Another Unity/UFT Sellout - Backs Micah Lasher, Bloomberg pro Tier 6, Charter School, Student First Acolyte - for State Assembly

Mayor Bloomberg Announces Director Of State Legislative Affairs Micah C. Lasher Will Leave City Government:  Lasher has been a member of the Bloomberg Administration since January 2009, beginning as Executive Director of External Affairs at the Department of Education. He has helped lead the City’s efforts in Albany on many major issues, including reauthorizing mayoral control of the schools, lifting the cap on charter schools, a new pension tier for City employees - April 4, 2012...

Lasher in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for State Senate and his present campaign for State Assembly received significant funding from individuals closely associated with the charter school movement and/or hostile to teachers and their unions.

Monday, May 20, 2024

 

The UFT/Unity gang seems to love the good old days of the Bloomberg era of closing down public schools and expanding charters. And remember how Micah Lasher gets credit for helping bring us Tier 6, which the UFT claims it opposes - NOW - but not very much in 2012.

 

There is no end to the perfidy from our erstwhile leaders, but this endorsement takes us beyond the pale, bringing back memories of the awful dozen years of the Bloomberg assault on public education, led by Micah Lasher in the latter Bloomberg years, who then became head of the despicable Student First, an organization that pushed to end tenure and to replace public schools with as many non-union charters as they can manufacture. Lasher proudly helped lead the parade. 

 

I maintain that by their actions, our UFT leadership is fundamentally anti-union. The Lasher endorsement is further proof. But just as bad is the process to avoid putting the Lasher endorsement in front of the DA by claiming NYSUT endorsed and the UFT is following, a bag of worms - not to insult worms. 

 

At tonight's UFT Exec Bd meeting, a reso calling for the endorsement to be voted on by the Exec Bd and DA will be made. Watch the Unity hacks scramble to avoid going on the official record as they hide behind NYSUT.

• Nick: The UFT has an Endorsement Problem 

Last night I was on a zoom with a much better alternate candidate, Eli Northrup, super impressive who supports the issues we care about. Northrup has criticized Lasher for his charter school support and also for his role in making Tier 6 a reality. Northrup wants to ensure public schools remain truly public and accountable, prioritizing adequate tools and support for teachers and students, including mental health resources in schools, protect and expand pre-K and 3-K programs, expand paid family leave, and move toward a vision for universal childcare. Northrup was a United Auto Workers member as a Bronx public advocate.

 

I believe the UFT should endorse Northrup, not a fringe candidate with no chance of winning – he comes backed by significant endorsers, https://www.eli4ny.com/endorsements. Here a few:

“The Jewish Vote is proud to endorse Eli Northrup for state Assembly.

 

 

Here is his website: https://www.eli4ny.com/

 

 

 

 

Resolution to Consider the UFT’s Endorsement for the 69th Assembly District

Whereas the UFT and NYSUT have apparently endorsed the candidacy of Micah Lasher in the 69th Assembly District, as evidenced by campaign literature and flyers mailed to members with the UFT logo on it;

Whereas, in the case of the UFT, this endorsement was made without any discussion or vote by the Executive Board or the Delegate Assembly;

And whereas the endorsement of Lasher is problematic for the following reasons:

• Lasher is the former head of Student First New York, the leading advocacy group promoting the expansion of charter schools in New York;
  

• Lasher served as Director of Policy for Governor Hochul during a period where her office proposed the expansion of charter schools in New York State;
  

• Lasher, as chief lobbyist for Mayor Bloomberg, actively promoted policies that were anti-teacher and anti-union;

• Lasher in his unsuccessful 2016 campaign for State Senate and his present campaign for State Assembly has received significant funding from individuals closely associated with the charter school movement and/or hostile to teachers and their unions;

• Lasher was a major force in lobbying for Tier 6

And whereas the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly are entitled to vote on UFT endorsements;

Be it Resolved: the Executive Board shall vote on the issue of the 69th Assembly endorsement and forward its recommendation to the Delegate Assembly for its consideration.

Signed by:

Ronnie Almone

Nick Bacon

Ed Calamia

Alex Jallot

Ibeth Mejia

Ilona Nanay

Luli Rodriguez

Mike Schirtzer 

Rhee Uses Tragedy to Take Her Own Shot

Our children are our most valuable assets ---- Michelle Rhee

For Rhee and her sycophants to call these teachers in Newtown colleagues is not only laughable.... It is vulgar. One of the worst vulgarities I have ever seen. These teachers are career teachers, went into teaching to have a career, a lifetime of education children. Rhee and her ilk stand for everything that is opposite of these.. teachers' belief systems. --- South Bronx School

 What can you say about a person who uses an event as unspeakable as the massacre in Sandy Hook to promote her organization ?-- Raging Horse 

Slimy Michelle Rhee and her slimy Student First didn't miss a beat to jump in on the tragedy. Here is a definition of asset:

A resource with economic value that an individual, corporation or country owns or controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefit.

Enough said.  One more cartoon to indicate how the world views the expression.

Rhee says:

how are we expected to foster an environment in which students can learn, grow, thrive, and set off on positive life-paths when we cannot guarantee basic needs such as their safety?..But events like these also strengthen our resolve to do exactly that -- improve schools for children and thereby improve entire communities.

Oh, EXCUSE ME! What happened to your "no excuses"? You mean kids actually have to feel safe to learn? What about kids living in poverty? Do you think they feel safe? Rhee's organization will not skip a beat talking about how the most important factor is judging teachers based on test scores. The "strengthen our resolve" is code for "we won't stop hounding and vilifying teachers and calling for their scores to be published so they can be further vilified." Student First in Connecticut will still be calling for the teachers at the school to be pilloried in public. Maybe they will exempt the ones who gave their lives for the children.

Read bloggers

• SOUTH BRONX SCHOOL
• (Michelle Rhee Never Misses an Opportunity To Exploit a Tragedy)
• Diane Ravitch (Exploiting a Tragedy) 
• Raginghorseblog (Michelle Rhee Uses Sandy Hook Slaughter to Plug Studentsfirst Organization)
• Jersey Jazzman 

Many bloggers are pointing to the actions of the teacher heroes.
Jersey Jazzman: Do We Remember Heroes For Their Test Scores?

And here's a good piece from a non-teacher who was married to one.

Once the media horror dies down about Soto and her co-workers’ sacrifices, I guarantee you this: public school grade school teachers will go right back to being the despised class. “Union thugs.” “With three-month vacations.” “Teaching kids their ABCs.” All the idiotic, ill-informed, right wing anti-intellectual myths will rev up again as if nothing had happened. And in the meantime the people the Fox pundits despise will go on teaching kids to read and do math and treat each other with respect.

Thank you, teachers

by Chris Clarke

Victoria Soto, age 27, apparently died yesterday while trying to get her students into a safer spot in their classroom at Sandy Hook. She stood between the murderer and her students, and he killed her.
This is Soto right here.
[Updated to add: Andrew Revkin shares more on Soto's colleagues Kaitlin Roig  and Maryrose Kristopik: "Kaitlin Roig locked her students in the bathroom and kept them safe, while Victoria Soto was trying to do the same when she came face-to-face with the gunman and was shot, execution style. Maryrose Kristopik barricaded her music students in a closet, while the gun man fought to get in." Roig and Kristopik survived, thankfully.]
I spent a little time thinking about Soto and her colleagues this morning. I’ve known quite a few grade school teachers over the years. Until 2009, I was married to one. And I realized as I was thinking about Soto that there’s not a single one of those grade school teachers I’ve known, my ex- emphatically included, who I could imagine doing anything but jumping between the gunman and his or her students.

More-

 http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/12/15/thank-you-teachers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+freethoughtblogs/pharyngula+(FTB:+Pharyngula)

What Goes on in Charlotte Doesn't Stay in Charlotte

Karran Harper Royal

Last Update: Monday, Sept. 3, 10PM

Parents Across America, a national grassroots parent organization Leonie Haimson helped found, along with amazing people like Karran  Harper Royal from New Orleans (see the wonderful video I shot of her as SOS - see Afterburn for more on Karran), and with outlets in many cities across the nation, is taking action this week in Charlotte, North Carolina and not letting people claiming to be Democrats off the hook.

For immediate release: September 3, 2012
Contact: Pamela Grundy, 704-806-0410, shamrockparent@earthlink.net
           
Members of MecklenburgACTS.org and Parents Across America will be rallying and distributing literature at two events associated with the Democratic National Convention here in Charlotte.

We will call on President Obama and other Democrats to reject the ineffective "reform" measures being pushed by well-heeled organizations such as Students First and Democrats for Education Reform, and instead join parents and education experts in support of a more proven, community-based set of changes.

As the Charlotte Observer and the Huffington Post have noted, Democrats differ significantly over ways to improve the nation's schools. We will be highlighting this debate.

On Monday, we will be at the Students First-sponsored showing of the controversial movie "Won't Back Down" at the Epicenter complex, 201 E. Trade St., from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Although several of us signed up to see the movie and attend the discussion some weeks ago, we were informed early this morning that we would not be admitted. So we will make our case outside.

On Tuesday, we will be at the "Town Hall" sponsored by Democrats for Education Reform at the Knight Theater, 4:30 S. Tryon St., from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

We will present the following statement:

Our Children Need Education Reforms that Work

Students First, Parent Revolution and Democrats for Education Reform are pushing for education policies that have no track record of success:

• An expansion of high-stakes testing that turns schools into testing factories and drives families and top teachers away from public education.

• Relentless charter school expansion even though charter schools regularly perform less well than comparable public schools.

• School closings which disrupt families and communities and send most students to schools that perform no better than the ones they left.

• Parent trigger laws which divide parents and have yet to improve a single school.

We've seen here in Charlotte how these policies destabilize communities, anger parents and demoralize our best teachers. We call on President Obama and other Democrats to reject these policies and join parents and education experts in support of a more positive set of changes that includes small classes, a well-rounded curriculum, more meaningful parent involvement and greater investment in teachers and families.

For REAL solutions visit MecklenburgACTS.org and ParentsAcrossAmerica.org.

Afterburn Update:
Leonie Haimson posted a link on PAA to the Karran Harper Royal SOS video I shot with this perfect comment summing up ed deform:

How did some African-Americans get on wrong side of ed reform?

How can you tell if you’re on the wrong side of reform: Does the policy shut down open debate? Does it remove the democratic process? Do parents get to elect the charter board? Do the policymakers have to focus on a villain, in this case, teachers and unions as the bogeyman? Do they insist on closing schools rather than improving them? Do they impose on high stakes decision for children or teachers or schools? Do they talk about return on investment and are there billionaires pulling the strings? Do they focus on “school choice” over civil rights? These are signals that they are on the wrong side of education reform. And yet it’s easy to fall into the wrong side. Check out Karran’s brilliant analysis why -- video link here   or here

Michelle Rhee Forms Student First Organization

Ding dong the wicked witch ain't dead

Why Michelle Rhee Isn't Done With School Reform - Newsweek

Click for Background article on ed notes:


Two things appall me about Rhee's speech. One - that she admits to putting masking tape on the kids' mouths to prevent them from speaking. Teachers are being brought up on charges these days when they do that.- Under Assault