#MORE2016 - UFT Election Season is At Hand - Petitoning Begins Today Through End of May

I've been pretty busy helping MORE prep for the UFT elections by handling the overall planning and management of the 6-week petition campaign which begins today at the Delegate Assembly. Without the petitions a caucus or an individual cannot get on the ballot.

For Unity's cast of patronage thousands and 800 candidates it is easy.

For caucuses made up of working teachers and support staff it is an often tedious and time-consuming process. I've been involved in handing the process over the past 4 election cycles (2004, 07, 10, 13).

You know in the NFL and NBA they have experts to deal with the salary cap who are known as 'Capologists"?

I am a Petitionologist, along side Ellen Fox, who has been doing this stuff even longer than I am since she was in New Action from the 80s on.

We have evolved a system we hope will be the least taxing on the MOREs out there doing the hard work of going around their schools getting people to sign for the officer slate (900 sigs needed) and all the other people - 100 needed.

When you consider that there are 42 Exec Bd divisional candidates broken down into Elem (11), MS (5), HS (7) and Functional/Retirees (19) who can only get sigs from their particular divisions this process turns into somewhat of a military operation.

All the At-large - 48 Exec Bd, 750 AFT/NYSUT Delegates can have anyone sign but explaining this to people every 3 years is wrenching. So I no longer bother - here are your petitions and who can sign and go to it.

The more candidates we have the more petitions have to be signed. And since many people are not in schools big enough to get 100 signatures, the caucus has to set up events where people can gather to sign masses of petitions to cover the petition gap - call it closing the petition gap.

Unity has a meeting tonight right after the DA with food and people dancing on tables to entice the Unity faithful into a giant signing party. MORE will retire to the Blarney Stone post DA to hold a mini-signing party and to distribute the petitions and will follow up at its meeting on Saturday. 

Since I also manage the candidate info spreadsheet and do some recruiting of candidates, I see the MORE portion of the slate is over 150 people with more coming in every day. [NOTE: YOU TOO CAN STILL SIGN UP TO RUN WITH MORE FOR AFT/NYSUT DELEGATE SINCE WE CAN RUN 750].

This is without all the New Action people added in.

So there is a lot more work ahead over the next 6 weeks for the MOREs while I sit back and watch it all unfold until the petitions are collected and organized when I spring back into action. This can be a distraction from going out and doing any heavy campaigning but our philosophy has morphed - the heavy lifting in terms of building a ground game is in the schools where MORE has people and people are going in with an attitude of using the petition campaign as a way to engage people in the election at this  early stage and the prep them to vote when ballots go out May 6.

In the meantime I will help get out the 20,000 copies of the initial MORE Literature since starting today any UFT member can go into any school and stuff the mailboxes.

morecaucusnyc

The Baizerman Decision -
Twisted sisters
The naked fact is that the election is so stacked that MORE can't win the entire election but can win somethings. Some idiots are out there spinning this into "MORE doesn't want to win."  But these same people are proven liars, so discount what they say.

Fact is MORE can win a the high school 7 Exec Bd seats by getting MORE votes than Unity in the high schools. MORE can also "win" by closing the gap in the MS, Elem Schs and Functional chapters. The irony is that those people putting out distorted lies about MORE have an agenda. Not to challenge Unity but to help Unity by trying to siphon enough votes from MORE in the high schools so as to give Unity 100% control of the Executive Board.

Anyone who believes MORE is putting all this effort into the petitioning campaign and doesn't want to win has been frolicking in a field of shrooms.

Reports of the MORE Meeting: A Maturing Organization Plus How Jia Lee Helped Rescue MORE

AN EXHILARATING BREATH OF FRESH AIR WHEN TAKING PART IN DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

There are two bogger reports out on the MORE meeting this past Saturday by

• James Eterno at ICE: MORE CONTINUES TO GROW and 

• Peter Zucker at SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL South Bronx School Endorses Jia Lee as Next UFT President.

Caucus building is a long and winding road

These positive reports on the state of MORE are somewhat remarkable as they come from people who a little over a year ago were not happy with the state of MORE and either had left or contemplated withdrawing. They were joined by other blogger critics and I too felt I was on the ropes with frustration. 

We actually held an ICE meeting attended by 25 people, including many non-ICEers where people vented their frustrations.

We knew that MORE, as a multi-year effort to pull many of the disparate elements involved in the UFT (ICE, TJC, GEM, NYCORE plus non-affiliated) together into one group, would be the only sustainable game in town over time and turning it into a viable organization was worth putting effort into.

People went back to their corners to lick their wounds while things cooled down. One new person who walked into the storm emailed me to suggest that why don't people in MORE just work on the issues that interest them? That opened up the idea that MORE could use some open internal space for people who might not agree on everything to pursue their aims using the structure of MORE - an attractive idea to building a caucus that wanted to not be Unity. If you have an idea and others are with you and you aren't going so far off the reservation as to violate core principles then JUST DO IT. MORE began to focus more on some core stuff like supporting chapter leaders by running training and a powerful listserve as a helpline when people in their schools ran into trouble

Of all the people in MORE, one particular person held her cool and worked across the lines to put things back into order: Jia Lee. I, as one of the hotheads, received encouraging missives from Jia as did many others. Jia tirelessly - remember she is a single parent of a now 12-year old - put herself out there to find ways to make this endeavor work. 

Only a tiny sliver on the fringes of MORE saw this as an opportunity to do their own self-promotion rather than try to help put Humpty Dumpty back together again as Jia did. 

Which is just one reason why the majority of the long and short term fighters against Unity are supporting Jia Lee for UFT President.

James Eterno points to the maturing of MORE - and that is such a wonderful point. So many of us were not thinking that little babies like MORE had to go through its tantrums before learning how to work with each other or if you can't work with certain people there should be enough space for them to to their thing.

Peter Zucker's piece is also a powerful statement from someone who barely know Jia but sat next to her at the MORE meeting on Saturday and has an account of his conversation with her. Peter also saw something James and I saw - where MORE general meetings had at times been difficult, and this one had a patch of rough road too - which I will get into in a future post -- the democratic process was such a breath of fresh air given how we see the UFT operate - really an exhilarating breath of fresh air.

Peter saw what we have seen in Jia since she and Lauren Cohen walked into a More Than a Score event GEM held on testing almost 4 years ago. That event, which included Leoine Haimson, Carol Burris, Gary Rosenberg (Stuy teacher and major blogger about TFA) and Arthur Goldstein (NYC Educator)- who was supposed to attend but due to a death in the family had his statement read by the chair person of that meeting: a 7 month pregnant Julie Cavanagh who 6 weeks after giving birth accepted the MORE nomination for its first presidential candidate in the 2013 UFT elections.

Is there any better sign that MORE can go from Julie to Jia without missing a beat?

UFT Election 2016 Advice: Ignore the Retiree Vote

With 52% of the total vote in the UFT 2013 elections coming from retirees,

Happy retirees - of course

the largest voting block with the highest ballot return rate, there often calls for something to be done. Here I will argue for nothing to be done in addressing the retiree vote - at least until the opposition shows it can get more votes than Unity amongst the working teachers - and we are far from that at this point. When the opposition gets close to winning in the schools and can claim that the retiree vote is the difference, then it is time to go to the membership and demand changes in the UFT Constitution. Last resort- go to court.

I've never met an unhappy UFT retiree
I also hear calls to go out to retirees and organize them to vote for the opposition. Here is why that is a bad idea and a wasteful endeavor. Groups running against Unity should focus on the roughly 108,000 active UFT members, 92% of which voted in the contract vote.

There are about 60,000, mostly happy, retirees who don't face the daily pressures and are given incentives and some perks. Other than the internal UFT politically conscious retirees and some of the recently angry pushouts, what is the incentive for voting against Unity - or even voting at all?

In the 2013 election around 21-22,000 retirees voted, with about 18-19000 going to Unity.

Think of it. Before the election begins, the opposition must make up a 10-1 deficit.

• 23,000 count for the election – Unity has upped number from 15000 to 18000 to 23000 to assure themselves a cushion. 
• 85- 90% retirees vote Unity. Think of it - over the 60 years of the Unity machine, there are thousands - maybe as much as 10-20000 retirees who were in Unity Caucus and they make up a solid block of votes. 

• Most opposition votes against come from long-time opposition – ICE/TJC/New Action voters in past plus some newly angered retirees. Maybe 2000 with a possibility of 3000 in a good year. They barely make a dent.

• Incentives to vote Unity – lower dues, SHIP benefits, low cost courses, trips. I hear the courses are fabulous - in every borough and for about 5 bucks - do working teacher dues supplement the retiree incentive?
• Unity networking chapters in other states, plus Westchester, Long Island, etc hold events.
• Regular events with Mulgrew and other Unity leaders as they make junkets to major pockets of retirees.
• Iron control of UFT retiree chapter where meetings are worse than the Delegate Assembly.
• Almost total inability for opposition to reach retirees. The major opportunity was the spring 2015 chapter election (every 3 years) where Retiree Advocate ran against Unity. Voting turnout in this election is much lower than in the general UFT elections. It is the one golden opportunity to get a piece of literature into the hands of every retiree but I feel RA blows it every time (I considered running a MORE slate but it wasn't worth the time). RA does not go after Unity and focuses on retiree issues instead of exposing the Unity machine. Because most people don't give a crap, RA does get their people out to vote and often get about 25-30% of those who do vote-- their own loyalists. This is pretty much a finite number of maybe 2000 at most.

This is the reason I recommend that due to opposition's scarce resources – ignore this factor and concentrate on 108,000 working UFT members and aim for the positions on the UFT Executive Board that retirees don’t get to vote for.

I'll get into the weeds on the at-large (retirees vote) and the non-at large positions in a follow-up.

=====
AFTERBURN

I was at the 2013 vote count with some Unity Caucus (and UFT) leaders and even if it was clear that Unity won, when the 52% retiree number came in they did not look happy. The low turnout of working UFT members was clearly an embarrassment, especially since they had made more of an effort to get out the vote with robocalls and reminders from their massive Unity Caucus machine in the schools - pizza parties, prizes, stuffing every mailbox in the city numerous times with glossy Unity literature. Clearly the low turnout was a rejection of Unity. But it was also a rejection of the opposition which could not really capitalize on the increasing loss of confidence in the union leadership.

I have lots of theories as to why this is so, including that until there is one caucus going head to head with Unity, some members will say - if they can't get together between elections into one group and only run together as separate groups, why should we trust them? At least Unity is homogeneous.

Well of course Unity is homogeneous - when you have all those perks to give out and a loyalty oath, it is easy. The hard thing for an opposition party is to figure out how to grow within the context of a democratic- non Unity type framework. Why replace Unity with another top-down loyalty oath caucus and fall into a "new boss same as the old boss" syndrome?

Thus, the push 3 years ago - really beginning in 2011- to create one umbrella caucus under the MORE brand - which has had some rough spots - but that is still the goal I am committed to.

On ICE and Why MORE: History of 40 Years of Failures of Multiple Caucuses in the UFT

Unity wants as many opposition caucuses around as possible to divide people.

Today ICE, the group founded out of Ed Notes in late 2003 is meeting. (Tomorrow I'm meeting with a group of MORE people to plan the summer

retreat.) ICE is comfortable. MORE is not always. But we bite the bullet and keep trying to build a unified opposition caucus.

ICE is an uncaucus - we have withdrawn from taking part in UFT election battles and became a founding member of MORE because we did our own caucus thing  a dozen years ago and saw ultimately how it worked out  - not great - which was why most of us decided to join with people from other groups to form MORE - and that ain't been easy after having our own little group that could function the way it wanted.

I have learned from 45 years in this business that having multiple caucuses, even if they come together every 3 years to run a unified slate but then go their separate ways leads to failure.

Unity wants as many opposition caucuses around as possible to divide people. In the old says we used to assume that if a caucus didn't get the petition signatures to get on the ballot Unity, which runs the election, would put them on anyway. And so they will again.

Randi bought out New Action. Does anyone think she and Mulgrew are unhappy to see yet another caucus out there? They knew that the merger of various groups into MORE in an attempt to forge one identity for the opposition is the real threat to them. Thus they attack only MORE in their leaflets (64 Teachers at PS8X Sign Open Letter to Mulgrew).

Thus Randi would be glad to lend moral support to anyone who wants to start yet another opposition caucus, even taking them out for coffee.

ICE and MORE

MORE is a combo of many different groups and people - a synthesis because many of us have tried it the other way - our own little caucus where we can be the big fish in the small pond - oh how heady at times when you are new to this to have the president of the UFT emailing you at midnight to get your opinion. Almost everyone in ICE has come to see that no matter how difficult it can be working with people you might disagree with at times, the only way is to forge one caucus. Bite the damn bullet.

Many of us have come down a bit from our egos and have a little more humility about things. Or maybe it's the lowering of testosterone with age.

New Action
I have even been tempering my views regarding New Action - Julie and I told them at our meeting in Nov. 2013 that we welcomed them once they publicly announce they will no longer be taking their deal with Unity -- they don't have to end New Action - keep doing what ICE is doing - but move to becoming one caucus. After all, New Action learned its lesson in 1995 when 2 caucuses, TAC (begun in 1968) and New Directions (1976) became one after 20 years of relative futility running in the NAC coalition (though they did win some victories). But they say they were marking time. Then shortly after they merged, along came the old divider, Marc Pessin (who did the same thing with New Directions in 1976) to create yet another caucus (PAC) to divide people. And of course, Marc's ego required that he run for president in the 1999 elections - he did the same thing in the 1977 and 81 elections.

When ICE became a caucus in late 2003 it was with the intention of running in the 2004 election and then disbanding. But we won the HS exec bd seats with TJC and stuck around. But it became clear by 2007 that ICE did not have a long shelf life. By 2010 it was more than obvious. TJC was around for 20 years before disbanding into MORE. ICE kept meeting but in essence did the same. And I must say that after all those years of a tenuous relationship, working with Kit Wainer is a joy - and having Kit and James Eterno, both of whom who ran for UFT president, on the same team is like putting together an all-star rock band.

Yes, multiple caucuses have been tried for ages - there are always calls for them to unite for the elections and then go back to doing their big fish in a small pond. It finally dawned on many of us that ultimately this is helping do Unity's dirty work of divide and conquer - playing one group off against another - even offering people from one group enticements.

Though mostly MORE, we still feel that ICE identity even if we will never divide the opposition - ICE stands for the Independent Community of Educators -- a true social justice group of people who also fought for teacher rights with roots going back to the community struggles of the late 60s and 70s.

Some of the newer MORE members have come to the ICE view of things - we were the only ones to go after mayoral control, ed deform, high stakes testing - all the hot button issues from today - back in 2003 when we began - and Ed Notes was touching on these before then.

How did we see that these issues were important? Through open, non-ideologically driven discussions at loooong meetings. No one at an ICE meeting has been cut off or denied the chance to speak due to time - no one every leaves an ICE meeting feeling they were shut down. Time is not a factor -- the meeting ends when one person is left talking to himself.
I have never left an ICE meeting not feeling good and not having learned something.

Not a formula for efficiency or even building an opposition - but certainly a much needed space for people to talk to each other -- and I would say the single most important thing missing in MORE. I rarely leave a MORE meeting feeling that way. The MORE - Summer Series Workshops is a way to fill this gap.

People have asked me numerous times how come Mulgrew and Unity can get away with what they do for 60 years - how come there is so little effective opposition in the UFT.

The leadership focuses a lot of energy on potential trouble spots - this is where they are truly competent and effective - controlling, defusing, obfuscating, dividing, etc. I posted an example on Ed Notes recently about PS 8x which is a school in revolt against the leadership, led by a former Unity Caucus chapter leader -- see

• 64 Teachers at PS8X Sign Open Letter to Mulgrew Pr...
• Can Mulgrew Put Out the Fire at PS 8x?

The district rep - the key people in how they control the membership - told the CL that Mulgrew is coming to the school to talk to them -- I've been invited to come that day too.

They track every place where there are opposing voices -- making deals with their friendly principals to keep people under control is not off the table either.

But beyond all that, there are the internal divisions in the opposition - I have seen the same issues come up since I first got involved in 1970 - and in the 70s and then again in the 90s we had another version of him doing the same thing - to me this is so deja vu.

Egos, sectarian politics, and who knows what else can lead to so much frustration and angst.

A number of people who were union critics and used to distribute Ed Notes in the 90s and early 2000's ended up joining Unity - they might as well take the free trips and other perks because there was no other place to really go.

They go to Unity because they see a divided opposition. It may not be easy, but one voice, one name is the only answer. That will not happen as long as people refuse to check their egos at the door.

64 Teachers at PS8X Sign Open Letter to Mulgrew Protesting Attacks on Opposing Views in Unity Flier

Note how the Unity fliers only attack MORE, which the view as the only serious opposition. Internal comments from Unity people affirm how happy they are with the faux oppositionists because they feel it undercuts the real threat, MORE.

This was posted on the MORE blog earlier today as PS 8X continues to make waves, as I reported yesterday, Can Mulgrew Put Out the Fire at PS 8x?

A flier attacking UFT members that are not in President Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus was distributed at the June UFT Delegate Assembly. This is a response by the members of P.S. 8 in the Bronx.

Dear Mr. Mulgrew and His Unity Caucus:

We the undersigned read your Unity flyer that was distributed at the UFT Delegate Assembly. We take the insults contained therein as further evidence of the disconnect that exists between working teachers on the frontlines of classrooms and UFT Leadership.

You claim that those of us who are dissatisfied with our union’s representation are “detractors” categorized as either “alarmists,” “oppositional” or “Monday morning quarterbacks.” You toss in a French phrase and a George Orwell quote as if they demonstrate deep intellect that somehow lends credence to your insult—as if George Orwell wrote to warn about the rebels in society instead of those in power desperate to take any measure to retain that power. If you’re going to quote Orwell, the following Orwell quote best represents the Unity Caucus, “The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.”

To claim that we “never have led the fight against our enemies” is an inaccurate and disingenuous claim. Firstly, we are not in positions of leadership. More importantly we HAVE fought and ARE fighting our enemies in ways that UFT-leadership refuses to do such as writing our elected officials and challenging the absurd notion of tying our evaluations to test scores, challenging the reasonableness of the Danielson Framework which was never meant to be used as an evaluative tool, being actively engaged in the opt-out movement in our home communities, and rejecting the AFT endorsement of Hochul because we recognized that an endorsement of her was also a back-alley endorsement of Cuomo. We would also argue that challenging the Unity-controlled UFT that continues to disenfranchise working teachers is fighting the good fight.

Your claim that you know “better than anyone” because you “have been fighting these bad guys for over sixty years” is also inaccurate. You may not have noticed, but we most certainly have noticed, that for the past twenty plus years all you have been doing is ducking and weaving in the form of appeasement and as a result we, the working teachers, have been getting our derrières kicked while you remain in your ivory tower safe from all that we have been subjected to.

Contrary to the Japanese proverb you quoted, we definitely have a vision and we are taking action to see it materialize. We want a union run by those who have felt the pain of the unreasonable NYS teacher evaluation system and are committed to dismantling it and building a reasonable system in its place (and the MATRIX is not it). We want a union leadership that cries “foul” instead of “victory” when we have, in fact, been fouled.

Sincerely,
(64) PS 8 UFT Members

Go to MORE blog for list of names.

And by the way -- I hear a lot of people saying how they have to remain anonymous due to fear. So how about those 64 PS 8 UFT members?

Here is the snide Unity flier regarding MORE - which apparently they view as the only serious opposition --- no matter what hype you hear coming from other places.

Message to Ed Notes Readers: Why Join MORE? Do You Really Have A Choice? - Updated

Please join us now
http://more.nationbuilder.com/join_us -- MORE Caucus 

Really, with some warts and all, MORE is the only option if you oppose the UFT leadership and object to its partner, New Action's role as a stalking horse for Mulgrew and Unity. If the high school votes of MORE (1335) and New Action (whose 440 votes went to Unity (1590) in 2013 were combined, Unity would have lost those 7 seats.

(If New Action ever wants to come back into the legitimate opposition, its leaders should contact MORE, whose reps told them they will be welcome once they give up their deal with Unity.)

While I'm not in total agreement with Mike Schirtzer's call for MORE to run in the UFT 2016 elections Why MORE Will Run In The 2016 UFT Elections  if you do agree with Mike, then what option do you have than to join MORE? Oh, you think all you have to do is vote for MORE and not have to give anything back to the org doing all the election organizing and work? Do you want a name on a ballot or an actual campaign that costs money? Unity will have its chapter leaders and district reps stuff every mailbox in every school with numerous campaign lit. New Action will have its large core of retirees hit most of the schools with leaflets. Most MORE people are classroom teachers and need people in the school to become organizers and distributors.

See the disinterest not only from people who don't vote (I can understand that from them -- they are boycotting a meaningless election). But what about the 4500 people who did vote for MORE last time? Where are they? What about the 20,000 people who voted against the contract? It is time to stand up.

Where are all those people who are outraged at Randi's sellouts? Do you know that in the UFT elections, 750 Unity hacks are elected to go to NYSUT RA and AFT conventions to stamp out attempts to get the national and state unions to take a strong stand against ed deform and defend you as teachers from the onslaught? The UFT elections are the basis of Randi's control of the national union and Mulgrew/Randi attempt to continue control of the state union from the Stronger Together Caucus. The 2016 elections will continue that control (not that it is possible to stop them from electing these 750 slugs again.)

One of my thoughts in calling for a boycott of the election is this: Maybe those of you opposed to the Unity machine but sit on the sidelines don't deserve to have the right to vote against Mulgrew. 

Join MORE and also sign up to distribute info on MORE to your colleagues. If MORE doesn't listen to me and actually runs in 2016, they will need someone in every school to counter the Unity propaganda machine.

Keep Mike laughing - join MORE

I think it's 25 bucks a year to join MORE, a mere fraction of what you pay the Unity/UFT machine. If you want a campaign against Unity, put some skin in the game.  http://more.nationbuilder.com/join_us
I'll be looking for you

PS: And have some pity on poor Schirtzer - he wants to challenge Unity so badly and with a real campaign. Keep his hope alive!!!

MORE’s central priority will be the development of a UFT caucus. Our aim is to reach UFT members with our message of a more active and democratic union that can effectively fight back against what we have called the “ed deform” agenda and for the basic union rights of our members. We seek to reach members “where they are.” Different subsets of the membership experience the attacks on our profession and on our rights differently. For some, the testing frenzy has already transformed our work lives dramatically. For others, the new evaluation process and life under a terrible contract occupy center stage. Many of our members work under horrific and abusive administrators and that reality overshadows everything else.

Our hope is to reach rank and file members and help them become more actively involved in our efforts to turn things around. This will include helping members build stronger and more effective union chapters in their schools, connecting members with others around the city who are combating the impacts of standardized testing on our working conditions and our students learning conditions, encouraging members to join us in various efforts to challenge the UFT leadership and turn the union into one that can lead the fight on all of these fronts.

Please join us now
http://more.nationbuilder.com/join_us

SRO at overcrowded MORE meeting - dozen people waiting to get in

What an excellent, well-run meeting, organized by MORE steering committee. Well, I was sort of shocked. On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, so many people tried to get into the MORE meeting, the guards had to stop people from going in -- only when someone left would someone be allowed up. A bunch of the usual participants didn't even come. MORE will have to consider a bigger space.

Who knew? And a bunch of new people too. The Cuomo ed deform program and the tepid UFT response has apparently spurred people to take some action. I never get too excited because we have been down this road before. There was so much on the agenda, the meeting went longer than expected -- but we still made it to the happy hour afterwards.

The key is will people not only come back but also become active participants on growing the movement. Parents connected to Change the Stakes attended as did some high school students and their recently rubber-roomed teachers from NYCLetEmPlay. I visited David Garcia-Rosen in the rubber room the other day and this is some story, which I will going into

David Garcia-Rosen

detail - teachers pulled from their schools because they took a personal day to take their kids on a trip - a trip they had approval for months ago but was cancelled on the orders of Farina because it is a political hot potato. David turned down a Farina job offer (bribe) at Tweed last year.

Can Farina actually turn out to be worse than Joel Klein? Wait till I report in more depth on this story. David and his crew brought the issue to MORE at the meeting and this one will have legs. If the DOE goes to a 3020a hearing it will be open and a circus.

The skinny: David, teaching in a small high school, saw that the breakup of large high schools in poor areas left the kids without decent sports programs as PSAL money kept flowing to the large high schools left intact (in more affluent areas) while small schools were starved. He started his own alternate sports league for small schools in the Bronx. And therein lies a tale. Here are some quick hits from a search to get those interested up to speed. 

Ø David Garcia-Rosen sent the first of a series of FOIL requests to the DOE this morning. Ø He will continue to do this until the Mayor appoints an independent ...
A teacher's crusade to bring competitive sports to small ...
ny.chalkbeat.org/.../a-teachers-crusade-to-bring-competitive-sports-to-sm...
May 9, 2013 - What David Garcia-Rosen started as a single-column spreadsheet has turned into a 17-page report and a mission to provide more team sports ...
Ed Notes Online: NYC Teacher David Garcia-Rosen Battles ...
ednotesonline.blogspot.com/.../nyc-teacher-david-garcia-rosen-battles.ht...
May 28, 2014 - I ran into David Garcia-Rosen, who I met years ago at Teachers Unite meetings, at a UFT event at the Hilton recently where he was promoting ...
In Schools Where Sports May Be Most Vital, New York City ...
www.nytimes.com/.../in-schools-where-sports-may-be...

The New York Times
May 27, 2014 - In 2011, David Garcia-Rosen, a history teacher and dean at International, formed the small schools league, and International got its first ...

MORE Workshop(s) on Chapter Leader Upcoming Elections Strike(s) a Chord

The reason there are bully principals who can discontinue people with no worry of a union response or harass tenured teachers into oblivion is due to a weak, ineffective and disinterested UFT leadership. ... Yeah, I said that.

Until vast number of schools elect independent and capable chapter leaders who build an internal organization at the school level nothing will change in the UFT - which is why I am so skeptical about the UFT general election process every 3 years and why those basic numbers don't move much decade after decade. Unity controls most chapters and building chapters of resistance is not their priority. I measure things based on how many schools have effective chapters -- and I don't just mean MORE but independents and even those Unity chapter leaders who do this hard work. I think a survey will show a small minority - one of the biggest condemnations of the UFT/Unity leadership. Their middle managers - the district reps - mostly do nothing in this area - they are there as henchmen/woman of top-down UFT policy, not bottom up chapter building. And YES, electing district reps, which Randi eliminated in 2002, would be a start to making a more effective union.

Linking chapters together into loose networks of support will empower people, especially at the district level -- and now that Farina has empowered Supts, that becomes more relevant.

That has been a major focus of my own work within MORE - and it hasn't always been easy to get that point across. The UFT puts all its eggs in the one-person chapter leader instead of building networks. While monthly district chapter leader meetings should be used to work together to solve individual school issues, they are instead used to push central UFT policies through the district reps down to the schools. The UFT would never want independent acting chapters.

So if the UFT won't do it, MORE needs to focus on issues emerging at the school level and become a support network for those people and schools ready to act -- not as much an opposition per se. Some MORE members have already gone local - holding small non-advertized meetings after school with teachers in their school neighborhoods. Don't worry about the big union picture as much and put resources into support networks.

MORE has gotten down to work - sometimes after much nudging and nagging - by focusing on the issues people are facing in the schools and trying to come up with strategies to address them by offering useful workshops - instead of just holding meetings for the sake of holding meetings. (Fighting Back In Your School). 

It is not enough to complain about conditions but try to come up with possible solutions. Since the UFT does not seem capable of standing up for people at the school level against vicious principals, it is up to rank and file teachers to get together and figure out strategies.

So it was a bummer when I awoke to the pre-"blizzard" snowstorm this past Saturday, the day of a long planned workshop addressing the upcoming spring chapter leader elections. I was kicking myself for printing as many as 30 copies of an intake form I prepared for the MORE Workshop(s) on Chapter Leader Upcoming Elections. "We'll be lucky to get 10 people," I thought. So I was surprised when between 30 and 40 people trekked into Manhattan from the outer boroughs and Long Island on a snowy Saturday, with a bunch of people we had never met. I viewed it as a sign that things are not kosher in the state of Denmark. It is one thing for people to email and call bitching but quite another to go to the next step and try to do something about it. 

The biggest single complaint I get from teachers is that their principals are tyrants and their chapter leaders are either in the pocket of the principal, under assault for not being in the pocket or basically ineffective. And then there is the ineffective, if not collaborative District reps and the UFT leaders above them who often tell teachers and chapter leaders who fight their principals that it is their fault for not getting along with the principal.

But we do know chapter leaders in MORE who do an excellent job, even in schools with difficult principals. Since they are openly part of the opposition by being identified with MORE, the UFT is often more attentive and cautious and they feel they get better service from above.

So people like Kit Wainer and Kevin Prosen and other experienced chapter leaders - including me - shared out experiences at the workshops in dealing with school administrations and organizing our colleagues. We heard some stories of the "model" Tweed/Leadership Academy principal -- youngish, arrogant, manipulative, aiming at senior teachers, divide and conquer, etc. - from people we had never met. Hearing other stories on how people organized their chapters even when they weren't chapter leaders made them feel they had a chance.

Thanks to Mike Schirtzer for leading the organizing effort to make this event happen.

We are doing another one on March 14. I am on the committee and am pushing for a workshop on how to use Danielson and common core to respond to the blizzard of unfair observations, along the lines of my post a few days ago which has received a lot of favorable comments:  Are You a Target of Misuse of Danielson Observations? Advice From Former Chapter Leader.

That former CL has been in touch with a lot more material which I will be publishing. I believe we can develop some tools to put in the hands of teachers to begin to counter this war on them at the school level.

The reason there are bully principals who can discontinue people with no worry of a union response or harass tenured teachers into oblivion is due to a weak, ineffective and disinterested UFT leadership. It is time for people at the rank and file level to rise up and take control.

Video: UPDATED - MORE and Teacher Diversity Committee at Panel for Educational Policy Nov 25, 2014

Teaching has often been a way for poor people from the city to join the ranks of the middle class. I'm an example of this.... Pearson, King, Tisch and Cuomo have been dismantling this tradition.... It is the gentrification of the teaching force....As someone who has been a dean, chapter leader and mentor, I see the difference between the way gentrifiers deal with NYC kids and native NYers deal with NYC kids. In short, we need many many more native NYers in the classroom, especially New Yorkers of color.
.....Assailed Teacher, blogger

Last night a batch of MOREistas were at the PEP to argue a number of points. Eterno covered ATRs. I touched on bully principals and a discontinued guidance counselor from Staten Island made a powerful statement (videos to follow). Sean Ahern and Megan Moskop joined others from the Teacher Diversity Committee to press for a more diverse and balanced teaching staff. Video below and at the MORE you tube site: http://youtu.be/g1_RDCkWLUM

Sean has been fighting this battle for a decade and is finally getting noticed by the DOE and the UFT - but outcomes do count.
I was going to speak about the lack of balance in terms of the racial composition of teaching staffs around the city. We find a lot of teachers of color in the poorest areas of the city - Harlem, Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy - the overwhelming majority in some schools and overwhelmingly white staffs in other areas.

This is often unfair to the teachers of color who are more likely to be teaching in the tougher schools.

Bloomberg got rid of a provision that allowed teachers of color to transfer based on race in 2005. You know the drill - principals should not be forced to take a teacher they don't want - even if the real issue is the decision might be based on racial bias - which by the way, can also work both ways - a white teacher had a tough time getting a job in the 70s in certain schools. But the racial bias is way more likely to work the other way. All power to the principals must be curbed and maybe this is the way to begin. It is time for the DOE to take a look at the racial imbalance in schools around the city.

I included an excerpt from Assailed Teacher in the video. Read the entire quote in my post yesterday: Impact on Teacher Diversity: Teacher Certifications Decline As NYS Uses Tougher Exams

From 25 Years Ago: The UFT After Shanker by Lois Weiner and Bruce Markens

A lot to interesting insights about the UFT and the opposition from Lois and Bruce in this document published in 1990. Some good lessons for the new generation of teacher activists looking to challenge the half century of Unity Caucus control - well, maybe the lesson is the more things change the more they remain the same.

Lois Weiner and Bruce Markens were 2 of the most respected independent voices in the UFT. Bruce is truly the only independently elected district rep in history - he served for a decade as Manhattan HS DR despite repeated attempts by Unity to defeat him. He was so despised by Unity that when he retired I asked Randi to say something at the DA about his years of service and she refused. He was the reason she ended Dist Rep elections 2 years after he retired. Bruce and I are getting together with Mike Schirtzer and some others after the New Year to pass the historical torch so Mike can tell the story in 25 years -

and Mike met with Lois, Julie and some other MOREistas last week to get her current point of view.

I only met Lois after she had left the system and went into academia. She was the one who recruited Vera Pavone and I to write the review of the Kahlenberg Shanker bio which was published in New Politics. http://newpol.org/content/albert-shanker-ruthless-neo-con

Lois and Bruce have written an important historical document about Unity Caucus and the opposition from the point of view of a generation ago.

One of the things we see being sold by some today is the umbrella group idea where each caucus operates on its own and then comes together for elections or certain issues. Coalition caucus politics has been a failure throughout the history of the UFT opposition. ICE and TJC learned that lesson after a years of wrestling with each other and finally came together in MORE. Though there is still some internal wrestling, there is the sense that even a shotgun marriage is better than what was there before.

Here Bruce talks about how that worked out between 1981 (really since my group the CSW worked with TAC in the 1977 elections) through the writing of this article in 1990. NAC was the coalition of 3 caucuses initially and then 2. New Action was the result of the merger in 1996.

Imagine - in those years the opposition could pull high vote totals in middle and high schools but could never make a dent in the elementary and functional and of course the retiree divisions. In fact, in the elections following this 1990 article, the opposition won 13 Ex Bd seats  - its highest totals ever.

After New Action formed from the merger of TAC and New Directions in 1996 it had some success in the high schools by winning those seats through the 2001 elections. But seeing their advantage slipping away they jumped at the deal offered by Randi - don't run against her in exchange for Unity not running against NA for the HS seats. In 2003 I and others, unhappy with the state of the opposition - New Action, a fairly nascent TJC at that point and a 3rd caucus - Progressive Action - focused on one major item - teacher licensing - formed ICE as yet another alternative. (Hey - do you believe in choice?) While there was initial excitement that faded by the 2007 elections and ICE drifited into inactivity and into GEM and MORE. A real lesson for me - and others - which ultimately has led back to an attempt to create one unified opposition voice in MORE.

Attempts to brand Solidarity as a bridge group between New Action and MORE and a mostly dormant ICE will come to naught and maybe in 25 years someone will write this version of history.

If you have trouble reading the document below, go to this link where it will be larger.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/247106770/The-UFT-After-Shanker-Lois-Weiner-and-Bruce-Markens

The UFT After Shanker, Lois Weiner and Bruce Markens

UFT Caucuses and Loyalty Oaths - How About a UFT Cut-the-Strings, Free-the-Puppets Caucus?

Arthur Goldstein has another assault on Unity Caucus at NYC Educator (How About a UFT Cut-the-Strings, Free-the-Puppets Caucus?)
Arthur is often focused on the Unity Caucus loyalty oath. I believe this is the wrong terminology. Unity Caucus follows democratic centralism, a staple of the left since Lenin but also adopted by right wingers as a way to control the message and the membership. Lenin said "freedom of discussion, unity of action." The problem in Unity is that they never had freedom of discussion - it was one man or one woman rule. If Unity had a democratic structure where we could actually argue and discuss issues I could live with a loyalty oath.

Unity Caucus was founded by a right wing branch of the Socialist Party, Social Democrats USA, which operated under democratic centralism and they brought that to Unity Caucus, the mass organization they were embedded in. Then they used Unity Caucus to control the entire UFT. Al Shanker, Sandy Feldman and the entire leadership of the UFT were members of SDUSA. Randi seemed to abandon some of their  principles - or any principles in fact - so it was never clear of her connection. I always found it hard to believe that Shanker and Feldman would chose Randi if she didn't adhere to their politics. And knowing her, she may have convinced them and then once in power abandon them. Thus, Unity Caucus since Randi and Mulgrew no longer has a climate of SDUSA politics, which had a strong trade union bent. Some think Mulgrew had family union connections to SDUSA which was why he became UFT President.

Thus a relatively small group of people can control an entire union and even an entire nation. Thus the genius of Lenin and why he is so revered on the left. The Bolsheviks may have been the most successful party in history in their capture of Russia.

democratic centralism, decision-making practice and disciplinary policy adopted by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and subsequently followed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and by communist parties in other countries.
Democratic centralism purported to combine two opposing forms of party leadership: democracy, which allows for free and open discussion, and central control, which ensures party unity and discipline. At the 10th Congress of the All-Russian Communist Party (1921), the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Ilich Lenin declared that the party was not a debating society in which all opinions were tolerated and freely expressed; it was a “vanguard” party whose role as leader of the revolution demanded extreme discipline and a high level of organization. Unrestrained discussion, he insisted, would produce intraparty disagreements and factions and prevent the party from acting effectively. On the other hand, absolute control by a centralized leadership would discourage new ideas from lower-level party members. Therefore, Lenin argued, free discussion within the party should be tolerated and even encouraged up to a point, but, once a vote was taken, all discussion had to end. The decision of the majority should constitute the current party “line” and be binding upon all members.

Which brings me to the role current Leninist party (ISO, PL, Socialist Alternative, Class Struggle) members play on even opposition caucuses like MORE and to some extent used to play in ICE. If the members of these organizations operate under loyalty oaths - ie - democratic centralism - and their parties internally take a stand on education and other related issues, then their members are bound by loyalty oath/democratic centralism to follow the party line in the mass organizations (Unity/UFT, ICE, New Action, MORE.)

I'll be writing more on this subject in follow-up posts.

I'll leave you with this from Arthur:

I have a novel idea.  What if democracy in the U.S. applied to our UFT?  What if the puppets and their allies press for a real voice, the freedom to vote their views or those of their constituency?  What if the puppets rise up en masse in rebellion and demand the dignity of exercising their rational power of thought?  Educators teach people to think, not blindly obey.  History teaches us the same.  Do I dream big?  Free the puppets!  Form a Cut-the-Strings Caucus.  Let the world know.  Liberate minds!  Liberate our union!  Let teachers think for themselves!

An ICEer Comments on the Sharpton March

Judging an organization's commitment to social justice on the basis of how they stand on a demo called by one of the most dishonest people on the face of the earth is absurd... A member of ICE

With lots of back and forth inside MORE over MORE's ambiguity on the Eric Garner march, one of the founders of ICE, who has not taken part in anything related to MORE, commented off-list on the debate. He was a long-time activist and chapter leader in Bed-Stuy from the 60s through the 80s - a left winger with a strong anti-capitalist and anti-racist history, working with local community activists in District 16. I'm making this point to counter people who are branding opponents of the march as coming from the right. I would say about half the people in ICE were not in favor of endorsing the march and it was in consideration of their point of view that led to some of the ambiguity in the MORE statement as Julie tried to take their views into account when writing the statement.

I'm sure he has no problem in my using his name but I want to make sure, so I am posting now and will update with his name when I reach him.

Who calls for a march or demo is always an important question in the decision of whether to support it or not. Judging an organizations commitment to social justice on the basis of how they stand on a demo called by one of the most dishonest people on the face of the earth is absurd....

But for us a march in support of civil rights, in the context of what's happening nationally with rising police misconduct, is something that we should be in solidarity with without question....

The march that Sharpton called was clearly in response to what happened in Staten Island and that's why it was held there. It was called even before the events in Missouri. Why were none of these marches called by Sharpton and his cronies during the Bloomberg era - especially with all of the stuff going on with stop and frisk? Why was the march held in Staten Island, making it difficult to get to? Why not hold the march in Manhattan if they really wanted people to come out? Why didn't the UFT members, or even much of the Unity Caucus come out?

As for being in solidarity with the march without question, who are they kidding? 

Who calls for a march or demo is always an important question in the decision of whether to support it or not. Judging an organization's commitment to social justice on the basis of how they stand on a demo called by one of the most dishonest people on the face of the earth is absurd. 

Much of the opposition to the march did not center the issue of police brutality but on the fact that the central player was Sharpton.

ICE Meeting Friday - ICE and MORE - A Lesson for New Action

At the MORE meeting with New Action last October, we offered the ICE model to New Action as a way for their people to work within MORE for our common aims while keeping their caucus alive. They rejected that offer.

ICE will be holding a rare meeting tomorrow. These meetings take place when people feel a need to talk to each other in a relaxed atmosphere where few decisions have to take place.

ICE (Independent Community of Educators) was founded in late 2003 as a reaction to the deal between New Action, then the leading opposition caucus in the UFT, and Randi Weingarten, by supporters of Ed Notes and others - ie, people invited to leave New Action for opposing their deal, which led to seats for New Action on the UFT Ex Bd and job opportunities in the union.

ICE ran candidates in the 2004, 07 and 10 elections, jointly with Teachers for a Just Contract. But both caucuses had very different ideological backgrounds and methods of operation and there was very little interaction or cooperation.

In 2009, members of an ICE committee dealing with ATRs, testing and closing schools (soon amended to include fighting charter invasions) attracted people from outside ICE, including some from NYCORE and eventually people from other charter battles, like Julie Cavanagh and the crew from PS 15. By that time the committee had been spun off into a new organization that became the Grassroots Education Movement to defend the public education system. Not being a caucus in the UFT, many segments within and without the UFT were comfortable and ultimately the UFT oriented groups began to talk to each other about a big all inclusive tent for a new caucus - which became MORE.

Merging the ideologies and interests has not been an easy process, as the lessons of the march on Staten Island proved. See my piece lambasting the undemocratic ultraleft holier than thou ideologues - The Left and Right Attacks MORE on Garner March Position: I'm Shocked, There Are Social Democrats in MORE. And I do a number on the right wing racists too.

So, anyway - here is an announcement I sent out to the listserves. I'd love to invite every Ed Notes reader - because the rice pudding is so good. But there are only a few seats left - but shoot me an email if you are interested and I'll check.

ICE is meeting  Friday Aug 29 at 4:00 pm. Please RSVP if you haven't yet dome so if you are coming as there is limited space.

ICE meetings are usually the best place to go for real open discussions on issues impacting UFT members. People actually learn. Everyone gets to speak, as often as they like. Meetings don't end until everyone is satisfied that they had a chance to share their views, think about what others are saying and followup. That learning process leads people to an ability to modify their views and compromise during the course of the meeting (except for the rigid ideologues, who often don't stay very long because after all, they know it all and have nothing to learn and are only there to proselytize their views on others.) 

Of course size matters so this is not a criticism of MORE which has more people at meetings, though some ICE people do get frustrated at the more restricted environment of MORE meetings.

James Eterno has suggested we don't just chat n chew but work from a real agenda while chewing and chatting. Darn. Here are his suggestions, supplemented by some of mine, which means we will probably still be chatting and chewing at midnight.

Eterno:

1. ICE stayed together and did not disband in 2012 as TJC did after MORE was formed. I did not want ICE to stick around so we could merely get together and eat once or twice a year. We continued as an organization with a role to play in the union and education debates independent of MORE.
Note from Norm: At the MORE meeting with New Action last October, we offered the ICE model to New Action as a way for their people to work within MORE for our common aims while keeping their caucus alive. They rejected that offer.

2. We need to pay our respects to Gene and Loretta Prisco. We lost both of these wonderful people since we last met as a group. (Those who want their comments published will be videotaped).

3. Is ICE still needed?

If ICE still exists as an organization it should say something and take 

some positions, not just be a space for Jeff and I to share our personal views.  Our purpose as an organization should be on this agenda. Perhaps we are no longer necessary and should disband as TJC did in 2012. We can still get together and eat when we want to.

4. State of MORE and ICE's part in it.  Amazing young people have bred new life into opposition to Unity in the UFT. What, if anything, does ICE want to achieve as part of this opposition? Where do we see it heading?

(Combine items 3 and 4).

5. An ICE endorsement for Zephyr Teachout in the Democratic primary. Locals around the state are endorsing her. MORE probably won't do it so why not ICE? See support statement from James Eterno on ICE blog.

Norm amendment: ICE also endorses Green Party in general election.

6. NYSUT's Stronger Together. 

A legitimate statewide opposition to Unity is forming. The entire year at NYSUT should be reviewed. I propose ICE formally support Stronger Together. Some of us are already involved so why not formalize it if ICE still wants to play an active role in the union and education worlds? 

7. Midnight special - Discussing the controversy inside and outside MORE over the march, the UFT support of the march, what could have/should have MORE done? Not for voting, but for comment: did MORE do the right thing?

A Parent/Filmmaker Comments on Ravitch and Unions

How is it possible that  the Leadership of Teachers Unions maintains this destructive control of the profession?  And how can that control be altered and in what ways, without destroying the Unions altogether.  .....parent perception is predominantly that the Unions speak for and represent the attitudes of teachers.... If the Unions don't speak for the majority of teachers and, if as you say, there's a lot of dissent in the ranks of Union Teachers, it means that all of you are negatively impacted by that burden.... in trying to get my film off I find this is one of the most intractable and negative perceptions and it's complex enough to cause parents to not trust and not act on the criticisms leveled by anti deform groups.  I've discussed this with a number of MORE teachers and it is an issue that seriously impacts all efforts to rally parents to the cause. 
 -----Michael Elliot, comment on my post on Ravitch criticisms directed at union dissidents who go "too far."

Michael is commenting in response to my recent post: The Diane Ravitch Contradiction: Educators Should Rebel, but Be Nice When Addressing Oppressive Union Leaderships

...where I made a defense for strong opposition to the union leaderships and felt Diane was downplaying the very weak position so much of the opposition occupies vis a vis the dominant leadership. Sometimes there is only way to engage in a battle inside a dictatorship - hand to hand combat.

Michael feels that the opposition inside the unions may be contributing to the negative public perception of unions. I dispute that given that our voices are barely heard by the public. In fact they are barely heard by the union members.
But his point that we are not elucidating our position as to why we oppose the leadership very clearly may be right.

they have absolutely no idea what the differences between the Unions and their members truly are, if fact after nearly a year of observing this phenomenon, neither do I.  

The reason I believe Diane speaks with two minds is precisely representative of this schism between the Unions and their members.  And I think it undermines all of your considerable efforts on behalf of one of the most important professional endeavors affecting future generations.

Michael asks:   
How is it possible that  the Leadership of Teachers Unions maintains this destructive control of the profession?  And how can that control be altered and in what ways, without destroying the Unions altogether.  

That is a valid question. MORE should produce a UFT 101 document elucidating the issues. When you talk about democracy it can be so abstract. So it is necessary to show how the lack thereof has led us to a disastrous situation.

I guess my main response on the question of how can that control be altered and in what ways, without destroying the Unions altogether?

My response would be CHICAGO, CHICAGO, WHAT A WONDERFUL TOWN.

Then there is the question: Whose side are our union leaders really on? And does exposing that hurt the union movement in general?

Michael was responding to this comment by NYC  parent activist Jeff Nichols.

Norm,

As I tell anyone who will listen, if you want to know what's really going on, listen to Norm Scott. I don't presume to judge Diane, who to her credit is willing to change her mind in public and who has used her blog to the extent of her ability to augment the voices of those of us without access to major media outlets. But clearly her knowledge isn't complete, and although she has become the unofficial spokesperson for anti-deformers and is astonishingly prolific and effective in that role, the public deeply needs the perspective, wisdom *and righteous invective* of long-time teachers and activists like you!!!! 

Too many people still believe teachers' unions actually represent teachers and have no idea how many of them have been co-opted by ed deform. 

Thank you as always, Norm, for being one bad-ass Maria!

Jeff

Here is Michael's full thought-provoking comment

Hi Norm,

I actually want to take this a step further. As I research my documentary I keep running up against the same issue over and over again.  The issue is that public and more importantly, parent perception is predominantly that the Unions speak for and represent the attitudes of teachers. 

It is not nuanced and it always proves to be an immense burden that is carried by teachers. If the Unions don't speak for the majority of teachers and, if as you say, there's a lot of dissent in the ranks of Union Teachers, it means that all of you are negatively impacted by that burden.   

I have also found that very few teachers are willing to admit that Parents actually feel this way.  But in trying to get my film off I find this is one of the most intractable and negative perceptions and it's complex enough to cause parents to not trust and not act on the criticisms leveled by anti deform groups.  I've discussed this with a number of MORE teachers and it is an issue that seriously impacts all efforts to rally parents to the cause.  

Any one of you can disclaim my point of view here, but as one who is all in with the efforts of the groups, teachers, schools and parents to message in favor of destroying the deform coup I can tell you honestly its the achillies heel of the anti-deform movement.  

In order to succeed, someone has got to publicly state what role the Union Leadership has played in contributing to the marginalization and simply awful public perception that exists about Teacher Unions.   I know this is a very public statement I'm making to this group and the reason I'm doing so is because I encounter the attitudes of parents absent being one of you.  And that is the only way people share the truth. 

When I talk to parents outside the movement the first thing they say is that the Union is corrupt. The messaging from the opposition takes this to maximum benefit. Democrats and Republicans SHARE this perception. 

Meanwhile, they have absolutely no idea what the differences between the Unions and their members truly are, if fact after nearly a year of observing this phenomenon, neither do I.  

The reason I believe Diane speaks with two minds is precisely representative of this schism between the Unions and their members.  And I think it undermines all of your considerable efforts on behalf of one of the most important professional endeavors affecting future generations.   

How is it possible that  the Leadership of Teachers Unions maintains this destructive control of the profession?  And how can that control be altered and in what ways, without destroying the Unions altogether.  

I hope anyone reading this can see it in the spirit its intended.

I'm a parent, I'm trying to make a film about your brilliant efforts and I find that I'm thwarted at a fundamental level because I cannot answer this issue effectively. 

MORE Steering Committee: A Lesson in Democracy

You can't talk about democracy in the UFT unless your own group has established democratic procedures itself. And if done openly, so much the better. And boy is this tough, especially as you grow and try to scale up. If I was in a caucus in contention with Unity that was not practicing democracy, I would walk because we don't need a "new boss, same as old boss scenario."

Democracy is not just about voting. It is how people deal with each other every day.

MORE is not just a caucus challenging the Unity leadership, but a fertile ground for people to nurture themselves politically and personally.

Tomorrow's MORE steering committee meeting will complete my 6-month term as the 3rd MORE Steering Committee  to take over on August 1. So far 23 people have served 6-month terms on MORE Steering over a year and a half. Both old and new steering committees - those in town - will hold a joint meeting. I'm proud of the fact that so many of these people are fairly new to MORE and to activism. And how they have blossomed playing leadership roles. Many of them did not enter teaching with a sense of "union" and are so excited to become part of that process due to MORE's advocacy.

Before I comment on the process let me know if you have heard of a transparent process revealed by other caucuses, Unity and New Action. MORE is so open we even invite New Action members to join us and even run for Steering. So far they have declined. Maybe we should invite Unity people into the tent too. Hey Unity, feel free to come to meetings and make your case.

So I have tried to be vigilant inside MORE -- arguing for distributed leadership and decision making. I know, this violates some basic precepts where strong leadership in the hands of one person is considered crucial. Note that many people viewed Julie Cavanagh as the leader of MORE when in fact she was one voice amongst many. And her focus on her family and her school responsibilities has made it difficult for her to do MORE work. If you asked me 2 years ago what would MORE be like without a very active Julie, my response would have been bleak. In fact MORE hasn't missed a beat (though Julie's wise counsel is missed).

For the first year MORE had no steering committee, which I favored. I felt people were just getting to know each other and argued for the least restrictive environment. We called it a Planning Committee, open to everyone. But by the end of last school year, emerging fron an election campaign, it was clear we had grown enough to think about forming a steering committee.

I am generally not in favor of elections, especially in small groups like MORE. But most people wanted to hold one. We decided on 9 Steering seats and had 20 people run. There was a tie so we just added one. Some were not well known by enough people and the election was to some extent a popularity contest. I also felt we should limit the terms of office for 6 months, which one member of the CORE steering in Chicago told me last week was "crazy." I told her it was the best thing MORE had done. (We also have an unofficial rule that after 2 consecutive turns on steering (1 year) one should take a break.)

Lots of lessons were learned in that first term and there was major turnover in the 2nd MORE steering which took office last Jan. 1 due to the intense amount of work required. Burnout was an issue. (And we are working on dividing the work to prevent that). There were only 2 returnees and 9 other volunteers. We decided that rather than hold an election to knock 2 people out, we would just add 2 people. To some this violated their sense of democracy. I did not agree -- rational democracy would call for inclusion, not exclusion.

While some people opposed my being on Steering due to my retirement status, others wanted my experience. (I think there should not be more than one retiree on steering.) And the fact that I was free during the day to be of more assistance. Frankly, I was so busy with other parts of my life I did not take on too many tasks - which is why I took myself off steering this time - at this point I don't want to help run an organization - leave it to the next generation. And what a generation it is. Almost no one below 40 and our youngest new leader just turned 28.

And the best thing: I can do nothing and not feel guilty.

Congratulations for those who have accepted nominations for the new MORE Steering Committee which takes office for a 6 month term starting on August 1. 

 

The current steering committee has proposed, that rather than having an election to choose 9 out of these 11 (or 10?) qualified candidates, that we simply accept all of them as new member of the steering committee.  This decision will be ratified at the MORE Retreat this coming week on Thursday, July 17 (11am-5pm, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave. @ 34th st., 6 to 33rd, D,F,M,N,R to Herald Square).

Megan Behrent has taught English at Franklin D. Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn for 15 years. She has been a UFT delegate for FDR since 2007. In the Delegate Assembly, she has raised resolutions to support the rights of ATRs, to fight school closings/turnarounds, and to show solidarity with other unions. She is a founding member of MORE and active in the National Network of Social Justice Educators. As an education activist, she has appeared on the Melissa Harris Parry show on MSNBC and written for diverse publications including Socialist Worker, New Politics, Labor Notes and the Harvard Education Review.

Lauren Cohen entered teaching through the NYC Teaching Fellows in 2005 as a mid-year replacement for a K-2 self-contained special education teacher at a high-needs school in Harlem. She taught there for two more full school years. She spent the next 5 years at a Title 1 school in the East Village where she gained a reputation among her colleagues for speaking out against administrative mandates that were detrimental to student learning (such as canceling extended day enrichment programs in favor of test prep aligned to faulty and inaccurate Acuity results). She currently teaches at P.S. 321 in Park Slope, where the privileges available to her current students have only strengthened her resolve to fight for a more equitable system on behalf of the students she left behind. For the past two years, Lauren has worked with parents, teachers, and others in Change the Stakes, fighting against the use of standardized tests to punish schools, teachers, and students. She attended her first MORE meeting in the spring of 2012 and was thrilled to meet so many like-minded educators. She ran on the MORE slate for Elementary Executive Board in the UFT election, and she now serves as the chapter delegate for P.S. 321.

Francesca Gomes is an 8th Grade Humanities (ELA and Social Studies) Teacher at New Voices MS 443 in District 15.  She has been a member of the UFT for 13 years, and the only UFT Delegate for her school for the last five years.  She led the “Vote No” campaign at her school beginning on the first day after the 2014 contract proposal was announced.  Originally a member of Teachers for a Just Contract, she then became a member of the Independent Caucus of Educators, and is proud to have been a member of MORE since its early days.

Janice Manning is currently a fifth grade Special Education Teacher in an Integrated Co-Teaching Classroom at P.S. 503 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.  This is her 10th year teaching in New York City Public Schools.  She started her teaching career as a fourth grade teacher in Fort Worth, Texas.  After teaching in Fort Worth for a year, she taught English as a foreign language in Znamenka, Ukraine as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  She began attending MORE meetings in January of this year and is passionate about working with other educators to organize ways to improve education for ALL students.

Megan Moskop is a current member of the steering committee. She is a Special Education teacher and UFT delegate at M.S. 324 in Washington Heights, where she began teaching in 2009 through Teach for America. Megan was raised by educators in North Carolina, and her first “real” teaching job was in Malta as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant.  In addition to her work MORE, she serves as Learning Labs Director for the Manhattan Young Democrats, and she is a member of Teachers Unite. Deeply thankful for and inspired by her own teachers and students, Megan is committed to the improvement of learning and working conditions in schools everywhere, starting here.

Francesco Portelos is an engineer turned middle school STEM teacher. Over the last two years he has become a very strong advocate for educators and students. His advocacy did not come without sacrifice. After speaking up, he became a target and was removed from his teaching position. This did not stop Francesco. He ran and won the UFT Chapter Leader position in his school even though he is forbidden from entering the building. He has been successfully mobilizing and supporting his chapter and many other educators who read about his fight and seek his guidance from around the city and around the country. His objective is use his knowledge, leadership skills and out-of-the-box thinking to bring MORE to a point where they are successfully filling the great void left by our UFT Leaders. Read more at www.educatorfightsback.org  Follow on Twitter: @MrPortelos

Kevin Prosen is chapter leader at I.S. 230 in Jackson Heights, Queens.  He campaigned as part of MORE’s slate for the executive board in last year’s elections, and has organized mass grievance campaigns at his school involving up to 35 members of his chapter.  He has been active in the MORE chapter organizing committee this year and has been organizing outreach to other chapter leaders in the city. His writings on UFT issues have appeared inJacobin andSocialist Worker.

Mindy Rosier is a native New Yorker who graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education and Fordham University with an M.S. Ed in Early Childhood Special Education. She has been a teacher for 17 years, including 3 years at the NY Foundling Hospital and currently 8 years with the Department of Education in a District 75 school.After seeing the hardships that her school has endured and after researching the education system itself, she became active to promote an improvement in the quality of education for all children.

Mike Schirtzer is a lifelong Brooklynite, graduate of the NYC public schools and CUNY, teacher and UFT Delegate. Teaching has always been and still is his lifelong dream and his work here in MORE is just a continuation of fulfilling the goal of being the best teacher he can be! He has planned and mobilized several events, forums, and ran for UFT & NYSUT office as MORE. He was on the original planning committee, first steering committee, and organized MORE’s social media, press, contract campaign, and South Brooklyn groups.

Patrick Walsh a three-time elected UFT chapter who believes that the only force  that can  save our profession from the predators is our union and the only force that can save our union from itself is us.

AFTERBURN
Some people warn that by being so public we are putting a target on their backs for Unity to shoot at. One transgression in their schools and the Unity buzz machine will start backbiting. Believe me, I get Unity people picking and choosing their targets and attacking MORE behind the scenes with comments like "look at the people you have". Even if true I counter with "have you taken a close look at the people YOU have?"

Mike Schirtzer Update: #AFT14, MORE Summer Series om UFT History

Mike makes me feel sorry for Unity Caucus. Here they figured it wouldn't be long before they are rid of me and Mike shows up to offer a few decades more of tsouris. Mike will be sitting in my place at the 2034 convention tweeting and blogging.

But do come out on Weds for the history series.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1504328419780748/

We don't know everything and you all can fill in. I even asked George Altomare yesterday to fill in some gaps. I joked to him he should come - he began to look a little sick at the very thought.

Don't tell Mike that I haven't done some of the work for Weds Night that I promised to do. Maybe while waiting in airport for the redeye tomorrow night. My wonderful wife even offered to pick me up at 5:30AM Tues morning. Then I have a noonish meeting at my house and Gypsy rehearsal Tues night, followed by MORE summer series Weds at 4PM, followed by MORE retreat all day Thurs. Are they trying to kill me?

Hi all,

I don't want to keep filling up your email with reports from the convention so For extensive coverage of this weekend's AFT 2014 convention please see the following

Norm Scott, the grandfather of opposition caucuses and bloggers is there and doing some great reporting. He has over 30 years of experience in AFT/NEA unionism and contacts that no one else can match

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Steve Sawchuck at Education Week is doing some terrific reporting from the convention

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/

Jonathan Halabi, a member of New Action Caucus, which runs with Unity on a joint slate, is a  UFT executive board member , wrote a very good report from Friday

http://jd2718.org/

Peter Goodman, who is a member of Unity caucus gives  insight from inside the ruling caucus (called Progressive caucus on the national level) and is often published on Diane Ravitch

http://mets2006.wordpress.com/

The More Caucus twitter account is retweeting some great reports from delegates inside the convention- Katie Lapham and I have been keeping it as active as possible using hashtag #AFT14

https://twitter.com/morecaucusnyc

For hard hitting, honest commentary of AFT, and always a well thought out evaluation I highly recommend you check out

NYC educator 

http://nyceducator.com/

Perdido street/Reality Based Educator

http://perdidostreetschool.blogspot.com/

Also don't forget Wednesday I have the honor of moderating a fantastic panel followed by an open discussion on "Who Runs The UFT (AFT)? Why Are There Alternatives?

 

We have Norm Scott, Ellen Fox, James Eterno, and Kit Wainer lined up as our speakers. They have collectively been a force within the UFT for decades, founders and leaders of opposition caucuses, candidates for top UFT positions, and have even defeated unity caucus for some offices. We will all learn valuable lessons for the progression of MORE. In light of recent events within NYSUT, AFT, and the increasing popularity of our caucus this is a most appropriate time for this event. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1504328419780748/