Revive NYSUT (Pallota/Mulgrew) OK With Non-Union Pre-k While Rolled by Sellout Dems on Charter Support Bill

The IDC exists to allow Cuomo to regularly triangulate progressive voices out of any legislative actions. Dick Iannuzzi knows this and was actively working to undermine the IDC structure. Andy Pallotta well............

Stronger Together supporter

Dick Iannuzzi "[pre-k] teachers would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units." Where does Revive NYSUT slate stand on this? Andy said, "We'd be happy to have them as members," and Andy's staff responded, "The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue."

I received these communication below earlier today. IDC Democrats working with State Senate Republicans just put a royal screwing with a big charter giveaway bill. Their newest member, Tony Avella, in 2009 was with us in trying to stop an Eva invasion of PS 123 in Harlem. But he was running for mayor. I guess changing your politics whenever is OK. Shame on Tony.

It looks like the IDC [Independent Dem Caucus] is working to screw us (again)...

On the MAC The Senate Majority [(Republicans + IDC)] is poised to pass a budget resolution which includes: --Giving tax credits to wealthy donors via a back-door voucher scheme -- the intent is to use public funds to finance the costs of a non-public school education;

--Increasing per-pupil funding for charter schools which comes directly out of public school coffers; and
--Providing NEW facilities funding for charters and forcing co-locations of charter schools – displacing public school students – and directly benefitting Success Academy C.E.O. Eva Moskowitz

CALL YOUR SENATOR NOW - 1-877-255-9417. Press 2 to speak with your New York State Senator.
https://mac.nysut.org/stop-plans-to-abandon-public-school-children

It is important to remember who in NYSUT Leadership was calling the IDC out back in October for failing to deliver on our agenda and who was apologizing for them? How do you spell A-N-D-Y?

We will have to continue settling for legislative defeats and inadequate compromises until Andy realizes the IDC are not our allies. The IDC exists to allow Cuomo to regularly triangulate progressive voices out of any legislative actions. Dick Iannuzzi knows this and was actively working to undermine the IDC structure. Andy Pallotta well............

If you have not yet read the article in Capital New York, read it it will be enlightening.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2013/10/8535024/nysut-head-says-idc-alliance-didnt-work-gets-corrected

Beth Dimino on Facebook on the pre-k issue:

I guess unionization does equate to quality for some labor leaders? This is an affront to what all unionists believe and Dick responded as such.

Collective bargaining is a right and is why we have the highest quality public education in New York State.

We are a union that believes in collective bargaining as a fundamental right to advance worker, civil and human rights -- [Andy's]  "we'd be happy to have them as members" does not reflect the reality that collective bargaining is not something nice to do for workers but something that advances our collective mission of fairness on behalf of all workers and their families.

Why would these workers want to organize w NYSUT in the future when we are unwilling to fight for their fundamental rights now?

Labor Leader, Dick Iannuzzi "teachers would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units"

Where does Revive NYSUT slate stand on this? Andy said, "We'd be happy to have them as members," and Andy's staff responded, "The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue."

REALLY?! Read below for all the facts!

Labor leader : Pre-K first, unionized teachers second
By Jessica Bakeman
5:00 a.m. | Mar. 14, 2014
ALBANY—The statewide expansion of pre-kindergarten proposed by Governor Andrew Cuomo would likely require using a mix of union and non-union teachers.

But traditional teachers' unions don't plan to fight to include all pre-K teachers in their ranks, at least initially. Whether pre-K teachers are unionized is a distraction from the more important point, which is a need for high-quality programs, a statewide union leader said.

Since the 1990s, New York has tried to implement a universal pre-K program, but the funding was never there. Today, half of the state's four-year-olds are enrolled, mostly in half-day programs. The state spends about $400 million annually on the program, which includes classes in schools as well as in community-based organizations, like Head Start centers or YMCAs.

Only about 40 percent of pre-K teachers, those who teach in schools, are eligible for the salary and benefits collectively bargained by traditional teachers' unions. The other 60 percent work in the C.B.O.s; some are covered by other unions but make far less than their public-school teacher counterparts, despite having the same qualifications, and the rest have no union protections at all.

Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio have put forth competing proposals for funding pre-K, and both are contingent on using C.B.O.s to expand. In Cuomo's statewide plan, there simply isn't enough money to use all unionized teachers; in de Blasio's proposal for the five boroughs, C.B.O.s would make up in space what public schools lack.

Labor leaders in New York said expanding access to pre-K is more important than ensuring collective-bargaining rights or wage parity for all teachers.

“The real issue is to ensure that you have high-quality pre-K, that it's connected to standards and curriculum, that you have highly qualified, certified teachers in those programs, not to get distracted by that issue,” said Steve Allinger, legislative director for New York State United Teachers, referring to whether pre-K teachers are unionized.

Allinger said the expansion would help union members by ensuring that students are more prepared to succeed when they enter the K-12 spectrum.

Although it doesn't appear that NYSUT is going to make unionizing pre-K teachers an issue in the potential expansion, “We'd be happy to have them as members,” said Andrew Pallotta, executive vice president.

NYSUT president Richard Iannuzzi, though, seems to be out of sync with his colleagues Allinger and Pallotta, who run the union's legislative efforts. Tensions have been high at NYSUT, since Iannuzzi is facing a contested election next month, during which he will face a slate of challengers that includes Pallotta.

Iannuzzi said his interpretation of both proposals is that they are attempts to add a new grade to the “continuum of education” and would therefore utilize unionized public-school teachers.

“What we would expect to see, both in New York City and statewide, would be that a really universal pre-K program would be part of the public school program,” he said, “in which case [teachers] would be unionized workers and employees of the school district. Therefore, they would be obligated to be represented by the collective bargaining units.”

There are 5,615 pre-K teachers in New York, as part of the state's current program, according to state records. Of those, 3,221 work in New York City.

Sixty percent of pre-K teachers statewide work in C.B.O.s, and 40 percent are in public-school classrooms. The breakdown is the same in New York City.

Three-quarters of pre-K teachers statewide are certified by the state Education Department. In New York City, that figure is 61 percent, because teachers who are on a “path to certification” are allowed to teach while pursuing their education and training. In the rest of the state, 94 percent of pre-K teachers are certified.

While nearly all C.B.O. teachers in New York City are in some type of union (though not traditional teachers' unions), that's not the case in other cities. In Rochester for example, there are 105 full-time equivalent pre-K teachers, 45 in schools and 60 in C.B.O.s. Of those 60, 58 are certified, but only 21 are unionized.

Assembly edcuation committee chair Catherine Nolan, a Democrat from Queens, said there are inherent differences among pre-K programs offered in different settings, “and some of those differences are OK, because that's the history of it.”

“I think we're going to have a lot of models to have a successful UPK,” she said. “Do I think everyone should get as much money as possible? We always want people who are well educated to be well trained, well compensated, but there are clearly going to be differences.

“If we can move the ball forward with more UPK money, we'll cross some of those bridges later,” Nolan added.
Senate Labor Committee chair Diane Savino, who is a member of the Independent Democratic Conference and from Staten Island, said concerns about whether teachers would be unionized as part of the pre-K expansion is “putting the cart before the horse.”

She said there are often circumstances where workers in the public and private sectors earn different salaries and benefits for the same services. For example, child protective services employees working for non-profits make more than those working for city agencies, she said.
“Those agencies have often been the pipeline,” she said, adding that early-career employees might start working for the city and graduate to the non-profits when they gain more experience.

With pre-K, that pipeline is a problem, said David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center and an expert on a New Jersey program that's seen as a national model for high-quality pre-K.

He said an equitable universal pre-K program should offer uniform quality across settings. In New Jersey, the C.B.O.s struggled to keep teachers, because once they were more experienced, they would leave to work in a public school, where they could make more money.

“You're going to have to confront the issue of comparable pay and benefits in each setting in order to keep that quality,” he said. “You can't have a situation where one program has certified teachers who are making substantially less than the public school program down the street, and that's really the issue of funding.”

Elizabeth Lynam, vice president and director of state studies for the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan research organization, said historically, the state has used C.B.O.s to keep pre-K costs down.

“What we've seen in the current program is that the non-profits have not been able to implement a lot of the quality requirements because they don't pay the rates to do it,” she said. “It's hard for [C.B.O.s] to be out in the labor market with $10 to $15 dollar-an-hour wages and think they're going to get people with masters' degrees.”

G.L. Tyler, director of political action for DC 1707, a union that represents child care workers in New York City, said after three years in a C.B.O., a pre-K teacher with the same qualifications is making almost $20,000 less than one in a public school.

He said C.B.O. teachers have been organized since the 1970s and fighting for wage parity for that long.

“I've been with the union for 20 years, and there has always been a lot of our members who want to remain in the C.B.O.s, because they enjoy working with 2, 3, and 4-year-olds,” he said. “It has to be a certain dedication to do that, and they have it. But they should be paid more for it.”

NYSUT President Iannuzzi Condemns Treatment of Students Who Opt Out of Tests

Iannuzzi, who taught fourth-grade for most of his 34-year teaching career, said "sit and stare" is not only educationally unsound, but the practice will end up being a distraction for those students who are taking standardized tests.

The biggest threat to the ed deformers is the growing parent opt-out movement. (Our amazing group here in NYC, Change the Stakes, is one of the groups leading the charge.) Iannuzzi, heading the Stronger Together slate in the upcoming NYSUT elections against the Mulgrew backed Revive slate, is taking some good stands on a number of issues.

NYSUT blasts 'irresponsible' Regents message on 'opt out'

ALBANY, N.Y. March 12, 2014 – New York State United Teachers today criticized the Regents for failing to act to protect students from educationally unsound "sit-and-stare" testing policies adopted by a number of school districts, saying the Regents' silence sends an irresponsible message and unacceptably puts children "inside the crossfire of the testing debate."

In a strongly worded letter to Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and the other Regents, NYSUT again condemned the practice of "sit and stare," in which school districts refuse to make alternative arrangements for children whose parents choose to 'opt out' of state standardized testing in grades 3-8 and, instead, force the students to sit at their desks and stare blankly at the walls for up to 10 hours over three days.

• Neira letter to Regents (PDF)

The State Education Department, in guidance to districts last week, tacitly allowed the practice, issuing a directive that, "Schools do not have any obligation to provide an alternative location or activities for individual students while tests are being administered."

NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi said the union stands firmly with parents who choose to 'opt out' their children from state tests. Iannuzzi, who taught fourth-grade for most of his 34-year teaching career, said "sit and stare" is not only educationally unsound, but the practice will end up being a distraction for those students who are taking standardized tests.

"Punishing or embarrassing children because their parents exercised their right not to have their children participate in tests they consider inappropriate is, frankly, abusive," Iannuzzi said.

NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira said school districts look to the State Education Department and Regents for sound guidance on testing issues but, again, the Regents are falling short.

"The moral responsibility to treat all students with dignity resides with school personnel and these personnel need guidance from SED on this important issue," Neira wrote, noting while SED's position may pass legal muster, "The State Education Department is sending an irresponsible message on such a deplorable policy as 'sit and stare.'"

Neira called on the Regents and SED to show leadership and instruct districts to provide alternative locations or activities for students whose parents choose to 'opt out' of state testing. "Your silence on this important educational policy issue continues to foster an atmosphere of distrust with parents and educators around the state," she wrote.
New York State United Teachers is a statewide union with more than 600,000 members in education, human services and health care. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and the AFL-CIO.

UFT/NYSUT NYSUT: History of Cozying Up to Anti-union Politicians is not new

How Revive NYSUT lies:

The tax cap was a terrible mistake. NYSUT waiting almost two full years, just two days prior to the expiration date, to file a lawsuit was irresponsible at best and did great harm. We will fight to get rid of the tax cap completely.  

Who was in charge of the NYSUT legislative program? Exec VP Andy Pallotta. Sure, he will NOW fight.

Andy Pallotta, NYSUT Exec VP, cozied up to the awful John Flanagan. Why is the Port Jefferson Station NYSUT local so vehement about opposing the Mulgrew/Pallotta coup and leading the opposition? While not entirely thrilled with the Iannuzzi performance over the last few years, they see the UFT coup as a worse option. The Flanagan story is one aspect -- see links below.

PJSTA was fine when Alan Lubin ran the political operation because they say he was effective (I don't always agree with that assessment). Pallotta has been totally ineffective, doing nothing to oppose the Cuomo property tax freeze which has crippled those locals that depend on that tax to fund education (the overwhelming majority in the state).

That has fueled the enormous pressure by these locals on Iannuzzi, who comes from one of those locals, to put curbs on the ineffective and incompetent Pallotta operation. That curb by Iannuzzi is what inflamed the UFT crowd -- Mulgrew and Weingarten because they controlled the VOTE COPE money since NYSUT was formed. How important an issue is this to the UFT? Al Shanker held the Pallotta position for over a decade as did Lubin, who at one pre-Randi point was viewed as a Shanker successor.

Andy Pallotta? A Bronx District 10 rep (not the head of the UFT Bronx as posted in some press reports) going from that position to replacing the likes of Shanker and Lubin? Clearly a case of the Peter Principle, now to be dubbed the "Andy" principle.

I and my fellow MOREistas do not excuse NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi's actions over his years in office (and his years as a NYSUT VP before that). But now that he seems to have grown a set - (well maybe not a complete set) -- he is being challenged by the same crew led by the Pallotta/Mulgrew/Weingarten team that is critical because Dick is not cozying up to Cuomo. Why is he not cozying up to Cuomo? Let's start with the Property tax. Is Revive (Rebury) NYSUT putting that issue on the table?

But this is not new. We've seen the UFT supporting the most awful politicians since I became active in the early 70s. To me the epitome came when the UFT wouldn't support fellow teacher Gene Prisco when he ran against right winger Vito Fascella for Congress, who ended up leaving in disgrace.

The PJSTA version of Fascella is Flanagan.

Check how Andy Pallotta cozied up to the awful John Flanagan on the PJSTA blog in these posts sent to me by the crew over there.

• This post details the story about Flanagan complaining to NYSUT and the district about Dimino.
• This post tells about Flanagan's top campaign contributor, Rhee's Students First.
• This post is when we held a rally outside Flanagan's office and he cowardly hid inside his office (the one where the Suffolk PAC tried to undermine us).
• This post quotes a great editorial about Flanagan that was behind a paywall.  It does a good job pointing out how he is attached to the reform agenda.
• Finally, this post shows Pallotta cozying up to Flanagan and tells how he used VOTE COPE funds to contribute to Flanagan even though NYSUT voted not to endorse Flanagan.

MORE Jumps into NYSUT Fray: MORE and PJSTA Announce Joint Slate

Beth Dimino, Julie Cavanagh, James Eterno, Jia Lee, Francesco Portelos, Lauren Cohen, Mike Schirtzer challenge incumbent NYSUT Directors to oppose Revive NYSUT slate.

We want to make it clear that we are not seeking Unity Caucus endorsement as we oppose one party systems that limit democracy within our statewide union.  We believe in an active and informed rank and file.  We believe in true democratic, bottom up, member driven unionism.  We stand for social justice unionism that not only fights for teachers and our working conditions, but simultaneously our students and their learning conditions.... PJSTA

The growing alliance between PJSTA, a Long Island local and MORE, a caucus in the UFT was strengthened with today's joint announcement of 7 candidates who will oppose incumbents for at-large Directors of NYSUT in an election that will take place on April 5 at the NY Hilton (54th and 6th Ave).

Below are the announcements from MORE and PJSTA. Some words of clarification before you read on.

• There are 2 versions of Unity Caucus. The statewide version is the only caucus that currently exists on the state level -- it was an open caucus open to any delegate (elected in NYC in the 2013 UFT elections) to the NYSUT Representative Assembly (RA) to be held April 4-5 (but not open to non-delegates).
• There has been a split in NY State Unity Caucus. Four of the five current NYSUT officers are being challenged by the 5th, Exec VP Andrew Pallotta, who has formed his own slate, Revive NYSUT, which is fueled by the power of Michael Mulgrew and the UFT, which makes up 40% of NYSUT. The 4 incumbents led by NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi have formed a slate called Stronger Together.
• NYC teacher Arthur Goldstein, Chapter Leader of Francis Lewis HS, is challenging Pallotta for Exec VP of NYSUT as an independent candidate. It is to be determined if he will run on the Stronger Together slate. Rumor is that there will not be a 3rd candidate from that slate but that has not been confirmed.
• The NYC Unity is a closed caucus that has controlled the UFT since its inception in 1960-61. In the undemocratic winner-take-all UFT elections in 2013, Unity gets to send 800 delegates to the RA who will vote party discipline in this election as a block. (Their vote is not secret and any variation from the party line will result in banishment).
• Needless to say, since none of the candidates listed are seeking statewide Unity Caucus endorsement, or under any circumstances would have received it, they will get  ZERO votes from these 800 delegates or from their allies. Thus they must capture most of the rest of the state to have a chance to win.
• There has never been a contested election in the 42 year history of NYSUT.

Still to be determined:

• ...the relationship of these candidates from MORE and PJSTA, and Goldstein, to the Stronger Together slate.
• ...the possibility of a statewide caucus to challenge Unity on that level in the future - or will all coalitions end after the April 5th election?
• ....will the non-Unity group on the state level build national alliances with other groups to put up resistance to Randi Weingarten's leadership of the AFT?

Many of these issues will be debated inside the MORE Discussion listserve over the next few weeks and will be publicly discussed, with some decisions taken, at MORE's open meeting on March 8.

Here are the joint announcements.

MORE Takes a Stand in the NYSUT Elections by morecaucusnyc

In April, the New York State Teachers Union (NYSUT-the state association of teachers unions that the UFT is part of) will be having elections. Since UFT/Unity has a great deal of power in NYSUT, MORE was asked by statewide activists in the Port Jefferson Teachers Association to get involved.

We are excited to announce that we will be running for the 6 At Large positions on the Board of Directors that represents the NYC schools' district (UFT) at the state union level. Our candidates are Julie Cavanagh, Lauren Cohen, Michael Schirtzer, James Eterno, Francesco Portelos, and Jia Lee.

We will be campaigning for our statewide union to take a stronger stand against test-based teacher evaluations, for more union democracy, and for building an active rank-and-file membership that works in solidarity for improved working and learning conditions.

-----------------

Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association

New Candidates for NYSUT At-Large Director Positions

Posted on February 14, 2014 by thepjsta
 

Today we are excited to announce a team of candidates who will be running for seven of NYSUT’s At-Large Director positions in the upcoming NYSUT election.  We do so only after having given the situation very careful consideration.

Running for these positions allows us to challenge incumbents for the opportunity to sit on NYSUT’s board of directors and affect policy on the statewide level that represents both the needs and desires of the rank and file membership who we represent.  At the same time it allows us to continue the work we are doing in the schools we currently work in and the communities in which they serve.

Our candidates are a diverse collection of working classroom teachers, representing a variety of certifications within our profession and an even greater array of students they serve.

An important part of our decision to announce our candidacy now is that it is after the deadline to seek endorsement from the statewide Unity Caucus.  We want to make it clear that we are not seeking Unity Caucus endorsement as we oppose one party systems that limit democracy within our statewide union.  We believe in an active and informed rank and file.  We believe in true democratic, bottom up, member driven unionism.  We stand for social justice unionism that not only fights for teachers and our working conditions, but simultaneously our students and their learning conditions.

We believe that this declaration is not just the beginning of our candidacy for the positions we seek, but also the beginning of a movement towards a new direction for the statewide union that we all love dearly.

Our candidates for the At-Large Director positions…

• Beth Dimino, President of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, Middle School Science Teacher
• Mike Schirtzer, UFT Delegate- MORE Caucus, High School Social Studies Teacher
• James Eterno- UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, 2010 candidate for UFT President, High School Social Studies Teacher
• Lauren Cohen- UFT Delegate- MORE Caucus, 5th Grade General Education Teacher
• Julie Cavanagh, UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, 2013 candidate for UFT President, Elementary Special Education Teacher
• Francesco Portelos, UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, Intermediate School Science and Technology Teacher
• Jia Lee, UFT Chapter Leader-MORE Caucus, Earth School Elementary Teacher