Ding Dong - NYS Ed Comm Elia Resigning - Via Ravitch

New York Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is resigning at the end of August. No reason given.... Ravitch

Our union's buddy is leaving. Remember how they loved her and Bill Gates at the AFT convention in Seattle in 2010 and how they backed her for the state ed job? Arthur has been savaging the state ed dept under her reign: NYSED and ESL--Stupid Is as Stupid Does.

I think Arthur did it.

And Leonie too:

NYC Public School Parents

NYSED attempts to radically weaken NY Student privacy law to allow for the selling of student data - 
And NYState Opt Out Leader Jeanette Deuterman

More from Leonie: 
My brief thoughts on Elia's sudden resignation
https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2019/07/commissioner-elia-resigns-lets-hope-for.html



 Here is the Ravitch post.

The news just broke on Twitter and on Orthodox Jewish websites.

New York Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is resigning  at the end of August. No reason given.

She was a champion of testing, Common Core, and sanctions for parents to dared to opt out of state testing.

Breaking News! NY Commissioner Elia Resigning by dianeravitch

Fifty Years Ago - Man on the Moon - and Me in Paris

Fifty years ago coming up on July 20 I had just begun my first trip abroad, alone lugging my too big and overstuffed suitcase and my Europe on $5 a day book, a momentous personal event in my life that was my personal equivalent of a walk on the moon. (Truly, a trip like this was as likely for me as a walk on the moon.) As a big fan of the space program, I had to find a place to see the first walk on the moon. 

I was in Paris, the first stop of a 6 week trip - at that point I had no real idea how long I would be there or where I would go next. When I landed on a UFT charter flight full of NYC teachers and their families, I was scared to death.

I had completed my 2nd year of teaching -- the 1968-69 school year and it was a momentous year for the UFT and the NYC school system with a massive impact that is still felt today. It also was a momentous year personally.

Most of the early part of the year had been wiped out by three teacher strikes over the community control issue related to the demands from the Brownsville Brooklyn community board over transferring teachers whom the community considered unfriendly to the experiment. Most schools in the city were closed, except for Brownsville and pockets where radical teachers and parent supporters opened up the schools. When the strike ended sometime in November, make-up time was added to each day in addition to the loss of holidays, including most of the Xmas vacation. I think we worked from 8AM until 3:15 until sometime in May.

I was still an ATR even into the 2nd year at the same school (the principal had let me go but I was sent back there -- he thought I was a terrible teacher - and didn't want me in a class. But he left after the strike and the new principal liked me and when a teacher left in January (an NYU law student who got some kind of deferment) I asked for his class - the AP in charge was livid and didn't want me. But I threw everything I had into it and won him and everyone else over by the end of the year -- those months between February and June made me into a teacher. And I was feeling pretty hotsy totsy and full of myself -- I never would have attempted a trip like this alone without having gained enormous confidence from this teaching experience.

So I was ready for an adventure when school ended. Many of my colleagues were heading for Europe on cheap UFT sponsored charter flights. I had never traveled alone - or even traveled much at all and tried to convince a friend to go but he didn't want to so faced with the choice of staying home (I still lived with my parents in Canarsie) I signed up for a 6 week trip landing in Paris and leaving from London. What an adventure - and it changed my life.

I had been an avid follower of the space program since the late 50s -- I really wanted to go into space. Realizing that the landing on the moon would happen my 4th day in Paris, and the first walk would take place early in the morning Paris time, I had to find a TV. I read that the Museum of Natural History would have a screen set up, that was my destination but the Paris subways were closed at night. But I think they opened up around 5 AM and I was able to get to the museum where I found a massive amount of tourists who had the same idea. We had to hang out for an hour or so and I remember meeting a student from Germany for that hour - you became best friends for an hour or so - once we got in we lost each other and I never saw him again.

The conditions were not optimal and I couldn't hear what Armstrong said and had to ask someone to repeat it. People hung out for a bit but the crowd dissipated and everyone went off to find a place for breakfast. I was too busy and out of touch to follow the rest of the saga and trip home. I returned in late August (with a mustache) as a different person than I was 6 weeks before - a life changing experience that began with finding a museum in Paris to see a man walk on the moon.

Read all about it:

Apollo 11: 'The greatest single broadcast in television history'

 

BMORE/CEDE Caucuses declared winners in Baltimore by AFT

Two social justice caucuses united to win the Baltimore election against an 8 term incumbent.
Baltimore Movement of Rank-and-File Educators Baltimore Caucus of Educators for Democracy and Equity

I reported on the election:

• Social Justice Activist Ousts Randi Ally, 21-Year Incumbent as Baltimore Teachers Union President - Antonucci
• Why Can't MORE B more like BMORE? - Radical Teachers’ Movement Comes to Baltimore

BMORE is affiliated with UCORE, the national social justice network of union activists. MORE is a charter member but BMORE decided not to be like MORE and actually ran to win and aligned with another group to do so, unlike MORE here in NYC which fundamentally destroyed the opposition to Unity here in NYC.

Frankly, I didn't expect this outcome but it indicates that Randi is covering her flank from the left social justice caucuses inside the AFT. It certainly helps that there in no threat from a social justice caucus in New York to the Unity machine, which is the key element in the entire AFT/NYSUT/UFT structure. In this report Antonucci predicts come stormy weather ahead since Randi ally and eight-term incumbent Marietta English had her appeal rejected. 
“This decision does an injustice to our union,” said English.

Get it how the AFT machine works -- you fall in line or get dumped. (See former NYSUT leadership). English is still president of AFT Maryland and if she causes trouble she might find herself out of that job.

Antonucci reports:

It’s Official: Baltimore Teachers Union Has a New President

The American Federation of Teachers ruled that the disputed election for the presidency and executive board of the Baltimore Teachers Union would stand. Challenger Diamonté Brown will take over as president of the 7,000-member union, replacing eight-term incumbent Marietta English.

“This decision does an injustice to our union,” said English.
AFT judged that while some minor violations had taken place, “We cannot conclude that this activity could have affected the election.”
The election may be settled, but trouble still looms for the union. Brown’s slate controls the teacher positions on the executive board, while English’s slate holds all the paraprofessional seats.

English also remains president of AFT Maryland, which portends a lot of internecine squabbling in the near future.

Baltimore Sun
https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-ci-union-elections-20190711-nyl2jv4yr5fy5mlyuf4yztkqf4-story.html

After election review, Diamonté Brown poised to be confirmed as new president of the Baltimore Teachers Union

An investigation into the Baltimore Teachers Union election found that a few members of the newly elected president’s caucus used some school resources to promote the campaign, but ruled the violations were “minor” and didn’t change the results.

The American Federal of Teachers affirmed Diamonté Brown as the winner on Thursday, rejecting losing candidate Marietta English’s challenge and petition to hold a new election. The AFT report, obtained by The Baltimore Sun, cited violations by the Union We Deserve caucus, which Brown is a part of, such as using employer email and facilities for campaign purposes.

In one instance, the report said, a member of Brown’s caucus sent out a notice promoting a union campaign event on her school email. The AFT report also found the that Brown’s caucus sponsored two events on school property. The third violation involved two delegates of Brown’s caucus participating as an observer in the balloting process.

“While the [the Union We Deserve] caucus did commit violations of the election rules,” the report said, “we find that these violations did not affect the outcome of the election.”

The AFT concluded that, “these violations appear minor in their scope."

The report marks an end to a contentious election season between Brown and the incumbent, English, who has held the position for more than 20 years.

English issued a statement before the results were officially announced and called the decision to not pursue a re-election “an injustice to our union.” She said the AFT report “clearly lays out that egregious violations took place during the election process and I strongly disagree with the conclusion that even with these violations a new election would not be held."

English lost the election held in May by a vote of 901 to 839. At the time, she claimed the election was riddled with rules violations and said she could not concede.

In May, the Progressive caucus, which English is part of, wrote to the BTU Nominations and Elections Committee, accusing Brown’s caucus of election misconduct.

The letter included a number of complaints, but only a few were found to be violations in the AFT’s final investigation. The AFT concluded that the other accusations, such as early campaigning, criticizing other candidates and house visits were all permitted under the AFT and BTU constitutions.

'I'm doing this for my students': Diamonté Brown elected next Baltimore Teachers Union president »

 

When asked about how this election would affect her relationship with English, Brown said, “We have a good relationship, and I hope to continue to work with her.”

Brown will lead a divided union. The executive board is split between teachers and paraprofessionals. Her slate captured the majority of teacher positions, but the English Slate took all the paraprofessional spots, according to the preliminary results. The English Slate’s teacher candidates are all also challenging the election results.

“There have been a number of challenges to the election process with each side demanding fairness,” Brown said at a news conference Thursday, “and the challenges reaffirm that we are committed to the democratic process.

“Now we will work together to advance members’ interest,” Brown said.

As the new president, Brown told The Baltimore Sun, her top goals will be to increase membership engagement, fight for equity and increase partnerships between the teaching professions, such as teachers and paraprofessionals.

Brown said her first action will be to speak with the entire paraprofessional slate one-on-one to “listen to what they have to say and use that to guide us toward being a united front.”

“Even if we’re not on the same page, everyone deserves to be heard,” she said earlier this spring. “I don’t think people have to be on the same page to get work done. Everyone has the same goal” of bettering the lives of teachers, students and families.

School Scope: On Democracy and the Queens DA Race

Here is my latest for The WAVE- July 12, 2019 -- www.rockawave.com. I wrote it on Tuesday so it may not make it into this edition. The Queens DA race has received extensive media coverage because it reflects the internal battle in the Democratic Party between the machine and the new kid in town, DSA activists on the left, an interesting shift from the socialist left which had viewed the Dem Party as little different from the Republicans and not worth the effort. Many still think that way and they will force that debate to be ongoing in DSA, with things coming to a head at their upcoming convention in Atlanta in August. More on the left and the Dems in followups.

School Scope:  On Democracy and the Queens DA Race

By Norm Scott, July 9, 2019

I’ve been posing the Queens DA race as a test case with national implications for the future direction of the Democratic Party. In some ways I see this internal battle as having equal if not greater impact than the 2020 presidential race. (Give me a smack in the head the next time you see me.)

The Democratic Party machine, where our local pols reside, supports Katz. The Cabán coalition, based on the northwest quadrant of Queens, which is one of the most diverse communities in the nation, is supported by activists from all areas of the progressive wing of the party, but the muscle is provided by the Democratic Socialists (DSA), which has been building local chapters throughout the city to challenge selected races on the local, state and selected Congressional levels. (The latest will be NYC principal Jamaal Bowman’s primary effort against longtime Congressman Eliot Engle in the 2020 congressional election in the Bronx: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jamaal-bowman-democratic-primary-challenge-eliot-engel-new-york-justice-democrats_n_5d081e57e4b0ea7c4a4e4c97

One interesting angle here is that the black leadership in Queens, led by Dem County Chairman and Congressman Gregory Meeks, supports Katz. Meeks is not on the progressive wing. Does the black community, which seemed to go for Katz, automatically follow their leaders? Or is there more to it than that – a generally more conservative bent on a number of issues? (Don’t forget the influence of the church). There are rumors that the real Queens boss is still Joe Crowley who was defeated by AOC. Oh, how delicious politics can be --- better than the NBA free agent wars.

As I write this on July 9, Katz leads Cabán by 16 votes, an outcome that some political pros and the media thought very unlikely given Cabán’s initial lead of over 1100 because it was expected that the absentee ballots would be split among the 7 candidates in roughly the same proportion as other votes. Not. Katz took the majority of these votes by a landslide, which seemed to surprise people. Most of the votes of affidavit voters – people who did not show up on the local enrollment lists – were disallowed, which is the basis of the current struggle. I received many requests from the DSA folks who were looking for people to come down as observers. The Dem machine already has people who do that. Both sides chipped in:

“We’re here today because we want to support this Democratic process,” Meeks said. “We want every valid vote counted!” Added Cabán’s attorney, Jerry Goldfeder, “I think both sides recognize the importance of every registered voter and eligible Democrat to have his or her vote counted.”

Jerry is an old friend and one of the leading lawyers on elections – he was also Phil Goldfeder’s (no relation) lawyer, so he has links to the Democratic machine. How interesting that he lines up with Cabán and seems to be supporting Pete Buttigieg in the presidential race.

NY Times Editorial Board headline: One Lesson From the Katz-Cabán Recount - New York still needs more election reform. It is worth reading and also asking our local pols where they stand on election reforms: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/opinion/caban-katz-recount-.html

While the left/progressives celebrated the initial Cabán victory, there is a reality: that if there were a runoff between the two leading vote getters, Katz would gather the bulk of the other candidates’ votes, showing that Queens, other than the northwest quadrant, is far from jumping onto the left bandwagon. Even though I lean that way and voted for Cabán, I will continue to report from the real world.

Analysis: UFT VP Evelyn DeJesus Becomes Randi Second in Command at AFT

The appointment by Randi - er, "election" of UFT VP Evelyn DeJesus as Executive VP of the AFT puts Evelyn in position to succeed Randi Weingarten should Randi decide to pursue and win becoming head of the AFL-CIO if she challenges Richard Trumpka. I addressed the successor issue on Ed Notes:  

May 16, 2019 - Is Randi After Trumpka's Job? Would that make Mulgrew AFT President? No Way I say.

And "No way for Mulgrew" it will be.

Evelyn, who I've always found amenable and likeable, has clearly been a rising star inside the UFT, zooming from district rep in a relatively short time. She showed her worth by playing a big role in converting former critics of the leadership who had left MORE into allies which also helped undermine the opposition.

Watching power structure changes inside the Randi empire is like trying to penetrate the Kremlin, though I have often said that Putin aspires to be as successful as the Unity Caucus machine. Remember Michelle Bodden who was supposedly Randi's successor but was kicked over to running the UFT charter school? It was never a good idea to be more popular than Randi.

The power structure in the American Federation of Teachers has been clearly defined since Al Shanker took control of the AFT in 1974 when he used the dominance of the UFT within the AFT as a path to power. Shanker held onto the UFT presidency though 1985 (along with the Executive VP of NYSUT). We used to speculate about his successor for a decade with one after another (remember Herb Magidson) rising and falling until he settled on the obvious choice of Sandy Feldman. Around the time she took over the UFT in the mid-80s, it was clear that Shanker and Feldman were beginning to think of a succession plan and began to groom a lawyer instead of a teacher with the appearance of Randi Weingarten in the late 80s who within a short time was being set up to take over for Sandy, especially once Shanker came down with cancer. (My Unity CL was telling me in 1990 about Sandy's successor. So when you hear about "elections" you know the real deal.

Sandy's tenure was also cut short by cancer and that accelerated successor plans. When she died, Randi wasn't yet ready to leave since she had not yet groomed a clear successor in the UFT. So a placeholder head of the AFT was found for 4 years while Randi groomed Mulgrew.

But Randi is clearly not following the plan of a 45 year path of power directly from UFT to AFT presidency with the DeJesus appointment by skipping over Mulgrew, who even Unity insiders do not think would be up to that job -- clues were how little of a role Mulgrew played at AFT conventions.

A few years ago Randi seemed to tap a successor in a dynamic

progressive  union leader from St. Paul, Mary Catherine Ricker for the AFT Ex. VP position. But Ricker took the job of Minnesota education commissioner, apparently fed up with waiting for Randi to leave - or else she got the message that she herself was a placeholder for someone from the UFT/Unity machine -- apparently they don't trust an outsider to be handed the reigns of power. They found that out in NYSUT when the leadership went rogue a few years ago and the machine had to install Andy Pallota, a Unity Caucus apparatchik, as president. The NYC Unity machine is not enough to guarantee holding onto the AFT without the power of the NY State Unity machine in tow -- NY makes up around 40% of the AFT.

Still, would I bet on Evelyn being Randi's successor at the AFT or is she yet another placeholder for someone else? Who knows?

Would Randi et al trust a non-UFT/Unity person in that position?

Are there others in the Unity machine being groomed? Watch the people rising on the UFT Ex Bd (There's a lot of talk about Mike Sill) and see who are being given prominent roles at the AFT 2020 convention in Houston, which I just may attend with my former MORE buddies Mike, Arthur and Mindy who were elected with Unity, (wouldn't one want to question what states our union wants to give its business to?)

As for Mulgrew leaving the UFT, I don't see that happening, (Leroy Barr is considered an heir apparent by some though with a union 70% women, I would think a woman would be in line -- but who? I have some ideas but am not sharing).  I don't think Mulgrew would even want the AFT presidency. He seems to enjoy being UFT president with no overriding ambition beyond that but that is on the surface. I don't know him at all.

Here's the report from the AFT:

UFT Vice President Evelyn DeJesus Elected Executive Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers
First Latina to serve in the Union’s Top Leadership

Can Principals who harass teachers to death be charged with murder? See France

Weeks of wrenching testimony about despairing employees who hanged themselves, immolated themselves, or threw themselves out of windows, under trains and off bridges and highway overpasses, have suggested that the former executives went very far in “pushing the company into the new century,” as corporate strategy dictated.....executives resolved to make life so unbearable that the workers would leave, prosecutors say. Instead, at least 35 employees — workers’ advocates say nearly double that number — committed suicide, feeling trapped, betrayed and despairing of ever finding new work in France’s immobile labor market.

Remember stories of vicious principals from the Leadership Academy coming into schools to wipe out senior, tenured staffs? Stories of sending an older teacher with a bad leg to a top floor? We've heard of teachers who died and colleagues blamed the harassment. Here is a story in today's NY Times about executives who created hell for employees who committed suicide being charged with murder. I once compared the BloomKlein crew with the mentality of the Taliban.

France Télécom employees marching in Lannion after the suicide of a colleague in 2009.CreditDa

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/world/europe/france-telecom-trial.html

35 Employees Committed Suicide. Will Their Bosses Go to Jail? - The ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/world/europe/france-telecom-trial.html

23 hours ago - The workers were state employees — employees for life — and therefore protected. ... It is the first time that French bosses, caught in the vise of France's ... culture, and may help answer a question that haunts the French as they .... 1 of the New York edition with the headline: French Confront A Work Culture.

Memo from the RTC: Newsies Opens July 19 and The Picasso of RTC

Memo from the RTC:  Newsies Opens July 19 and The Picasso of RTC

By Norm Scott

Another spectacular Rockaway Theatre Company summer musical is upon us with next week’s opening of Newsies, with a cast of thousands, directed and choreographed by Gabrielle Mangano who has been an RTC mainstay since her teens. This is a first for her as a director and as a member of the cast I have been very impressed with her command, her vision, her dedication, her sure touch and as important as anything, her relationship to the cast, many of whom are quite young and almost all of young men. This is unusual for community theater to do a successful male dominated dance-loaded musical since it is not always easy finding enough young men who can dance well. But Gabby has managed to hit the jackpot. Her being a teacher herself has certainly helped. In fact, I believe a lot of the success of the RTC for over two decades has been due to the involvement of so many educators.

Newsies is about very poor kids and young adults who sell newspapers on the street. Publishers led by Joseph Pulitzer raise prices. They go on strike, form a union, are beaten by the goons and police but ultimately win the strike after their leader, Jack Kelly, impresses NY State Governor Teddy Roosevelt, and a beautiful reporter. There’s a lot more politics embedded in the show than I thought there would be. And there’s romance too. And some great music  - it is a musical after all.

Newsboys need printing press to support their strike

Evolution of the printing press

The other day, Tony Homsey, master builder at the RTC, informed the set construction crew that we had to build an 1899 vintage printing press of considerable size. Renting one would cost over a grand. I have so little imagination I couldn’t see how Tony was going to manage to build such a replica. Simple – he started with an idea of a stripped down beach chair and built out from there. Amazing how Tony could envision a printer out of an aluminum beach chair. With the assistance of Cliff Hesse, they built a work of art that I hope outlasts the show. I was reminded of the famous Picasso sculpture where he took the handlebars and seat of a bicycle and created the head of a bull. That’s genius and we have our own Picasso at the RTC in Tony.

Performances of Newsies: July 19, 20, 26, 27/Aug 2, 3 at 8PM. Matinees July 21, 28, Aug. 4 t 2 PM. Tickets – Adults $25, Seniors/children $20. www.rockawaytheatre.org.

Franky and Johnny at the Clair de Bensonhurst

Speaking of key RTC people, John Panepinto, who has had leading and support roles in many productions over the past 8 years and will be joining the uber talented Frank Caiati as the assistant director of Gatsby. They also teamed up to produce a podcast. They are funny and astute. I will be attending one of their podcasts soon and will be back with some photos. Here are some fundamentals from John.

John sent this blurb: We are a group of Brooklyn natives (and one Queens) who decided they wanted to learn more about the people around them. The show is recorded and produced in the heart of Bensonhurst, a staple of "Old Brooklyn." The guests range from local everyday workers like a doctor, a soldier or a lawyer to Brooklyn celebrities. They are always looking for more guests and also hope to be learn even more about average every day people doing average (important) things.

           

The Nothing Podcast

Hosts: John Panepinto and Frank Caiati

With: Danielle Rose Fisher, Matt Hunt, Joseph Hagopian and Tom Zaccheo

www.Nothing-Podcast.com

Facebook: The Nothing Podcast With Nobody Important

Norm blogs daily at ednotesonline.com

The 2019 Socialism Conference, sponsored by American leftist juggernauts the DSA, Jacobin magazine, and ISO’s Haymarket Books, features regime-change activists from multiple US government-funded NGOs - The Grayzone

Now that the ISO has disbanded, its veterans can reach into the rapidly growing ideologically diffuse world of Democratic Socialists of America, using platforms like Socialism 2019 to infect DSA’s youthful core with the imperial politics of regime change – but always “from the left,” and always “from below.”   ....The Grayzone

There were estimates that 300 former ISOers were at the socialist conference in Chicago. Here's an article that raises important issues about sectors of the left and how some organized groups operate. Note this excerpt which has relevance to events that occurred in MORE since the leaders of the split came from ISO, Solidarity and people they recruited from the Democratic Socialists.

This March, the ISO voted to dissolve — in a decision some former members joked was the most democratic act ever undertaken by the organization, which had been dominated by an unelected leadership of veteran Trotskyite activists.
The dissolution was prompted by evidence that the ISO’s steering committee mishandled sexual assault allegations. It also came as the ISO’s membership was shrinking and rapidly being absorbed by a newly burgeoning anti-communist organization, the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA.
Now that the ISO has dissolved, some of its past prominent members have entered the ranks of the DSA, burrowing from within to inject their anti-anti-imperialist politics into the group.
Because Trotskyites are so sectarian and notoriously incapable of holding together organizations, they are infamous for infiltrating larger, more popular groups and trying to take them over, in a tactic known as entryism.
This is precisely the strategy being used by former members of the ISO — and by another tiny US Trotskyite organization, Solidarity, which was led by anti-Nicaragua regime-change activist and Socialism Conference speaker Dan La Botz, now a leader in DSA.
Democratic Socialists of America is the largest self-described socialist organization in the United States, with more than 60,000 card-carrying members. It is also very heterogeneous, with many internal contradictions and conflicting political views.

I joined DSA and have some hopes they can be a counter force to the Democratic Party machine as I've been reporting. But I don't want to end up in another MORE-like situation where there is a group that is meeting privately out of sight plotting.

The 2019 Socialism Conference, sponsored by American leftist juggernauts the DSA, Jacobin magazine, and ISO’s Haymarket Books, features regime-change activists from multiple US government-funded NGOs.

By Ben Norton and Max Blumenthal

https://thegrayzone.com/2019/07/06/dsa-jacobin-iso-socialism-conference-us-funded-regime-change/?fbclid=IwAR1Zzjwdi5BuokPD1y3l3N0Jc2wxKS4T-IL97_atR81S0IgW_zBpFM2gPmE

  

Socialism is now apparently brought to you by the US State Department.

From July 4 to 7, thousands of left-wing activists from across the United States are gathering in Chicago for the 2019 Socialism Conference.

At this event, some of the most powerful institutions on the American socialist — but avowedly anti-communist — left have brought together a motley crew of regime-change activists to demonize Official Enemies of Washington.

NYState Opt Out Leader Jeanette Deuterman Castigates Mulgrew and UFT - and NYSUT Leaders for "Unforgiveable Betrayal"

Our hope was that Andy Pallotta would in fact come to realize that not supporting a student protection opt out bill would be a PR nightmare and he would instead lead with his moral compass rather than what he was told to do, regardless of the consequences from UFT. We had been conversing with NYSUT’s VP, who assured us on several occasions that NYSUT was is full support of the bill and NYSUT’s “lobbyists have been lobbying in support of this bill”. ... Jeanette Deuterman

NYSUT has made a big showy campaign of “Correct the Tests!”, and collecting testing horror stories. Yet, when the opportunity arose that would eliminate the source of many of those stories and protect children in EVERY corner of NYS, they instead chose to sabotage our kids... Jeanette Deuterman

Watch what they (UFT/NYSUT/AFT) do, not what they say -- an aging but still wise sage
 
I told Jeanette at the Skinny Awards dinner that I found it hard to believe Andy Pallotta would ever go against the Unity Caucus machine. And so it was. Ultimately they side with the enemy - Cuomo, state ed dept, DOE. Fact is high stakes testing has been used against teachers so often and also entire schools. The ATR pool is an outcome.

Jeanette Deuterman on the fate of Robert Jackson’s opt out bill. The UFT's support of high stakes testing and undermining of opt out smacks of their being in bed with the deformers as opt-out has been the major weapon forcing changes.

An Unforgivable Betrayal

6 years. 6 years I, we, have been working alongside teachers and union leaders to try to make a difference for NYS children caught in the middle of politics, greed, and power struggles. Every year, I personally spend the two months leading up to the tests reading through hundreds of horror stories sent to me by desperate parents trying to do what should be a simple action: opt out of state assessments. For some of us, opting out is as simple as receiving notification by our school districts that we have this right, filling out a simple form, turning it in, and protecting our children from multiple hours and weeks of meaningless testing. For many parents, this process begins with schools telling them they in fact do not have this right. They are told if they opt out they will be held back, will fail, won’t get into middle school, high school, or even college. They are threatened with CPS and calls to immigration. During testing their opt out children are harassed, reprimanded and bullied by administrators trying to set an example. They are excluded from pizza parties, candy gifts, and school carnivals. The adults in these situations completely lose their moral compass, and the children become the targets. It is sad and unconscionable. And more importantly, completely preventable.

This year we had a breakthrough that could have ended these grueling months of horror stories and interventions. We had a Senator willing to step up, and we had a bill. This was the bill we had dreamed about. One that would make it illegal to treat kids in this manner. This bill didn’t address the larger challenge of over-testing, the chronic problems with the curriculum, or the eroding data privacy. But IT WOULD HAVE PROTECTED CHILDREN. So simple, yet so profound.

Months ago began the hard work of drafting the bill, finding just the right sponsors, and getting the word out that this was the bill that hundreds of thousands of parents wanted our elected officials to pass. Senator Jackson and his team worked tirelessly to get this right. NYSAPE put out an action alert calling on parents and teachers to send letters to legislators telling them to support the bill and sign on. As momentum was growing, the political games began.

Let me be clear. I’m rank and file all the way. I’m the daughter of a NYSUT unionist and the sister of two more. I have made lifelong friends with local union leaders and members across the state. NYSUT members make up half of my organization and sit on my steering committees. It is because of these teachers that the absolute duplicity of their union makes me speak so loudly against it right now. They deserve a union that represents them and their children. They deserve one that will operate with democratic transparency. We all deserve that.

It’s no secret that I am not a Michael Mulgrew fan. I have witnessed the complete and utter lack of democracy that is the current teacher’s union. The union is run by voting. The majority wins. But what looks democratic on the surface hides the ugly truth. The UFT (city caucus run by Mulgrew) has the votes to control the union. The RA (where voting takes place) is held in places that many members of smaller locals can not afford to get to or are willing to travel to. The UFT delegates ALWAYS show up. There are caucuses within the UFT, such as MORE, desperately trying to make a difference and change the leadership, but even that is a battle that may never be won. I attended an RA once, to witness first hand the block voting, noise signals, and complete domination by the UFT/Mulgrew. It was heartbreaking. My only face to face meeting with Mulgrew ended with him refusing to back down on keeping testing as the major piece of the evaluation system because he believed, taking it out of the hands of administrators, even if it placed it on the backs of kids, was preferable. I had heard very early on with this student protection bill that Mulgrew, who very publicly, and very often, has spoken out against opting out, would not allow this bill to pass. 

Our hope was that Andy Pallotta would in fact come to realize that not supporting a student protection opt out bill would be a PR nightmare and he would instead lead with his moral compass rather than what he was told to do, regardless of the consequences from UFT. We had been conversing with NYSUT’s VP, who assured us on several occasions that NYSUT was is full support of the bill and NYSUT’s “lobbyists have been lobbying in support of this bill”. For what it is worth, I absolutely believe she PERSONALLY was behind us and this bill. But as we know, that makes no difference in the larger picture of roles within the organization. This “support” was contrary to what we were hearing from legislators. In fact, they weren’t hearing ANYTHING from NYSUT about the bill, and most believed NYSUT was NOT supporting the bill. We kept asking, and asking for this support in writing FOR MONTHS. Not once were we told that support was contingent on an amendment. Funny thing is, the bill sponsors, who would be the ones to make changes and amendments, weren’t told that either. This wasn’t the first time either. A few years ago we worked with Todd Kaminsky on reversing some of the most damaging aspects of the Education Transformation Act. Those bills were also killed, mostly in part because NYSUT made it clear to legislators that they would not support. Mulgrew’s insistence on keeping testing in the evaluation matrix was again the reasoning.

The night before the last day of session this week we had a miracle. The Senate passed the bill, and we heard word that the Governor would sign if it passed the Assembly. The kids in NY were about to have their win! Here’s the way it works at the end of session - if bills make it to the last day and are ready for a floor vote, they can pass. If a person or organization wants to kill a bill, but they don’t want to take the fall for killing it, they propose amendments on the last day. It happens ALL THE TIME. And that’s exactly what happened here. NYSUT realized this thing could pass. This is the only part I will guess at - Mulgrew must have made some calls to the Assembly and NYSUT, throwing his weight around. What we know for a fact: Suddenly Benedetto, who had to be the one to bring it to a floor vote, indicated he would ONLY do so if NYSUT put their verbal support in writing. This is cowardly and a huge red flag of just how little the voices of constituents matter. Benedetto should lose his Assembly seat for that. NYSUT now had a problem. They had been called out as the last remaining factor for months and years of work that culminated in this bill getting passed. I’ll admit, the amendment was a genius idea. The language of the amendment protected schools against a threat that the Regents already eliminated when they removed the Title I funding ties to participation in our NYS ESSA plan. It wasn’t an amendment that made sense, as there is currently no law or regulation at the state or federal level that puts Title I money in jeopardy, nor does NYS have ANY jurisdiction over federal Title I money, but man that sounds plausible!! And it makes them look like they’re the only ones who thought enough about children in poverty!! Win win! Best yet, it can’t be done because it’s too late AND it’s not based in any current law or regulation issue!! And added plus is that everyday parents and teachers don’t know enough about ESSA and Title I to challenge them. I have already seen local members believe the justification of killing this exceptional and desperately needed law, defending the action.

NYSUT has made a big showy campaign of “Correct the Tests!”, and collecting testing horror stories. Yet, when the opportunity arose that would eliminate the source of many of those stories and protect children in EVERY corner of NYS, they instead chose to sabotage our kids. This is unforgivable. I will personally be sending Andy Pallotta, Jolene DiBrango, and Michael Mulgrew each and every heartbreaking story that comes to my inbox, so they can see first hand what they have supported and encouraged by killing this bill. I encourage all of you to do the same. The stories are listed on the Long Island Opt Out and NYSAPE websites. Pick a few out and send them along. Maybe it will have an impact, maybe it won’t.

Rank and file will still be my friends, my colleagues, and my family. Perhaps we can still make important changes in spite of the obstacles that NYSUT leadership places in our way. Onward.


https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RIRo6XnnhbyX-jNi2-v8cVrZuhK64oApvwKxScpAqmk/mobilebasic

Jill Lepore Argues for American Patriotism - Why?

The definition of the nation, and its relation to the state, can be pictured as a circle, with “thick” versions of identity on one side and “thin” versions on the other. On the side of thick identity are found both illiberal nationalism and illiberal multiculturalism or identity politics, which in different ways privilege descent-based communities above a common cultural or civic identity shared by citizens of a democracy. On the thin side of the circle are found both liberal nationalism, which is nonracist, and “civic patriotism,” or what the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas calls “constitutional patriotism,” which is nonnational. In “This America,” Lepore defends a version of civic patriotism against the three alternatives: illiberal nationalism, identity politics and liberal nationalism.....
nationalism .... eats liberalism.... Purging American identity of nationalism and refounding it on a purified liberalism is her purpose.

Traditionally I have not been a nationalist, feeling that nationalism has been so destructive. But what is the alternative? A worldwide state? A World Federation like in Star Trek where earth has united to battle Klingons?

A thought experiment: If aliens were coming to invade - say we detected them two years away, what would happen? A united earth or every nation for itself -- Trump could make a deal to save the white people.

I'm generally a fan of Jill Lapore and have her recent opus on American history, "These Truths", still unread but on the list. She is center left which is probably where I am at politically. I'm not sure what to make of her latest collection which is reviewed below but there are some interesting points made about the illiberalism on both the left and right. I know that the hard left is anti-liberal - mocks liberals as often as the right does. This point in the review is interesting because some of us who have experienced the direct impact of groups focused on identity politics like MORE have come to similar conclusions. A possible path to power in the UFT has been tossed away by the same type of politics Lapore describes - see recent UFT election.

Lepore’s critique of illiberal identity politics is so brief it is easily overlooked. Of the left she writes: “A politics of identity replaced a politics of nationality. In the end, they weren’t very different from each other.” Lepore was less circumspect in a Rolling Stone interview about her previous book “These Truths”: “And so you have this conservative ‘we are colorblind’ American history, and then you have this very lefty history that can’t find a source of inspiration in the nation’s past and therefore can’t really plot a path forward to power.”

I think I myself have moved away from hard left toward liberalism but always am teetering. These are big ideas but also local - we can apply some of the same discussions to the Democratic Party - ie, the Caban/Katz Queens DA struggle, or struggles inside the UFT where the leadership comes from both a liberal and illiberal tradition.

History with all its angles of interpretation is important in order to understand the present and see into the future - but always there is context which is often left out. That is why it is important to get together with others on some regular basis to talk things over, which a bunch of us are doing this week.

Nonfiction

Jill Lepore Argues for American Patriotism

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/28/books/review/jill-lepore-this-america.html

Krugman - Democrats aren’t radical, but Republicans are

In moving to the left on taxes and spending, then, Democrats are actually moving toward voters’ preferences, not away from them. Yes, Republicans will try to demonize their proposals, but they would do that in any case. Remember, they called Barack Obama, with his incrementalist policies and willingness to consider Medicare cuts, a socialist, too. In fact, the best argument against “Medicare for All” skeptics like me, who worry how voters will react to proposals to eliminate private insurance, is that Republicans will scream about a government takeover of health care — and Fox News viewers will believe them — whatever you do.... Paul Krugman

Some very interesting insights here especially considering where Krugman on the Dems moving left.

The Moochers of Middle America

The Democrats aren’t radical, but Republicans are.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/01/opinion/2020-democrats-taxes.html?rref=collection%2Fbyline%2Fpaul-krugman&action=click&contentCollection=undefined&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=collection

Queens DA Race - Katz leads by 20, many ballots tossed, recount coming

Mr. Goldfeder said he intended to challenge the decision to invalidate all but 487 of the 2,816 affidavit ballots cast. Election officials said they had determined that the ballots, used when a voter’s name is not listed at the polling place, were invalid or had been cast by ineligible voters... Mr. Goldfeder said he intended to challenge the decision to invalidate all but 487 of the 2,816 affidavit ballots cast. Election officials said they had determined that the ballots, used when a voter’s name is not listed at the polling place, were invalid or had been cast by ineligible voters.

The primary race was cast as a battle between the traditional power bases in Queens and the progressive forces that propelled Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to her primary victory in New York last year. Ms. Katz had the backing of unions and local political leaders, while Ms. Cabán received support from prominent members of Congress, including Ms. Ocasio-Cortez.

Ms. Katz is ahead by 20 votes, 34,898 to 34,878, according to lawyers representing her. Jerry H. Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer representing Ms. Cabán, agreed that Ms. Katz was now ahead by 20 votes..... NY Times

There is joy at the NY Post but some skeptism over this change of affairs when few thought the absentee ballots could close an 1100 vote lead. There were ballots tossed - by whom? The Dem party controlled judges? We'll see.

An old pal, Jerry Goldfeder is the best election lawyer there is  -- I was a bit surprised to see him identified as Cabán’s lawyer but a good sign for her. Jerry has had many regular Dems as clients and his willingness to step into the progressive trench if he pulls this out for Cabán might get some blowback. In my previous articles on this race I've painted this as a struggle between the Dem party machine and the Democratic Socialists and other progressive elements. Many people on the left do not think the machine can be broken and they will retain control of the Dem Party, which may lead to some interesting developments - like a serious third party -- and it won't be the Greens from what I can see.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/03/nyregion/katz-caban-recount-queens.html?fbclid=IwAR3TxKHSrRldpwrK8S3GdMDsObzacAsqOopqvSRr83cbCfyLIYH-cg6_ZmY

In Surprise, Katz Pulls Just Ahead of Cabán in Queens District Attorney Primary

Tiffany Cabán’s 1,100-vote lead evaporated after the count of paper ballots, putting Melinda Katz 20 votes ahead in the hotly contested primary.

July 3, 2019

Let's Blame the UFT for Everything

For the past almost 5 decades I've been one of the UFT's biggest critics and they deserve a lot of criticism for what they are and how they operate. My gripes which are somewhat fact and experienced based. But I won't list them at this point. My goal had always been an organizing goal - and if you read the lead at this blog it says: Educate, organize, mobilize - in that order. You can't mobilize or organize if you don't have the knowledge you need. Thus my aim has been to give people information and use that to get them to act. I used to believe that by organizing a group of people who are in a lot of schools we could present a real challenge.

A main area of action - the main area of action - has been organizing opposition caucuses to challenge the UFT leadership on a number of levels. Since the opposition led by MORE has fallen apart in the goal of challenging the leadership on a broad-based basis, I've rethought the point of griping about ever single thing. I mean, what exactly is the point other than to get your rocks off? I've not been interested in getting my rocks off. With no organizing goal we are left with using the internet and social media to broadcast our ideas with no reach into the schools -- to me organizing means giving people info they can read and talking to them about it. With no base it becomes preaching to the ether.

I've also taken a different look at the leadership and rather than slamming them I try to see things through their eyes in an attempt to divine their motivations for their actions. I still put forth the idea that watch what they do, not what they say. Use what they do as a basis of analysis rather than a gut check attack.

My advice for activists in the UFT would be to take your activism elsewhere -- there's plenty to do with many organizations. Thus if you want to fight racism, you are wasting your time doing it in the context of the UFT, especially when the Unity Caucus is so much more diversified than its critics. Try NYCORE or Teachers Unite. Or if you are left enough go join DSA and take on their work on housing or healthcare where you can have a bigger impact. Or go work for one of their progressive candidates. Don't waste your time and energy butting your head up against a wall.

School Scope: The Debates: On Busing, Capitalism, and Socialism

Submitted to The WAVE for publication, July 5, 2019

School Scope:  The Debates: On Busing, Capitalism, and Socialism

By Norm Scott

The initial debates, while shallow in terms of drilling down, touched on a number of essential issues, at times raising more questions than answers. Headlines stressed the Biden/Harris confrontation on race and busing. I remember the contentious battles over busing back in the 60s and 70s and the consequential racial divides. Biden, as he often does, danced and obfuscated a bit by saying he opposed forced busing imposed by the federal government and we should leave it to the local communities. Harris pushed back about local communities run by people who are anti-segregation. We know there is a history of federal involvement in forcing integration in the schools from both parties – you know, when the Republicans were still a rational party – Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock and Kennedy to Alabama and Mississippi.

I found Harris’ raising the issue, while legitimate, somewhat artificial – especially when those tee-shirts of her as a little girl started appearing the next morning. I would like to have all candidates raise their hands if they support busing as a solution to segregation today. I wonder if Harris would have raised her hand. When Bernie was asked specifically about the issue on Sunday, he gave a rational response that we rarely see from politicians: Is it a good idea to put kids on buses takes them out of their neighborhood for up to an hour ride each way? It is a surface tool that should ideally only be used when absolutely necessary. Real solutions call for housing and economic reforms. By the way, look at the streets on school days and count the buses.

The debate also focused open attacks on Bernie for being a socialist, with loaded questions from the NBC panel  - the right always points to them as liberals but they are as opposed to socialist oriented ideas as is the right. Hickenlooper who apparently sees Bernie’s ideas as a real threat, never missed an opportunity to attack Bernie indirectly by talking about socialism. (The July 1 New Yorker has an article: John Hickenlooper’s War on Socialism.)

 I was disappointed in some of Bernie’s responses which were stock and repetitive, but he did hammer the point that many of our problems are due to outrageous profits on health care. Yes, he said we would raise taxes but at the same time cut the costs of health care which is also a tax of sorts. Get rid of insurance companies and the cost of their profit disappears. He pointed to our high costs compared to universal health care nations with much lower costs (see Germany).

Bernie’s policies align with social democratic parties in capitalist Europe, many of whom have run the governments at times. Not to be confused with Democratic Socialists (DSA) who are closer to traditional anti-capitalist ideologies. DSA is a broad socialist tent and the majority seem to believe that socialism can be achieved by democratic means. But there are also people who do not support liberal democratic norms, like a multi-party system. Confusion around these terms should be cleaned up

Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, a voice representing a vision of left-leaning economic analysis, was often ignored – until the 2008 crash and the crisis it created within capitalism and its structure. He has a new book, People, Power, And Profits which makes a case not for socialism but for progressive capitalism, sort of where Elizabeth Warren is coming from. He argues that we don’t have really free markets, a faux bedrock of capitalism, but an economic system concentrated in the hands of the few who in turn exercise control over the political system, thus leading to an increasing economic gap which has spurred populism on the right and the left. I know revolutionary socialists who believe in overthrowing capitalism who are cheered by this news since they feel it is pretty much what Marx predicted would happen. What he didn’t predict was that the right populists could defeat the left, as it did in Germany under Hitler.

A closing note on free markets. Trump Dept of Ed. appointee Betsy DeVos’s has rolled back Obama-era regulations, intended to protect students against predatory for-profit colleges, which trap students into high debt they can never repay, guaranteed by the federal government which funnels money into their hands. People who ask when Bernie of Warren talk about free college how are we paying for it don’t ask the same question about those tax payer funded profits.

Norm blogs for no profit at ednotesonline.com.

Comment from a parent activist:

A good article on busing by Matthew Delmont. 

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/07/kamala-harris-and-busing-debate/593047/

"Buses had long been used in the South—as well as in New York, Boston, and many other northern cities—to maintain segregation. This form of transportation was not controversial for white parents. Put more starkly, school buses were fine for the majority of white families; busing was not."

Plenty of parents are willing to make their kids travel out of their neighborhood to attend G&T programs.  

 

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A Deeper Dive into The Queens DA Race - A Battle for the Democratic Party

While progressives celebrate the narrow victory of Tiffany Cabán in the Queens DA race, it was a shock and awe moment for the Queens Dem Party machine and allies (yes, to the UFT). But hope springs eternal and they are holding out hope that the absentee ballots will give Katz the victory.

Katz and her supporters remain optimistic that the approximately 3,400 absentee ballots, which remained uncounted as of earlier this week, could still tip the polls in her favor. .... The WAVE, June 28, 2019, www.rockawave.com

The WAVE took no formal position in the race other than "anyone but Tiffany." Yes, I write for a publication that doesn't quite align with me politically but they do give me space.

I'm sure people are sick of my reports on this election:

• Queens DA - Bad News for Katz, Democratic Machine,...
• School Scope: Queens DA, School Discipline Needs ...
• School Scope: The Queens DA Race - The Battle of...

The implications locally and nationally are so deep and complicated. The AOC/DSA/Justice Democrats showed they could pull out more votes for their candidate than the Democratic Party machine plus the UFT (they donated $36,000 to Katz), the real estate interests, etc couldn't  muster the turnout for Katz.

This election mimics the Bernie/Hillary split in the Democratic Party. One candidate,

Deputy Attorney General Mina Malik, told a crowd in Southeast Queens on the Thursday evening before election day that “Bernie Sanders is the reason we have Trump in the White House.”

The articles I quote below have all the elements of this split, including black leaders' support for the regular Democrats and slams at the left.

 Katz, who was running for her sixth elected office in New York in 25 years, had support from former congressman and former Queens County Democratic Party Chair Crowley, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, along with New York Congressional Reps. Gregory Meeks, Tom Suozzi, Carolyn Maloney, and Adriano Espaillat, and a host of local and state unions. Meeks, despite a key vote on Capitol Hill Tuesday, was at Katz’s election night party. Earlier, he slammed Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for endorsing Cabán without consulting leaders of the machine. The move, he said, was “arrogant” and “patronizing.”

Our own UFT lines up firmly against the left and will do so every time. The number of UFT failures in its endorsement policy continues the trend. In other words, whoever they endorse for president should view it as a kiss of death.

A year ago, the party establishment could claim — whether it was true or not — to have been caught off guard by Ocasio-Cortez. That rationale is absent in Tuesday’s race. The eyes of the country were on Queens, and the machine was as prepared as it could be. It simply couldn’t muscle out the vote... The Intercept

There's a lot packed into this comment -- DSA vs Dem Machine. But also ignores that the number of candidates who were not progressive splintered the vote. If it was Katz against Cabán head to head this would be a different story.

The progressive Intercept has a different take

Tiffany Cabán Stuns Queens Machine, Holds Solid Lead in Race for Queens District Attorney...  progressive groups coalesced around Cabán

Cabán’s apparent victory is a show of force in New York for the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which worked hard for Cabán early, as well as for the Working Families Party and Real Justice PAC. Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney elected with the help of Real Justice on a similarly radical platform, was in attendance at Cabán’s election night party. The most significant endorsement, however, likely came from Bronx and Queens Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. ....The Intercept

The Intercept called this victory more significant in some sense than AOC's defeat of Joe Crowley - who by the way still runs the Queens regular Democratic Party despite the fact that my own Congressman, Greg Meeks is the chair. Meeks is black and all the black elected officials came out for Katz with slams at the left.

I love how publications interpret events from their own point of view. The WAVE, which I write for, took a basic Anyone But Tiffany position and was critical of outsiders coming in to support her. Look at the map of the voting below -- my neighborhood went all blue for Greg Lasak, a retired Supreme Court Justice, who is associated mostly with the old regime. He had 12,377 votes -14.5 percent. While the progressive celebrate, consider that if you combine the Lasak and Katz votes, Tiffany gets swamped. Look at that sea of green for Katz and sea of yellow for Tiffany. Pick a color and you can see the racial divide plus the white progressive in Astoria, Long Island City and Jackson Heights -- their vote pulling efforts were impressive.


There's still the election...

Given that Queens leans heavily Democratic, Cabán is all but assured a general election victory, provided she survives whatever challenges Katz files. That election will take place on November 5, 2019.

But there is still a chance for a conservative/right wing/Reg Democrat alliance. Melinda Katz's ex, right winger Curtis Sliwa who fathered two children with Katz was on Bernie and Sid this morning pointing out that Katz had no chance to win and would probably be given a judgeship, the usual way the graft works, saying all non-progressives, Republican and Democrats, should all gather together and back Lasik against Tiffany in the November election.

Sometimes politics is better than sports.


Both articles below.