Update on Charter Co-Locos Lawsuit - UFT attacked by Murdoch Press on charters - Where's the response?

UPDATE at July 14, 5 PM:  The Judge ruled that the Temporary Restraining Order would continue so that Success Academy is barred from renovating the spaces in Waterside and Sheepshead Bay until he rules on the application for preliminary injunctions in both lawsuits, which he intends to do as soon as possible.... The DOE immediately argued that these cases should be dismissed, based on their view that the issue should have gone to the Commissioner first instead of to Court, and if not, they should be granted another 45 days to research and argue the other claims made in the lawsuit.  

The Judge seemed surprised, but seemed to ignore that request, and immediately dove into the more substantive questions: namely, whether the Educational Impact Statements should have mentioned the potential impact of these proposals on class size, and more specifically, whether DOE should have analyzed how the loss of rooms at the existing schools might prevent them from lowering class size, especially considering the new class size law passed last spring by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor this fall.

The city's defense seemed to be primarily based on two narrow issues: that the state law that requires EIS's does not explicitly mention class size, and again, that any legal challenge should have been filed with the Commissioner first, as matters such as class size are so complex that they require education expertise.  ....Leonie Haimson: https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2023/07/hearings-today-on-lawsuits-o-block.html

Retirees rally, July 6

There was no UFT presence in court other then a lawyer from Stroock, the UFT law firm. The other lawyer, Laura Barbieri from Advocates for Justice, has worked with Leonie for years. So clearly the UFT is involved but they are trying to stay low-key. No attempt to engage the members in showing resistance, like having people outside. UFT leaders fight a tepid battle against charters, other than a very few. Very, very, very few. Compare to the big crowd of mostly retirees rallying across the street from the courthouse on July 6 to greet the emerging Marianne Pizzitola and the team of lawyers the day before they won a temporary restraining order on the Medicare issue. The lawyers made the poing that showing up influences the court.  Mulgrew is no Marianne.

An astute observer stated to me recently about UFT lack of response to attacks from the right on their charter policy - 

Makes little sense since the NYP & WSJ will blast them anyway, so why not try to get more objective press there?

My response is - what actually makes sense about the UFT/Unity semi-brain trust nowadays? They try to slide instead of proudly owning an anti-charter policy. In essence, they leave the field open to right wing propaganda. But I imagine a response from them would be to show how they don't really oppose charters instead of SCREW 'EM.

Monday, July 17, 2023

I posted the press release Leonie sent out Friday morning: Block co-location of 2 Success Academy charter schools - July 14 - 2 lawsuits, challenging DOE co-location and re-location proposals - With our Favorite Judge

A teacher at the Sheepshead Bay HS Campus, which is deeply affected by the co-loco issue, asked me who was behind the court case opposing charter co-locos and, of course, Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters had a strong hand in it. Not much sign of UFT involvement - except for the clue that one of the lawyers was from Stroock, the law firm used by the UFT (and where Randi came from).

As a school building under threat from an Eva invasion, why weren't the teachers in the affected schools mobilized or even notified? Because the UFT tries to fight charter from under the covers for fear of being accused of being anti-charter by the right wing and even the liberal media. Duhhhhh! They'd attack the UFT even if they did nothing. I have links to the Rupert Murdoch press attacks below.

The UFT and charter schools has an ugly history, going back to the Al Shanker creation of the very idea of charters. I myself saw the charter option as attractive in the late 90s as a teacher empowerment tool to get out from under DOE bureaucracy and dictatorship supervisors - I even urged Randi to provide UFT support for members who wanted to start a charter school - naturally they would be a UFT school - and if she listened to me the landscape might not look the same. Teachers would choose the supervisors - a revolutionary concept but one that has been used in Europe and elsewhere.

What happens when teachers run the school

I've always maintained that a teaching staff should chose the principal, not the DOE.

But Randi had a different idea -  have the UFT itself open charters - which they did and they did not do very well --- the UFT is just another bureaucracy, after all. My plan would have teachers, not the union or a corporate entity, running schools. Randi put me on a committee to plan a charter school with CCNY but that fell through. Then I realized -- the UFT leadership is as afraid of empowering teachers as the DOE and the corporate world is. Once I was clued in that teacher power was a dream, I turned against charters.

Now, the UFT does oppose charters in some ways but weakly. They support charters if they meet certain conditions. 

Support for charters is a fundamental contradiction to support for public schools.

The UFT does not focus an attack on the idea of charters as a drain on public funds and the creation of a dual system that ultimately harms all students. Or call for the conversion of charters back to public schools.

The UFT does openly fight lifting the cap on NYC charters, so some credit there. Note this headline from Jan. 2023: He took a position on NY State charter authorizing bodies.

NY teachers union wants changes to charter schools:https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/politics/2023/01/30/united-federation-of-teachers-wants-changes-to-ny-charter-schools

Yeah, I want changes. I want the ed scam of the century - think Bit-Coins - gone.

UNITY Caucus Contract Gaslighting, Show Rallies, Mulgrew postures on a strike, Why Vote NO Will Win a Better Contract, UFT Election Officials Refuse to Reveal Para Election Numbers

Tuesday May 30 - Too much news to report, but here goes anyway

Rumors that oppo in para election won two out of 5 positions up for grabs. The para chapter is the second largest (28k)after retirees in the UFT. Try to imagine how a general election (in 2025) would look of both of these chapters were close. Unity will pull out all stops, especially in the 2024 chapter elections. Watch those numbers (if they are honest) for signs of breakage in the Unity front.

When people used to claim Unity cheats in elections I always responded they don't have to steal an election - until elections get close and contentious. Then it's Katy bar the door. I firmly believe that if UFC ever won, Unity would pull a Trump and refuse to leave. 

There's a breaking story on the recent UFT para chapter election to replace leaders who have retired or left for the next year until the regular 2024 chapter elections with hints of Unity playing games and a refusal by UFT election officials to release voting counts. Educators of NYC has the preliminary story while we get more details. I reported on April 15:

Corruption @UFT in Para Election: Full-time patronnage jobs -- Unity is more interested in Unity than its membership: Contentious UFT Para Chapter Election - Does Unity Cheat? I Know, you're shocked! 

It's an old  Unity ploy  - to offer jobs to potential oppo people. Do you know what scares them to hell about a strike? Due to loss of dues checkoff hey would have to cut staff and lose this advantage. And don't be surprised to see Unity try to pull a bait and switche by replacing Mulgrew and Tom Murphy in their next elections. Don't be fooled --- Unity will always be Unity no matter who's in charge.

 

UFT holds contract rallies: Not everyone buys in  

There were multiple rallies on Wednesday, including the UFT rallies at the boroughs. One of my friends asked why I didn't mention them. Frankly, holding union rallies in 5 boroughs rather than trying for a massive rally only made sense because the leadership had no confidence in mobilizing a mass. So dilution it was. I hear the one in Queens was big - maybe 5-600 but other boroughs not as strong.

...our union is weakened by demonstrations that are essentially just for show. There are times to stand up, and when those times come along, we're either asleep or being stabbed in the back by the Municipal Labor Committee, including our esteemed leadership. More likely, we're asleep and being stabbed in the back by leadership. ...I'm not energized by lies. I'm energized by fighting for real progress.  Our leadership, Mulgrew included, is moving us backward. We should be a vibrant force, the "powerful teachers union" the tabloids are always complaining about. Instead, we're a sleeping giant. Step one in awakening this sleeping giant is tossing the Unity Caucus out of power. We'll begin that process with the retirees. I hope to be one by election time.... Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator

Arthur is on target. UFT leaders will claim the rallies have an impact. On whom? I don't think the powers that be are scared by a few thousand people, if even that many showed. Unity Caucus has over a thousand members, so they are required to show up. And the opposition, so constantly denigrated by Unity hacks, are the most loyal in supporting union initiatives, no matter how lame they may be, even though they point out the flaws.

Rousing rank and filers is hard - but also dangerous to the leadership.

The UFT has about 130k working members. Flood the streets and bridges with 50k and that would make a statement. But when you put contract negotiations under a non-disclosure agreement so the members and the public have no idea what exactly is going on, don't expect results. So the rallies are more about internal issues. An attempt to rouse the membership. But not to much rousing.

Nick Bacon had a similar take as Arthur at the New Action blog:

I am hopeful that attendance will be good – not just by staffers, but by regular rank-and-file teachers, paras, and related professionals. And yes, I plan to attend, and have encouraged members of my chapter to attend. I encourage you to attend too...the preparation meetings for May 24th have been feel-good Unity-heavy events that seemed to lack substance. Moreover, using an event like what is planned on May 24th for ‘yes-vote’ purposes rather than negotiating purposes would keep with the MO of other ‘Taylor law proud’ union leaders, such as those of DC37, who held a major rally on Feb. 16, only to announce a tentative agreement with the City the next day (Feb. 17). That deal, we now know, cemented one of the worst patterns in the history of the NYC labor movement. That pattern, we’re now stuck with.

Arthur

It's fine that UFT is out there. But the fact is, the overwhelming majority are not. The overwhelming majority of us are essentially asleep. That's been a feature of our union for decades. You can tell when people speak about it. People say terrible things about the UFT, not realizing they're describing themselves. Sadly, pathetically even, a lot of us feel no responsibility for anything whatsoever regarding our union. For many of us, the union is somehow the people sitting in offices. 

Nick 

it’s a mistake that our union’s leadership is so committed to keeping working teachers from having the right to strike. I think that their over-reliance on bureaucratic ‘Taylor Law’ tactics undermines the potency of our organizing. And, I worry that if UFT leadership is relying on the threat of PERB rather than the culmination of good organizing (i.e. the viable ‘strike’ threat), the City has little reason to react to the limited organizing it does see.

Nick and oppo are mocked by Unity all the time for standing up to them. Witness this recent Unity leaflet:

You see, you are disloyal if you question, just like any authoritarian regime. Yeah, Unity does the work - of the scam private insurance companies.

There were other rallies taking place on May 24.

A fun rally at city hall, followed by bird dogging Mayor Adams - and the police response to 30 old codgers and a load of cops

I posted that morning just as I was leaving for the Rally and Protest Day for Retirees opposing UFT on Healthcare, People's Plan opposing budget cuts and UFT for the contract

The CROC (Cross Union Organizing Committee) rally was at 9:30 outside City Hall was separate from other demos going on at the same time - much younger workers who joined a long line to testify at City Council hearings. I gave out copies of The Indypendent with my article comparing the dynamic Chicago Teacher and Los Angeles unions with the moribund UFT: A Tale of Two Teachers Unions comparing influence of progressive Chicago CTU with Tepid UFT - Norm's article in The Indypendent.

Rather than go into the council CROC (consisting of UFT, DC 37, CUNY and other city union retirees) had people read their submitted testimony outside. At 10:30 we heard that Mayor Adams would be appearing along side the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate its birthday and we decided to birddog him and marched to the area under an overpass shouting slogans on a public walkway until police saw us and put a metal battier in our way. Gloria made a little video from the Rally at City Hall "Do Not Screw Retirees, Mayor Adams!" https://youtu.be/aUfrCBSNWgE.

Why Vote NO? Why not? 

Unity whiners cry about our 5 demands before voting YES. They will argue we go to the back of the line, blah, blah, blah. In 1995 we rejected the contract which raised from 20 to 25 years of work to reach max salary. Sandy Feldman said if we think we can do better we must be smoking something. Well take a tote because they came back with 22 to reach max. Think of how much money people have saved over the decades with those extra 3 years? Not a total victory because it was still a giveback, only not as bad. And the OT/PT chapter rejected the 2018 contract and the redo came back with a few nuggets. So there is precedence.

We gain leverage with a no vote by demonstrating members are unhappy are ready to go beyond the leadership. Cred threat of a strike either led by leadership or wildcat actions - as we've seen from teachers around the nation over the past 5 years.

I urged a VOTE NO - a year ago and go back to Ed Notes in 2009 as a reference

Thursday, June 23, 2022

I've been mocking the UFT/Unity leadership over its faux negotiating committee farce for years.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

UFT Contract UFT Cast of Thousands Contract Committee
I raised some questions on the then 350 member Neg Comm, now expanded to as many as can fit in the cone of silence dome.

Questions on the Negotiation Committee: How are people chosen to be on this committee? Of the 350 committee members how many are in Unity Caucus? Does secrecy mean that Unity Caucus members don’t discuss the issues brought up for discussion among themselves? Are we to believe that the only discussion that takes place among Unity Caucus members is in the committee room?

If you think top level Unity don't discuss the issues beforehand, take a walk on the bridge you just bought.

In fact, I believe just about all contract issues have been pre-decided by the leadership and their main problem is how to filter the info out to the negotiating committee and how to do it to make it look democratic. Every committee will echo the election committee with a Unity majority. I like that there are people who want to be on the neg Comm even if having to sign the NDA and also that there are people who won't sign.

 

 

We know the contract will suck and many in the opposition will call for a Vote No campaign - in fact I'm starting the campaign right now -- oh, shit, retirees don't get to vote on the contract. You working stiffs have my proxy.

Some Unity slug will stop by to comment on how dumb I am.

 

 I urge people to accept the reality and just call for a NO VOTE NOW.

Mulgrew joins UFT to private insurance scam artists

 

I urge you to read this report from The Lever on The $20 Billion Scam At The Heart Of Medicare Advantage, which will outrage you, especially since Mulgrew has placed our own union and all city retirees at the service of the enormously profitable private insurance companies that will lead to the end of Medicare as we know it as public funds are drained into stock givebacks and exec salaries. What the UFT, with the support of the AFT president Randi Weingarten did was help bring about the end of the only publicly managed option, the very opposite of their claims to want a medicare for all system. 

When I sent this article above to my wife who ran the billing system for a division of a major hospital, she rolled her eyes and said she's known about these schemes for 30 years from pressure being put on doctors with gifts, etc to upcode to make people sicker than they are. She often tried to resist dishonest coding and was not very popular with some administrators.

At a recent Retired Teacher meeting a woman explained that upcoding can be harmful for us as patients as our records would not be accurate if we had an emergency.

From the last UFT ex Bd meeting

Unity hack1: There was not one time that I voted on a contract that I wasn’t aware what my union pointed out to me and what I chose to read. I don’t think any of our members need two weeks to look at what is important to our members. I think this resolution is somewhat insulting, that it would take anyone two weeks to read what is important. I trust our union leadership, and I trust our union.

Unity hack2: How many people presenting this have actually read the contract and the 2018 MOA? How could you possibly have harmony? How could we have that whenever we have exec boards and DAs things are reported out negatively? Imagine the negativity that will come out if 2 weeks notice are given. Right now we have a vote no campaign – you haven’t even seen the contract.

A few Takeaways:

We gain leverage with a no vote - demonstrates to city members are ready to go beyond leadership

Cred threat of a strike either led by leadership or wildcat actions - as we've seen from teachers around the nation over the past 5 years

Penalties on members are harsh in two for one but harsher on leadership which can be fined extensively and lose dues checkoff - catastrophic for UFT if had to collect dues individually.

 

Mulgrew mentions the S word - and people LOL- EONYC comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

trying to argue that it’s not illegal for public sector workers to strike in NYS is laughable. Mulgrew said it just means “you can but you have to pay fines”. While Section 210 of Taylor Law reads “PROHIBITION OF STRIKES”. He also failed to say union leaders are fined + jailed. The word play is intentional as his Unity leadership caucus has done nothing to lobby against the Taylor law provision that makes an unfettered right to strike possible, despite calls from

@UFT

rank and file. Imagine telling someone during the 1920’s Prohibition: Buying alcohol is not illegal. It’s just prohibited with some fines. Or the cop who pulls you over: My tinted windows are prohibited but not illegal. In fact, your dictionary will likely define illegal as not lawful or prohibited by law. When something is prohibited by an authority like the state it is ILLEGAL. See Shanker thrown in jail in last illegal teacher strike in 1975. Striking is a human right. And should not be prohibited/illegal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting factoid from NYCDOE

 
UFT, DOE and class size

A community activist comments:

"Meeting the new class size standards is going to require a real plan -- and so far, the DOE hasn't managed to create one.  This document is missing a strategy for implementation and a targeted proposal for where and when new seats should be built. The state passed the small class size law and increased funding to New York City public schools to pay for it. We will work with the state to make sure the New York City Department of Education fulfills its obligations and complies with this law" - Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers

If Mulgrew is serious about implementation and enforcement, he’d support a class size guarantee in our next contract. The United For Change coalition is calling for one as part of their BIG 5 contract demands. -- Educators of NYC

http://tinyurl.com/big5demands

Note the guest blogger today at ICE blog - the famous RBE, formerly proprietor of Perdido Street School blog.

Waiting for Mikey

Guest Blogger: RBE

 

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. 

Mayoral Control Under Attack, Assembly Dems Push Back - Call for Tweaks, Where Does UFT/Unity Stand?, Will UFT Snub Robert Jackson Again?

IDC, Unity - Is there a difference?

Angel Vasquez's work for an IDC member. He also works on the 14th floor at the UFT, where he advises Mulgrew on political policy along with Cassie Prugh (former Cuomo policy staffer and energy industry lobbyist) and others.

The UFT has endorsed Jackson’s opponent every time he’s run for the Senate: Marisol Alcantara, even though she was IDC and pro-charter. The first time she won and the second time she lost.  His opponent this time is Angel was her chief of staff.

You can link mayoral control in any city to resistance to class size reduction. They prefer to blame the teachers. So note this comment from Leonie Haimson on her blog re State Sentator Robert Jackson and follow the UFT bouncing ball.  

Sen. Jackson repeatedly threatened that he would hold back state funding if the DOE refuses to lower class size, as outlined in the his bill S6296A, and the same as Assembly bill, A7447A, sponsored by AM Simon. Jackson also implied that his support for continuing mayoral control was at risk due to DOE negligence on the issue-- and that in any case, he would not support an extension of more than two years.

THERE ARE RUMORS THE UFT WILL SUPPORT Angel’s Vasquez, PRIMARY OPPONENT OF LONG TIME FRIEND OF TEACHERS ROBERT JACKSON? Don't be shocked. 

Angel’s Vasquez'  LinkedIn profile shows that his only teaching experience was at a CO charter school.  Meanwhile, RJ has always been resolutely anti-charter – as well as the #1 proponent of class size reduction in the Legislature, and the sponsor of S.6296A  which would phase in class sizes caps at much lower levels starting next year.

WOULD UFT OPPOSE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF CLASS SIZE REDUCTIONS AND MAYORAL CONTROL OPPONENT -- DOING THE WORK FOR ED DEFORMERS.

James Eterno commented: Jackson is too pro-teacher.
Yes Virginia -- the leadership of the biggest teacher union is fundamentally, time and again, Anti-teacher.

Leonie reported this revealing point about Jackson at the recent
State Assembly and Senate Joint Hearings.

The topic of class size was first introduced  by Sen. Robert Jackson, the original plaintiff in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, which after many years of advocacy, is finally bringing more than $1.3 billion in additional state funds to NYC schools. Yet the administration plans to invest none of these funds in lowering class size, though the city's excessive class sizes were a central issue in the lawsuit and the court's decision that our students were deprived of their right to a sound, basic education.  

... Leonie Haimson continues:

I’ve testified at countless mayoral control hearings since it was instituted nearly 20 years ago. Yesterday’s joint Senate and Assembly hearings far surpassed any of them.  You can watch the video here. Sorry to say there were very few news stories about it, because most of the education reporters were covering the Mayor's announcement about lifting the mask mandate in schools.  It was their loss, since the questioning by legislators was sharp and had a new seriousness about it, and the testimony from parent leaders was passionate and incisive.  - on her blog.

Attempts to raise the issue of mayoral control of the schools with the UFT/Unity leadership have been rebuffed since last year. The fact is the UFT has always been in favor of having the least amount of voices involved in decision making as long as the leadership (not the membership) had a seat at the table. The UFT/Unity mantra - the least amount of democratic voices possible. And don't forget their continued opposiiton to putting class size front and center in contract negotiations - plus the severe Mulgrew defeat on his city council class size initiative -- which I supported but of course was executed ineptly.

There have been some soundings coming out of fortress Unity calling for tweaks - like shifting some PEP choices to borough Presidents and maybe a seat or two for the city council - still a system where political operatives, not regular people have a voice. Maybe there should be a Unity Caucus rep on the PEP.

But after 20 years of mayoral control, more and more people have grown tired of one person dictating control of 1700 schools, one million kids and their parents, and 125,000 pedagogues. 

Here's Mayoral control stalwart opponent Leonie Haimson's full blog postm followed by a Politico and NY Post article.

Why Friday's hearings on Mayoral control were the best in twenty years

 and what was said about the need for smaller classes & more fiscal oversight

https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2022/03/why-fridays-hearings-on-mayoral-control.html

Eric Adams' 400 Blows on class size - why stop at 400? let's make it a massive zoom party and sell off schools for condos

Recent reports on Adams' comments last year that new technology would allow teachers to cover 400 students. I have a better idea that will save a mint.

There are a million kids in the NYC system, give or take 50 thousand. So if a teacher can handle 400 why not make it a hundred thousand. Hire ten teachers at a million bucks apiece and shift to complete remote system. Use the money saved to get top level tech for the kids. Even pay for daycare centers for them. 

Each teacher gets a staff for support - model the call centers in India.

This preps us for the next pandemic and may even prevent a spread.  

Transportation systems will be relieved and traffic too  no more yellow school buses to block your street. 

Now what if we need some in person events? Just use stadiums - Imagine Yankee stadium as a classroom -- and you'd reduce class size from 100K to 50k.

And best of all -- sell off all school real estate for condos. Can I get a penthouse in Stuyvesant?

Today - Rally for Smaller Classes and Maya Wiley -

 

Dear Norm --

Please join us at a Rally for Maya Wiley and Smaller Classes!  

When: Sunday, June 13 at 10:40 AM

Where: Jackson Heights, Queens at 81 St. and 34 Ave.

Map here. Nearest subway: 82^nd street (#7 line) or Roosevelt Av/Jackson Heights (#7/E/F/M/R).

As you know, NYC Kids PAC endorsed Maya Wiley for Mayor a month ago -- in part, because of her strong advocacy for smaller classes and other progressive education policies.

Since we endorsed her, Maya has also been endorsed by AOC, Diane Ravitch, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Representatives Jamaal Bowman, Nydia Velasquez, Hakeem Jeffreys and many other trusted leaders & organizations and has been quickly rising in the polls.

Please join us and bring signs if you can! You can also volunteer for her campaign here.

2. Today is the first day of early voting. You can find your polling site here. You can also download and/or print all our endorsements on one handy page to take to the polls.  

3. Our friends at Class Size Matters have prepared a handy guide with charts comparing all the leading mayoral candidate's positions on education, from charters to Mayoral control to class size. Please check it out. It includes a reference to what Eric Adams claimed at a mayoral forum last fall: that good teachers can teach 300-400 students remotely. If we’ve learned one thing from the pandemic, is that remote learning with large classes doesn’t work.

Hope to see you this morning in Jackson Heights!

Thanks,

NYC Kids PAC