Beating up on UFT/Unity Leadership - Let Us Count the Ways

September was a lazy month for the Ed Notes blog. Only 3 posts. What else is there to say? But my problem has really been that I have so much to say on so many issues, I end up getting tangled up. And then there are all the daily podcasts that occupy so much of my time. So, sometimes, silence is golden. 

October will also be a sparse month as I've got things to do and places to see. 

Thursday, October 5, 2023

Silence has also been golden for the UFT/Unity leadership. With the wild storm on Friday and the incompetent reaction of the Banks and Adams administration (As NYC flooded, a botched shelter-in-place order added confusion at schools - Chalkbeat), there has been no word of criticism from our glorious leaders. But that is part of the pattern when it comes to Mayor Adams, their partner in crime in trying to reduce the healthcare of retirees and coming soon - working UFT members. I've said it time and again - the UFT leadership acts more like a boss than a union.

• It's a Militant Union World - Except for a Certain...
• How UFT/Unity is More Management than Union as it ...
• Regressive and Passive UFT Pales Behind Aggressive...
  

I know it's unfair to Mulgrew to compare him to UAW's Shawn Fain - but, just sayin'.  

Fain plays offense. 

Mulgrew doesn't even play defense. 

He plays for the other team.The NYT has a major story on Fain today.

New U.A.W. Chief Has a Nonnegotiable Demand: Eat the Rich

Shawn Fain’s disdain for the “billionaire class” informs his showdown with Detroit’s automakers. Now he must prove that his hard-core tactics pay off.

Before Mr. Fain took over in March, the U.A.W. leadership did not so much scorn the billionaires as strive to emulate them.  Mr. Fain defeated the incumbent by the thinnest of margins. That might have given another candidate an incentive to keep a low profile, secure an adequate contract and declare victory.Not this fellow. He is playing a very high-stakes game.

Mulgrew, Randi and the Unity faithful don't want to eat the rich. They want to rub elbows with the rich. 

And for those of you who think if Unity Caucus replaces Mulgrew things will be all hunky dory, don't hold your breath. Playing ball with the boss is embedded in their DNA for over 50 years, after the initial decade of UFT militancy in the 60s.

Arthur has two dynamic pieces out back to back:

Mulgrew's Caucus Cheats, Lies, and Disrespects Us: Patronage above all else, including your health

UFT bosses, like Mulgrew and people at every level of his UFT Unity caucus, are also a one-issue group. Their issue is retaining power by any means whatsoever, and their most precious possession is the patronage mill they run. If you’ve ever called UFT and got bad info, if you’ve ever gone to a retirement consult and gotten the old song and dance, you know firsthand that UFT hirees are selected for loyalty rather than talent.

Arthur goes after the Unity patronage machine. I can't tell you how many children of Unity members are on the UFT payroll. Arthur points to the welfare fund. I would add the Teacher Centers, a prime patronage arena. I've always maintained Unity would live with 60 in a class but would fight like hell to save teacher centers. At one point BloomKlein hinted at going after them, which scared the hell out of Unity. Unity has used union jobs to buy off opposition voices for decades. They are super competent at attempts to undermine critical voices. But if they can't buy them they work to suppress their voices.

He follows up with this gem:

The UFT Delegate Assembly Is a Scripted Event: The bosses go to "DA Prep" every month to plot it out.

If the DA is supposed to be the highest decision making body, why is there so little time set aside for resolutions and debate? Why is the President’s Report the only part not time limited? Why is it allowed to be used as a filibustering technique to preclude that which UFT Unity bosses wish to avoid discussing?

Why? Because going back to Arthur's first article, do whatever has to be done to hold on to power. And don't think that if the oppo ever gets close, they won't resort to trying to steal the election.

So, Yes Virginia, Unity rehearses the DA. At one point in the UFT history, the Shanker years, they followed procedures because Shanker was so confident, but with Randi I began to see more and more manipulation and controls - she didn't want any surprises she couldn't handle. With Mulgrew in charge since 2009 it's gotten even worse. They now use backdoor lobbying on social media to get critics banned. 

The use of paid staff to dominate the DA has become endemic. Oppos people at the DA should call a point of order - full disclosure -- before you speak identify if you are on the payroll.  

Arthur has some ideas on reforming the DA. Like limiting the presidential filibuster. It will never happen. The only way to reform the DA is to elect enough chapter leaders and delegates that oppose Unity. And I'd bet that if that happened they would find a way to change the rules to hold onto power, which is the prime directive.

Just think of Unity as just another democracy-in-name-only- totalitarian regime.

 

AFTER BURN

Nick has a report on Monday's Ex Bd meeting and a piece on the lack of UFT responsse to Friday's floods.

Do As I Say – Not as I do: UFT Executive Board Meeting Minutes, 10-2-2023

Educators of NYC

What should the UFT do in the midst of climate/weather emergency?

 We need to actively start pressuring the City to do the right thing – to not put our lives at risk when climate events strike.

It won’t be easy. Our union has given up most of its power outside of traditional bargaining subjects—and climate emergency is certainly not a traditional bargaining subject.

In the end, we’ll need to regain a capacity to strike if we want to have any power, and that will be difficult with a union leadership who mocks and heckles members for having the audacity to utter the words ‘strike readiness.’ But we’ve reached the point where our lives will be at risk if we don’t start mobilizing. In that context, I hope even Unity will recognize the need to do things differently, though I won’t hold my breath.

 

Everything you wanted to know about UFT Elections (Part 3): How Unity Stacks the Deck - What can be done to break the stanglehold? - Norms Magnus Opus

Hi Norm - I'm a former chapter leader and recently elected UFT
delegate. I want to be a part of a movement to defeat the Unity Caucus in 2022. As a former member of Unity I see it is clearly a cult and it is so important to defeat them....  from a contact from UFT Delegate Assemblies.

In UFT elections, if the overwhelming majority of  70,000 classroom teachers were to vote against Unity Caucus, they would only win 23 out of 100 Executive Board and zero officer positions. And therein lies the essence of "democracy" in the UFT.

At-Large block voting—also known as the “plurality-At-Large voting method”[1]—has been called the oldest trick in the book.... the web

Oy! Another election - at my age? After being deeply involved in the 04, 07, 10, 13, 16 elections? I missed the 19 election (thankfully) after the MORE Caucus purged me (double thanks, I didn't need the drama.)

This guy is right about the Unity cult but actually defeat Unity?  While there are some intriguing new possibilities for the 2022 UFT election, the first step is to understand how the process works and the enormous obstacles the anti-Unity forces face. So let's do a deep dive on the process for today's post and explore elections possibilities in follow-up posts. First -- the appetizer, which explains a lot:

Sept. 1, 2021

Good afternoon. Welcome to the September 1 jitters - and joy for retirees.

The UFT is a democratic organization --- isn't it?  

There are elections every three years (it used to be every year in the early 60s, then every two years through 2001) and the majority winner has been Unity Caucus since 1962. That is democracy. But there's democracy and there's "democracy." Let me 'splain. 

First, some basic facts:

UFT membership breakdown (all numbers approximate):

In-Service Total: 115-120,000

Classroom teachers: 70,000  

    Elementary (includes k-8): 37,000

    Middle (6-8 grades): 12,000

    HS (9-12 and 6-12): 20,000

Functional chapters - Support - Paras, secretaries, guidance, soc workers, OT/PT, attendance, home bound, speech etc. --- include non-school based teachers. etc): 45,000

Retirees are also considered functional: So add 70,000 to the 45,000- In elections, 24,000 votes are allowed and fractionalized if there more vote but in recent elections 23-24000 have voted. 

Total UFT membership: Over 185,000

If Unity wins 80% of the vote how can the UFT be undemocratic?

 

The Don't Give a Crap Caucus

Less than 30% vote, with retirees having the highest returns, over 40%. Over 70%of working UFT members are in the DGAC - Don't Give a Crap Caucus. A key to seriously challenging Unity is to make them give a crap.

 

But let's face facts: Unity gets almost 80% of those who do vote, with only high schools breaking around 50-50. How can we be critical of the leadership on democratic grounds? Maybe it's the failure of the groups opposed to Unity? They never take blame and only point fingers, which should be pointed at themselves.

But let's examine the ways the UFT is not democratic and in future posts lay out what the opposition could do to create more democracy since actually winning an entire elections is almost not possible.

Read parts1 and 2 of this series that will go on through infinity - or at least through the final outcome of the UFT/2022 election ending in May.

• 
  

  UFT Elections (Part 2): ICE/UFT meeting calls for United Slate for UFT elections, addresses back to school safety and abusive principals

  We ... call on all caucuses and UFT members opposed to one party ruling Unity Caucus to come together now when there is common cause at UFT ...
• 
  

  UFT Elections (Part 1) - Historical Analysis - Comparing the 2016 success and the 2019 disaster

   

  Also listen to my appearances on WBAI for historical context to UFT undemocracy:

  • 
    

    Listen: Norm and Bruce joined Daniel on WBAI - History of the UFT - the 80s and 90s

    Listen to Inside UFT Politics and History (Part 2), broadcast live on Sat : How The Nation’s Most Powerful Teachers Union Impacted NYC Publ...
  • 
    

    Norm Scott and Shanker Inst Head Leo Casey - Inside the History and Politics of the UFT - First Decades - Talk Out of School -

    How did the UFT get so old so fast? --- NYC Board of Ed official c. 1970 There were no fisticuffs or even enormous disagreements when Leo a...

At-Large Elections - A key to Unity Caucus control -

The Bias of At-Large Elections: How it Works

“The Oldest Trick in the Book”

If you want to rig a local election, there’s an easier way than stuffing a ballot box, gerrymandering a district, or amassing a campaign war chest to scare off challengers. Have your city or county adopt winner-take-all “At-Large” voting, where, instead of using districts, all or most council or school committee candidates must run “at large, city or countywide.

At-Large block voting—also known as the “plurality-At-Large voting method”[1]—has been called the oldest trick in the book.[2] Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg cited this method, along racial gerrymandering, as a preeminent second-generation way to deny equal opportunity for minority voters and candidates.

Congress has banned At-Large voting for all federal elections. It’s been discarded by most states. No voting method has been subject to more litigation for its discriminatory impact on local elections. Yet, while the covers are off the discriminatory impact and intent of At-Large voting, it persists in hundreds of local jurisdictions....
 Read more about at large voting

I will leave the "What can be done to break the Unity stanglehold, if anything?" to Parts 4 or 5- First let's understand how the UFT election game works.

 

How UFT elections work

General elections every 3 years. Next, spring 2022

Officers (12) - President, Secretary, Treasurer, and including VPs for elementary, middle and high schools. All voted for at-large - which includes retirees.*

 

* Until 1994, the 3 divisional VPs - elem, ms, hs - were elected by classroom teacher votes only from their division, not at-large (all union members). When Unity lost the HSVP in 1985, they changed the rules to at-large in 1994 to prevent that from happening again. 

 

Why is this important? Because retirees don't vote in elem, ms and hs and until 1995 they also didn't vote for the VP of each division, now, not only retirees, but every UFT member decides on the HS. MS, El Veep who are part of the 12 officers. This assures Unity total control of the Adcom, which runs the entire union. 

 

*** - only teachers in the schools vote for the three division VPs -- non-teachers in schools vote as functional.

 

Exec Bd (100 members, including the 12 officers):

The Ex Bd is a rubber stamp - it meets every 2 weeks, usually on Monday's at  PM and is open to all UFT members. It doesn't have to be a complete rubber stamp if opposition win enough seats to push back.

Just think - even with Unity dominance they still make 12% of the Ex Bd the officers. 

 

What about the other 88 members? How are they apportioned?

Remember this point that --- if the 70k classroom teachers were to vote against Unity, even if overwhelmingly - say 70% - they would  not even have a quarter of the Ex Bd seats, which are apportioned this way:

 

At large Ex Bd - 45 - add the 12 officers and Unity is guaranteed 57 EB seats, a clear majority.

 

Non- At-Large Ex Bd seats -- 43

 

Elementary: 11   Middle School: 5   High Schools: 7 - total 23

These are the most winnable positions because they are not at-large and retirees don't vote.

 

Functional chapters: 20  - Support personnel - a bastion of Unity support (until recently).  Retirees are part of the functional chapter and can run for these ex bd seats.

 In essence, the functional chapter functions as at-large by lumoing all the chapters together instead of each chapter getting a seat on the board. Thus, add these 20 to the 57 and you get 77, leaving only 23 winnable EB seats. In a future post I will lay out how to win these seats and posit how doing so would be a major cataclysm for Unity even it they are a minority -- it would demonstate the leadership has lost the classroom teachers.

 

 

Retiree vote

The general election is riddled with at-large voting to assure Unity Caucus of control. And a key is that retirees vote for most positions: all officers and the majority of Ex Bd seats.

There are 70,000 retirees, though the current limit is 24 thousand that count - that limit has been raised over the years and often accounts for well over 40% of the total vote.

 

AFT/NYSUT Delegates: 750-800

I didn't mention this category in UFT elections but it is a key to controling the state and national unions, as winner take all gives Unity all of them and is a major perk of joining Unity. If the opposition were to get 49% of the vote it would get no delegates. 

 

The Delegate Assembly (about 4000 members) and Chapter elections - every 3 years -- last one just ended - next 2024.

 

In some ways these elections are more important than the general elections as a way to challenge Unity control. The general UFT elections have no direct impact on what is termed the chief democratic body of the UFT -- the DA, which consists of all chapter leaders from the schools and functional chapters -- there are supposedly around 1800 - and school and functional based delegates in a 60-1 ratio -- Unity pushed its members to run for these positions as a way to control the DA. The retiree chapter alone gets 300 delegates winner take all Unity delegates and they play an important role. In the recent election Retiree Advocate received 30% of the vote and no delegates. Imagine how retired UFT opposition activists could bring their experience to delegate assemblies. 

Generally, no more than 700 show up, mostly Unity Caucus, with a handful of opposition people.

 

These elections are important because if the opposition ever could elect a few hundred and they acted together, they could begin to take some control over the Delegate Assembly -- though if they ever got close, Unity would change the rules. 

 

MORE claims to have elected 100 and other groups also elected people -- if they all work together --- rather than each caucus use the DA to focus on its own caucus building -- there could be an impact to counter Unity dominance of the DA. Caucus hegemony has been one of the major obstacles to mounting an effective opposition.

 

We will know where things stand at the first DA of this new 3 year cycle in October. Meeting in person is a threat to Unity so don't be shocked to see the leadership use the pandemic as an excuse to move that meeting to Zoom, while at the same time advocating for teacher to go into classrooms.

More to come on where things stand in forming a united front, the only way to challenge Unity. Here are a few previous posts:

The United Front: Retiree Advocate/UFT brings frie...

Retiree Advocate/UFT Caucus joins call for United ...

UFT Elections  ICE/UFT meeting calls for united front...

For the US, Right Wing Dictatorships (Haiti etc.) Si, No to Left wing (Venezuela, Cuba) attacked over lack of democracy, which really means right to profit

“He may be a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt supposedly said of one of them (though accounts vary about whether the president was referring to American-backed dictators in Nicaragua or in the Dominican Republic). Two generations of brutal Haitian dictators from the Duvalier family were among a long list of strongmen around the Caribbean, Latin America, the Middle East and elsewhere who received resolute American support, particularly as allies against Communism.

U.S. Habit of Backing Strongman Allies Fed Turmoil in Haiti

Washington dismissed warnings that democracy was unraveling under President Jovenel Moïse, leaving a gaping leadership void after his assassination.... Critics say the American approach to Mr. Moïse followed a playbook the United States has used around the world for decades, often with major consequences for democracy and human rights: reflexively siding with or tolerating leaders accused of authoritarian rule because they advance American interests, or because officials fear instability in their absence.... Mr. Moïse’s grip on power tightened notably under Mr. Trump, who spoke admiringly of a range of foreign autocrats. Mr. Trump was also bent on keeping Haitian migrants out of the United States (they “all have AIDS,” American officials recounted him saying). To the extent that Trump officials focused on Haitian politics at all, officials say, it was mainly to enlist the country in Mr. Trump’s campaign to oust his nemesis in the region: Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro... NYT

At Least Seven Colombians in Haiti Assassination Received U.S. Training

Trainings for the Colombian mercenaries accused of killing Haitian President Jovenel Moïse were conducted in both the U.S. and Colombia, some as recently as 2015.

READ MORE →

You get it? Maduro is an undemocratic dictator, so promote other right wing dictators to try to bring them down. Let's end the fiction about democracy as the issue in trying to bring regime change, especially to communist or socialist nations. Not that even elected leftists have been immune -- see Chile, Iran, and Europe post WWII. I'm particularly sensitive after reading George Schmidt's The AFT and the CIA for John Lawhead's study group --- yes, our own beloved union has been tied up with undermining these nations. https://uftrg.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/the-american-federation-of-teachers-and-the-cia.pdf

Democracy defined: the ability to profit

 The key to understand is that when they talk about  democracy they don't mean the people but the ability of capitalists to control and profit from the resources of the nations that have removed that ability by taking control of resources. Thus it is not that Cubans can't vote but that the tourist industry can't profit. That the mob can't run hotels like they did before Castro. Or that the oil in Venezuela is not available for profit. The same for Iraq - it's about the oil baby. Iran too -- the biggie when the Shah was overthrown was not that suddenly an undemocratic dictator was lost to us -- but the oil went along with him.

Finally, we are seeing the Haiti story expose the hypocrisy of those calling communist countries undemocratic (true) while supporting dictators who are often even worse. I hadn't even realized until recently that the former slaves who overthrew the French in 1800 had to pay reparations to the deposed slave holders until 1947, which bankrupted the country - and the brand new United States democracy supported that and then throughout the 20th century repeatedly interfered in the affairs of Haiti -- and of course went nuts when the Soviets did similar acts on other nations.

Below the fold are more excerpts:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/18/world/americas/haiti-united-states-jovenel-moise.html 

June 27, 2021 - DEMOCRACY NOW! - Democratizing Our School Communities & Union - Educators of NYC

 

Get ready for our online community event later today.

DEMOCRACY NOW! - Democratizing Our School Communities & UnionI’ve signed up to attend a community meeting with The Educators of NYC on Sunday, Jun 27, 2021. Are you free to join me? Use this link to sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/theeducatorsofnyc/event/389714/?referring_vol=1065650&rname=Norm&timeslot=2786883&share_medium=email_link&share_context=email_3

 

Tomorrow, Sunday, 6/27, 2021, at 7 PM, Educators of NYC will ask if more can be done to DEMOCRATIZE NYC public school governance and, even, structures within our cherished educator union.

We hope to have a panel represented by some of our union’s caucuses and leaders, and audience interactions about the topic.

We will also share a special segment about Wednesday’s rally to fight the privatization of city worker’s healthcare, on June 30th at 12 PM. See the details regarding the rally here.

RSVP now. http://forum.educators.nyc

 

 

On Democracy: The Case for Consensus - and my experience in UFT opposition groups

With today being Super Tuesday and supposedly democratic let me make a few points about consensus and caucuses and also talk about my experiences in caucuses (not the same thing) inside the UFT and my differing experiences with democracy in those groups. (Yes I can say everything I learned about democracy I learned in the UFT and in ICE and MORE.)

One of the big gripes I had in the transition from the consensus ICE Caucus to the strict voting of MORE Caucus was how much more democratic and satisfying emotionally the ICE experience was compared to MORE where there was all sorts of manipulation of democracy, including agenda items, how much time was allotted, who was chairing meetings, etc. All designed to assure the people running the group could keep control. And when a time came that they felt they were losing that control they just blew it all up and purged the potential opposition.

I always tried to raise the issue of how some of us viewed democracy and was mocked by some for doing so.  Strict majority rule is oppressive and that was why when we established by-laws in MORE we put in provisions for super majorities to protect the interests of a minority. More ideal to me would have been attempts to find consensus like we did in ICE-UFT and in the previous group I belonged to in the 70s. On very rare occasions we On the ideologue left consensus is a no-no.

A big advantage of consensus is that everyone has to give something in order for the group to function. But when you have hard-edged ideologues in the group consensus will never happen. In ICE we were extreme in the sense that we would spend as much time talking things out as was necessary and we came up with some excellent understanding of issues - there wasn't one ICE meeting where I didn't learn something or get some insight. At MORE meetings I learned very little other than how some factions operated to control the group - actually a very valuable lesson. The argument against consensus was that we had too many people which was not really that true -- it was more about suppressing voices that might raise disagreement. In the early days of ICE we also had large groups and managed some consensus - even when people from groups like the open communist group, Progressive Labor were in the room and clearly disagreed with some policies they were given the chance to present their case and seemed fine if they didn't get their way and didn't veto - a key to consensus is viewing the health of the group as being more important at times than your own views.

Anyway, to get to the point - Today's NYT science section has an article (below) about how certain social animals make group decisions and it's fascinating - they use consensus - even bees. Thus I come to the conclusion that consensus is a natural state and I imagine back in the per-civilization days that was how small bands of humans made decisions.

Now I know that consensus is tough in large societies but I also believe that voting is in many ways undemocratic because 49% can be suppressed.  Proportional representation would solve some of that - something you will never see inside the undemocratic world of the UFT which has been organized from its very beginning along some of the same ideologue ways we've seen in other groups. Like we know full well that Randi will decide on which candidate to support and will then try to hape things to make it look democratic - and not succeed. (More on this point in a follow-up).

The caucus system which has been so vilified is an attempt to have a version of consensus - oh horrors, the political game the media wants played doesn't get done so let's toss out democracy.

How Animals Vote - The New York Times

Sneezing Dogs, Dancing Bees: How Animals Vote

The 2020 election is off to a complicated start. Maybe we can draw some comparative political lessons from the animal kingdom.

Are humans the only animals that caucus? As the early 2020 presidential election season suggests, there are probably more natural and efficient ways to make a group choice. But we’re certainly not the only animals on Earth that vote. We’re not even the only primates that primary.

Any animal living in a group needs to make decisions as a group, too. Even when they don’t agree with their companions, animals rely on one another for protection or help finding food. So they have to find ways to reach consensus about what the group should do next, or where it should live. While they may not conduct continent-spanning electoral contests like this coming Super Tuesday, species ranging from primates all the way to insects have methods for finding agreement that are surprisingly democratic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/02/science/animals-voting-elections.html

Politico - Undemocratic Mayoral Control Survives as Charters Get Major Objective - Ability to Hire Cheaper, Uncertified Teachers

SUNY is now planning to create “an alternative teacher certification pathway to charter schools.” The regulations represent a major first step to resolving an existential threat to the city’s large and powerful charter sector, which relies heavily on young and uncertified teachers, some right out of college, to staff their dozens of schools. Moskowitz, who demonstrated her power in the Capitol with a push to pass a sweeping pro-charter bill in 2014, has been advocating for a fix to teacher certification problems for several years..... .......Politico-- Charter sector secures win in Albany, clearing a path for deal on mayoral control

Eva gets her teachers

Politico reports that Eva gets what she wants -- charters will be able to hire uncertified teachers right out of school. What Politico and the press in general don't report is the context -- why don't they question the concept of uncertified and fundamentally inexperienced teachers and the impact on students?

Charters have trouble competing for teachers and have to pay people more than they want --- by basically being able to drag people off the street they can control their salaries and cover their massive turnover rate --- none of this gets reported.

So for those who think mayoral control is dead, don't get out the stake -- Leonie points to some history:

NYC Public School Parents

Some fact checking & historical context on community school boards and what happened last time Mayoral control lapsed - 
If you follow the debate on mayoral control, it would seem everyone wants it --- except the public, parents and teachers -- the real stakeholders in the system. In the real world, the ed deformers have the major stake in keeping mayoral control, as does the UFT. And politicians. The press goes along. If you followed my post - I Enter Mayoral Control Debate on @BrianLehrer on WNYC--
after my call to the Brian Lehrer program on WNYC where I made the case for local school boards and the case against mayoral control (I didn't have time to make the full case) -- note the surprise in Brian's voice over the fact that people would support the old school board system -- albeit with fixes.

The obvious fact is that there is an attack from the massive ed deform machine on democracy-- elected school boards because they know they can't get very with them in the way.

Read Josh Karan's proposals to return to a rational governance process on Leonie's blog:

Josh Karan: an opportunity to revise Mayoral control and what should happen next

It was nice seeing Josh at the Skinny Awards dinner the other night. I'm going to repost Josh's entire piece over the weekend.

Brian Lehrer commented that the points I brought up were not being debated anywhere -- and I wonder why Brian would not do a segment on the old system with a serious, not frivolous, critique so we can explore real alternatives to mayoral control instead of accepting it as a given. Brian should invite Josh, Leonie, Lisa Donlan and others on his who to do a segment on school governance alternatives to mayoral control. What's the point of his repeating and endorsing the talking points of the ed deformers?

Mayoral control will not die here in NYC as long as the UFT supports it - though there are some misgivings, they are deathly afraid of local control -- they had to work very hard to try to keep local boards in their orbit. It is time for our people on the Ex Bd to begin to pressure the UFT leadership on this -- and I do get that these are high school people who would remain under a centralized system -- but maybe not -- is there room for local high schools?

Some of my fellow bloggers have commented:

ICEUFT Blog

MAYORAL CONTROL MIGHT DIE A VERY TEMPORARY DEATH -

The Doenuts Blog

Mayoral Control is History (Again) - .

Leonie points out, support for mayoral control around the nation is waning: Monday, June 19, 2017

Arne Duncan still arguing for mayoral control -- when the trend is in the opposite direction

In Chicago, there may soon be an election for a school board, which would take away control from Rahm Emanuel -- this is signficant since Chicago was the first place in the nation to impose mayoral control c. 1995 -- 22 years of hell is enough. Not to say that the deformer won't toss massive money into controlling every local election like they recently did in LA and other places -- and they are winning those elections, but at least we get to compete.

Why does the liberal press like NPR and Brian Lehrer totally ignore the issue of why it is OK for Long Island, etc to elect school boards, but not the cities?

Leonie also published this article on the NYCParents listserve:

NYC Voters Don't Want Mayoral Control Of Schools, Quinnipiac University Polls Have Found

https://poll.qu.edu/new-york-city/release-detail?ReleaseID=2469June 22, 2017 - NYC Voters Don't Want Mayoral Control Of Schools, Quinnipiac University Polls Have Found PDF format

Three Quinnipiac University polls over the last two years show New York City voters oppose by wide margins mayoral control of the public schools.

The independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll asks, "Do you think the mayor should retain complete control of the public schools or share control of the public schools with other elected leaders?"

Opposition to mayoral control is more than 2-1, even topping 3 - 1, in each of three surveys:

• May 12, 2015 - Opposed 60 - 28 percent;
• August 2, 2016 - Opposed 65 - 23 percent;
• May 18, 2017 - Opposed 68 - 21 percent.

"The pundits and the experts may believe that mayoral control of the public schools is the best way to proceed, but they haven't convinced the people," said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

In each survey cited, Quinnipiac University surveyed more than 960 New York City voters with margins of error that were less than +/- 3.3 percentage points. The surveys were conducted by live interviewers calling landlines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys nationwide and in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Iowa and Colorado as a public service and for research.

Visit poll.qu.edu or www.facebook.com/quinnipiacpoll

Call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter @QuinnipiacPoll.

Leonie Haimson

Executive Director
Class Size Matters

Is Chicago Teachers Delegate Assembly an Evil Twin of UFT?

House of Delegates Denied Democracy

Read Rebecca Johnson's CORE (Caucus of Rank and File Educators) report of the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates meeting on April 15. No democracy there too? And Randi actually was at that meeting to witness it. Deja vu, Randi?

Randi Weingarten spoke for the longest time and [CTU leader] Marilyn Stewart claimed that the reason for doing this speech/press conference/rally during our House of Delegates meeting was Randi’s hectic schedule and her agreeing to come from New York to celebrate with Civitas* on short notice.

What? Randi speak for a long time? Say it ain't so.

CORE, a fairly new caucus, has been extremely active in the CTU. The Grassroots Education Movement here in NYC, which has people from ICE, TJC, ISO, NYCORE, Teachers Unite and others involved is reaching out to CORE to touch base.

Related:
Marian Swerdlow of TJC does an excellent DA report here in NYC but you have to subscribe to get it. Email me for the contact info: normsco@gmail.com

George Schmidt at Substance compares Arne Duncan to Alan Greenspan
"improving public education" in Arne Duncan's version of reality means more charter schools, the closing of low-scoring public schools, and various forms of choice and material incentives (including teacher merit pay). Duncan claims that he successfully brought those reforms to Chicago's public schools, although Substance has proven in each case that Duncan's claims are false and will continue to do so even more elaborately now that Duncan is trying to export the attacks on public education that he got away with in Chicago.

*They all also were there to praise teachers from three Chicago International Charter Schools (CICS)—Wrightwood, Northtown Academy and Ralph Ellison campuses—which have voted to become unionized. These schools are run by Civitas, one of the charter educational management companies CPS has allowed to open charters in Chicago.

Must See Video: You Are Surrounded - Put Down Those Video Cameras

UPDATE: Read a full account of the raid here.

Thus saith the FBI and police in St. Paul as they surround a house rented by a New York based journalist team from I-Witness Video Collective in a further demonstration of democracy inaction as prep for the Republican convention. We had our own joys with the NYC police at the Republican convention 4 years ago when they arrested numerous people illegally and ended up dropping most of the charges (the law suits still coming up.) BUT THESE ARE JOURNALISTS. You see that happen in Central American tin-horn dictatorships. Well, now that I think of it.... What next, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove death squads in the middle of the night? I'm locking my screen door.

But having journalists report on their own situation is a priceless ad for American democracy as a woman in handcuffs (for walking out of the house) is interviewed and the police break in though the attic (without a proper warrant), point guns at people and handcuff them.




Here is the direct link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi1eluuDGss&eurl

Thanks to Fred Klonsky at Prea Prez for putting this up.