NYSUT Blues - Dire Finances and ST Criticism of Non-Union Consultant

The information came from NYSUT's Labor Dept filings. If UFT is "fully paid up," it is a recent change. I have no reason to doubt Carl Korn but when reporting I can either choose to believe something he writes in a blog comment, or something NYSUT reports to the federal government under penalty of perjury. And why were the payments overdue?... Mike Antonucci, comment on Ed Notes

There is a lot of intrigue around NYSUT, even extending to internal divisions in MORE over how to deal with the Stronger Together slate running against NY state Unity Caucus. I have had about 10 drafts on ST laying around over the past 2 months, but something new always comes up and I don't finish them. Thus I've left it to my pals Eterno and Goldstein to carry the story -- James supports ST, Arthur has been critical. I pretty much stand with James on this -- might as well support ST over Unity even if they are not perfect. Sitting neutral with Andy Pallotta running for president is not an option.

At this point, most people in MORE aren't paying much attention, a big change from 3 years ago --- I don't have the energy to find the links - but if you are interested, check my archives from late March-April, 2014.

For today, let's talk NYSUT finances, which may be in deep doodoo, with worse to come. And if NYSUT is in trouble, so is the AFT. Gee, maybe those 250K salaries might have to go. And how about that golden parachute for a newly made AFT position for the dumped NYSUT pres, Karen Magee.

I posted a report on NYSUT finances - NYSUT/UFT Finances in Distress? - linking to Mike Antonucci at EIA/Intercepts (not to be confused with Glenn Greenwald's Intercepts -- call it the right and the left wing versions) on March 3, which happened to be my birthday. Seeing the dire financial situation in our UFT dominated state union was not one of my pleasant gifts - well, basically my only gift, if you can call it that.

Mike reported that the UFT hadn't paid up its NYSUT dues, which would make the 750-800 Unity slugs going to the April 7-9 NYSUT convention here in NYC at the Hilton (at a cost of?) ineligible to vote -- but why worry, they could party anyway at our expense.

Jim Horn pointed out:

And yet AFT has millions to pour into the Clinton campaign and the Clinton Foundation.

James Eterno asked:

Norm, I'd like to know what Antanucci's source is for the UFT not paying their dues to NYSUT?

A Unity slug, no doubt, left this comment, denying that the UFT hadn't paid its dues:

ckorn

Facts matter: The assertion that UFT owes NYSUT money is false. Fully paid up.

Mike Antonucci answered the questions with his own question:

The information came from NYSUT's Labor Dept filings. If UFT is "fully paid up," it is a recent change. I have no reason to doubt Carl Korn but when reporting I can either choose to believe something he writes in a blog comment, or something NYSUT reports to the federal government under penalty of perjury. And why were the payments overdue?

Keep in mind, Mike comes from the anti-teacher union right, so people are often suspicious. I, however, trust his facts and reporting, if not his interpretations.

Now let's shift to the current controversy just 3 weeks before the NYSUT convention with an ST critique and a  report from Mike addressing the ST criticism of the NYSUT leadership over the use of outside agencies instead of in house.

ST sent this out on March 14:

ST Caucus Stands in Opposition to NYSUT’s Outsourcing of Union Work.

It has recently been brought to our attention that NYSUT has begun outsourcing work previously performed by NYSUT employees who belong to the Communications Workers of America (CWA).  Secretary-Treasurer Martin Messner is now requiring that NYSUT managers send receipts and expense reports to an out-of-state company for processing.  The work which was previously completed by CWA members is now being done by Certify, a non-union company.  Participation in this outsourcing is required for managers and optional for members of the Professional Staff Union (PSA), who are all refusing to participate.

ST Caucus stands in opposition to any type of anti-union outsourcing.  NYSUT members across the state are fighting charter schools, distance learning, and similar outsourcing schemes.   We are perplexed and disheartened by the decision made by our current officers to subcontract the work of our union brothers and sisters.   According to Secretary-Treasurer candidate Nate Hathaway, “This flies in the face of our core values as unionists.  We must not fall into the trap of pursuing expediency at the expense of what is right.  Union workers are paid more because they defend the value of the individual worker and the concept that a worker should have protections in the workplace and be compensated with a reasonable, living wage.  What do we stand for as an organization if we espouse these principles in grand platitudes, yet pursue a policy of employing the services of those not afforded the very rights we claim to fight for?  This is very disheartening news.”

To address the budget issues that exist within NYSUT, our officers need to reduce costs through a transparent process that honors the work and commitments made to our unionized staff.  Any local leader who experienced the devastating budget cuts of the last decade knows the key components to an effective cost savings strategy. To reduce the budget of an organization and not have it lose its core purpose, cost savings must be transparent, involve shared sacrifice, and be mutually agreed upon by all parties. ST Caucus supports the elimination of one officer position (a 20% savings in officer salaries and expenses) and a 15% reduction in officer salaries.  Unlike the current officers, ST Caucus believes that fiscal responsibility starts at the top, not by outsourcing the work of some of our lowest paid employees at NYSUT.

ST Caucus Executive Board

I can pretty much agree with all of the above.
Now, in this age of "let's read all sides of an issue so we can find the true path" here is Mike A.'s take:

Union’s Internal Cost-Cutting Is Thorny

The finances of New York State United Teachers are a mess, but NYSUT’s officers are not entirely blind to the problem. When a union tries to cut its costs, it not only runs into labor unrest with its own employees, it might also provide political fodder for internal opponents.
Case in point: NYSUT sought to save a few bucks by hiring Certify, a company that supplies mobile apps and reporting tools for the processing of expense reports. This task is usually done in-house.

The staff contract bans outsourcing of work previously done by bargaining unit members without the staff union’s permission. NYSUT had to make the new process optional for employees, and evidently every single one of them has refused to use Certify.

NYSUT managers and executives, however, are not members of the staff union, and are required to use Certify. This irritated not only the staff union, but also Stronger Together, the opposition caucus within NYSUT that is running candidates for the union’s executive positions. It posted its complaint, which I excerpt here:

We are perplexed and disheartened by the decision made by our current officers to subcontract the work of our union brothers and sisters. According to Secretary-Treasurer candidate Nate Hathaway, “This flies in the face of our core values as unionists. We must not fall into the trap of pursuing expediency at the expense of what is right. Union workers are paid more because they defend the value of the individual worker and the concept that a worker should have protections in the workplace and be compensated with a reasonable, living wage. What do we stand for as an organization if we espouse these principles in grand platitudes, yet pursue a policy of employing the services of those not afforded the very rights we claim to fight for? This is very disheartening news.”
​To address the budget issues that exist within NYSUT, our officers need to reduce costs through a transparent process that honors the work and commitments made to our unionized staff.

A noble sentiment, but honoring the work and commitments made to NYSUT’s unionized staff has resulted in net assets of negative $413 million. The teachers of New York are on the hook for that.

http://www.eiaonline.com/intercepts/2017/03/17/unions-internal-cost-cutting-is-thorny/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Intercepts+%28Intercepts%29

So Mike is pinning the entire deficit on obligations to unionized staff. He provided numbers last time that made me dizzy - but check them out and it looks like he is right. Read his analysis if you have the stomach - http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2017/03/nysutuft-finances-in-distress.html

These numbers look scary and ST might want to address them. Cutting some salaries at the top won't cut it.

Lucky I live at the beach

I think there are over 20 and possibly 40 NYSUT lawyers who have to be there to defend all teachers in the state who are threatened with 3020a firing hearings, without cost. (One is defending Marilyn Martinez.) I have found the ones I saw in action to be pretty capable. But quality lawyers don't come cheaply.

I don't have answers to these complex issues which make me want to bury my head in the sand, or binge watch any crap I can find on Netflix - which makes me feel worse since the guy who runs it is a major ed deformer.

Opt-out leaders running for NYSUT board: Politico Reports on ST vs Unity NYSUT Election

ST leadership was shortsighted not to give MORE a seat - we signed up a lot of people to join ST -- I can't vote in this election and can only give moral support to ST -- but if they make this election about opt out, in a state with the highest opt out numbers in the nation out of NYC, they can inflict some damage on Unity even if ST can't win.... NS

I've been following the sturm and drang about the fate of the St

caucus and its run against Unity in the NY State union elections coming up April 7-9 at the NY Hilton. I don't have time to compile the various blogs from Arthur, James, Peter Z and the comments of Mike Schirtzer. Only James is supporting the ST effort. The big sticking point for some people is that there was an attempt by ST to reach out to Randi to broker a deal for a united slate. That would clearly have left MORE out of the equation -- last time MORE sort of ran in coalition for seats they could not win - only Arthur Goldstein was on the top slate, running against Andy Pallotta who was the Ex VP of NYSUT - the big money position occupied by Al Shanker and Alan Lubin before him.

Shanker brokered a deal over 40 years ago that helped forge the NEA/AFT merger in the state whereas the UFT would control the Ex VP money while non-UFT - upstate and Long Island - would get the presidency and 2 of the 5 seats. The UFT would get the other seat, thus creating a balance of sorts even though everyone knew the real gorilla in the room.

So when Unity decided to dump Dick Iannucci 3 years ago and form a phony caucus to challenge him, Stronger Together formed in opposition around Iannucci. And MORE played a role in that, giving ST somewhat of a city presence, though we never ran on their slate -- they were the ones who were nervous. Karen Magee was put in as the non-UFT president but broke ranks at one point in taking too strong a stand against testing, which doomed her.

Now the UFT is pulling its biggest power play since the Shanker merger by openly taking over the presidency and installing Pallotta -- and I imagine they will also keep tight control of the Ex VP money position. They will win of course.

But ST by putting itself out there as the opt out movement vs Unity is a very smart move. Now there is the Jia Lee conundrum -- ST is not running 5 candidates but 4 and there was pressure to include Jia at the 5th candidate. What voice has been stronger for opt-out than Jia? The current leadership of ST is still nervous about being associated with the only direct opposition to Mulgrew. And they did try to make a deal but were rejected. I get the picture.

Some of my good friends do not agree and have smashed Lillis. However at this point I don't see why not back ST against another Unity Caucus power play? Given the reality of state politics, at this point MORE is not a relevant player. On the other hand, ST leadership was shortsighted not to give MORE a seat - we signed up a lot of people to join ST -- I can't vote in this election and can only give moral support to ST -- but if they make this election about opt out, in a state with the highest opt out numbers in the nation out of NYC, they can inflict some damage on Unity even if ST can't win.

Some posts from other blogs- read some of the weird comments on this ICE piece from James who endorses Lillis:

MIKE LILLIS FOR NYSUT PRESIDENT*

And James posts sections of Pen is Mightier than the Person blog:

SULLIO'S KNOCKOUT OF ANDY PALLOTTA & STRONGER TOGETHER ENDORSEMENT -
Arthur takes a counter position:
NYC Educator:
Stronger Together Minus Jia Lee=Neither Stronger nor Together

 

SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL

Without Jia Lee Stronger Together is Weaker Apart (UPDATED 2/22/17) 

Here is a great piece on the election from Politico.

Opt-out leaders running for teachers' union board
By Keshia Clukey 02/23/2017 05:16 AM EDT


ALBANY — Members of a group that has championed the test refusal movement are running for positions on the executive board of the state’s largest teachers’ union. The candidates say they want to better mobilize the union and its 600,000 members on behalf of the opt-out movement.

Three of the four candidates running for leadership roles at New York State United Teachers as part of the “Stronger Together Caucus” have been active in the opt-out movement in their communities.

The caucus nominations come as leaders of the test refusal movement have begun to expand their activism beyond simply encouraging parents to opt their students out of the state standardized, Common Core-aligned math and English language arts exams. 

Opt-out activists became involved in local and state elections this fall, backing candidates and trying to oust those who they felt didn’t do enough to change education law and policy in the state. 
Some of the parents, who also are teachers, are now looking for further solidarity from the union in terms of testing and pushing harder to repeal legislation that more heavily weighs the use of students’ state test scores in teacher evaluations.

“They have not been using the power that they have,” Bianca Tanis said of the current union leadership. Tanis, an Ulster County parent and special education teacher, is running for executive vice president under the Stronger Together Caucus line.

A statement on the Stronger Together Caucus website says that "very little has changed for students still being compelled to sit for flawed assessments that are too long and yield little to no usable information,” adding that the “message from headquarters to locals was not strong enough.”

The caucus is involved in other issues, including the union's governance, in addition to the opt-out movement.

Michael Lillis, a teacher in Lakeland and a parent who supports the opt-out movement, is the caucus' nominee for NYSUT president. He said he wants the union to take a stronger position on standardized tests. “I refuse to accept NYSUT’s ineffective action on issues which are critical to our profession,” he said in a campaign statement. “The struggles of educators will be the struggles of NYSUT.”

NYSUT, under the current leadership of president Karen Magee and executive vice president Andy Pallotta, has said that not enough progress has been made to restore the trust and confidence of parents and educators in the state tests. Pallotta and Magee could not be reached for comment.

The union vehemently opposed the heavy use of students' state math and ELA test scores in teacher evaluations, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo championed. That battle and the union's relationship with Cuomo became less adversarial after the Regents placed a moratorium on the use of the test scores in evaluations in December, 2015, at the suggestion of a Cuomo-appointed task force that included union leaders.

Official nominees for the union’s leadership positions will be likely be announced Monday. Delegate members from across the state will gather April 7-9 in New York City to elect a president, executive vice president, first and second vice presidents, and a secretary-treasurer, for three-year terms.

The Stronger Together Caucus candidates include Lillis, Tanis, who is a founding member of the statewide coalition of parent groups, New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE); Shenendehowa elementary school teacher Megan DeLaRosa, who is running for first vice president; and Malone high school teacher Nate Hathaway, a leader of the opt-out movement in his community, who is running to be secretary/treasurer.

NYSAPE, the group that lead the test refusal movement, has expressed frustration over the continued use of student test scores in teacher evaluations, over-testing and the use of the Common Core standards, which they say are not developmentally and age appropriate.

The parent coalition last spring called for the resignation of state Board of Regents members and endorsed new candidates for the board. 

Tanis said the Stronger Together Caucus would push for another review of the standards, as well as repealing the teacher evaluation law all together. "We would push for more transparency," she said.

Read Tanis’ campaign statement here and Lillis’ statement here.
To view online:

http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2017/02/opt-out-leaders-run-for-nysut-executive-board-to-109799

Antonucci: The Strange Disappearance of 69,000 AFT Members

I hate linking to the Campbell Brown faux journalism site The74
but Mike Antonucci is one anti-union journalist who does a degree of honest, though biased reporting. (You will rarely read a positive report on a teacher union.) His report below is loaded with some

juicy info on the AFT - Mike covers the NEA more extensively.

I did some editing to focus on the AFT - if you must go read the entire article at the - ugh - 74.

Why are numbers of AFT members pertinent? A good chunk of UFT dues goes to the AFT, which is run by Randi Weingarten in the same vein as, oh say, your average dictatorship. But also once the national attacks come on the teacher unions, especially post-Friedrichs, these numbers will be a base point.

Mike after doing research has not found what happened to the drop in 69,000 AFT members over the past year.

When I started work on the article I thought I'd be able to determine where AFT lost the members, but no affiliate reported losses of that magnitude (except for WV). I think maybe they miscounted in 2015 and corrected in 2016. But they'll never tell me.

Maybe given that we may see big drops in membership over the next few years as non-union charters and vouchers decimate public schools, they decided to adjust the numbers so the losses don't seem to come so fast?

Here are the key bullet extracts from Mike's piece with some appended Editorial Notes.

• AFT routinely claims it has 1.6 million members.
• AFT reached a record-high 1,613,448 members in 2015.
• [L]ast year - 2016 - the union reported 1,544,143 members.
• More than 600,000 working AFT members belong to merged NEA/AFT local and state affiliates. Though their dues and representation rights are split between NEA and AFT, both national unions count them as full members.

[Ed Note: So when you add up the NEA and AFT totals -- subtract 600,000].

• Almost 41 percent of AFT’s members live and work in New York and so belong to New York State United Teachers. But NYSUT reported a 13,000-member increase in 2016.

Now you can see why NYSUT is so crucial to the Unity machine. Check out Arthur's report on the talks between Stronger Together and Unity -- Stronger Together Brings a Stop Watch to a Long Game

I'll have my own comments on the Unity/Stronger Together talks, maybe later today or tomorrow. People ask me what ST brings to the table and I say - the mere act of running against Unity is an existential threat. All dictatorships see elections as a threat even if they expect to win by 90%. I guarantee that Putin is concerned that 10% votes against him. Randi won re-election in the AFT last summer with well over 90% of the vote. And we know that does not reflect reality.

• 357,000 AFT members are retirees, who pay no dues 
• 330,000 AFT members are part-time employees.
  AFT’s 1.6 million members equate to a dues-paying equivalent of 854,000 full-time employed teachers.  

[Ed Note - I questioned Mike on this point since we pay dues in the UFT though not sure if any of that goes to AFT-  Also - 60,000 of the retirees are UFT. What about the nurses and home daycare workers and any other AFT members who are not teachers? And then in NYC there are over 40,000 UFT members who are not teachers per se -- social workers, paras, guidance -- functional chapters.In NYC the numbers of classroom teachers are less than 70,000 in a union of around 170,000.In the last contract around 106,000 people voted - over 90% - retirees didn't vote.In the election all UFT members could vote -- around 170,000.]

Mike replied:

AFT says, "Retiree Members are members for life and pay no dues during retirement." It's UFT alone that's charging you. NEA charges $30/year, which might help explain why they have fewer retired members than AFT even though they're twice the size.

Nurses and other certificated employees pay the teacher rate. Full-time support workers pay about two-thirds of that. Part-timers pay according to whether they work 1/2 time, 1/4 time or 1/8 time. This is all just the AFT portion. Local dues vary greatly.

Here is most of Mike's analysis:
Analysis: The Strange Disappearance of 69,000 AFT Members

Randi/Mulgrew, NY State Ed Commissioner Elia, Nukes Teacher Contracts

MaryEllen Elia Launches Attack on Buffalo Teachers... PJSTA

Deformers carpet bomb teacher unions

Reality Based Educator at Perdido Street School (Lawsuit Over Elia/Cuomo Unions Busting To Have National Implications):

In the spring Andrew Cuomo pushed through a school receivership law that allows the state to take control of "struggling" and "persistently struggling" schools and supersede the union contracts for teachers at those schools. This week NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia gave the Buffalo schools superintendent the power to "circumvent" union contracts at five Buffalo schools. The Buffalo News reports the Buffalo Teachers Federation is planning to sue over the move and the lawsuit will have national implications......

Remember -- Elia is a Randi/Mulgrew pal -- she was one of their stars in their partnership with Bill Gates and her in Hillsborough at the AFT 2010 Seattle convention - I have video to prove it but am too lazy to dig it out -- which was put deep in debt and they chased Elia out on a rail - and Randi got her the gig here so she can negate teacher contracts. How perfect.

In my own Ed Notes posts

• Is the UFT Leadership Insane, Incompetent, or Worse...
• UFT Elections: Happy Teachers Often Don't Give a C...

I pointed to the coming conflagration and this story dovetails perfectly. As for most NYC teachers and support staff being oblivious, when you have the major organs of communications controlled by the union who feed the members pablum and hide the real truth from them, what can you expect?

That is why my major focus in terms of MORE is creating methods of communication with the majority of working members to counter the Unity line. And the more votes MORE gets in the election the less MulGarten will sell us out - or be more careful about doing so. But more on that later.

The Buffalo Teacher Union will sue, but we know the courts are stacked against us.

Beth Dimino, president of Port Jefferson Station TU and a leader of the statewide opposition ST Caucus to Unity in her PJSTA piece said:

I am hoping the events in Buffalo are the impetus for mass organizing by NYSUT or, at the very least, STCaucus.  Without the rank and file organizing at the general membership level New York’s teachers will continue to be unprepared to take the collective action necessary to defeat an agenda such as the one we face now.  

I can hope too - but when you have Quisling leaders, hope only goes so far.

Click here to read the PJSTA’s resolution in opposition to receivership that the executive board passed last month.

Our pal Sean Crowley goes for the jugular.

NYSED Commissoner Elia Fires a Shot Heard Round the World. And B-Lo Will Answer. 

Well it didn't take long for the forces of corporate ed reform to fire their first volley at B-Lo Public Schools. Fresh from burying Hillsborough County Florida's school system in a $20-$40 million dollar hole after a Faustian deal with Bill Gates, MaryEllen Elia has been subcontracted to do more damage on a much wider scale here in the Empire State. Isn't it interesting the way the ed reform class shuffles its muscle from place to place until they end up beetling over their base as Barbara Byrd Bennett did in Chicago. Looks like B3 is headed to the Stoney Lonesome. Curious to see if she gets paroled before Elia gets yet another brown parachute, this time from New York State.


UFT/Unity UberSlug Mulgrew among others actively working against WFP and colluding with other  "labor" goon squads to date rape WFP into submission and capitulation ending in a disingenuous and hollow endorsement of Cuomo. High on our list of backstabbing "friends" there's AFT Empress for Life Randi Weingarten who glibly robocalled on behalf of Kathy Hochul and Cuomo doing her best lawyerly parsing of the betrayal claiming that she wasn't calling on behalf of Cuomo but just for Hochul. I am reminded of Bill Clinton in Lewinskean disgrace saying something to the effect of "define is." It didn't fly then and it didn't fly when Weingarten did it either. You robocalled for the Cuomo ticket Randi.

 

EIA's Antonucci on The Growing National Teacher Union Militancy Movement

Something different is happening within the teachers’ unions these days. There are the beginnings of a national militant movement.

It began with the election of Karen Lewis in Chicago, but that did not make the rest inevitable. The Chicago Teachers Union was rare in that it had a long history of leadership changing hands among competing caucuses. Lewis was elected because she united all challengers to win a runoff against the incumbent.

...more militant teacher union leaders will mean significant changes in approach on the largest education policy issues – ESEA, Common Core, teacher evaluations, charter schools, et al. Lip service will end. There will be no joint accountability task forces. Monthly chats with the Secretary of Education will be replaced by sit-ins at his office. ... ..... Educational Intelligence Agency, June 1, 2015

Is there something shaking in the teacher union wind nationally that can challenge the Unity Caucus -- NYC and NYState (under the phony name of  Revive) control of the AFT?

We should have the results of the Newark TU election in a day or 2, where one of MORE's sister groups, NEW Caucus is running Brandon Rippey for president.

An interesting piece from Mike A a few weeks ago, especially since he is coming from the anti-union libertarian right. Mike (and I) is a skeptic and has been about these "movements" in the past. I may not agree with Mike on many issues but I respect his reporting and his analysis. That he is going beyond skepticism in this report makes it worth sharing.

He may be the first ed reporter to detect something shaking in teacher unions. I filled him in on Stronger Together in NYSUT and its potential to shake the AFT tree. And in fact there is a loose confederation of these groups and has been since 2009.

I did think he missed an important angle - the role Stronger Together is beginning to play on the state level and possibly looking to grow nationally. NYC and state Unity dominates the entire mechanism of the AFT, so a statewide opposition has national implications.

I wrote to Mike about the ST issue - see below his post - and he responded that he had originally included some of that but  trying to explain it all in this piece took it too far afield. He had some other interesting things to say, which I will report in in a separate post.

(Bold added is mine).

http://www.eiaonline.com/2015/06/01/the-growing-teacher-union-militancy-movement/

The Growing Teacher Union Militancy Movement

Written By: Mike Antonucci - Jun• 01•15

June 1, 2015

The Growing Teacher Union Militancy Movement. Experience and skepticism are useful tools because there are a lot of people out there trying to sell us something. But occasionally these attributes can become a crutch, and I fear I have reached that point when it comes to trends in elections for union officers.

I have routinely maintained that militant rhetoric is required for challengers for union office. It is almost impossible to oust incumbents by promising more collaboration with management. Come election time, union voters want candidates who fight. That’s why I chose the term “militants” to describe them, though it is not as exact a description as I wish.

I define union “militancy” as primarily opposing existing trends, regaining lost ground, and organizing public demonstrations of discontent. While all sorts of unions use rallies and pickets to make a point, militant demonstrations tend to be less scripted and more visceral.

Where I have let experience guide me is in analysis of what happens after a militant is elected. Once in office, the fire-breather is doused with paperwork, competing interests and inevitable compromises, leaving him vulnerable to the next fire-breather. I once called this “the elusive militant incumbent.”

But I have held on to that notion for too long. Something different is happening within the teachers’ unions these days. There are the beginnings of a national militant movement.

It began with the election of Karen Lewis in Chicago, but that did not make the rest inevitable. The Chicago Teachers Union was rare in that it had a long history of leadership changing hands among competing caucuses. Lewis was elected because she united all challengers to win a runoff against the incumbent.

What was unique this time was the perception elsewhere in the country that Lewis’s victory could be replicated by adopting her fighting stance. This still led to defeat in most places but over time the victories started to mount up, and now they can no longer be viewed in isolation.

United Teachers Los Angeles, Detroit Federation of Teachers, United Educators of San Francisco, Newark Teachers Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association, and perhaps soon the Hawaii State Teachers Association have all chosen militancy over incumbency in recent elections. While these wins were not coordinated by a single coalition, they enforced the belief that the traditional line of union succession could be broken.

Now that they have had some success, these same victors will find themselves thwarted by more establishment unionists further advanced in the hierarchy. Their challenge will be to mimic not only Karen Lewis’s rhetoric, but her ability to unite dissident factions against that establishment.

That’s the tricky part, however. There are substantial differences among the militants, not the least of which is that some are AFT and others are NEA. They also have to resist the pull of the establishment. The perks of union leadership can quickly turn bomb-throwers into pencil-pushers.

Internally it can go one of two ways for NEA and AFT. Either a militant slate arises and supports viable challengers for the national executive offices – who then win – or the militants continue to add sporadic electoral victories, existing as a thorn in the side of the union establishment, but never holding more than regional power.

For the rest of us, more militant teacher union leaders will mean significant changes in approach on the largest education policy issues – ESEA, Common Core, teacher evaluations, charter schools, et al. Lip service will end. There will be no joint accountability task forces. Monthly chats with the Secretary of Education will be replaced by sit-ins at his office.

Whether this will rally politicians and the public to the cause or alienate them into open hostility is the great unknown.

The days when NEA and AFT headquarters can declare a single position on an education issue are over. The orthodoxy is being questioned. It could lead to reformation or inquisition, but the faith will never be the same.

Recent Intercepts. EIA’s daily blog, Intercepts, covered these topics May 27-June 1:
*  Inside a Union Organizing Drive. Gawking.
*  Hawaii Challengers File Suit Against New Election. To no avail.
*  The More You Know. Graphic.

Here is my email to Mike, amended.

 

Mike,

You may be the first to recognize something is happening. But of course the belly of the beast is the UFT. I think you miss the potential significance of Stronger Together in NYSUT - a potential challenger to Unity state and city. They have allied with MORE and we have a seat on their steering.

There is a national coalition of these militant caucuses that have been sort of meeting since 2009 with one in Newark this summer. It's called UCORE.

Stronger Together which is many union presidents and delegates is in an alliance with UCORE.

The chances of putting together a challenge to Randi in 2016 may still be premature but ST is becoming a brand name of sorts.

With NYSUT playing such a big role in the AFT, if some of that slips away then Unity NYC might become more isolated and Randi would be in trouble.

 

The next NYSUT election is in 2 years and that may shake things up in time for the 2018 AFT Conv. Watch the other big cities in NY State to see if they are willing to break with Unity and join ST.

A key person to keep an eye on is Beth Dimino local pres from Port Jefferson Station on Long Island.

She's at the end of her career but a real powerhouse and very adept at building alliances across political lines.

This is only one NYC school -- with a former Unity Chapter leader - not a radical or militant but pissed - whose school joined ST en masse - somewhat symbolic but still a sign of trees beginning to shake.

Sixty One Members (and counting) from PS 8X join Stronger Together Caucus

Support for Stronger Together Grows

Tonight I filled out my membership form for ST Caucus, and in doing so, I felt a camaraderie and optimism that has not been evoked by NYSUT in a very long time.... Rahana Schmalacker on Facebook

 

June 7 at 11:01pm

I wear a lot of colors. I wear my yellow ribbon for the brave men and women that allow me to speak freely. I wear my rainbow ribbon because love is love. I wear my pink ribbon for too many to count. I have purple, red and blue ribbons, lanyards and bracelets; all to raise awareness and show support. Most dear to me, however, are my green laces. I have been wearing them for years and they have sparked so many conversations about what is best for children and teachers. When 200,000 tests were refused in NYS this year, I felt like my laces played a little part in that victory.

Two years ago, when a rabbit and a pineapple asked, "Hey, what do you think about green laces?" I thought it was a great way to get conversations started, especially in faculty rooms, where silence on the issue of education reform was all too prevalent. Now, I am feeling that more than conversation is necessary in faculty rooms. We need action. Teachers, we need to stand up and tell our union leadership that we have demands and expectations for our profession. We need to be loud and persistent about our commitment to providing an education to our students that will allow them to be successful, happy adults. We need to demand that our concerns are heard and considered with legitimacy.

Complacency has shifted to awareness and awareness needs to shift to action. The moment I changed my white laces to green is one that will forever stand out in my memory as a defining moment as a teacher. Tonight marks another such moment. Tonight I filled out my membership form for ST Caucus, and in doing so, I felt a camaraderie and optimism that has not been evoked by NYSUT in a very long time.

Sixty One Members (and counting) from PS 8X join Stronger Together Caucus

PS 8X is joining Stronger Together---the forms, checks and the below cover letter was mailed to ST Caucus... Roseanne McCosh

What can you say about Roseanne, a former chapter leader and Unity Caucus member, and her colleagues? This is organizing 1.1 -- even the leading activists I know haven't been able to accomplish this - or even try.

Where will the ST dues money go? To support delegates' attendance at the AFT 2016 convention in Minneappolis and the NYSUT RA Assembly in New York City in 2017, when the next NYSUT election will be held (many poor locals cannot afford to cover the costs for their delegates). 

If even a fifth of the schools in NYC did what PS 8 is doing, Unity would be toast. There is something blowing in the wind as some chapter leader elections returns where Unity people who defended the contract last year have lost to MORE or independent candidates.

Here is the letter sent from PS 8 in da Bronx.

May 21, 2015

Dear ST Caucus Leaders:

Enclosed you will find sixty-one membership forms and checks from teachers who work at PS 8 in the Bronx. We are still collecting forms and money and will hopefully have some more to send as we continue to reach out to the staff in our school. Some teachers contributed more than the $10 membership fee. Use the money as you see fit.

We are all members of the United Federation of Teachers and NYSUT. We thank you for your earnest support and your willingness to stand up for NY teachers despite the fact that Unity-Caucus-controlled NYSUT and UFT leadership are working against you.

We are not blind to the failures of our union leadership. Nor are we blind to the fact that they willingly fail us in order to serve their self-interests.

We serve no masters but we will support any caucus or group within our union(s) who are like minded.

We are independent thinkers whose allegiance is to truth, fairness and transparency. We believe we do not have to hide behind children while fighting for our dignity.

We reject the premise that the best interests of teachers are diametrically opposed to the best interests of the children we teach. We believe it is time to demand the respect we deserve and to challenge those who attack us with their lies, manipulation and obfuscation as well as challenge those within our own union(s) who have allowed for these continued attacks on their watch. We appreciate that a group of unsung heroes has our back, and we sincerely thank you for it.

Yours in solidarity,

Roseanne McCosh – PS 8 UFT Delegate and NYSUT Member

Cynthia Pacelli – UFT Chapter Leader and NYSUT Member

Lori Matta – UFT Delegate and NYSUT Member

Cc: Michael Mulgrew – UFT President

Karen Magee – NYSUT President

Union News Update from PJSTA - Buffalo, Hawaii and NY State

While Rumore has shown to be a Unity Caucus supporter at the state level, Stronger Together member Kevin Gibson won re-election on the BTF’s executive committee.  He was joined by Teresa Leatherbarrow, a member of the same Renew slate that Gibson ran on, and Sean Crowley, writer of the always entertaining B-LoEdScene blog. 

Momentum is building for the Stronger Together Caucus in NYSUT to challenge the absolute Unity Caucus control of the state and national (AFT) teacher union. MORE from its small outpost here in NYC, the belly of the Unity beast, is working with groups statewide and nationally to provide support. Note the report on Buffalo, where despite Revile NYSUT supporter Phil Rumore's re-election, Stronger Together people won a slice of the Exec Bd. This PJSTA report refers to James Eterno's excellent piece on the ICE blog regarding my debate with Schirtzer over MORE's running in the 2016 election, where he pretty much prevailed.

One of our bones of contention is that the only slice of the UFT Exec Bd MORE could win are the 7 high school seats and keeping MORE or any real opposition off the Board and out of those seats is the heart of the dirty deal between Unity and New Action. It's an old trick for people in power to run a trick 3rd party like New Action to split the vote and keep a phony in-house "loyal" opposition. My position is that even if MORE won 7 out of 100 Ex Bd seats - which New Action used to do as a legitimate opposition in 91, 95, 97, 99, 01 -- so what? It's like deja vu all over again. But the yutes in MORE must go through the process before turning into total cynics like me.

Mike Schirtzer produced a fabulous leaflet for today's DA elucidating the differences between MORE and Unity. I'll publish it later for those who want to download and share in your school. Call it the first shot in the 2016 election that Mike (and others) insist MORE has to run.

From our pals in Port Jefferson Station:

Some Union News

Posted on May 19, 2015 by thepjsta

Phil Rumore won re-election in Buffalo.

Some interesting teacher union tidbits coming in this week…

• One of the largest NYSUT locals, the Buffalo Teachers Federation, concluded a contested election for it’s leadership.  President Phil Rumore, won re-election with 707 votes.  Challengers Pat Foster and Marc Bruno had 344 and 299 votes respectively.  What is interesting is that Rumore had about 52% of the vote.  Had he not received 51% or more a runoff would have been forced between he and Foster.  Had Bruno supporters decided to back the other challenger in Foster there could have been a real threat to Rumore.  Some rumors suggest Rumore would have retired rather than try to win in the runoff.
• While Rumore has shown to be a Unity Caucus supporter at the state level, Stronger Together member Kevin Gibson won re-election on the BTF’s executive committee.  He was joined by Teresa Leatherbarrow, a member of the same Renew slate that Gibson ran on, and Sean Crowley, writer of the always entertaining B-LoEdScene blog.  How this election impacts things at the NYSUT and AFT levels remains to be seen.
• Out in Hawaii, a slate of opposition candidates called Hawaii Teachers for Change challenged for the leadership of their statewide union.  After they won the president and secretary treasurer seats, the incumbents voted not to certify the election yet have failed to provide any reason for doing so, other than citing “irregularities.”  It’s the old “If you lose, just keep having elections until you win!” trick.  Norm Scott says that it reminds him of the UFT circa 1985.
• The above mentioned Scott and Mike Schirtzer, both of MORE, held a debate in a Manhattan diner over whether or not it was worth it for MORE to run a slate of candidates in the 2016 UFT elections.  My favorite part was also James Eterno’s…

via ICEUFT Blog…

It was a healthy exchange of ideas but the best part of the evening for me was passing the application sheets around and having almost everyone there fill out the form and pay the fee to join the new statewide opposition to Michael Mulgrew’s Unity Caucus called Stronger Together.

Will NYSUT ST Caucus Impact AFT? - Welcome to Stronger Together Caucus - MORE Gets Seat on Steering

NYSUT has 600,000 members and is by far the largest component of the AFT's 1.5 million membership. NYSUT has always been a reliable Unity Caucus rubber stamp for NYC Unity Caucus, which has used its control of NYSUT Unity caucus to control the AFT and its Progressive Caucus version of Unity.

Thus the shakeup in NYSUT since Randi and Mulgrew pulled their Revile Slate knockdown of their former allies, Iannucci and crew. Their boy, Andy Pallotta has been like a bull in the chinashop, managing to alienate everyone he comes in contact with beyond the usual sycophants. And there is always good old Alan Lubin around to pull the strings.

The rocket rise of Stronger Together and Beth Dimino to the leadership of the first opposition to NYSUT Unity/Revile has the potential to be cataclysmic for the national teacher union - or not. I know ST first got together a year ago, I was still disappointed that it had zero presence at the AFT14 convention in LA. But after last week's RA, things are really looking up.

First - Beth and Brian St. Pierre reached out to MORE in the fall of 2013 and it was lucky for all of us that Mike Schirtzer was astute enough to get on the case and build a strong relationship with them. There were a whole bunch of MORE people who actually argued against getting involved -- I don't even know how to categorize their views - some kind of supposed analysis on organizing based on studying ancient, dusty tomes, which somehow haven't actually resulted in very successful organizing. But I'll leave that for another day.

Luckily, there are some rational MORE people like Lauren Cohen (see her video) and Jia Lee and Julie Cavanagh and James Eterno who jumped into the pool with Mike and Beth and Brian. They were joined by non-MORE Arthur Goldstein and shook up the NYSUT RA at the Hilton last year. James has a piece up on ICE today: JOIN STRONGER TOGETHER
It's only 10 bucks and sends a message to Unity if lots of NYC teachers join.

There is a reason ST reached out to MORE and elected Schirtzer to the steering committee. They want to build alliances between the state and NYC  opposition to Unity. But they are not stopping there. They are also getting involved with the national groups MORE has been working with - United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators (UCORE). I have been attending various versions of UCORE meetings since 2009 and I'm still waiting for something to happen -- they will meet in Newark in July.

But if ST and UCORE actually do make an effort at the AFT`16 convention in Minneapolis, we may see some shaking of the tree when Unity tries its bully tactics. I'm basing my continued support for UCORE based on their willingness to organize for AFT16. (There are sticky issues here since CTU president Karen Lewis must be in Randi's Progressive Caucus in order to hold onto an AFT Exec Bd seat and that puts CORE Caucus, Karen's caucus in Chicago, and also a key component of UCORE, in somewhat of a bind as to how active they can be in opposing Progressive Caucus. Some even say that these kinds of entanglements make UCORE into a discussion group only. UCORE (still unnamed) was non-existent at AFT14 and in fact I believe there was some kow-towing to Unity at times.

See my AFT14 reports:

• LA Confidential: AFT Travel Day, Part 1 - Posted Fri, 7/11/14 6AM
• AFT Convention Roundup: Travel Day Part 2 - Common...Posted Fri, noon.
• AFT Convention Update: Chicago CC Reso Goes Down O...Posted Fri 5PM
• Breaking - AFT Rumor - Reso on Duncan Coming? Rand...Posted Fri 5:30 PM
• AFT Convention 2014 Video: Randi Laugh Riot - on P...Posted Sat. 7AM
• #AFT14 Report - Recaps and Trends - Posted Sat
• #AFT14 Report: When Will the UFT/AFT Reclaim the Promise of a Democratic Union?
• #AFT14 Report - Tidbits
• #AFT14 Report - Common Core Debate - Epic Battle B...

• #AFT Convention - I apologize to non-slugs in Unit...
• #AFT14 - Randi says - AFT and NEA to For...
• #AFT14 Video - LATU Caputo-Pearl Lays Out Vision o...

Brian St. Pierre has written a wonderful must-read guest piece at NYC Educator.

ST Caucus Brings Real Grassroots Unionism to NYSUT

I'm not going to parse Brian's piece right now as I have to run to Botanic Gardens for the final day of the plant sale. But there is so much meat there and lessons on how Unity functions on the local, state and national levels I will do a follow up examining how they will try to buy out and coopt ST to try to turn them into New Action, light.  Like jobs or a stool at the table, anyone?
 
And here is the ST call to join:

Dear ST Caucus Members,

We were thrilled with the support the caucus received at the NYSUT RA in Buffalo.  Over 500 delegates joined, 145 of which were local presidents.  Our inaugural caucus meeting was standing room only with incredible enthusiasm and support for our resolutions and democratic reform within NYSUT.  Our bylaws and a slate of caucus officers were approved.

While our constitutional amendment proposals were defeated, we were able to get the RA House of Delegates to pass three resolutions that address the flawed nature of the standardized tests in New York State.  The resounding voices of the Delegates at the NYSUT RA in favor of these issues will now compel NYSUT leadership to do the right thing for New York's students and teachers by supporting the opt out movement!

1. Resolution to support the "I Refuse Movement"

2. Resolution to recognize and thank opt-out parents

3. Resolution calling for the replacement of the  college and career readiness benchmarks 

As we move forward, we will be revising the voting amendments dealing with democratic reform within NYSUT for the RA next year. Please feel free to reach out to caucus officers regarding any concerns you might have as the year progresses. We truly want rank and file members to utilize this avenue because it will help focus our positions and determine our resolutions for the next RA. 

ST Caucus is open to any NYSUT Member in good standing, delegates and non delegates alike.  Please encourage every member in your local to join--a membership form can be found here.  T-Shirts in sizes M,L,XL,2X and 3X are still available for a $20 donation here.  We will continue to keep you informed of new developments.  In the meantime, please share information about the caucus with your local and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

In Solidarity,

Chair: Beth Dimino—President Port Jefferson Station Teachers' Association

Treasurer: Beth Chetney—President Baldwinsville Teachers’ Association

Secretary: Laura Spencer—President Smithtown Teachers’ Association

Membership Chair: Michele Bushey—PAC, Saranac Teachers’ Association 

Vice-Chairs representing NYS by region 

1)   Central NY/Southern Tier: Angelee Hargreaves—President Port Byron Teachers’ Association

2)   Capital District: Megan DeLaRosa—President Shenendehowa Teachers’ Association

3)   North Country: Nate Hathaway—President Malone Federation of Teachers

4)   Tarrytown/Mid-Hudson: Mike Lillis—President Lakeland Federation of Teachers

5)   Nassau/Suffolk: Kevin Coyne—President Brentwood Teachers’ Association

6)   NYC:  Mike Schirtzer—UFT Delegate; MORE CAUCUS

7)   Western NY (Buffalo):  Joe Karb—President Springville Faculty Association

8)   Western NY (Rochester): Orlando Benzan—President Brockport Teachers’ Association