Impressions: UFT First Exec Board of the Year - New Blood - Both UFC and Unity

Is the UFT Ex Bd a space for bi-partisan agreement or does the very idea make you gag? I opt for the former - hold the hostility for the Delegate Assembly.

I was reminded at how adept some union officials are at making stuff look good. I mean you can come out of an Ex bd meeting thinking the UFT leadership does so much. At the next meeting someone dump a bucket of ICE on my head.

Tuesday, Sept. 13,

 

I jumped on the Rockaway ferry yesterday afternoon to attend the first UFT Ex Bd meeting of the school year, looking forward to seeing the 7 newly elected UFC HS candidates at their first meeting. Plus a group of other supporters of UFC. Our election complaint was on the agenda, health care has risen up again, class size may have a new law but for me the contract for class size is still king. So there was a lot on my mind and I had signed up to speak but with so much to say I decided not to say anything.

 

I won't go into the details of the meeting because there are 2 reports of the meeting from James Eterno and Nick Bacon:

• Healthcare Changes and Class Size Reductions – UFT Executive Board Minutes, 9-12-2022 - New Action blog
  

• UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 - ICE blog
  

Spring 2022 election hostilities fade but UFC Complaint still active

Yes, our complaint still has not been decided on by the UFT. Nick reports on Leroy's response:

Election Challenge: One omnibus complaint that came out in June. We responded to that one in terms of things that were repeated. The challenge is to go to the UFT, then the AFT. We asked them to go forward to the UFT. Complaints: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15, and 29 (?) – go straight to the UFT. In terms of the remaining challenges, we want reports by the next exec board meetings/ We know there is a 90 day rule, so we will work on that over the next few meetings.

So the complaint is and continues to be a bone of contention. He acknowledged they are over the 90 day time limit and invited us to go to the Dept of Labor if we want. Next move is up to UFC, which can decide to wait - or not. Either way, I am somehow up to my ears in whatever is done -- a hostage situation.

Note to the Unity idiot who can't read and compares this to Trump stop the steal --- we are opposed to using union resources and personnel to promote Unity in elections and want it to stop for future elections.

But, let me point out that Ex Bd is very different from the Delegate Assembly. Small number of people, opposition treated with some respect and allowed to raise anything and ask as many questions as they want. And there's food - decent food - I asked Leroy Barr to order beef wellington for me and he promised a turkey burger but they had a choice of Salmon or meat and I took the latter and it was delicious -- plus salad and pie. 

More congenial - generally. It's a space where you feel uncomfortable being contentious - someone pointed out that is the intent - to blunt anger and use these meetings to promote the work the Unity people are doing.

We were also informed by people in MORE that they were working with 300 early childhood coordinators and social workers who found out they were excessed in the Friday afternoon before Labor Day. (I Posted their letter of protest - More Chaos in DOE - 300 Early Childhood Coordinators and Social Workers Excessed by Adams/Banks in Last Minute Hit Job - Friday afternoon of Labor Day Weekend.) 

 

Pre-Meeting was almost better than the meeting

I was asked to help some of the new people to navigate the process at the Ex Bd meeting to make their case to the leadership.
 

The last time the oppo won in 2016, we began meeting an hour before to discuss strategy. These were open meetings and helped set the stage as people discussed questions and issues to bring up. We began to invite people to join us and to sign up for the ten minute open section where non ex bd people could speak. 

Christina Gavin Defends Her Reputation Against False Claims by Unity Hierarchy and District Rep Woodruff

You have to listen to these podcasts and the recordings of the interactions between Christina Gavin and Bill Woodruff to get the full picture of what happened at a s0-called UFT District "social" event; just a week before UFT ballots went out.

 

(If the player doesn't work try clicking the URL.)

This is not the first time we've heard of bizarre behavior from Woodruff, but I will get into that at another time. In fact, the Unity defense of Woodruff itself constitutes bizarre behavior.

 

Here are some previous posts:

• Christina Vs The Unity Caucus Machine - At May 23 UFT Ex Bd

• 
• Stop UFT/Unity Persecution of Christina - Sign an Open Letter re: Christina Gavin & May 23rd UFT E-board Meeting

But let's put things into context. Christina took the lead in compiling election complaints against Unity which is the cause of the persecution of Christina by elements of the UFT leadership. (I'm not sure there's unanimity inside the leadership in this crusade against Christina.) Ok, she is relentless and willing to go to the mat for her beliefs, a much needed elements all too often missing from the usual suspects (me included) in the opposition. And make no mistake about it, Christina is not one of the usual suspects.

 

You really can't  make this stuff up. A must listen 2 part series by our fave podcaster, Noah Teachey exposes the entire rotten process. Note Christina's point by point take down of the UFT leadership case. She should be the lawyer for the UFT, not Beth (nicknamed Rude Beth by Christina) Norton.

 

In Part 2 (Ep. 46) take particular note of the actual recording of Leroy Barr and UFT attorney Beth Norton subjecting Christina to the third degree on when she eats lunch. Bizzaro-land. The Woodruff stuff is pretty funny too.

 

Here are Noah Teachey's notes:

• If you're enjoying what you're hearing, and want to hear more, check out patreon.com/professionaldevelopment

 

Ep 45: The UFTwilight Zone pt. 1, feat. Christina Gavin

 This week, Christina Gavin (school librarian, MORE UFT caucus member, and UFC candidate) makes an appearance on the show to tell us her story from the UFTwilight Zone, where the bureaucracy of a union meant to support educator-members sometimes turns on these very educators if they dare to identify the majority caucus's breeches of UFT election policy and national labor law. This is part 1, which sets the stage for the story and establishes how Christina first became known to Unity's higher-ups. Be sure to tune in next week for some pretty serious evidence of Unity deceit and the thrilling conclusion of the story.

https://lnns.co/a1ipI3JXKEC 

 Ep 46: The UFTwilight Zone pt. 2, feat. Christina Gavin

In today's episode I'm joined once again by Christina Gavin, a librarian, unionist, and self-proclaimed smart-aleck. This is part two of a two-part episode exploring the UF Twilight Zone, a land governed by a single caucus in which the line between fact and fiction is blurry at best. If you haven't heard part 1, which is episode 45 of the show, be sure to go have a listen so we're all on the same page.

>>Christina's conversation with Bill Woodruff: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffreadalong

>>Play "spot the contradictions" in this false complaint: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffcomplaint

>>Read and sign an open letter to UFT leadership on Christina's behalf: bit.ly/openuft

>>If you're enjoying what you're hearing, and want to hear more, check out patreon.com/professionaldevelopment

Listen now

https://lnns.co/fRwSrFs9Be2

• Christina's conversation with Bill Woodruff: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffreadalong
• Play "spot the contradictions" in this false complaint: bit.ly/inappropriatebillwoodruffcomplaint

Woodruff apologizes to her for a half hour, saying she did nothing wrong at the UFT event and then goes on to file charges against her, along with two other Unity candidates, also on the union payroll. And the UFT gang defends him to the hilt.

 

https://www.listennotes.com/e/64c196a127fb4870ba2eb2e768fb4efc/ ====

After Burn

Note this comment by a Unity hack on one of my posts on the Christina situation.

https://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2022/06/uft-elections-2022-united-for-change.html?showComment=1655540905191#c5460043551358120642

Really, Norm, first you go on about Christian Glavin without noting that she was the person who filed the charges against Janella Hinds falsely accusing her of electioneering on union time. And now you are telling us that Unity candidates shouldn't be able to use their personal Twitter and Facebook accounts to campaign for election -- for some reason. What were you and all the UFCUFT candidates doing? Were all of your personal Twiiter and Facebook accounts that campaigned for election hijacked?

Christina Gavin Replies: Saturday, June 18, 2022 at 4:28:00 AM EDT

Hi Saturday Anonymous,

My name is Christina; not Christian.

If you were more informed, you might know that no “charge” was filed against Janella Hinds. An inquiry was made and a follow-up inquiry was made too, based on the fact that Mr. Cambria and Ms. Norton had at several junctures in the election provided misinformation, even when asked repeatedly.

Seven times over the course of 37 days Mr. Cambria (informed by Ms. Norton) adamantly told UFC candidates that the UFT was not a nonprofit organization, for example. They also informed representatives of all candidates & Marie Wausnock that the UFT’s Communications and Accounting departments have said that it costs $11 to send each email when asked about the cost to send an email to a portion of membership.

Asking twice was no reflection on Ms. Hinds’ character but was based solely on the repeated instances of off-the-cuff wrong answers from Mr. Cambria and Ms. Norton, as I later told Ms. Hinds myself in a phone conversation about this topic.

Indeed Ms. Norton herself stated that no complaint had been filed against Ms. Hinds, but “an inquiry that may lead to a complaint” had been sent to the UFT.

You write to Norm “you are telling us that Unity candidates shouldn't be able to use their personal Twitter and Facebook accounts to campaign for election -- **for some reason**”

UFC did not say this for **some or no reason,** as you falsely claim. On January 31, Mr. Cambria had emailed UFT employees “reminding” them that they were not permitted to use the same accounts to both communicate with members in their roles as representatives of the union and campaign for candidates/caucuses. Was this an unreasonable directive for him to give? Arguably. Was it a UFT directive given by the UFT Election Chair to UFT employees? Undeniably.

Perhaps you should spend less time making uninformed statements from behind anonymous accounts; it might help you to be less wrong in your future commentary.

My reply to the hack attack:

Obfuscation and distraction. Uft employees - people we pay out of our dues. District reps abused the process. They have power over teachers. One of them in essence threatened not to rep a teacher because of his association with me. As for the charge against Janella that was an admitted mistake, apology offered and accepted. It was unity people who claimed the mistake was racist by another black woman - and I do note the vehemence of attacks on Christina and Camille by Unity. A hint of racism at the so called angry black woman. Like the unity hack at that d 7 event who felt threatened by Christina being behind her. If Christina were white would she have felt threatened?

 

Look for follow-up commentary on the misbehavior of Woodruff (Arf)  and other UFT officials.

 

Nick's Comprehensive Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 3/28/2022 – Election Complaints

Christina Gavin: Our union has been in existence since 1960. The DOL has regulations, set in 1959, for election guidelines. Our union should be upholding federal labor laws. These labor laws underline the fiber of our union, but we see repeated violations. Mr. Barr and Ms. Norton take exemption and want to interpret regulations and Carl Cambria’s reminder to interpret guidelines in another way. It’s my right to appeal that. Unity Caucus has violated labor law as well as Carl Cambria’s email to them that explicitly reminded on much of what was discussed above. Cambria later said he was amending his original email. But, when you write a rule, that is what you need to be bound by. I look forward to seeing what AFT will say of this matter. -- comments at UFT Ex bd meeting

A bunch of us sat in to support Christina Gavin in her complaints over election conduct. We have even more dynamite not presented yet. It won't get us anywhere at this point but if UFC goes to Dept of Labor and gets certain rulings it may affect future behavior. One comment as the meeting ended at 6:30 - they do the work?

I'm not sure how to describe Christina, who I met only 6 weeks ago at the end of petitioning but has become a relentless activist in the election campaign. She certainly has become known to the UFT leadership in a very short time. She had focused on tracking election violations by union officials using DOL rules. She is a constant blur of motion and I often can't keep up, but all I can say is WOW!

Let me just say this before getting to Nick's report. Yesterday a 12 year teacher and UFC candidate for HS Ex Bd drove out to my house to pick up boxes of leaflets. We had a deligthful conversation for over an hour on a range of subjects. It was only the second time I met her and I feel so much on the same plane.

So when you see Nick leave Unity and Daniel who voted for Unity in 2019 become major cogs in the oppo and these ladies emerge, we see a new kind of oppo emerging. Win, lose or partial win, this should be fun to watch.

Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 3/28/2022 – Election Complaints

Published March 28, 2022 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

 https://newaction.org/2022/03/28/executive-board-meeting-minutes-3-28-2022-election-complaints/

A. Routine Items

1. Approval of the Minutes (March 19) – All minutes (eboard and adcom) passed unanimously

Announcements: Negotiating committee will be starting at 4:30 on Wednesday, all in person, giving time for people to come from the outer boroughs. Next eboard is March, next DA is April 18th. The DA in May is now May 25th, which is not the original date.

1. Report from Districts

Rashad Brown, executive board at large, had legal plan meeting with great attendance.

Janella Hinds: Hosting 2 events next week, Tuesday April 5th, Academic High School meeting, 4:30-5:45, followed by the academic high schools award ceremony, including education, union, community, and solidarity awards. Last year’s winners will also be exited. That’s Friday, April 8th.

(Name Missed): First books event just occurred, where 12,000 books were given to many different schools in Chinatown. Lots of support.

2. President’s Report : Michael Mulgrew: Apologizes for being late, but says he’s been on meetings in Albany. Says budget, a lot of it was taken up by Buffalo Bills Stadium. Tier 6 reform discussions will be occurring all week. April 4th is now the final date of the budget, strange. Congratulate nurse chapter, settled with Northwell last Friday at 4:00 AM. Able to get contract settled and they did a great job. Thanks all involved. Now, all private sector nurse contracts are back in place. At least a year before we have to deal with another issue. On April 14th, prep is going on for Listen up – the number of teachers we have is so many that we are going to have to expand. The idea is for education leaders and policy experts to listen to teachers for what is going on and needed right now. We knew, we have a whole bunch of educators who want to do that kind of work.

Chapter leader hub goes live on Friday. Will continue to field test it to make sure all goes well, but it’s a big deal, and we’re hoping that everything goes well. It is that time of the year. We don’t have the calendar yet from the DOE, and I’m frustrated, because we need to start planning for next year now, and the DOE is taking quite a bit of time on the superintendent process, so we’ll see how that goes. Besides that, we have the NYSUT RA, and thanks all going for doing that work. It’s really tight and it’s nonstop for two days, sitting in chairs and making sure we’re representing our local in the state-wide piece. Apologizes, but has to leave.

Thanks everyone for a phenomenal chapter leader weekend. Talks about great energy and optimism, great to see how great it was. It was a well run weekend, so thanks everyone. Be well, bye.

Reports from Districts reconvenes:

Rich Mantell: April 9th is the Middle School conference in person, no remote option. Some of the classes are STEM classroom, Google Earth, CTE partnerships, loan forgiveness, morale, socio-emotional health (yoga). See you there.

Mary Vaccaro: CTLE workshops, everyone is calling. We’ve added a lot of them. Anyone on the waitlist, we’ll let you know, especially for our Apple workshops, cap being lifted to 450. In addition there are ELL credits associated if that applies to you. April 6th, Goldie Haun workshop will have workshop on SEL, free one year subscription. Many schools invited to attend. Anyone who wants to attend from eboard, we’ll get an invite out to your.

Karen Alford: Had elementary school workshops last week, was great to be back in person. Had an elementary school town hall with about 500 people online, who asked questions and heard the reports.

Tom Murphy: April 11th is next meeting for retired chapter. Will now be a regular mail letter for retirees, including for retirees who don’t have email.

C. Special Order of Business: Election Complaints

Background from LeRoy Barr: alleged misuse of union resources in election, Christina Gavin is a UFC member. We are going to review her complaint and take steps. In other instances, we have found that some Unity Caucus actions are fine, with response to use of personal accounts by UFT employee on social media. Every 3 years, we have elections. The 2022 election committee has reps from each slate, Unity and UFC (doesn’t mention how many in each). Email was sent by Christina with respect to use of media. UFT gathered more information, after which Christina amended her complaint and added additional evidence. With regard to official UFT accounts, no caucus business, email should be sent out…..with use of officer headshots from website, we say that Unity should pay a reasonable market rate for use of the photos. But recommend dismissal of the rest of the complaint.

Complaint that UFT employees use personal accounts for both UFT and caucus business, but some of these activities are not electioneering. Nothing wrong with sharing UFT information. Allegations of union employees using personal accounts to ‘electioneer’ on social media. Since personal, this is not illegal. There are also accounts that official UFT accounts should not be used for caucus purposes, and these accounts should cease being used ASAP. Some accounts are used for non-UFT purposes or caucus purposes, but this is fine. Uses of UFT and archival photos for caucus purposes, which showed caucus logos on republished UFT footage. Under LMRDA, the union is not required to stop communications to regular UFT. While it’s true that LMRDA is against using union funds for electioneering, this is not true when there is equal access. For instance, there can be a candidates forum or post in newspaper. Since anyone could have downloaded the video in Queens, anyone else could have done that, not just Unity Caucus. The same is true of the photo from the labor archives.

Use of headshots from the Unity website and campaign materials. Unity used headshots that were paid for by UFT funds. This has been ruled that one campaign’s use of photos from the website does not violate election law, because those photos are not UFT property but officer property. Still, Unity Caucus should pay a reasonable market rate for use of the headshots. President Mulgrew’s letter in support of Debra Penny for TRS Board. The allegation that Mulgrew’s praise of Debra Penny, incumbent candidate for Treasurer, and asking for signatures from all chapter leaders. The 3 teacher members serve 3 year terms, and it’s Debra Penny’s turn for an election. The DA voted overwhelmingly in support. Only after this resolution did Michael Mulgrew send the letter in support. The DOL has found this regular work of the union to be permissable during officer election season. The letter didn’t endorse Penny for UFT Treasurer, so the complaint is denied. The letter is fine.

Union representatives were found to enter different schools during UFT work hours and distributed flyers. Winnie Thompson sent caucus business from her UFT account. This matter has been addressed. And another DR allegedly dropped of caucus pamphlets to a CL in the parking lot. The other DRs deny the evidence, but they should be reminded not to do it.

Michael Sill: Only members of the eboard may debate, but Christina Gavin will be given an opportunity to speak for 3 minutes.

Christina Gavin: Our union has been in existence since 1960. The DOL has regulations, set in 1959, for election guidelines. Our union should be upholding federal labor laws. These labor laws underline the fiber of our union, but we see repeated violations. Mr. Barr and Ms. Norton take exemption and want to interpret regulations and Carl Cambria’s reminder to interpret guidelines in another way. It’s my right to appeal that. Unity Caucus has violated labor law as well as Carl Cambria’s email to them that explicitly reminded on much of what was discussed above. Cambria later said he was amending his original email. But, when you write a rule, that is what you need to be bound by. I look forward to seeing what AFT will say of this matter.

Michael Sill: Do we accept the report? No debate. Motion passes unanimously.

Barr: Ballots on April 8th. Reminds everyone to vote. Motion to adjourn.

 

I Went to the Labor Day Parade, UFT First Ex Bd Meeting with New Board - UPDATED

It was nice to see labor unions making a show. For organizing purposes a lot more could be done. Every union was isolated and the march just dissipated. A mass rally might have more impact. It was funny but when we passed Trump Tower there was little reaction.

Despite trying to disengage from the UFT scene since I gave up on MORE and caucus building I can't seem to manage getting it out of my blood.

I attended two UFT official events over the past few days plus

I had not been going to Labor Day marches until last year when post-Janus I felt there had to be some showing of support for unions. And I went back this past Saturday. Last year and this year the UFT was having a post-march barbecue and I never miss a food event. I had a good time and it was a good feeling to see so many unionists from so many different unions gather together, all wearing their tee shirts identifying their union - except the UFT which gave out umbrellas. It is more powerful to have every union with their tees. The CSA all had on their tees and marched in front of  us.

I saw many familiar faces at the parade, mostly those I see at regular UFT events. Many Unity Caucus foot soldiers who are probably expected to show up.

It is funny how over the years the activists in the union an all sides have something in common that separates them from the overwhelming majority of UFT members -- a common bond. I see that when I go to AFT conventions -- the same people. We get along fairly well on the whole. I see no reason to engage in attacks on people I may disagree with. It is what unites the Unity Caucus and their critics - about a 1000-1500 in a union of 200 thousand members. Add the chapter leaders who mostly do the work in their own schools but don't take part in union events and it could be over 2000 people serious about union work. But most likely less.

I call it the 1% of the union. And if the day comes when that interest level rises to even 10% we will have a very different union.

I did hang out with some of my compadres - former MOREs - which is pretty funny- there were more former MOREs by far than current MORES - I saw only two handing out Bernie leaflets. I walked with Mike Shulman from New Action, Arthur Goldstein, Patrick Walsh, Bruce Markens, Ellen Fox, Lisa North, Gloria Brandman and a few others - people who  rubbed shoulders with in MORE.

Unity people I knew were very warm and friendly, particularly toward Arthur. I think they see his and Mike and Mindy's (she was still recovering from back surgery) running with Unity as a big victory for them -- an affirmation to them of sorts that they have been on the right track and their critics wrong. Given the vacuum out there and the uselessness of trying to build an opposition, I can see how easy it is to fall into the pull of their gravity. There are union activities and for those who want to do union work where else is there to go? Spend your life trying to build a caucus instead of finding more fruitful things to do?

I saw Jamal Bowman who is primarying Eliot Engel for Congress in the Bronx and his crew who are young and active. He is supported by the AOC backers. I told Jamal not to expect UFT support as they would back Atila the Hun if he was an incumbent but did suggest they come to Delegate Assemblies to distribute lit and maybe finds some volunteers. They have until next June. I am thinking of working in a primary campaign for Lauren Ashcraft who is running against Caroline McCarthy in Manhattan/Queens. I met her and her campaign manager at a Bernie debate watch party and she is seeking Justice Democrat support. I should have told them to come to the parade.

There were few spectators, right winger Curtis Sliwa among them - he gave me his card. I heard him on the radio on Monday talk about the thousands of marchers but how few spectators. Why would you watch this parade and not march if you are a supporter of unions? I think only tourists might be interested. However, given the number of union members our turnout was only a smidgen. It definitely seemed like less than last year. Good, more barbecue for me.

On the way to the barbecue I did notice how the CSA crowd all gathered in a restaurant to drink to their happiness at being considered a union despite how they screw other unionists while the UFT treats them with kid gloves. 

UFT Ex Bd
On Monday afternoon I was sitting in my garden smoking my pipe and reading and trying to decide whether to shlep into the city for the first UFT Ex Bd of the year. The fact that I did so has more to do with enjoying the social relationships I've developed than with union policy. I like seeing people and chatting. And of course they feed any UFT member who attends.

It was sort of sad as the New Action crew is no longer there. We all used to meet at 5 to talk about stuff. With no one on the board they don't see it worth going. I don't either and probably will go much less often than in the past. 

With the retirement of Howie Schoor, this was the first meeting Leroy Barr was running. On Saturday I asked Howie how we could live without him and he wondered if Leroy would be funnier than him. I told Howie I was going to compare Leroy's food with his. Leroy hit a big one with steak, chicken and salmon plus eggplant. Not bad. No macadamia cookies however.

Leroy tried to be funny too. Actually, he seemed a bit nervous since this was a brand new ex bd -- younger, more diverse. I like Leroy personally even though we've had some spats over the years. He is clearly one of the people in line to succeed Mulgrew one day though given that 75% of UFT members are women there might be some push back. Insiders say that there are some internal differences over policy inside the top leadership - nothing serious enough to make a difference. I don't have enough info to go into more detail.

Leroy ran the meeting efficiently - will he have the same patience Howie seemed to have to give people some room? I hope he will be as flexible as Howie.

He had to wait a bit for Mulgrew to show and give his report. Mulgrew also seemed a bit nervous -- he tried to pull some enthusiasm from the audience and they weren't giving much. These are his core people. I think hard liquor at these meetings would get him a better response.

As for what was discussed at the meeting, I was too busy eating, though I took some notes between bites. The UFT may not always be there for everyone who needs help with their school issues but it does try to put on a show about its humanitarian work.

I took some notes and I'd tell you more but I'd have to go look for them and I'm lazy, so why not just leave it to Arthur to tell you what happened at the EB? [Next meeting Monday Sept. 23 at 6PM. Looking forward to some pina coladasand filet mignon.]

NYC Educator

UFT Executive Board September 9, 2019--UFT Supports Dorian Victims, Census, Trump Victims and More -

http://nyceducator.com/2019/09/uft-executive-board-september-9-2019.html
 

Patrick Sullivan, Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters to UFT Leaders: We will Address Concerns About Our Data

Funny how no one from the DOE, the City Council or the Comptroller's office have questioned our data or analysis, but if the UFT leadership or executive board would like to invite us to brief them on it, Patrick and I would be happy to do so.... Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters

If the UFT leadership questions the validity of Class Size Matters research, I'd like to hear more about their concerns. I'd be happy to speak to them in my capacity as board president of CSM... Patrick Sullivan, Pres of the Board, Class Size Matters

Comments above posted on NYCEducator blog:  Exec. Board September 25 Takeaway--The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

These comments were prompted by Arthur's post:

I presented research done by Class Size Matters and based on DOE stats. Schoor questioned its validity rather than addressing it. In a way, I don't blame him. Class size is out of control, and overcrowding is epidemic. UFT can form committees and study groups from now until Doomsday and the problems won't go away. It's nice that we placed class size into the contract half a century ago, but an update is long overdue. It behooves union leadership to address this crucial issue and they are failing utterly. (Schoor also claimed never to have heard of the 2014 law requiring de Blasio to pay rent for charters, which pretty much made my eyes roll to the back of my head.) .... Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator

Arthur has written the following letter to Howard Schoor:

Dear Howard,

Patrick Sullivan, the Board President of Class Size Matters, has offered to address your concerns about the research they put forth. I trust you will invite him to our next meeting so that he can clear up any questions you may have.

I eagerly await your response.

Very truly yours,

Arthur Goldstein

MORE EB Member Arthur Goldstein Sends Letter to UFT Leadership Asking for Office Space

Referencing this story from the Sept. 25, 2017 UFT EB meeting:

Unity Caucus at the Ex Bd Meeting: Tears of Woe Over Not Having Time to Think of Ways to Oppose Our Resos

Arthur Goldstein sends a letter to UFT leaders:

Dear LeRoy, Janella, and Howard,

Since you’ve decided to not allow us to bring resolutions without distributing them 30 minutes beforehand, we are at somewhat of a loss. Unlike you, we all teach full time. We are able to meet at the lobby at 52, but since we all teach we are often unable to get together earlier than 5 or 5:30. Furthermore, we are not allowed into the actual building until at or very close to 5:30.

Unlike all of you, we have no staff. We have no one to make copies.

Therefore I’m certain that you’ll have no issue giving us an office in which to meet whenever we need to, along with a copying machine. I’m certain you’ll have no issue granting us the use of staff to distribute whatever resolutions we come up with.

Thank you so much for your kind consideration.

Very sincerely,

Arthur Goldstein   

Let me point out once again -- that our tiny portion of Ex Bd people have been able to make the EB meetings a focal point of bringing the concerns of rank and file teachers to the attention of the leadership -- so many stories of them being ignored until our people have started working with them. Key to it all is Arthur's taking notes and publishing them with commentary on the blogs --- in other words, Unity would continue to ignore us, as they did New Action a (which did not publicize the outcomes of EB meetings) all those years they were on the board -- due of course to the support of Unity. Arthur Goldstein, who often works hand in hand with UFT officials, is also unsparing in his criticism when he feels it necessary.

What Emily James Said to Mulgrew at the UFT Ex Bd on Parental Care

This should not be a thing! It should not be a choice for women to be excellent teachers to the students of NYC or to be mothers for their own children. ..... We pay you our dues dutifully month after month, year after year. You are the only voice we have. We are here in numbers, 80,000 strong, demanding in the most polite way we know how,  that you stop ignoring us, that you help us begin this fight, and don’t stop fighting for us until we make the situation right.  ... Emily James

Call Emily James wonder woman for flushing Mulgrew into the glare of the 10 minute pre-meeting open mic where classroom

Emily and family at Ex Bd

teachers often share their voices. Mulgrew makes sure to miss this part of the meeting  - in fact most of the rest of the meeting other than his own report. I imagine it was the publicity in the press - and Emily's 80,000 petition sigs garnered over a few months.

Mulgrew made a  statement declaring that the city wants a pound of flesh for getting this leave and he will not sell us down the river. I excerpted from Arthur's notes and you can read them at the end of this posting.

Emily and Susan

Her colleague, Susan Hibdon, a mother of three, joined Emily and also made a strong statement calling the UFT leadership on accountability. I'll publish Susan's comments in the next post. Note that neither Emily nor Susan plan on having more children - so this is not for them but for others to follow.

Unity Caucus at the Ex Bd Meeting: Tears of Woe Over Not Having Time to Think of Ways to Oppose Our Resos

Arthur Goldstein—MORE—I am flattered that the 95 of you are so confounded by the seven of us that you need to curtail the few privileges we enjoy. I regret you are unable to muster persuasive responses when we raise resolutions. We are prohibited from electing our own Vice President, and this is just one more example of anti-democracy. Resolutions are regularly handed out on the spot at the DA and there are far fewer people here. This is not the way to go in the age of Janus. ..... NYC Educator responding to Unity Caucus reso
UFT Executive Board September 26, 2017--We Support Adult Ed., Maternity Leave, Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas. Overcrowding? Class Sizes? Democracy? Meh. -   

RESOLVED, that all ad hoc resolutions for consideration by the UFT Executive Board not listed on the printed agenda for the day's meeting will be published and available on the agenda table at least one-half hour prior to commencement of the meeting, except for resolutions where circumstances arise within hours before or during the meeting that would require immediate discussion and action.... Reso passed with unanimous Unity Caucus support at Sept. 25 Ex Bd meeting.
......Unity reso presented at UFT Ex Bd meeting, Sept. 25, reso opposed by MORE reps.

Unity Caucus on the move

I gave a preliminary report on the UFT Ex Bd meeting early on Monday - Child Care Leave Issue Front and Center at UFT Ex-
but there's no way to properly describe some of the goings on there --- it is worth the price of admission. I will get to the adult ed and parental leave issues in a follow-up. Arthur and James did prelim reports on the meeting here and here.

But the reso put forth by Unity last night was so hilarious I can't pass up a separate post about it.
Many Unity people at EB meetings come off as hacks
Let me explain what this is all about. Since MORE got elected last year, our reps have used the EB meetings to raise resos -- sometimes they send them to the leadership in advance, sometimes they don't --- often last minute ideas come up and people sign the resos at the pre-meeting. When they raise the ad hoc resos it is a given that Leroy Barr - since so few in Unity are capable of even mustering a valid argument - will speak against it or amend it - and the rest of the Unity crew will vote the way they are told.

So the fact that they are calling in this reso for us to have our resos on the table a half hour before the meeting -- ie. 5:30 - when no one is there -- most don't come until 6 anyway -- is a joke. What they want is to give Leroy more of a heads up to prep his opposition - or to prep someone else to oppose it with at least a rational argument of some sort.

I often comment as our people are making their reso that we should give Leroy a chance to speak against it BEFORE we bring up a reso. In fact how about this alt to the Unity reso:

RESOLVED, we will oppose any reso coming from MORE. I mean why do they need time to come up with reasons? Just say you oppose and the Unity hacks will vote against since they don't need no stink'n reason.

Jonathan Halabi and New Action's approach to this reso was that they could live with this as long as Unity followed their own rules by not springing memorandums of agreement, etc on us in the future. I still feel New Action compromises too much.

Other than Arthur Goldstein, no one in MORE/NA called out Unity about the real purpose of this reso -- and what it exposes --

• that they will vote against a MORE/NA reso unless they are told to vote for it 
• that they can't think on their feet fast enough to respond and are embarrassed time and again when we report their response. 

Arthur expressed the outrage many of us feel about Unity, which was attacked extensively by rank and file teachers at the mic during the pre-meeting. The rank and file are all too often ahead of the leaders of the opposition in their instincts. Arthur is different. He is not trapped in the bubble.

Here are some other reports on the meeting. More to come from me later.

NYC Educator

UFT Executive Board September 26, 2017--We Support Adult Ed., Maternity Leave, Puerto Rico, Florida, and Texas. Overcrowding? Class Sizes? Democracy? Meh. -  

ICEUFT Blog

MULGREW SHOWS UP FOR OPEN MIC TO HEAR PAID FAMILY LEAVE PETITION PRESENTED AT EXEC BD - Michael Mulgrew, the UFT President who almost never shows up to hear members under attack pleading their cases at the open mic before Executive Board meeti...

First UFT Ex Bd Meeting of Year - A Stephen King Horror Movie

NYC Principal in uniform

I felt I had walked into "It", the new Stephen King horror movie, where we hear of principals in clown suits knifing teachers in the back.... and when the Executive Board, controlled by Unity Caucus, is asked to remove the knives, the Unity Caucus votes it down by saying a knife in the back with the fingerprint of the principal is not enough data. Isn't it possible the teacher tripped backwards and fell on the knife?

Monday night was the first UFT Ex Bd meeting in almost three months.

Read NYC Educator on the Ex Bd meeting:

NYC Educator

• Executive Board Takeaway, September 11, 2017 -analysis

• UFT Executive Board September 11, 2017--UFT Defends DACA and Dreamers - Notes

Noted in Arthur's report is this comment from a teacher to the Board:

—School founded six years ago to teach construction trades, was happy place. Were productive. Sent students into trades making more than college grads. Principal was removed. Don’t know why. Joyce Polfis new principal. 21 of his colleagues left willingly, out of 30. It’s like a different school. We look the same, but we aren’t. If everyone who wanted to leave did, there might be only 6 left. I returned to support students. This was done by design. Principal encouraged open market. his shows disregard for well-being of our students and community in S. Bronx. We had the attention of the mayor, teachers looked forward to coming to work, and kids would stay late. Clear we have crisis of leadership.

[Read about this principal at: http://dtoe.org/pulphus/]

What do you have to say when a teacher reports 80% turnover after a new principal comes in and when the UFT leadership is asked to publicize a list of such schools, it turns it down?

A summer of freedom from hearing rank and file teachers showing up to tell their horror stories can make one forget. Before the meeting officially begins any UFT member who signs up in
advance can speak for 2 minutes. After hearing the numerous stories as Arthur chronicled below, I felt I had walked into "It", the new Stephen King horror movie. In the version we saw at the EB meeting, principals dressed up as clowns stab teachers in the back and when the Executive Board, controlled by Unity Caucus, is asked to remove the knives, the Unity Caucus votes it down by saying a knife in the back with the fingerprint of the principal is not enough data. Isn't it possible the teacher tripped backwards and fell on the knife?

I excerpted a few comments by Arthur:

Bronx School founded six years ago to teach construction trades, was happy place. Were productive. Sent students into trades making more than college grads. Principal was removed. Don’t know why. Joyce Polfis new principal. 21 of his colleagues left willingly, out of 30. It’s like a different school. We look the same, but we aren’t. If everyone who wanted to leave did, there might be only 6 left. I returned to support students. This was done by design. Principal encouraged open market. his shows disregard for well-being of our students and community in S. Bronx. We had the attention of the mayor, teachers looked forward to coming to work, and kids would stay late. Clear we have crisis of leadership.... Notes from .... NYC Educator
UFT Executive Board September 11, 2017--

Rose-marie Mills

Villains to note: Rosemary Mills, Supt of Adult ed whom the NY Post excoriated in this Sue Edelman piece:

Many blame Superintendent Rose-Marie Mills, who has led OACE for three years. They charge she has squandered funds, hired friends without adult-ed experience as administrators and failed to give teachers the curriculum they need to help students. “There’s no feedback, no support, no curriculum. We’re left to our own devices,” said a veteran teacher.

Joyce Pulphus

and  
Principal Joyce Pulphus - Bronx Design And Construction Academy --

More from Arthur's report:

Roberta Pikser—Adult Ed.—In June dismissed with no reason after 16 years. Never got U rating before. Got 2 U observations last year. Year end U rating. Dismissed via email. Teaching adults very different. Many uncertified teachers working. Many U ratings this year by new principals. All appointed by Rosemarie Mills.

Had meeting of 20 teachers, most of whom never had U ratings before. She’s waiting on grievance. Mismanagement destroying program. Asks EB for support. Asks for info on how many teachers let go, and how many U ratings. Asks for resolution against harassment. If they can mistreat us, will mistreat you.

Dianne Jenkins—Adult Ed.—Number of students who vitally need adult ed.—those who don’t have HS, English skills, tech skills. 40,000 per year. Rosemarie Mills, from day one, put us on notice they are in a battle and she planned to win. She had no experience in adult ed. Nor do those she hired. Staff rude, walks into classrooms, stop lessons and harass in front of students.  Teachers walking on eggshells expecting U ratings and discontinuance. They serve parents of K-12 schools. Need able help. Asks for help.

Fran Myers—Adult Ed.—Mills knows what’s going on in chapter more than we do. We need info on discontinuance and percentages to strategize. Demand transparency.

Peter Romani—Adult Ed—Has Action committee—has been under attack for 5 years. Numbers shrinking each year, not by accident. Has intimidated every CL. Discipline hearings increased, CLs rated ineffective. 20-30 annual U ratings, and also discontinuances. Observations used to meet quotas of hostility. Mills breaks or bends every rule. We feel let down by union and betrayed by DOE. Vacuum in chapter leadership. Mills will install candidate of her choosing. Need to reconfigure and expand CL position, provide mechanism for AE committee to meet, asks for own DR. No one should suffer so long with supe with unchecked power and entrenched backing of DOE.

Also see: ICEUFT Blog
EXECUTIVE BOARD REPORT -

UFT Exec Board: Hottest Debates in the UFT; MORE members meet With Leroy Barr today on abusive principals

NYC Educator report: Patsy Cline Sings Crazy. UFT Practices It.
I give credit to LeRoy Barr and Howie Schoor for enabling an honest discussion on this issue. The last time I was able to participate in an honest discussion with union leadership was never (and if you're reading this, Unity, that cuts to the core of our problem)....

Arthur Goldstein savages the Unity leadership in his latest post, though recognizing the value of the debate. Arthur and the other MORE EB members are the major reason I'm getting ready to head over to tonight's UFT Exec Bd meeting. I swore I would not attend these meetings where 7 opposition people talk to a crowd of Unity people. But I've been pleasantly surprised by the kinds of open discussions, as Arthur pointed out above, haven't been taking place anywhere else in the union. I wrote about the Ex Bd meeting and the adult ed chapter report from Schirtzer yesterday -- Mike Schirtzer UFT Exec Bd Report: Adult-Education Chapter Stands Up and Fight Back

Opposition members can ask as many questions as they want, speak often and not face calling of the questions to shut off debate - unlike the DA where Unity "call the question" clones shut things down regularly. While Arthur mocks Mulgrew for not attending EB meetings or at most make a token appearance, I think not having him there is a good thing. He can be an oppressive force - with oafish comments.

Howie Schoor, whom I've known for almost 40 years - he repped my on my only 3rd step grievance in 1979 - I lost - is an amiable host.

MORE and New Action come loaded with questions and since the first meeting of the year where we raised a reso on abusive principals, there has been some back and forth with Leroy Barr. Mike Schirtzer has organized a pre-Ed Bd meeting today at 5PM with Barr on the abusive principal issue, which will be attended by people who have been experiencing conflicts at their schools. Our minimal goal is to have the UFT bring up specific principals at consultation meetings with the Farina people. That is a first step. I believe there was a meeting on Friday and we hope to get a report on the adult ed situation I reported on yesterday.

On the debate that took place last week over whether to use Trump's name in a reso - Unity says that will offend Trump supporters in the union -- I thought the long debate was one of the best I heard -- I won't mock the leadership for what is essentially irrational - as Arthur pointed out last week -- that they offended people by their very support for Hillary and spent a year trashing Trump. So to leave out his name now looks ridiculous. But I get that they are getting a little desperate with Friedrichs redux - with the future outlook not looking good for the union. They know that significant portions of UFT members won't pay dues - unless they feel they are getting something for it.

I do believe that on some level the leadership has been trying to be more responsive to people under attack -- I am getting some good reports from some people saying they feel more supported. Also some people who were asking me for assistance have gone quiet - I'm assuming the union is working with them.

Well, gotta go into Brooklyn and grab the subway - look for Arthur's report tonight or tomorrow.

Here is his report of last week's meeting and some other commentary on the use of the Trump name in the reso.

• UFT Executive Board November 28th--We Can't Risk Offending People by Mentioning Trump

• UFT Leadership--Wake Up or Give Up

• Fun Fact--UFT Team High School Has No Input from UFT High School Teachers

   

Mike Schirtzer UFT Exec Bd Report: Adult-Education Chapter Stands Up and Fight Back

There is positive energy coming from MORE holding these EB seats - people feel they can come to these meetings and raise issues with the leadership with the sense that MORE has their backs. Read Mike Schirtzer's report on the Adult Ed chapter complaint. First let me make the point that the UFT District Rep was present at the meeting where the verbal attack by Supt Mills took place on the teacher and remained silent. A more aggressive UFT is needed to put a stop to this type of aggression by DOE people.

Teachers on the consultation committee and the UFT district representative of the Office of Adult and Continuing Education (OACE) were verbally attacked by Superintendent of OACE, Rose Marie Mills. At these meetings where the divisions' teachers and principals from across NYC come together, Ms. Mills is exclusively in charge and has historically not even allowed the principals of respective districts to speak. At the last meeting the Superintendent yelled, screamed, stood up and accused UFT members of being "crazy" because they had asked to halt constant interruptions of administrators entering class-rooms to request data. Ms. Mills treated them in a threatening and aggressive manner through-out the meeting. It was extremely unprofessional. Consultation meetings, as President Mulgrew has often reminded us, are our agendas and our meetings. This was clearly not the case.

The educators that were attacked responded by signing a joint letter to the UFT executive board with a full report of the incident, they reached out to MORE to work with them in presenting to the board, came to our pre-meeting to share their letter with demands, and presented the attack to the entire UFT Executive Board. They stood up for themselves by coordinating a response and demanding the UFT leadership tale action. They will not allow this bully administrator to get away with this.

They asked that the UFT take immediate action and inform chancellor Farina they insist on her presence at the next meeting. UFT Secretary Howard Schoor responded that they will bring this up with at their consultation with the Deputy Chancellors this week and seek recourse....

....Mike Schirtzer, UFT Ex Bd member, MORE/UFT Caucus

The Adult ed chapter of the UFT has been savaged over the years going back to when we formed ICE in 2003 and David Greene, my old high school pal, told us stories of what they were doing. Some members have started coming to MORE for assistance and when they came with this issue, they were invited to attend the pre-Ex bd meeting that begins at 5PM on the day of the EB meetings. I arrived in the middle and was sort of surprised to see them so ready to stand up publicly since there has been so much fear in the chapter -- Ed Notes receives regular communications from people in the chapter. My sense is that there is positive energy coming from MORE holding these seats - people feel they can come to these meetings and raise issues with the leadership with the sense that MORE has their backs.

If you asked me a year ago whether much would come of MORE winning the high school Ex Bd seats I would have yawned -- poor people, wasting their time talking to a roomful of Unity - some of whom, slugs. But so far this time I am fairly impressed by the role our great MORE team of Ex Bd members have been playing and the Unity response. They ask for info and reports and they get them. They can ask as many questions as they want and get a fairly respectful audience. They raise resos and we see some serious discussion.

There is a somewhat different atmosphere at the EB than in the past -- maybe not as much hostility or mockery towards the opposition. This is not the old New Action with older or about to be retired people other than Jonathan Halabi -- now he is one of the oldest opposition members of the board. The EB is more diverse - color and gender - than in the past -- and blunts some of the more aggressive social justice race issues when brought up by white people in the opposition -- the optics of lecturing people of color on race doesn't play. (I went up and shook Leroy Barr's hand the other day for his wonderful speech on the complexities of race at the AFT convention - which was about as social justicy as things could get - and maybe indicative of the problems facing the Democratic Party -- economic issues were not

And best of all Arthur Goldstein does meticulous minutes published on NYC Educator - see the latest here - UFT Executive Board November 28th--We Can't Risk Offending People by Mentioning Trump and a follow-up. Arthur's voice and stature as one of the most read blogs keeps them somewhat accountable.

Tomorrow - Monday - is another EB meeting at 6PM and even though shlepping from Rockaway is not appetizing - and neither is the food -- I may go - partly because I felt the debate over the use of the Trump name - as Arthur reported -- was fabulous and I felt the kind of discussions that should be taking place all the time -- and I also think the Trump victory has made both the leadership and the opposition see things in more common ways -- that the very union is threatened. I will try to do a follow up piece on this before I leave tomorrow for the EB meeting.

Now I have to get over to my acting class at the RTC where I will not be doing Shakespeare.

UFT Exec Bd Report: Leroy Barr Tables, Howie Schoor Reveals Reason for Union Reluctance to go after principals

"Principals have a union, the CSA. The have rights. There's a yin-yang in how we respond." ... Howie Schoor, UFT Secretary closing statement at UFT Ex Bd meeting

Is the UFT a subsidiary of the CSA?
We've known that the alliance between the UFT and CSA was a key issue in the lack of response on the part of our union since the late UFT president Sandy Feldman told me as much back in 1997 when I made a reso at the DA calling for supervisors to not have tenure. So it was nice to hear Howie Schoor, who I've known for 35 years, pretty much say that openly. A principal union can in no way be compared to a union of their employees, especially since they've been given unfettered power and control over UFT members with barely a peep out of the UFT.

My response would be to call out the CSA to get their rabid dogs in line or lose any future alliance with the UFT.

Yesterday I reported on the upcoming UFT Ex Bd meeting - MORE Members Elected to UFT Exec Board attend first meeting

Arthur Goldstein has a blow by blow account: NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board September 19th

As does James Eterno at ICE: WELCOME BACK NON-UNITY ENDORSED REPS ON THE UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD (updated)

The theme of the evening were calls on the UFT to do something about abusive principals. MORE used the 10-minute speaking time before the meeting for non Exec Bd members to put up speakers who raised the issue as a warm-up. Originally I called in on my own but when Dermot Myrie and Rema Margi stopped by the MORE/NA pre-meeting we urged them to call in for time to tell their stories of principal abuse. Then when we got upstairs we ran into old pal Sam Lazarus, retired CL of Bryant HS and Georgia Allignu who was running for CL because the old CL was forced to transfer due to attacks by Horror Principal Dwarka (which takes guts to put your head in the noose). Georgia was there to speak to ask for nominations to be re-opened so she could run - which was done.

Arthur- NYC Educator -  has good summaries of all our statements.

Mulgrew, unlike Randi, drops in to make his report at some point - really, why should he have to listen to questions or regular members who get up to speak during the 10 minutes? He said it will soon be June. Oh these meetings are such a chore.

Mike Schirtzer presented the MORE/NA resolution on abusive principals (see below) and Leroy Barr urged tabling so they could take a closer look at it. MORE's Marcus McArthur followed up with his own story of principal abuse. I'm copying and pasting here:

Mike Schirtzer MORE—Speakers told stories of abuse. Abusive administrators are big problem. Bloomberg years remain as 2-year teachers became principals. They really do have blueprints on how to make people miserable, run them out of schools. In fact, schools have budget issues. Ours does because of veteran staff. This causes bad admin to run people out.
We must do something as a union. Teachers, counselors, social workers ought not to feel threatened and harassed. We are a union of 200K and we must take action using any means available to us. Admin with two unfavorable ratings from staff should be removed. If this happens to teachers, why shouldn’t it happen to them?
We need a check and balance, and we need to be the check and balance.
Leroy Barr—Rises to table. We have been engaged with trying to get APs either checked or removed. We had a program principals in need of improvement. Some items here are the same as we’ve pushed. We know they are there, we are engaged in those fights every day, we have no problem bringing entire weight of union against them.
Can’t be scatter gun. Depends on nuances of individual schools. Agree with essence. We want to make sure we are creating a great environment and ensure it for our kids. Want’s to raise title of District Rep tonight. You will never know all the work they do to save the jobs of our members. They do the work every day and you don’t know what they do. Some are behind closed doors. Some members want to leave. There is a variety of answers. We need to talk about how we solve and create good environment for both teachers and students. Asks we table this tonight.
Secretary—Invites voice of support
Marcus McArthur MORE—I walked into a building 6 years ago, my first job, and CLs classroom had been defiled, garbage everywhere. Principal was responsible. Still in power, in that school. Was a lot of fighting and conflict. Was traumatic.
While union has tried, it has been a catastrophe for those who had to work under these conditions. For me, as new teacher, I was completely at mercy of that principal. Didn’t get a classroom, placed with another teacher to retaliate against that teacher. Was a big threat to me remaining as African American male, as special ed. teacher. Without support of staff, I’d have left system like half of special ed. teachers.
Asks reconsideration of resolution. We must take all action in our power. Cannot tolerate such abuse.

Before we get to the reso itself I want raise a point from Jeff Kaufman on the ICE blog who thinks it was correct for Leroy to table this because surveys are a weak tool.

Jeff Kaufman said...
While it is rare that I actually agree with Unity, tabling this motion was the right thing to do. In fact it should never have been raised. Allowing a survey to determine placement of a principal or supervisor is as misguided for principals as it would be for teachers (which would become a reality in the next contract). Our Union should be forced to take seriously members concerns about abusive principals and take affirmative steps to reassign them by showing they are abusive. The survey tactic is proposed out of weakness. Let's argue for a contract provision which shows how a principal is being abusive and allows our Union to submit to arbitration. While both provisions are probably violative of the Taylor Law let's not support a tactic which not only could be used against us but is not supported by evidence.

James Eterno said...

We have that already Jeff in Chancellor's Regulation C-33 which can be used in arbitration via Article 20. Point is a strong union would make reigning in abusive supervisors a priority. I think a vote of no confidence should trigger the process.

My comment:

ed notes online said...

Jeff has a point on the surveys which are often tainted by principal involvement who tells the staff bad results will lead to punishing the school. I think turnover rates are a clue but also chapters should be given a hearing at the UFT to lodge their complaints and trigger a UFT investigation. I think the reso must go further. There must be a significant portion of a staff willing to take action even if behind the scenes to protect themselves. The very act of a UFT investigation would cause principals to get nervous esp if publicized.

I think MORE and New Action need to think take Jeff's comments into account - and mine too. Let's not give Unity a convenient out on this issue. Leroy's argument that they do a lot must be attacked with example after example. In reports from the districts we heard nothing about what they do to protect UFT members but a hell of a lot about the charity work - good they do that but that is not their main job. I was struck by the Dist 4 DR report on her charity work but no update on the battle at Central Park East 1 where within a few months the principal had 10 teachers under investigation.

Here is the MORE Post:

UFT Leadership Tables Resolution Against Abusive Adminsitrators

Voted  to table by Executive Board. All Unity members voted to table. All MORE/NA voted against tabling resolution.
Notes (minutes) from meeting to follow tomorrow.

Resolution to Use School Survey to Identify and Remove Abusive Administrators
Whereas, UFT members in many chapters are working in fear because of abusive administrators; and

Whereas, too many UFT members are being given unfair adverse ratings by autocratic supervisors; and

Whereas, many administrators have very little experience in the classroom and are provided with a blue-print by superintendents and Department of Education lawyers to remove veteran and new teachers; and

Whereas, our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions so when a UFT member is being unfairly treated it has a direct negative impact on students’ learning environment; and

Whereas teachers have a limited opportunity to anonymously express their concerns about principals through the New York City School Survey Report, including whether “I feel respected by the principal at this school” and “I trust the principal/school leader at his/her word” and “The principal at this school is an effective manager”;

Resolved, that the UFT will publish the name of any school administrator in email updates, social media, the print and online versions of the New York Teacher and a press release the names of any administrator who receive less than a 50% favorable rating on the NYC School Survey Report from UFT members or when there is a chapter vote of no confidence in that administrator; and be it further

Resolved, that the UFT will use any means available to pressure the Department of Education to remove from a school any administrator who receives two years of unfavorable ratings from their staff.