UFT Exec Bd Update: Kazansky Announses for TRS, LeRoy says Goodbye, Sill Replaces Him, Tom Brown Endorsed for TRS

I was trying to write this up last night but was seduced by the Olympics. Tonight or tomorrow morning I will report on the 1PM RTC Exec Bd meeting which I am leaving for ASAP. Oh, and before I forget - they served shrimp scampi last night.

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, 12:15 PM

Leaving my warm and cozy Rockaway abode, I reluctantly attended only my second exec bd of the school year last night because I had an early appointment at MSK to have my port flushed. I love a port flushing and if you don't know what that means, you're lucky. It was a brisk 15 block walk from my apartment but not that cold. I walked back downtown through Grand Central where I had coffee and an almond croissant before stopping at Neuhaus chocolate for a Valentine gift. Now that I've taken care of the important stuff, here is a report on the info-packed UFT Exec Bd. meeting last night.

LeRoy Barr made an appearance and was greeted warmly. I posted Rebel Teacher's analysis where the author surmised LeRoy was pushed out in a dispute with never teacher Ellie Engler who was backed by Randi Weingarten. Or possibly LeRoy just got sick of dealing with the lunatic fringe at 52 Broadway. No longer being a member of the UFT Exec Bd, he spoke from the mic in the ten-minute pre-meeting time. He followed former TRS pension rep David Kazansky, who was pushed out of the position two years ago when he was in Unity, but is now running as an independent and was endorsed by ABC. 

• Kazansky announcement. 

• A Better Contract-UFT unanimously endorses David Kazansky for NYC TRS Trustee; Ben Morgenroth tapped as alternate: We must put rank and file educators back in charge of $130 Billion pension fund. David Kazansky is the real and only choice.

David, who is back teaching 5th grade in the Bronx, was also greeted warmly by his former Unity comrades.  To learn more, visit: http://wetrustdavid.org

 

LeRoy enthusiastically endorsed his successor, Mike Sill and said there have been only 10 Secretaries in the history of the UFT, the longest running being Jules Kolodny under Shanker - yes, Virginia, I'm old enough to have been there when Kolodny was Secretary. I'm sure Mike Sill is looking forward to breaking Kolodny's record. The betting line on Sill being the next UFT President immediately went up at Kalshi.  Get your bets in now.

Speculation began on who would replace Sill as Assistant Secretary, a road to UFT President in the past (Randi and I think Sandy occupied that position). Some said Mary Vaccaro who is already a member of AdCome and would also need replacing. Others are thinking more widely. One dark horse: Emily James, who is serving her first term on the Ex Bd as a high school rep who no longer teaches but is based at 52 as a key Mulgrew advisor. 

The other issue that came up was the endorsement of Tom Brown to run against Kazansky for TRS rep that will come up at tomorrow's Delegate Assembly where expect the Unity crowd to immediately start petitioning as soon as the endorsement goes through. Some David supporters will be there to petition for him. IMPORTANT NOTE: Anyone who signs both petitions will have their sig cancelled. One thousand sigs are needed but it pays to get double because there will be cancellations. There has been only one TRS election in the past 40 years - that was 2 years ago when Ben Morgenroth ran. ED NOTES covered that election.

• May 8, 2024, Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pensi... 
• TRS Election Issues as Both Campaigns File Protest...
• Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Al...

Unity Caucus sent out this update at 8PM, one hour after the Ex Bd endorsed Brown:   

The Unity Caucus Steering Committee met and voted to recommend endorsing Tom Brown for another term as trustee of the Teachers’ Retirement System. That recommendation was then brought to the full Unity Caucus membership and just after 8:00 p.m., members voted to endorse Tom Brown.

I guess they had to mimic ABC. It's nice to see Unity no longer hiding that they exist as a machine to run the UFT.

 

After the meeting I congratulated Sill and Barr, both of whom I like personally and have had a good relationship with. LeRoy mentioned that in his Facebook post with his pics, he made sure to include the late Ellen Fox. He also said he disagreed with Rebel Teacher's analysis that he was pushed out. I said I didn't totally agree either - I think Unity (which LeRoy headed) will miss him as will the UFT and his retirement weakens the machine. But on the other hand, I think in the short term the Mulgrew repression and firings and threats has brought people into line in maybe stopped the Amy Arundell like defections. We will see. 

 

and I could see the case for his leaving at this time though did mention that some couldn't understand why someone so relatively young and making so much money would give it up. "Living life," he said. "They say you should have the same number of retirement as working years." Hmmm. That's a tough one - I need another dozen years. Maybe LeRoy will make it. I asked why he wasn't at the RTC meeting last week and he said he will be there in the future. Some think he might be a candidate for Ch ldr against Bennett Fischer next year. If LeRoy is serious about retiring it makes no sense for him to take on that position. The Kalshi betting has been on Sterling Roberson, with a minority going for Leo Casey, who is not loved within Unity but is spending his time attacking Marianne Pizzitola who is a hero even to some Unity after saving them money. 

 

Read her latest response to Leo:

There is one highfalutin blogger named Leo Casey who insists retirees are in unions. And not matter the case law, the PERB or OCB cases, City, State or Federal we post against that theory- he resists. This is not debatable; retirees are not in union collective bargaining units. They are in retiree chapters like auxiliary members and their own bylaws show that their DA can vote with the support of their Executive Board as to whom can be included - but they are not full members. Even though retirees can vote - not every retirees’ vote counts as ONE full vote per person of more than 23,500 retirees vote as Arthur my retired union brother wrote yesterday in, “Are We Union.” The reason he fears the UFT losing the support of retirees is money. It’s why Leo attacks our organizations’ grassroots funding, our legal strategy, and the support we have because we are literally front and center fighting for retirees. Leo cannot say that about the UFT, like I cannot say that about DC37. This will be a future post very soon!

So let’s dive into history.

 

Some UFT History and the Retiree Connection

Marianne Pizzitola Feb 10

Inside UFT Update: Unity’s Grip Weakens as Members Are Left Behind - By Rebel Teacher

This anonymous missive dropped over the Ed Notes headquarters' transom. I don't agree with all of it but am too lazy to go into the details. I will comment in a future post. I did some light editing to smooth out some edges.

 

Unity’s Grip Weakens, Members Left Behind! 

By Rebel Teacher 

 

February 2, 2026

Leroy Barr Abruptly Out— 

  

Leroy Barr, long-time Staff Director and head of the Unity Caucus, suddenly announced his retirement at the last DA, saying it would be his last one. No warning. No fanfare. Just poof, gone. Even Mulgrew expressed some surprise at the time and place of the announcement. 

 

Behind the polished speeches, the Unity leadership machine has been showing cracks going back to the major Unity defections in last year's elections where Unity received 54% of the vote, the lowest in history. Mulgrew responded, like the authoritarian he is, with firings and threats.

Was he pushed or did he jump?

LeRoy Barr was considered a powerhouse in the UFT, one of the three men in the room along with Mulgrew and Mike Sill, with many considering Barr as a possible successor to Mulgrew. So his sudden retirement came as a shock given his relatively young age and high level position - and his salary. Speculation began soon after his announcement as to whether he was going willingly or was pushed. 

 

There have been leaks about internal conflict at the top levels of the UFT to the extent that even ex UFT president and current AFT President Randi Weingarten intervened, not on the side of Barr, thus leading to his leaving.

 

Purges are designed to use fear of going back to the classroom for full-time UFT employees and loss of income to part-timers as a method of control while attempting to manage the membership. If a certain age, retirement is an option.  

 

Membership interests ignored as Leadership get the perks and Members get the short end.

 

For everyday members, this is just another reminder that Unity’s leadership engages in internal power plays while the members suffer.

Meanwhile: The promised Para Pay is still a mess and Tier 6 reforms are stalled.  

LeRoy Barr has been a leader of a prominent African-American contingent in Unity, including officers Janella Hinds, Karen Alford and Leo Gordon, and the influential Anthony Harmon, among others. But with the subtraction of Barr, the real decision-makers in the UFT comes down to Mulgrew, Emily James, Mary Vaccaro, Mike Sill and non-UFT member and never a teacher, Ellie Engler, who seems to have won out in her battle with Barr. Racial dynamics tend not to be subtle. 

Members are right to ask who really runs this union, whose voices matter, and whether the broader national attack on DEI and racial equity is creeping into UFT decision-making. When leadership won’t answer these questions, distrust fills the vacuum.

Bennett, Fischer, and the Retiree Chapter

UFT Retiree Chapter Leader Bennett Fischer, and the Retiree Advocate caucus which took power in the last chapter election continue to struggle as leaders of the chapter. Instead of going to the members, being transparent, and using their position to expose Unity’s mismanagement, they close ranks and hope Mulgrew tosses them a few crumbs. Their decision to run in the UFT general election with the ARISE coalition, instead of being neutral, led to a split among retirees that has still not been healed. They’re supposed to build power for retirees—but instead, they seem to fear Mulgrew and Unity retaliation if they get too militant in challenging them. Instead of reminding retirees at every opportunity that the Unity retirees worked hard to move them out of Medicare and into Medicate Advantage, they play footsie with the leadership even when they are pushed around and instead of going public write strongly worded letters, ala Chuck Shumer and the Democratic Party.

The year and a half old retiree chapter leadership seems to be exhibiting the same pattern we see in Unity: secrecy, closed-door meetings, and a focus on protecting the RTC leadership from criticism, rather than fighting for those who elected them. Some RTC members are getting increasingly restive, while leadership scrambles to preserve its control with performative feel-good virtue signalling resolutions.

TRS Teachers Trustee Election: Time to Stand Up

 

Here’s where it gets interesting.

 

In last May's union-wide election, Unity won with 54 percent of the vote, their lowest total in history, not exactly a mandate. Just as we watch the outcomes of bi-elections, like the recent Democratic win in Texas in a district where Trump won by 17 points, a 34 point flip, we also have elections in the UFT that can be a sign of member sentiment. And don't forget the massive shift in the 2024 retiree chapter election where Unity dropped from 70 to 37%. But if the RA/RTC leadership doesn't get its act together, this margin won't hold and Unity threatens to regain control.

 

The UFT elects three members to the Teacher Retirement System to three year terms with a member being elected every year in early May, with the election being run in the schools by DOE, not UFT, rules. Unity has controlled all these positions for decades with no opposition. There has been only one election and that was two years ago. Last year Unity petition challenges managed to get the opposition candidate knocked off the ballot. This year promises to see a serious campaign and the outcome will be a serious sign of just how much Unity's grip has weakened. Look for announcements in the coming days.

Questions we should be asking:

Will A Better Contract run a candidate?

Will independent members finally push back against Unity’s control?

Will ABC, New Action, and MORE work together for the betterment of our union?

This isn’t just another vote—it’s a chance to say enough. Unity can’t keep running things behind closed doors while members get ignored.

Bottom Line

Unity leadership keeps purging, scheming, and protecting itself. Meanwhile, members lose out on pay, benefits, and even basic wins. The cracks are showing—and the upcoming trustee election could be a significant moment where members take back some control.

If leadership won’t represent members, maybe it’s time we elect people who will.

Ben For Teacher Retirement System - Still Time to Help with Petitions

Did you know?

• In 2009, the TDA rate of return was reduced to 7% for UFT titles, an effective cut of $2.3 million per teacher in retirement benefits.
• All non-UFT titles, including administrators, still receive the full 8.25% TDA.
• Tier 6 members receive less than half the benefits of Tier 4 members who make equal retirement contributions, and must work up to 15 years longer to receive a full pension.

Ultimate irony - retirees can't vote, nor run, not sign the petitions.

 

In last year's election, Unity hacks attacked Ben's petitions with a vengeance but we had almost double the number needed - so help out in the final days of petitioning.

 

Saturday, April 5, 2025

I wanted to post this before I head into Manhattan for the big rally today -- I will have some petitions for Ben with me for an in-service people I run into to sign. 

 

Here is Ben's campaign poster from last year.

With the recent State re-amortization budget proposal, now, more than ever, it is important to protect our pension against further cuts, and reverse the most recent ones.

Ben Morgenroth ran in the election last year against a no-nothing Unity shill as Ed Notes reported:  

• ICE Endorses in TRS, 
• Teacher Retiree System (TRS) Pension Election 
• Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pension reps.

The UFT has 3 pension reps who serve 3-year terms that are staggered, thus triggering an election every year and they are all Unity Caucus reps who take their orders from the union leadership, which dovetails so closely to the center/right Democratic Party line and also is so cozy with the financial industry. I have advocated for years that the oppo should challenge Unity in every venue, including the TRS election.

 

Ben is back and he got 33% of the vote despite a massive Unity campaign against him and a boycott by MORE to support him because of an ugly false rumor spread by a current prominent member of ARISE. Irony: Ben is running with ARISE for the Exec Bd. Will the same forces aligned with ARISE refuse to back him this time and help the Unity candidate win?

 

Many ABC candidates are helping Ben with the petitions despite his running with ARISE and also will organize voters for him in their schools. 

 

Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Alchemer survey company - TRS Election Issues -- Will There Be A Protest?

How and why is the UFT leadership sitting idly by on this matter and waiting for election results that we knowingly know is unlawful and that further  limits access to our democratic participation.

Monday, May 13, 2024

If you didn't get an electronic ballot in the TRS election, here is a possible explanation. As of this morning there are no results yet. I will post some comments later on why this election is consequential -- hint -- we can have one every year.

Daniel, who is running as the alternate, does some digging in the email he sent to:

Hundreds of TRS members with no ballots and the Alchemer survey company

"Beth A. Norton" <bnorton@uft.org>, "Dkazansky@UFT.org" <Dkazansky@uft.org>, LeRoy Barr <lbarr@uft.org>,
Michael Mulgrew <mmulgrew@uft.org>, Tom Brown <tbrown@uft.org>, Victoria Lee <vlee@uft.org>

Esteemed,

The NYC DOE just ran the TRS Pension Board election using their go-to third party email survey platform — Alchemer. They have been using this vendor for years for their internal survey needs. And with interactions with families. 

We are hearing that one big reason some TRS members did not receive their electronic ballots during the last 2 days is because if someone unsubscribed from a previous Alchemer/SGizmo campaign then they would not have been able to vote electronically using this platform, unless notified to resubscribe. 

This was never clearly communicated to members, beforehand.

Once unsubscribed from the Alchemer system, the person will not receive any more future email campaigns. It’s part of their federally compliant policy. Common with most similar big box platforms. 

As you can see, in the attached screenshots, there is an unsubscribe option at the footer of Alchemer survey emails generated for various DOE offices. 

This isn’t a way to conduct serious electronic elections. For example, with AAA, when they conduct digital elections, members of the given organization, like PSC-CUNY, get a paper ballot with a unique access code/electronic token that they can then go online with to cast their secure vote.

This trustee election affects the pensions of over 100k city employees and over 100 billion dollars in pension funds. Hundreds, if not thousands, of TRS contributors have been disenfranchised from this process. And city admin code 13-507 was not followed throughout its administration.

This latest development only strengthens legal arguments for this entire election to be re-run. 

How and why is the UFT leadership sitting idly by on this matter and waiting for election results that we knowingly know is unlawful and that further  limits access to our democratic participation.

This is a serious ethical and legal matter before you. We expect our union leadership to have been more vocal about what transpired in the last two days. And we’ve heard nothing.

We need to know that those we entrust to protect and defend our rights are doing just that.

Source:

https://help.alchemer.com/help/how-does-unsubscribe-work

In union solidarity,

Dan Alicea

 

 

No dental for you - How Unity/UFT Spends Money - Junkets, Conventions, Patronage jobs

Over the past two months, Unity Caucus/UFT has spent over $60,000 sending favored people (exactly who are they?) to conferences plus sending 50 Unity retirees to the AFT convention this summer in Houston - figure at least 2k or more (Plane fair, hotels, meals, etc) - 2000x50= 100K plus the recent NYSUT convention at the NY Hilton at 2kX750-800 = $1,500,000.

So we are talking in the vicinity of almost $2 million to feed at the trough of our dues. And I'm not including the buying off of potential opposition candidates with offers of jobs. No wonder it's so hard to shake people loose from the Unity machine which has controlled the UFT for 62 years.

And they see threats to that control in the UFT's 3 Consequential Elections and are playing games where they can, but more on that later.

Meanwhile  Jonathan Halabi reports:

UFT Welfare Fund nest egg – bigger than most nests

 

Look at those salaries. We may need some RICO charges.

Also see Ex Bd member Ronnie Almonte:

• The UFT Welfare Fund is Prioritizing Investments over Dental Benefits: Union members pay high out-of-pocket expenses while the Welfare Fund gets richer

Here are the ugly details:

Motion:       To send 6 members to the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) 53rd Annual National Education Conference on July 15-19, 2024 in Hollywood, FL, at a cost of $2,300 per person. Carried -- 2300x6 = $13,800

Motion:      To send 8 members to the Micron Technology Convention on May 14-16, 2024 in Manassas, VA, at a cost of $350 per person. Carried - 350 x 8 = $2800

NYSUT Convention at NY Hilton - 750 x $2000 Plus = $1,500,000 - at least. After all, a free room at The Hilton is higher priority than considering improving the dental plan.
 

How Unity spends our dues from April Adcom:

 Motion:      To send 9 members to the National Association of School Nurses Conference on June 28-July 1, 2024 in Chicago, IL at a cost of $2,568 per person. (9x2568= 23,112)

 

Motion:       To send 1 member to the Early Educators Leadership Conference on October 16-19, 2024 in Washington, DC, at a cost of $3,030. (3,030)

Motion:       To send 3 members to the National Art Education Association National Convention on April 4-7, 2024 in Minneapolis, MN at a cost of $1,982 per person. (3x1,982 = 5,946) Carried
 
Motion:       To send 5 members to the Coalition of Labor Union Women National Executive Board and 50th Anniversary Gala on May 8-11, 2024 in Niagara Falls at a cost of $1,461 per person. (5x1,461 = 7,305) Carried
 
Motion:       To send 4 members to the IEL-National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference on May 29-31, 2024, in Atlanta, GA at a cost of $2,595 per person. (4x2595= 10,380)

Total = $49,773

And this:

 Motion: To authorize up to 50 retirees to participate in the 2024 AFT Convention and retiree activities associated with the Convention. Carried
 Let's Estimate the cost -- plane fair, hotel, meals --- let's call it 2 grand per x 50 --- $100,000.

 

May 8, Vote for Ben to End Unity Monopoly of Pension Reps, Join Election TOWN HALL - Thursday May 2, 5:30 PM

...most of those leaders are hired staffers, who, through a Tammany-like patronage system, are selected and kept primarily based on their loyalty to top brass. If UFT’s officers had something to show for this – raises that met inflation, healthcare that wasn’t deteriorating and on the verge of collapse, or a pension system that wasn’t profoundly unequal for union members, that would be one thing. Instead, we have a record of losing, at least where everyday members are concerned. (Union officials who play ball, it turns out, are doing just fine.)... New Action

...if Ben wins, watch the UFT/Unity gang complain and call for a redo.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

 

In case you hadn't noticed, there is an historic election for one of the three Teacher Retirement System (TRS) reps for the first time in almost 40 years as Ben Morgenroth challenges the total Unity Caucus control over how decisions about our pensions are made. 

Elections will be in the schools on May 8, run by the incompetent DOE. I'd bet many schools don't even hold an election, a violation of the law that will be ignored - if the Unity candidate wins -- but if Ben wins, watch the UFT/Unity gang complain and call for a redo.

 

There will be a town hall this Thursday, May 2 to discuss the election. The Unity candidate has been invited to show up, but don't hold your breath. If Ben wins, Unity will still have the two other reps and thus still a majority rule. So even if you are a Unity supporter, a vote for Ben offers some range of conversations instead of Mulgrew dictating decisions. Frankly, I no longer trust the decision making at the top, which seems to operate like a bug business and has ties to certain companies that might affect decision making on our pensions. We want some independent thinking even if only one voice who would open up what goes on there to more scrutiny. 

 

Ben has helped lead the battle for changing Tier 6 and would use his voice if elected to advocate for change.

UFT Ex Bd HS rep Nick Bacon posted on the New Action site:

On May 8, YOU decide who represents UFT Members on the pension board. I hope you choose Ben. 

 

Teacher Retiree System (TRS) Pension Election - Why You Should Care and Vote for Ben

Friday, April 5, 2024

 

Teacher Pension Election - Why You Should Care

by Norm Scott

There is an upcoming election for one of the three teacher trustees of our pension system (TRS) where working TRS members will have the chance to choose between the two candidates who are running (retirees can't vote). The election will be held in the schools on May 8, 2024.

Why should you care? 

Because the health and longevity of your pension relies on three teacher trustees along with two mayoral appointees, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) president, and the NYC Comptroller overseeing all our investments. These seven officials are supposed to ensure that our pension is sound and investments are thriving far into the future.

Over the past decades, all trustees, most without a degree in finance or economics or any relevant private sector investment experience, have acted under the instructions of the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership and fundamentally continue to rubber stamp the decisions made by Wall Street investors who earn significant fees that are not always transparent. They are pressured to vote as a bloc and not to ask questions of the TRS investors. 

Now we have the chance to vote for Brooklyn Tech Advanced Placement math teacher Ben Morgenroth in the TRS election on May 8. He brings with him actual classroom experience with degrees in mathematics and economics, along with private sector financial and investment experience. He will ask informed questions to those tasked with securing our pensions and will act independently of the dictums of Michael Mulgrew — who has been at the helm as our healthcare and pension benefits have diminished. 

Morgenroth’s membership on the Board will ensure we have the professional and knowledgeable oversight we need to protect our pensions.

Note: Candidates need one thousand signatures to get on the ballot and the petitioning will be wrapping up in a week. You can still get signatures at your school by downloading the petition here. Make sure to sign off at the bottom to certify the signature.