  informing chapter leaders and delegates of issues that have come up at DAs and UFT Exec Bd meetings.

Over the past 20 years I have been at most DAs handing something out - Education Notes, ICE lit, GEM lit and less often MORE lit, which has been very spotty over the years despite the fact I have urged people in MORE to establish a regular publication at the DA. I have pretty much given up preaching that message. Unity puts out a piece of worthless trash each month and most months New Action has something to give out, which over the past two years has been getting better and better. The DA, no matter how lame it may be, is still the 10 times a year where people from the schools get to gather and even though probably 60-70% are Unity and a handful are opposition there are still a 100-150 independents. The Oct and Nov DA has no new motions, which was very frustrating to see. Many of use even when we were in ICE used the time to push into issues being neglected. The spotty presence of MORE as an organization and the MORE CLs and Del who don't bother attending DAs over the years has been a serious concern to the older ICE members and some of the newer activists.

In Ed Notes publications, I focused very often on the foibles of the union leadership. When MORE has lit to hand out I often do it but find it devoid of the analysis of the action of the leadership, which I believe an opposition party must take on if it is to be taken seriously. MORE wants to put forth more of a positive alternative. Some MORE's feel there is a need for a more critical piece of lit about the Unity Caucus control of the union. Thus this new limited edition newsletter --- if any readers want it for their school email me and I will send a pdf.

The problem with MORE Lit is often an unwillingness to take on the union leadership or even mention Unity Caucus. MORE often has bigger ideas it wants to emphasize and wants to avoid coming off as negative. Like take its "Save Our Union" campaign which a minority in MORE feel is better left to the leadership because it puts MORE in the ticklish position of trying to be an opposition and critic - in theory - while in essence urging people to back the Unity party in power. (Some MORE people did show up to hand out a Save Our Union leaflet yesterday.)

I have no qualms about going after the union leadership and am withholding a blanket "Stay in the Union" pending some signs from the leadership of democratization. I am in my 51st year of UFT membership (and will remain a member) and over decades have seen too much on how the ruling party operates. Some of the younger MOREs may need a few more decades of seeing how they operate before they get riled up like me.

Howie Schoor's response to my speech (see Arthur's report) at the EB meeting the other day where I called on the UFT leadership to be held accountable for he failures to challenge awful principals more aggressively and for the climate of fear in so many schools was that they are held accountable every three years in the UFT elections.

I was already off the mic  -- I wondered how many teachers at Port Richmond and Flushing and Tottenville HS feel that way --- just wait until post Janus.

MORE Urging "Stay Union" Campaign - Are There Alternatives?

Roseanne McCosh left a  comment on my Oct. 20 post "ATRs to UFT - It is About Dignity, Don't Tell Us We Should Be Happy to Have a Job...": I'm a bit torn because to ask people to stay in the union with no concessions by the leadership is bound to confuse some people. Notice that MORE is not yet putting forth a detailed reform program to create a more democratic union to go along with its Save the Union campaign. A major flaw in its strategy when Save the Union also equals Save Unity Caucus. So Roseanne's question resonates with me.

A call to arms to support our union in the form of voluntary dues enables UNITY to continue to ignore teachers like Karen [Sklaire]. This is why I am having such a hard time getting on board with a post Janus support of the UFT. What will motivate them to change their ways if they keep raking in our money? I have no easy answer but I can't accept the argument that a bad union is better than no union. This behavior of UFT leadership needs to change yet I don't see them even considering a change. Norm, you've been involved forever and have been fighting the good fight.... any addditional thoughts on this?????   ----------Roseanne McCosh

I'm glad Roseanne asked that question at this time as I was preparing a piece on this very issue after MORE affirmed at its Oct. 14 convention that it would make a Stay in the Union campaign a priority for the caucus.

Excuse the meandering in this post - I began writing it over 2 weeks ago and keep modifying it and flipping around like a flounder on dry dock.

On Democratic Centralism and Loyalty Oaths - Unity Caucus and Marxist-Leninist Orgs

Democratic centralism is a method of leadership in which political decisions reached by the party (through its democratically elected bodies) are binding upon all members of the party....
The text of Lenin's What Is to Be Done? from 1902 is popularly seen as the founding text of democratic centralism.... Lenin described Democratic Centralism as consisting of "freedom of discussion, unity of action".... The doctrine of democratic centralism served as one of the sources of the split between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks. The Mensheviks supported a looser party discipline within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903,

wikipedia

As we reach the 100th anniversary of the earth shaking Russian Revolution, I've been thinking about the impact of democratic centralism on the various organization that operate under its influence - from the Bolsheviks to the current China to the UFT's Unity Caucus to the various Marxist-Leninist organizations, some of which have members in the UFT and in the MORE Caucus.

On the surface DC may make sense as the graphic shows. Unity in action -- maybe Al Shanker's Trotskyist/Shachtmanite views led him to name the caucus. And to establish an ironclad DC blanket.

I was recently criticized by someone on the MORE listserve for raising skepticism about what I saw as attempts to impose elements of democratic centralism within MORE, which many people join because it is supposedly the un-Unity Caucus which does operate under democratic centralism and thus drags the UFT, which Unity controls, along with it.

The objector accused me of

"latent anti-communism which is found in the comments about democratic centralism, the organizing principle of Marxist-Leninist (M-L) parties. I'm a member of a party governed by democratic centralism. Does that mean I don't think for myself? No. Does that mean that I expect anyone in an organization like MORE to operate along democratic centralist principles? No. Democratic centralism just means agreeing internally with a position and political line and agreeing to carry it out. MORE is a politically diverse group. Good for us. But, stop the red-baiting around democratic centralism."

Except when a block of people from one of these organizations that has decided on the policy or framework for the group their people belong to and then execute their vision in what some deem an unprincipled and undemocratic manner. The M-L organization this person criticizing me belongs to is one that caucuses I belonged to as far back as the 70s had some bad experiences with due to unprincipled actions. But more on that some other time other than to say those experiences with these groups has made me very leery.

I'm not so sure that MORE is a politically diverse group anymore -  increasingly I see a narrowing of political diversity where minority views make people uncomfortable and those expressing those views are criticized for their tone, while the content of what they say is ignored. But I'll deal with this aspect another time.

I'm sure that some of these M-L parties internally have rigorous internal debates and once decided upon, everyone goes along. Or they leave. Or they are expelled for disagreeing. But we also know of parties where there are dominant voices at the top -- most often male and most of the rest go along. Don't forget that the Communist Party of China is supposedly a M-L party run on the principles of DC - as were the parties of Castro and Stalin.

I have no problems with people who join parties that operate under DC - unless their actions negatively affect organizations to which I belong. Like the UFT and MORE.

Here is another dictum about DC --- 

there shall be strict Party discipline and the subordination of the minority to the majority;
That all decisions of higher bodies shall be absolutely binding on lower bodies and on all Party members.

This is Unity Caucus in operation. Except there is a hell of a lot of centralism and not a lot of democracy. Do we believe there are serious debates over issues in Unity Caucus? Other than a top-level few people making decisions, the rest are foot soldiers.

The problem is that the mass organization (diverse politically, not bound by DC) - the UFT - controlled by the Unity Caucus party -- is dragged along where the party discipline operates at all levels and minority views are subordinated. In fact, due to Unity control even potential majority views of the members are subordinated. Take Arthur's post yesterday about the AFT - our parent union run by Randi Weingarten - loving that Bill Gates is spending more of his money to control education. Do we think the majority of UFT members agree? Or even Unity Caucus rank and file?

Now let's take the UFT, which where Unity Caucus operates under democratic centralism (nix the democratic) -- which means that once their party - the leadership - decides on an issue everyone in Unity must go along with that decision. But they treat those who are not in Unity and thus not bound to go along - as traitors to the union -- a repression of the minority opinion. And often charge those who disagree as being anti-union when they are in fact anti-Unity -- the idea that Unity melds itself with the UFT itself is fundamentally undemocratic.

At every UFT event - especially the DA -- no one gets up and identifies themselves as Unity Caucus - meaning they are pre-bound before the meeting even took place -- or else they look to verbal or visual clues from the leadership if something unexpected comes up. That is why the new motion period is often viewed as a threat - the potential for 10 minutes of time the leadership cannot totally control. (I used to use this time effectively by disguising which reso I was going to bring up and putting them in a position to have to think on their feet.) One thing we know, when someone calls the question is it almost always Unity cutting off debate.

Mulgrew calls on people to speak and those of us who have been around know full well they are Unity - in fact most people called on are in Unity - they are expected to attend in enough numbers to assure nothing happens out of their control. Some people not attuned to UFT politics in the audience may assume these are just regular folks like them instead of people who are functioning like robots. This to me is not democratic - Unity is a large block -- they should get a speaker clearly identified as representing the caucus -- and them let a diverse set of voices be heard.

Now let's look how democratic centralism can have an impact on a much smaller caucus like MORE which doesn't operate under democratic centralism. Imagine there is a fair sized group of people from a party - like a M-L party --  in a caucus like MORE and there are some hot issues on the table. These people have a perfect right to meet beforehand and discuss where they stand and once decided they all will support the position - no matter what is said in the debate at a MORE meeting -- they are pre-bound to support their position. I mean a Clarence Darrow could be in the room with dazzling arguments -- this block will stay as a block and be loyal to the party position - which to those trying to engage in an honest debate where the power of facts or argument might have an effect can feel mighty frustrated.

The problem arises when they, like Unity, don't identify themselves as sharing a pre-determined position and each speak individually at a meeting instead of an identified block. Some people at the meeting do not understand this is a block. I and others do not consider this undemocratic, though others do. Some believe that if there are organized factions in a mass organization like MORE or the UFT, then the members of those factions should identify themselves. Some consider this red-baiting due to the historic attacks and witch hunts on communists - identification used to be dangerous and can be in the future if Trumpism. If one wants to hide their affiliations, I get it. So this can be tricky ground.

The reality is that over time and with experience, the actions of people aligned with democratic centralism orgs begin to be viewed as manipulative and that causes tensions and even splits. So many M-L groups have split time and again -- due to a minority feeling oppressed to the point they leave their org and form another group. Thus DC in its essence is viewed by some as a basic cause of splitting the left into sectarian parties and tendencies.

While people have hoped over the years, Unity has never split -- though there were some splitoffs during the support for the Vietnam War. Unity rank and file get enough perks out of being in Unity to keep them on board the mother ship.

On the other hand, the mass organizations that these D-C orgs embed themselves in can suffer splits. I was in a caucus in the 70s that was split by people coming from one of these D-C orgs and that experience left me very suspicious.

The UFT is a mass organization under the control of a tightly run DC Unity Caucus. The one party system of control, facing Janus and a loss of membership and dues - which will reduce the perks Unity can offer its members - may cause internal tensions in Unity and also internal tensions in the UFT - note some of the proposals to get the high school teachers - who have voted anti-Unity for almost 30 years.

So in the next few years we may see some upheavals in the UFT and in the various caucuses. As I am increasingly more an observer and chronicler of events it may be a show worth watching.
-------

Here are some articles I did on democratic centralism a few years ago dug up by Mike Schirtzer.

Unity, Cadre, Democratic Centralism/Loyalty Oaths, UFT, Mass Organizations and Democracy

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2015/07/unity-cadre-democratic.html?m=1
Ed Notes reprint: July 24, 2015

How Unity Caucus Uses the District Reps to Control the Membership and Narrow the Growth of the Opposition

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2015/07/how-unity-caucus-uses-district-reps-to.html?m=1
July 24, 2015

Is Unity a Democratic Organization: Unity Caucus and Democratic Centralism 

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2015/07/is-unity-democratic-organization-unity.html

July 25, 2015

July 12: Hard-Core UFT Contract Discussions

Do you feel you'd like to set your UFT contrato on fire? Don't do it yet.

Mike Schirtzer and I will be hosting a discussion on strategies for defending the contract even if your UFT rep tells you it is a waste of time. Now we don't have all the answers but we do think that having brainstorming sessions with other rank and filers who may be in the same or similar positions is a worthwhile way to develop strategies.

If you are a chapter leader, there will be others there. If you have a collaborationist chapter leader, is there a path to getting around that?

Can the chapter leader be toppled in the May 2018 chapter elections? MORE will be assisting those who want to run. And if you are planning to do so, this summer session is a good start.

The MORE announcement on facebook:

Hardcore Contract Training

Is your chapter facing abusive administrators? Are there contract violations? Do you want to engage your members in the fight back? Bring challenges that you and your colleagues have at your school, we will share suggestions based on our experiences. Veteran chapter leaders and UFT Executive Board members that have led successful actions and grievances will be joining us.

2017 MORE-UFT Summer Series Event #1

Dark Horse

17 Murray St, New York, New York 10007

 

UFT Ex Bd May 22 Notes - CPE1 Kumbaya, on Puerto Rico Teachers - NOT

Howie Schoor Tries on CPE1 Tee

Catlin Preston—CPE 1—Thanks UFT leadership, especially Howie and Ellen Procida. He is exonerated. Was long 14 months. Was reassigned as CPE 1 fight happened. Speaks of teachers languishing in reassignment, a twilight zone with no clear path forward, no guidance. Can be dispiriting, especially when you don’t know what you’re accused of. I am proof administrative abuse takes place, and that there are real consequences.

My exoneration indicates that charges were not substantial to begin with. Extremely grateful for due process rights, for salary, pension but dignity, professionalism were assaulted. Thought about quitting. I was found not guilty. I also have feeling of wanting more from UFT, ground level support, my mind stays with those teachers, They were dedicated professionals. We shouldn’t apologize for abusive admin. We need to balance investigatory power of admin.  ....

NYC Educator

UFT Executive Board May 22, 2017
The theme of this year's Ex Bd meeting has been the abusive principal - and Superintendent, as MORE/New Action constantly raised this issue at every meeting.

Last night, CPE1 parents and teachers came bearing gifts (tees) and thanks to the UFT for helping them get rid of a principal and their teachers back. I know, I know --- I should be joining in this kumbaya moment.

I do believe Mulgrew got involved -- how could he not? And yes I will give him credit for doing so. He did get an extra large tee and I hope to see him wearing it one day.

I, as usual, am skeptical on exactly what moved the DOE - the parent pressure on de Blasio, the sit-ins, the boycotts, the petitions, the going to the PEP for 14 straight meetings, the banners, the signs, the relentless pressure -- and yes the pressure on the UFT by showing up at Ex Bd meeting after meeting - and yes, also the support MORE gave from day one.

Now we hear some officials in the UFT had warned some parents and teachers to stay away from MORE -- that they were using them in their own interests -- but that didn't stop them from tapping into whatever support we could give them -- and believe me I am not giving MORE credit for doing anything but provide support and advice -- we have no power to move much --- but we, through our elected reps on the board, do have power to pressure the UFT/Unity leadership. And so we did and continue to do on the abusive principal issue, which we have from the first EB meeting of the year in September when we used the 10 minute pre-meeting speaking time to do just that, followed by our reps asking question after question.

I have two issues to raise: The reso on Puerto Rico which I will do in a separate blog and the comments last night by Catlin Preston who was totally exonerated after 14 months in the rubber room and a 3020a trial and is being returned to the school and classroom today.

I tried to take notes on Catlin's wonderful statement but am inept at doing so and will use Arthur's notes instead which I posted above.
Catlin got to the heart of the complaints about the UFT -- the attitude that as long as you are getting paid it is not a problem with them even if OSI is crooked and DOE Legal are criminals, as proven in his case. The UFT must take a more proactive role from day one -- all too often they begin with assuming the teacher is guilty - and they are so afraid to be too proactive in case the teacher is guilty. There has to be more support for people through the process, not just when the hearings start. The hands off policy must end and in fact the UFT must issue warnings as to what to look for when a new principal arrives who has the leadership academy agenda of mayhem and "creative" destruction.

For now, groups like MORE are trying to fill in when the union leadership is absent, almost an impossible task -- Catlin came to some of our colleagues for assistance in terms of psychological support, something we can do.

You can read full reports on the meeting from Arthur and James, who was getting reports from Schirtzer.

NYC Educator

UFT Executive Board May 22, 2017--Good News at CPE 1 y Problemas en Puerto Rico -  

ICEUFT Blog

EXEC BD NEWS ON ATRS AND HIGH SCHOOL OF APPLIED COMMUNICATIONS

Schirtzer DA Report: Mulgrew Throws in Towel – "We are going to become a right to work country"

The American Federation of Teachers, our national union, with union presidents from all over the country think the best way to fight Trump is with tweets and photos?....

After the snow talk, Mulgrew then played the SNL video on Sean Spicer, a hilarious parody of Trump's press secretary....

Our public education system and union are at risk of being completely dismantled, I have Muslim and Latino students who feel threatened by executive orders that put their lives in danger; there are schools which are slated to be closed; some teachers have principals that threaten their careers with abusive observations.... Yet, in the first twenty minutes of our union meeting we have laughed at snow and watched SNL.--- Mike Schirtzer

Mike Schirtzer provides excellent and often funny commentary below on the Feb. 8 UFT Delegate Assembly. Mike would give a very different report on the Ex Bd meetings where there are questions posed and questions answered, where the leadership in the room follows up with our people, and where there is real debate on resolutions.

Such a contrast to the DA.

Guess what is the major difference?

Mulgew is not at EB meeting other than for fleeting minutes.

Mike's report goes along with DA reports from Eterno and Goldstein.

• Goldstein: UFT Delegate Assembly--We Are Visited by the Mayor

Eterno:

• LIVE BLOGGING FROM FEBRUARY DA (kind of edited) 
• WHY I DO NOT SUPPORT UFT DE BLASIO ENDORSEMENT

No Sense Of Urgency From UFT Leadership

By Mike Schirtzer- UFT Executive Board and Delegate from Goldstein HS Brooklyn

I settled down in my chair for the February UFT Delegate Assembly (DA), our monthly union meeting that should be attended by your chapter leader and delegate (many don't go). With all that is going on since Trump took office I expected this would be a serious meeting with important decisions that would impact all rank and file members and the students we serve.

UFT President Mulgrew came on the stage and said "I know what you want all to talk about!" with a grin on his face. I immediately thought good, we're going to speak Trump right off the bat, but some people yelled out "SNOW!" and Mulgrew laughed and reiterated "yes, snow!" 

After the snow talk, Mulgrew then played the SNL video on Sean Spicer, a hilarious parody of Trump's press secretary. Now, let's face facts, to be a good teacher you damn well better have a sense of humor. However, this was just not the moment to be having a fun time. Our public education system and union are at risk of being completely dismantled, I have Muslim and Latino students who feel threatened by executive orders that put their lives in danger; there are schools which are slated to be closed; some teachers have principals that threaten their careers with abusive observations. This is a serious, critical time for the existence of our union. Yet, in the first twenty minutes of our union meeting we have laughed at snow and watched SNL. Can we get to serious business?

Finally, Mulgrew gets to Trump, DeVos, and all that is happening. Mulgrew explained that the entire country and politicians of both sides know how unqualified she is thanks to us. We all agreed, although I'm not sure what "we" did to sway any votes. We were told to make calls, but I tend to think the mass demonstrations on the streets have given the Democrats the chutzpah they need to fight these nominations and policies. Frankly, if people weren't hitting the streets, parks, airports, trains, marching in DC, I believe many Democrats would have confirmed DeVos. So I'm still not sure what the UFT had to do with this, but at least we were discussing real things.

The next big chunk of his report was on how our "Public Schools Proud" campaign is our big fight back. Mulgrew showed photos of teachers holding public school proud signs and tweets from our colleagues. Mulgrew told the DA how happy the other union presidents are that we started this campaign. According to him, they were all sitting at a table scratching their heads about what to do and Mulgrew, like Moses bringing the tablets down from Mount Sinai, presented his Public School Proud power-point show, and all the presidents jumped from their chair. He saved them from their despair with his hashtag and photo campaign. The American Federation of Teachers, our national union, with union presidents from all over the country think the best way to fight Trump is with tweets and photos?

Mulgrew then put pictures of buttons on the screen and asked everyone to choose white or black. The largest teachers union in the country monthly meeting in the face of destruction was tasked with choosing colors of buttons. Mulgrew and "Public School Proud" is not going to defeat a Republican Congress, Conservative Supreme Court, and narcissistic dangerous President that will not think twice about privatizing education.

During the open question period one chapter leader asked "Can we get buses to DC to welcome Betsy?" Now that seemed like the best idea in the whole meeting. Leave it to a rank and file member to think strategically. Let's get as many members as we can up to DC for a pro-public education march with parents and students. Lets show the congress and president that the masses love their public education system and are willing to fight for it. However, this was immediately dismissed by Mulgrew: "I think we will wait to see what she does. If there is a need, we will go."

The very worst part of the meeting came with another question from a delegate:

"Our president proposed national right to work law. How do we protect pensions, collective bargaining, dues checkoff?"

For those that may not know "right to work" means that members have the choice to join the union, rather than automatically becoming a member. Without dues, unions lose their power and membership. In many states this has meant the death of organized labor, with lower wages and reduced workplace protection.

Mulgrew replied, "We are going to become a right to work country. We are preparing for what we will do when that happens on the state and city levels. It depends on the provision in the laws and what states can do within that law- some states sign up members every year others sign once"

Basically, he has already thrown in the towel! Mulgrew

spent at least 30 minutes explaining how his tweet campaign is the greatest thing and when members want to know how is the union planning to really fight back against the greatest threat, the president of the largest AFT local basically said we have already lost.

My good friends of UFT leadership/Unity Caucus always accuse MORE of complaining but offering no solutions. So here are some suggestions from MORE:

-Send out texts, emails and articles in our newsletters to communicate how unions and public education are being threatened.

-Visit schools where there are no functioning chapters to educate our members about the importance of being in a union.

- Encourage our members to get involved, to join their chapter consultation committee and/or school leadership team, become a delegate or chapter leader, and/or organize a pro-public education rally at their school. Ask members to speak at PTA/PA about the importance of the UFT.

-UFT trainings for those interested in resisting abusive administrators. The goal should be to rebuild confidence in the union at the chapter level.

-Start a city-wide contract campaign consisting of district level meetings open to all members to discuss demands for the next contract and strategies for how to win them.

-Build a UFT presence at the various anti-Trump rallies that are in the works. For example, we should support the February 28th PEP and Day of Action which seeks to defend our immigrant students. Also, we should have a large presence around the "Save JHS 145" campaign. Teachers who have not protested much before, have hit the streets in recent weeks.

-And last but certainly not least have members of the UFT leadership go to schools and listen to members about what they want to do and start to implement their ideas.

Now is the time to involve our members and show the value of our union, or else we're not going have a union to save!

History of the UFT Opposition Since Late 80s Plus My Prequel

This Saturday, January 14, is a MORE retreat from 12-4. Kit Wainer has prepared a history for people so they have a basis for going forward. This is one of the most concise histories I've seen -- it would take me 4 hours and 20 pages to cover the same ground.

I only have gotten to know Kit since we began working together in MORE 5 years ago. He came out of Teachers for a Just Contract and I came from ICE. Both groups didn't always mesh very well together and I was somewhat wary of working with Kit in MORE. But happily, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with such a smart, perceptive and most importantly nice guy - despite the fact he introduced me to Mike Schirtzer who I seem to be saddled with for life.

Before reading Kit's history, I wanted to provide a prequel so there is some pre-late 80s context for the various caucus genealogies.

There is no actual beginning and end of the many caucuses in the UFT over decades.

There are links going back to the 1920s.

There is a timeline -  caucuses split, combine, evolve. This is not necessarily 100% accurate as I'm too lazy to go find the relevant info  --

Mike Schirtzer UFT Exec Bd Report: Adult-Education Chapter Stands Up and Fight Back

There is positive energy coming from MORE holding these EB seats - people feel they can come to these meetings and raise issues with the leadership with the sense that MORE has their backs. Read Mike Schirtzer's report on the Adult Ed chapter complaint. First let me make the point that the UFT District Rep was present at the meeting where the verbal attack by Supt Mills took place on the teacher and remained silent. A more aggressive UFT is needed to put a stop to this type of aggression by DOE people.

Teachers on the consultation committee and the UFT district representative of the Office of Adult and Continuing Education (OACE) were verbally attacked by Superintendent of OACE, Rose Marie Mills. At these meetings where the divisions' teachers and principals from across NYC come together, Ms. Mills is exclusively in charge and has historically not even allowed the principals of respective districts to speak. At the last meeting the Superintendent yelled, screamed, stood up and accused UFT members of being "crazy" because they had asked to halt constant interruptions of administrators entering class-rooms to request data. Ms. Mills treated them in a threatening and aggressive manner through-out the meeting. It was extremely unprofessional. Consultation meetings, as President Mulgrew has often reminded us, are our agendas and our meetings. This was clearly not the case.

The educators that were attacked responded by signing a joint letter to the UFT executive board with a full report of the incident, they reached out to MORE to work with them in presenting to the board, came to our pre-meeting to share their letter with demands, and presented the attack to the entire UFT Executive Board. They stood up for themselves by coordinating a response and demanding the UFT leadership tale action. They will not allow this bully administrator to get away with this.

They asked that the UFT take immediate action and inform chancellor Farina they insist on her presence at the next meeting. UFT Secretary Howard Schoor responded that they will bring this up with at their consultation with the Deputy Chancellors this week and seek recourse....

....Mike Schirtzer, UFT Ex Bd member, MORE/UFT Caucus

The Adult ed chapter of the UFT has been savaged over the years going back to when we formed ICE in 2003 and David Greene, my old high school pal, told us stories of what they were doing. Some members have started coming to MORE for assistance and when they came with this issue, they were invited to attend the pre-Ex bd meeting that begins at 5PM on the day of the EB meetings. I arrived in the middle and was sort of surprised to see them so ready to stand up publicly since there has been so much fear in the chapter -- Ed Notes receives regular communications from people in the chapter. My sense is that there is positive energy coming from MORE holding these seats - people feel they can come to these meetings and raise issues with the leadership with the sense that MORE has their backs.

If you asked me a year ago whether much would come of MORE winning the high school Ex Bd seats I would have yawned -- poor people, wasting their time talking to a roomful of Unity - some of whom, slugs. But so far this time I am fairly impressed by the role our great MORE team of Ex Bd members have been playing and the Unity response. They ask for info and reports and they get them. They can ask as many questions as they want and get a fairly respectful audience. They raise resos and we see some serious discussion.

There is a somewhat different atmosphere at the EB than in the past -- maybe not as much hostility or mockery towards the opposition. This is not the old New Action with older or about to be retired people other than Jonathan Halabi -- now he is one of the oldest opposition members of the board. The EB is more diverse - color and gender - than in the past -- and blunts some of the more aggressive social justice race issues when brought up by white people in the opposition -- the optics of lecturing people of color on race doesn't play. (I went up and shook Leroy Barr's hand the other day for his wonderful speech on the complexities of race at the AFT convention - which was about as social justicy as things could get - and maybe indicative of the problems facing the Democratic Party -- economic issues were not

And best of all Arthur Goldstein does meticulous minutes published on NYC Educator - see the latest here - UFT Executive Board November 28th--We Can't Risk Offending People by Mentioning Trump and a follow-up. Arthur's voice and stature as one of the most read blogs keeps them somewhat accountable.

Tomorrow - Monday - is another EB meeting at 6PM and even though shlepping from Rockaway is not appetizing - and neither is the food -- I may go - partly because I felt the debate over the use of the Trump name - as Arthur reported -- was fabulous and I felt the kind of discussions that should be taking place all the time -- and I also think the Trump victory has made both the leadership and the opposition see things in more common ways -- that the very union is threatened. I will try to do a follow up piece on this before I leave tomorrow for the EB meeting.

Now I have to get over to my acting class at the RTC where I will not be doing Shakespeare.

The Democratic Party Conundrum - Identity Politics and Class on MSNBC

"When I talk about the working class, one third are people of color. That's not parsing out the electorate - we're all in this together." -- Tim Ryan with Joy-Ann Reid on MSNBC.  

The Democratic Party Conundrum - Identity Politics on MSNBC - Joy-Anne Reid - How DARE Tim Ryan Run Against a Woman?Why replace Nanci Pelosi, a successful woman politician, with a man? Is appealing to the working class mean only white people or a more inclusive message?

Watching this segment on MSNBC on Saturday reminded me so much of the debates I've seen in MORE over the past 5 years over identity politics and class, where some make the  argument that identity politics throughout history has often been divisive and that a broader massage can unite people. In the UFT, as a caucus, do you try to appeal to various segments of the union based on identity or try to craft a broader message that appeals to lunch bucket issues --- but also not neglecting the other issues? For those who agree that issues of race are important but also feel that lunch bucket issues must be primary, things get icky.

I'll delve more into these debated in the UFT after the ICE meeting this Friday where we will dig down deep, something we rarely get to do in MORE.

This same debate is and will take place inside the Dem party -- Remember that Bernie crafted such a message and had trouble getting support -- some say he should have gone more into identity politics but Bernie stayed on message.

Watch this MSNBC segment to see the divide in the Democratic Party being played out --- How Reid plays the identity politics card on women and race. Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan who is challenging Nanci Pelosi for Democratic House Leader was interviewed by Joy-Ann Reid. She seemed incredulous that given the Clinton female loss why would a man try to displace the most powerful and as she termed it "successful" female politician? This is where it got weird, practically causing Ryan to laugh out loud. Reid compared how Pelosi's district voted to how Ryan's voted in the presidential election, causing Ryan to point out that Pelosi reps the extremely liberal district in California while he reps an Ohio working class area and even if they voted against Hillary, he himself was able to craft a message that got him elected. Reid went on the attack - trying to blame him for not being able to get his voters to vote for Hillary. Ryan pointed out that it was the faulty national Clinton campaign that crafted a message he disagreed with.

I think Ryan did a good job in articulating how Trump crafted a message that appealed to so many people. "I did not have control of the presidential message. The presidential campaign did not have a robust economic message --economics, lunch bucket issues. I had control of my message and got 70% of the vote - Donald Trump had a robust economic message - Dems are perceived to be tied to Wall St and the donor class."

Reid interrupted him a few times - she contrasted the amount of money raised by Pelosi. Ryan responded that if money was the key we would be in power now given the Dems had more money than Trump. It's about the message and how it talks to people -- The Democratic Party is not connected to their needs -- watch Reid's face -- see the wheels turning as he says this -- she sees the race issue -- feels he is only talking about appeals to white people -- tells him that issues of importance to people of color are not thrown on the waste heap ---- and yes this is the fault line for the Dems  -- she tries to end it there but Ryan comes back with - "When I talk about the working class, one third are people of color. That's not parsing out the electorate - we're all in this together."

Watch the segment: http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/pelosi-s-future-in-question-after-trump-win-818123331880

• Nancy Pelosi challenger Tim Ryan: ‘We’re not a national party right now’

• Revolt against Pelosi shows a Democratic Party searching for answers

MORE Holds ATR Informational Event - Next Saturday, Nov. 19 1-4 PM

Arthur Goldstein suggested MORE hold an event for ATRS where they get to speak and discuss issues of importance to them. He asked an expert on ATRs - blogger Chaz if he would be there to share his knowledge. What will be the outcome? Could be some proposals or just a place where ATRs emerge with more knowledge than they had going in. At the very least some discussion on dealing with gotcha supervisors and protecting themselves.
In addition - there will be some talk about ATRs who have gotten permanent positions and how that occurred - not many but some.

ATR Information Event

Please share with ATRs in your school

History: How the DOE and UFT created this mess starting with the 2005 contract, the 2008 ATR rally, the UFT wine and cheese party, the 2011 deal where ATRS were sacrificed (weekly rotation) for no layoffs,  the 2014 agreement plus recent updates.

Know your rights and lack thereof; how to deal with roving supervisors; survival techniques

Fighting back. What do we want? What can we do to pressure UFT and DOE for change?

Experienced ATRs will be on hand to answer questions.  Special guests: blogger Chaz's School Daze, James and Camille Eterno and Ex Bd member Arthur Goldstein.

Saturday, Nov. 19, 1:00 PM-4PM

CUNY Grad Center, 5^th Ave between 34^th and 35^th St. Bring ID.

Room 5414

Sponsored by MORE/UFT and Independent Community of Educators

Education Notes: Art & Design HS Staff in Revolt, Unity Tables Reso on Abusive Principals, Schirtzer on Ex Bd Experience and more

The October 2016 edition of Ed Notes, downloadable for any readers wanting to share with colleagues, was distributed at the Delegate Assembly on Weds and they were going like hot cakes.

The most pressing issue to me is the situation with bully principals. People have been coming to me for advice. The striking thing is that many of these vet UFT members who have often dealt with principals are shocked when they get one who had an agenda of wiping out the staff in a coordinated assault. They have been totally unprepared by the UFT to respond. The union doesn't look at this as a conspiracy and views each school and individual action on teachers by themselves. Last month I featured a school where this has happened with a 90% staff turnover in 2 years without a peep from the UFT. You can download the Sept. issue here.

I believe if there was a coordinated response and the UFT leadership made it clear to Farina and the CSA that they were in for a war at every school where the principal engages in these actions, much of it would stop or be curtailed. In the meantime entire careers are being destroyed, often senior teachers or untenured, and chapter leaders. 

This is the situation going on at Art and Design HS - a CTE school in Manhattan where the new principal who came in in January caused 16 people to leave the school by June. That is the focus of this edition of Ed Notes.

People seemed more receptive than when I hand out MORE lit. Interesting. I think that some people don't want to read something clearly labeled as opposition lit. I also brought back the jokes which used to be so popular. Thanks to the delegate who I didn't know who told me she was a regular reader of this blog.

I decided to republish Education Notes a couple of times this year at the UFT Delegate Assembly after a decade of absence. Why? I feel there needs to be a targeted newsletter addressing certain issues in greater depth than is done in MORE lit, which in going through a vetting process of a committee loses some style and substance. The current MORE newsletter is basically devoid of information, with a full-page ad about the upcoming social justice curriculum fair next week. With so many issues on the minds of UFT members, I felt using 50% of the ability to communicate with people for the ad was a bad decision and left the newsletter scanty (there could have been a quarter page or even a separate flyer for the conference). One MORE member on the way in offered to help me hand out Ed Notes. When I suggested handing out the MORE newsletter, the response was "It doesn't say anything."

I too felt it was just not something I felt like spending time handing out. If I am going to schlep in to the DA I want to hand out something that says something to the delegates or else it isn't worth going. I want the freedom to be critical of MORE, if necessary. At my age I'm too ornery with a libertarian tendency to get locked in to "caucus think" - loyalty to a caucus over everything which is an unofficial loyalty oath.

You can view or download the October 2016 edition here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4zyl-rfcGZaTlpRNnRpUWp3Wmc/view?usp=sharing