Unity Propaganda Machine Treads in Dangerous Territory

Considering the attack on ICE-TJC presidential candidate Kit Wainer as being old-century, the McCarthyite tactic of branding the opposition as "Reds" seems so old century. But this is an old tactic on the part of Unity Caucus. Ironically, they used this time and again against their current allies New Action, many of whose leaders have strong connections to socialist political parties and are themselves so-called red diaper babies, whose parents actually faced persecution by the real deal, Joe McCarthy himself and have a visceral response to "Red-baiting." Not the least of risks for Unity in taking this action is the potential is the negative reaction from some of New Action's core members who have gone along with the Unity/New Action deal out of loyalty.

Of course, there's the UFT legacy itself where most of the leaders are/were members of the Social Democrats, USA. And then there's the additional danger that the same right-wing audience Unity is trying to incite against ICE-TJC will come back to bite them. What if the right wing anti-Unity forces (of which there is a considerable number) start mud-slinging and get other areas, such as race-baiting or gay-bashing? Ultimately, a right-wing group, not comfortable with some of the politics of ICE or TJC will spring up. Unity may consider that a good thing, but when you get what you wish, sometimes there is a high price to pay. They ain't seen nothing yet.

Before I even knew about the mailing, calls of outrage started coming. Some thoughts expressed were, "Isn't it a slam dunk Unity will win? This smacks of the kind of desperation of someone who is losing a political campaign instead of expecting to win with a 90% vote. Why is it so important that a 70% majority is not enough? "

I agree sending out this to the homes of so many people appears desperate but desperation is in the eye of the beholder.

To Randi Weingarten/Unity/New Action there are a lot of balls in the air in this election.

The most common analysis I heard from people is that Weingarten is most interested in an overwhelming victory so she can sail into the sunset with a glorious victory and head off to the AFT in the summer of '08.

It is not that simple. For Weingarten, it is important to keep the ICE-TJC vote low as a way of margianalizing ICE-TJC, which if it starts attracting 25-30% if the vote, threatens to pass the vote totals New Action was getting when it was THE opposition. For Weingarten to leave an orderly union for her successor, she must reduce the threat ICE-TJC present and promote her home grown opposition New Action.

By getting more votes than the ICE-TJC upstarts New Action can claim, despite their alliance with Unity, they are still the main opposition, albeit totally tied to Unity's apron strings. They also have to prove to Weingarten that they are viable and that she still needs them. It should be pointed out that despite enormous inroads ICE and TJC made into the New Action support base 3 years ago, New Action with the addition of retiree votes actually outpolled either of the 2 groups.

For ICE and TJC, this election is about establishing a base of support and then building out from there. (ICE got less than 5% and TJC around 6-7% in 2004.) It takes a long time to establish a brand name and both groups are beginning to work themselves into people's consciousness as an alternative to both Unity and New Action. But legitimacy as an opposition will not truly come until they begin to reach into the 25-30% range.

As pointed out in a recent article in The Chief, the real battle is in the high schools where Weingarten is desperate to keep the ICE-TJC people off the Executive Board where they can raise questions about UFT policy. They would be especially dangerous when she is not around to keep things under control. A lot of issues are coming up with the expected UFT support for the current system of mayoral control (with just a few cosmetic tweaks) high on the agenda. No embarrassing questions, no answers.

Weingarten is so enamored of New Action's leader Michael Shulman because he has proven time and again he can control the troops. When she announced the purchase of the new buildings on Broadway in 2003 just as the alliance with New Action was in the earliest stages, some of the New Action members on the Ex. Bd at the time wanted to raise questions. Shulman, not a member of the Board, passed by each one and ordered them not to raise any questions. "Randi doesn't want this to become an issue, so don't say anything," Shulman said.

Now there's the kind of opposition Randi can be proud of.

Unity Uses Red-Baiting - Just Part of their MO

Mr. Welch: Until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty, or your recklessness. You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?


That there is a large core of activists who have shunned UFT internal politics has been a well-known fact. Activating this group has not always been easy, as many of them view the UFT leadership as unmovable and the opposition movement devoid of the kind of politics that are of most interest to them.

Today's Unity mailing that slithered into UFT members' homes red-baiting ICE-TJC presidential candidate Kit Wainer has provoked many of these progressive UFT members into outrage and shock. The emails and phones have been burning up with offers to help in the final days of the election campaign from people who have had little prior interest.

Will the Unity intent to garner last minute votes backfire in the long run by waking up a potentially activist left-oriented section of the UFT that has been ignoring internal politics?

This is not the first time Unity has resorted to red-baiting. When New Action was not yet sucking up to them, Unity regularly slimed New Action's leadership for ties to left wing political parties. What will be New Action's response to the Unity attack on Wainer when they were themselves so wronged? And how does Unity's attacks on Wainer jive with the history of their current allies in New Action? Members of ICE and TJC always condemned the Unity mud-slinging at New Action in the past (and won't sling the enormous amount of mud on Unity personnel they have accumulated.) But now all we can expect from New Action will be the sounds of silence. Getting those seats on the Executive Board come with a very high price in principles, whatever ones are left.

Read TJC's strong response on the Norm's Notes blog.


I received this email tonight from a former New Action member:

"We used to go to Mike Shulman's home on Saturday mornings signing countless times to ensure a large number of NAC names would be on the ballot. As a former chapter leader, I had Mike come to our school--an elementary school--where the opposition message to Unity was warmly greeted.

When he and his inner circle betrayed us by pandering to Unity for jobs, it left us with a bitter taste.

The New Action ad in this week's UFT rag looks like it was an anti-NAC piece written by Unity."

The more you hang out with the sleaze, the sleazier you become.

UFT Election News - March 12, 2007

It is not often that people leave Unity Caucus, which can be compared to black hole where some good people desiring to change the union enter, never to emerge. Once enticed with job opportunities, free trips and other perks, the desire for change seems to go south.

Former Unity Chapter Leader running with ICE
That is why the Jerry Frohnhoeffer's move from Unity to the ICE-TJC slate is so remarkable. Jerry is chapter leader at Aviation HS, one of my favorite schools. He is running for Vocational HS VP against Mike Mulgrew from Unity. You can read his bio at my other blog, Norm's Notes.

Building a viable opposition
I met a new Unity CL recently and he is and has been a critic of Unity and even ran against the Unity CL at his school who was humping the 2005 contract. When he won he looked around for signs there was a viable opposition building. When the vote was taken on the 2006 contract he looked for signs in the vote totals that something had been built since the 2005 contract, and seeing the 90% YES vote decided that Unity was his only option. He hopes to reform them from within. Good luck!

He is wrong about that vote being the key. Many people opposed to Unity voted YES. The building of a viable opposition takes a lot of coalescing of forces to create a political movement. Seeing things evolve over the years there's room for hope. New Action's desertion has left a void in the infrastructure of an opposition. No matter how ineffective they were as an opposition, they did have the ability to get literature out. TJC started building 15 years ago but with New Action still around, the going was slow. Once it was clear they were aligning with Unity TJC began to have much greater success. ICE, starting out 3 years ago also has been building infrastructure and the election process is part of that building effort. No matter what the result in this election, the opposition is not going away. And if we should see the farce of New Action holding 8 Exec Bd seats, Unity 81 and ICE and TJC none, there is no better demonstration of the lack of democracy in the UFT.

Next: New Action History Lesson 1

See you at tonight's UFT Exec Bd meeting. Come on down. I'll be hovering over the ribs.

Measuring Teachers

"If teachers are to be held accountable for the performance of their students, strategies for measuring the impact of their work must be refined or, at least, the uncertainties of these measurements must be taken into account in assessing the impact of teachers and schools on student performance."
http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9050/index1.html

The word performance can be viewed narrowly (how kids score the reading and math test) or broadly. Once behavior enters into it - often discounted as an "excuse" but to teachers one of the most important factors - things get very sticky. I do not mean behavior in the sense of "good and bad' but in the wider sense of the resources students bring to the table and the ability of the teacher to work with them in that framework. I had "successes" with kids who did not move higher in reading but moved significantly in their ability to control their emotions, function within the context of a classroom, etc. Can these things be measured?

I taught in a rotation system in elementary school. One year you get the higher performing class, the next you don't. Same school, same families, same teacher, etc. This was not a big school -- 2 or 3 classes on the grade. My measured performance varied vastly depending on which level I taught. In some ways I was better with the struggling kids. There were teachers in my school who were awesome with the top classes but fell apart when they had the bottom classes. We had teachers who were willing to sell their souls to stay out of the bottom classes.

Class size made a difference but the administration in my school in the 70's at least tried to make the lower exponent classes smaller. Most teachers fought to teach the better classes even with the higher class size. Favorites of the principal were often rewarded (violating the contract) with these classes year after year. Or they tried to put the teachers they thought to be the best with the top classes, relegating the lower classes to some sort of triage.

The entire process is so complex, trying to judge teachers on performance is very difficult. In the old days the key thing was if you could control your class. The entire school -- colleagues, admins, parents, etc measured you as a teacher based on that factor alone. When I learned how to do that I felt it was one of the major accomplishments of my life and turned me into a confident teacher. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Dealing with actually teaching them after that became the next hard thing.

I met a top lawyer at a party a few years ago and he entered teaching around the same time I did in the late 60's to stay out of the draft. He couldn't believe I stayed in all these years. He taught in the south Bronx for 2 years and said it was the hardest thing he ever did. He was not referring to the teaching part.

Klein was there too as a teacher escaping the draft at the same time for around 6 months and you never hear him sat a word about that experience. I know what he must have went through. We all did. He knows what it's all about and that is why I consider him such a snake in the way he and others put the main blame for failing schools on teacher competency.

Cerf said as much at the Manhattan Inst luncheon. That is why we have all the phony prof. development. The way I and other generations of teachers learned PD was from the great teachers who worked with us.

Robotics at Javits Center Mar. 16-18

FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) Regionals at Javits, Mar. 16-18

The New York City Regional is a FIRST Robotics Regional Competition that will be held between Friday, March 16 and Sunday, March 18, 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The 2007 competition will include sixty-three FIRST Robotics teams from New York City, the metropolitan region, and as far away as Brazil, Israel, and the United Kingdom.

The event is a world-class celebration of high school students, engineers, and mentors creating and discovering tomorrow’s science and technology! Twenty major New York City corporations will be on-hand to offer information about summer jobs, internships, co-op positions, and other employment opportunities at our first ever career fair. With an additional 200 middle school teams in five boroughs, the 2007 FLL and FIRST Vex demonstrations will only increase the excitement! http://www.nycnjfirst.org/nyc_frc.html

I will be there all 3 days at the registration desk, so stop by and say hello.

Friday is a practice day so the kids will have some time to take visiting school groups around.
I am coordinating school visits on Friday, so if you are interested in bringing a group contact me directly.

Read more at my robotics blog: http://normsrobotics.blogspot.com/

Daily Doins: March 8, 2007

How does a retiree spend a relaxing day? First, you start out by going to the printer to order more UFT election leaflets. Then, on to the full-day Region 4 robotics workshop. Then back to the printer to pick up the leaflets. Then off to meet a group of teachers at a high school who want to hear about the UFT elections. On the way, drop off leaflets at varying schools. Wrap up the evening battling the Unity slime on the blogs. Who wants to be sitting in the sun in Florida?

Tech Support in Medieval Times

In my last years in the system I was a technology staff developer assisting teachers with the integration of technology after Giuliani wasted $150 million putting 4 computers and a printer in every middle school classroom in the city, a system most teachers found practically useless in the context of the 45 minute or less period. (Most tech educators begged them to start out in the early grades and work the systems up the chain, but why listen to educators when businessmen can make the dicisions?) So my "support" often involved crawling around under tables plugging in printers and internet cables.

There's a much better system of tech support at Devil Ducky: Introducing The Book

Kit Wainer On the Non-Debate: Friday, March 2

Ballot facts

from Jeff Kaufman

Ellen Fox and I examined the membership list today at the American Arbitration Association. Over 161,000 ballots will be mailed. The list was missing 56 full time UFT staff members. This list will be emailed to me shortly. Jeff Zion, AAA official in charge of elections expected less than 50,000 to be returned.





Ballots to be mailed on Friday.
Academic HS 17642
Vocational HS 2125
JHS 12826
Elementary 36892
Retired 50207
Functional 38541
Special Ed 3579
While they were separated in the list Academic and Vocational will get the same ballot. Functional and Special Ed will get the same as well. Functional includes private sector. Charter schools are in each division.

Schmoozing at the Brecht Forum

As previously posted here, Sally Lee of Teachers Unite, hosted a forum on UFT basics aimed at new teachers, a number of whom enter teaching with a negative attitude about the UFT and unions in general. They are going to rescue the schools from those burned out teachers who value the contract over the children. Many have been imbued with the "corporate is good, public institutions are bad" mentality from college or previous jobs.

After all, look at the massive propaganda machine in the media that blame teachers for all the problems in the schools. With the DOE pointing its finger directly at the union contract as a reason for failing schools and with the DOE's ability to capture Teaching Fellows and Teach for America teachers with a "stay away from the union" and "you will find union people who don't want to work" and "UFT Chapter Leaders are the worst teachers" propaganda blitz, there is a lot of work to do.

At the same time, a group of these teachers are socially conscious and looking to be politically active in social justice areas. Sally's idea was to bring veteran union activists like myself and Megan Behrent (just a little bit less vet than I am) together with some of these people to explain how we see the union operating from our perspective, as members of ICE and TJC. If people want to get the Unity/union leadership point of view, they can always read the NY teacher, watch the commercials, or go to chapter meetings when the suits come to the school. But these are the people who often turn them off.

The event, surprisingly, brought out a mixed group of newer teachers and vets, some of whom read about it on this blog, including someone from Unity (not from the leadership.) We think everyone got something out of it. It was a pleasure working with Megan, who is so knowledgeable and articulate in presenting her views and that of TJC. She combines practical experience with her theories of activism. In particular, Megan is so good at addressing the idea that teachers who insist on adhering to the contract or who don't put in 12 hour days as somehow not being as caring as teachers that do. Points were raised that none of these 12-hour a day teachers have families with children or have to commute and that when they do they will find it impossible to put in the same time. In some ways, the concept of "heroic teacher saving the children," the Klein/corporate model of the ideal teacher, is very anti-mother (I know that many fathers take a big share of child-caring, but let's face it, women still bear the brunt). Lost in the rancor of the last few contracts with its time extensions was the disruptions so many families went through with rearranged baby sitting, etcc.

Sally has been bugging me for years to put together a flow chart of how the UFT is organized and I finally did it as well as a chart of the various caucuses. I used them to present a section on "UFT Basics 101." I will ultimately post them both when they are more presentable for the web.

Here is Sally's outline we worked from. We got most of this done, but not all.

Getting to Know the UFT: An Introduction for Teacher Activists
March 1st, 5:30 p.m., Brecht Forum

Overview of UFT Structure and History (15 min.)

(Sally) [slide presentation]
• Radical history
-What did Teachers Union fight for?
• 1968 strike
-Teachers vs. Community
• 2006 Context
-Community perception of UFT
-UFT’s role in national politics (Beyond Contracts)

(Megan)-Purpose of labor unions: Current State of solidarity/labor movement
(including: How TFA/Fellows program break solidarity)

(Norm) -How UFT is structured (hierarchy, caucuses, how resolutions are passed, etc.—

Why Get Involved (and what may happen if you do, and how to do it)? (20 min.)
(Norm/Megan) •Individualistic set-up of teaching (the “Dangerous Minds”/”Freedom Writers” trap): “I can make a difference” vs. building a broad movement
• Rank and file involvement/democracy makes the UFT stronger (including: how this will affect community/social justice issues)

(Sally) • Social Justice Unionism

(Norm/Megan) • Risks and Advantages of getting involved with the union in a school
(including the content of what you teach)

(Norm/Megan) • How can rank and filers get involved?/How can rank and filers utilize union as an organizing strategy for social justice?
-Rep/Delegate
-Caucuses
-Voting
-Chapters endorsing particular issues
-Conduct outreach about issues at DA meetings

• Strategies for protection
(Megan) -Consultation Committee
(Norm) -Customized consultation committee

Know Your Rights! (10 min.)

(Norm) • Role of chapter leaders
• Typical abuses/typical grievances

• Resources: Where can individuals look up rights?

Q & A (30 min.)

Participant questions for veteran union activists (introduce any union activists who are present to answer questions).

Klein & Weingarten: Separated at birth?

Trained as corporate lawyers.

Reached the highest positions in their organizations through appointment by the largesse of a powerful person above them.

Entered education for reasons unrelated to developing a career as a teacher.

Taught full time for only 6 months.

Run autocratic, rigid top-down, patronnage-ridden organizations top heavy with people making six figure salaries a year where personal loyalty is more important than competence.

Believe appearance is more important than reality.

Have in-house public relations staffs at great cost and pay high sums to outside PR agencies. View public relations as primary over trying to solve real problems.

Make at least a quarter of a million dollars a year plus expenses.

Wainer Clear Winner in "Debate"

While not a debate, but more in the nature of statements made by Weingarten and Wainer, the response by Weingarten to even the possibility of a debate is indicative of a fear of standing in front of the members in a forum where he doesn't have absolute control.

The following appeared today at the UFT-CWE wiki. Since I was banned on Broadway (52, that is) I remained outside to interview people as they left. Video is being edited and we hope an interview with Kit Wainer outside the UFT building will be available soon. Also, more coming on my banishment.

From http://uftcwe.pbwiki.com/

ICE-TJC candidate Kit Wainer clearly demonstrated his clear vision for a union that represents its members instead of its leadership at a meeting held at our regular chapter meeting on March 2nd. While Weingarten came off as personable she clearly told us that raising awareness of adult education issues was "our problem."

"The work must be done by the Chapter," she stated suggesting that it was our responsiblity to get other organizations involved.

It is hard to understand why she would not help us more. She offered to allow us a few minutes at a Delegate Assembly meeting which, of course, is attended only by UFT members, hardly the group that needs to be convinced about the need for adult education.

We have not endorsed a candidate but it is clear who the winner should be. For more on Kit Wainer see his video at http://www.elfrank.com/Kit/.

Coming Soon to the UFT: 28,000 Home Child Care Providers

I've been writing about how at-large voting guarantees Unity victory time and again. So far the 55,000 retirees with the addition of the lock-step chapters like guidance and secretaries that support Unity (most of the functional chapters are naturally led by Unity loyalists) have done the job. But soon they will have another 28,000 home child care providers, who have been organized by the UFT, joining them as another chapter. This will finally make the working in school teachers a minority in the UFT. (80,000 out of close to 200,000 UFT members.)

We totally support the organizing effort and the great work the UFT has been doing in organizing this group. But of course, we always question their motives. Rumors have been around that getting the UFT recognized as official bargaining agent is subject to negotiation -- like supporting the lifting of the charter school cap in exchange (with language to give the appearance that it will be easier to unionize the teachers, but in reality nothing much.)

They should be a totally separate chapter with their own president and executive board and should not be deciding issues like the high school, middle school and elementary VP's. If it is necessary to amend the UFT constitution, we should make that a contingency of supporting the entry of these workers into the UFT.

NYC Public School Parents Blog (New)

She will protest, but I believe Leonie Haimson's listserve has been one of the major galvanizing forces in the city for parents and other forces to unite against BloomKlein. Alliances have been built across the city. At the rally on Weds. I met more of Leonie's Lions, a force that will increasingly be reckoned with. We've seen some of Patrick Sullivan's fine posts on NYC Educator and other places. It was a pleasure to finally meet him on Weds. He will now be running a blog based on Leonie's nyceducationnews listserve. Lots of email, but worth all of it. A progressive parent voice with others chipping in. This is so scary for BloomKlein that they monitor it and often respond based on what is being posted there. Now comes the blog. Go there or be square!

Here is what Leonie sent out to the listserve.
Check out the new parent blog with contributions so far from Diane Ravitch, Patrick Sullivan, and Leonie Haimson – about the rally this week, the statistical lies of Tweed, the protest in Queens over Halsey Junior High School and more! Parents and others invited to contribute and to comment.

http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com

Tiny Kangaroo Down Sport

From a contact:

I was at the UFT in Manhattan and shocked to see the Aussies having a meeting there with lots of PR material etc.

High-priced Aussies ($1000) a day by some accounts, have been part of micro-management attack on teachers. I'm sure the UFT has some explanation, but we get all too many accounts of the collaborative nature of the UFT.

Today at the Brecht Forum

Apparently UFT's leadership is raising questions to the event organizers because it features the opposition. They are not satisfied with Unity Caucus' control of 100% of the UFT media. They wants in on this event too. With Megan Behrent (TJC) and myself being the featured speakers, they want to know why UFT officialdom (the suits) was not invited, apparently not viewing Unity critics like Megan & I as true UFT members.

We'll make them an offer. Invite ICE and TJC to participate in UFT activities (funny, but they don't send Megan or I invitations to many UFT events). Give ICE and TJC regular space in the NY Teacher. And let us have rebuttal time to Randi's long-winded reports at the Delegate Assembly.

Well, maybe Unity clones will show up anyway. They can explain to the new teachers just how democratic the UFT is. Come down and join them.

If you can't make it down today, look for a report tomorrow.

Location:
The Brecht Forum
451 West Street (the West Side Highway)
between Bank & Bethune Streets
Subways: A, C, E or L to 14th Street & 8th Ave; 1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th Street &
7th Ave.

Getting to Know the UFT: An Introduction for Teacher Activists

Thursday, March 1, 5:30 PM

Teachers committed to social justice often avoid having anything to do with their union for a variety of reasons. Whether curious about individual professional rights or how to build a large-scale movement, we invite New York City public school teachers to learn about the radical roots of the United Federation of Teachers, ask questions for veteran UFT activists to answer, and find out why rank and file involvement is key to mobilizing for social change.

Say It Ain't So Martine

Martine Guerrier has been appointed "chief family engagement officer" at Tweed

(I'll give a report on last night's raucous anti-Klein meeting later in the day.)

I read recently that BloomKlein, upon taking over the DOE bought off every potential parent who could emerge to oppose them in local areas with parent coordinator and other jobs. We basically heard the sounds of silence for quite a while. Certainly there was little or no parental presence at PEP meetings (except for special occasions), the one place where voices of protest could be raised publicly.


As a coalition of parent and community voices began to be heard again (and I give an enormous amount of credit to Leonie Haimson and her list for helping to bring some of these voices together) BloomKlein seems to be trying another round of the "buy them off" tactic.

I like and respect Martine Guerrier and I'm sure she feels she can do more on the inside, a classic error people make. She has (had) been the one voice on the PEP that seemed to question (gently) some of the actions of BloomKlein. She was often one of the only ones to question Klein on a number of issues. I haven't attended PEP meetings regularly but some of Martine's votes on controversial issues increasingly were tied to the politics of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an ally of Bloomberg. I used to like Markowitz since his student activist days at Brooklyn College, but not after his sell-out so Ratner City and total suck-up to Bloomberg. (Hey Marty, fuh-ged-about-it!)

Naturally, one would expect this since Martine owed her position on the PEP to Markowitz' appointment. Her one big vote against the promotion policy when Bloomberg fired the PEP who opposed him ( he couldn't fire Martine because she was a borough appointment) was the highlight. Markowitz apparently gave her free reign on this, while the Staten Island borough Pres, fired the SI rep at that time.

I don't remember all of her votes, but I do remember an unsettling pattern of support for Klein's policies seemed to be emerging. And Klein always bent over backwards towards her. She does command a great deal of respect with her demeanor and intelligence.

But Martine is not the first person of this ilk to be co-opted and will now be drawn into the maw of the DOE, joining people who had a rep for integrity like James Leibman, forced to sit in as an acolyte at Klein press conferences, in the midst of buzzing Blackberries, never to utter her own thoughts again without filtering through hordes of press agents. In other words, the sounds of silence.

See original post from Leonie Haimson to her listserve and email from DOE here.

Arthur Goldstein, ICE-TJC Candidate for Exec. Bd. At-large Speaks About the Election

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dznjzblBz9A

Teacher arrested and removed from school in handcuffs

The NY Teacher trumpets every time there is a rare grievance victory. BloomKlein just laugh and refuse to enforce even sustained grievances. Weingarten brags about the pamphlet “Know Your Rights” but when you do stand up for your rights you find the union behind - far behind.

A little over a week ago I got a chilling phone call. It was from a former colleague who taught across the hall from me for a decade. That day (Thurs, Feb. 15) she was arrested and taken from her school in handcuffs based on a bogus charge made by a parent. She was not told the reason or told her rights. Most egregious was the actions of the school administrators. The AP came up to her room and told her she was wanted in the office. Not one other word that there were 5 cops waiting for her to arrest her. 5 cops! I guess there are no other crimes to solve in this city. But I do not blame the police for this.

The former Leadership Academy principal, who is close to the parent, was smiling ear-to-ear. She had finally found a way to remove a teacher who was a thorn in her side (the teacher ran for chapter leader last year and lost by a slim margin.) It was certainly within her power to convince the police that this case did not warrant an arrest.

What kind of monsters do we have running our schools?

How do we know the charge was bogus? While the teacher sat in the police station until 7pm, the police investigated at the school and the child was taken to the hospital by the police and found to not have a mark on her. When they returned to the station, the cop said it was all “nonsense” and they rescinded the arrest. They had looked at her 22-year record and found not one mark against her. “People we spoke to had good things to say about you,” they said. Someone from child support services told the teacher that the parent, who was at the station, said that if the teacher offered an apology, “this would all go away.” “Hell no,” the teacher said. For escorting a child to her seat after she had run out of the room twice? “Hell no!”

The teacher will now spend months or longer in the rubber room. We are efforting to help her find a lawyer to sue everyone involved. Maybe one day she will own the school building where she was so humiliated. And hopefully, the principal’s house.

The principal can keep smiling ear-to-ear, for now, having removed the one person who stood up to her. What a lesson to the rest of the people in the school, which has undergone enormous turnover in just a few years. Ask people if things are not worse than when the principal arrived.

Now, where does the blame lie for this fiasco? The principal? Sure. But I also blame a union leadership that can be so weak, helpless or worse, not consider that this can happen to any teacher in the system at any time, a high priority issue to address.

Why not, you might ask? I should put it in terms of they are more concerned about the bad public relations that might result from a teacher that is guilty than they do about the innocent teachers who have to be put through this. When I told some union officials about the case, they said, “Why didn’t she call the union?” The teacher has no faith in the union and when she did call the district rep the response was not exactly immediate. The UFT will say, “She should have read the “Know Your Rights” pamphlet in their "blame the victim" mentality.

I went to the rubber room at 25 Chapel St. Monday, Feb 26 and videotaped a statement from the teacher as she came out at 3pm. Then we went to the UFT Executive Board meeting where we both spoke. “We have a policy,” was the response. “We get a lawyer to assist you.” What is left out is what they don’t assist you with. The legal assistance is limited. I asked why doesn’t the union take this to the top level of the police department so cops will be alerted that these cases are all too often “nonsense.” The response: “People are guilty too. We’ll get them a lawyer.”

Thus, the UFT has the same response whether the teacher has committed a crime or whether there is a vendetta on the part of a principal or parent or even a child. This attitude is what is undermining the union at the basic level – the school.

There are no repercussions for anyone at the DOE because the teacher is left to fend for herself. If she wants to sue for false arrest, the burden is on her to find and pay for a lawyer. Then if she wins after spending an onerous amount of her won money, the union will trumpet the victory as theirs.

Oh, she might even win her way back into the school from hell after the DOE investigates after months in the rubber room. But what of the image children, parents and colleagues have of her removal in handcuffs?

I can point to case after case where Randi Weingarten has protected principals and superintendents, not wanting to interfere with cozy political arrangements.

When Jeff Kaufman, one of the ICE HS reps on the current Exec Bd and himself a former lawyer made a resolution last June calling on the UFT to provide more support to teachers in this position by hiring paralegals to do their own investigation apart from the DOE—questioning witnesses, etc, Weingarten and the Exec Bd were opposed. After all, they have to use the money for more insipid commercials. This is one of the reasons why Weingarten is so anxious to get Kaufman and other ICE-TJC reps off the Board.

At the Feb. 26 Exec. Bd meeting, Jeff and others in ICE gave the teacher a sense of support she does not get from the UFT. Jeff told her what she would have to do and gave her a lot of advice. At the end of the meeting, long-time Unity hack Sandra March, one of our 3 pension reps, attacked me, typical of the standard Unity response.

Because ICE raised this case to such a high profile, we expect the UFT to respond with a higher level of attention than the average teacher would get.

If ICE-TJC had more influence, we would call a press conference in front of the school and parade the teacher as the poster girl for teacher abuse. We would help her find a lawyer and make the DOE pay to such an extent they will think very long and hard before letting this happen to another teacher.

There would be consequences for allowing this to happen to an innocent teacher. The law will take care of the guilty. The UFT should stand up and deliver for the innocents.

Getting to Know the UFT: An Introduction for Teacher Activists

Thursday, March 1, 5:30 PM

Teachers committed to social justice often avoid having anything to do with their union for a variety of reasons. Whether curious about individual professional rights or how to build a large-scale movement, we invite New York City public school teachers to learn about the radical roots of the United Federation of Teachers, ask questions for veteran UFT activists to answer, and find out why rank and file involvement is key to mobilizing for social change.


Presenters:

Megan Behrent has been a high school teacher for eight years and is a UFT delegate. She ran on the Teachers for a Just Contract slate in 2004. She was on the city-wide UFT negotiation committee in 2006 and was one of the few to vote to fight for a better contract on that committee. She is also an active socialist and has been involved in UFTers to Stop the War.



Sally Lee is a former teacher and a core member of NYCoRE (New York Collective of Radical Educators). She founded Teachers Unite to support teacher-activists and progressive educators with resources that develop community leadership and social justice pedagogy.



Norm Scott spent thirty-five years working in the NYC school system, thirty of them as an elementary school teacher. He was a UFT delegate for much of that time and a chapter leader from 1994-1998. He started publishing Education Notes, a newsletter for NYC teachers in 1996 and was a founding member of the Independent Community of Educators (ICE), a progressive caucus in the UFT in 2003. He writes a blog at http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Location:
The Brecht Forum
451 West Street (the West Side Highway)
between Bank & Bethune Streets
Subways: A, C, E or L to 14th Street & 8th Ave; 1, 2, 3 or 9 to 14th Street &
7th Ave.

Sam Lazarus, Chapter Leader, Bryant High School

Sam Lazarus, Chapter Leader, Bryant High School, is running for one of the 6 high school UFT Executive Board seats. These are the most "electable" positions in this election for ICE-TJC but they face both New Action and Unity who have cross-endorsed their candidates in an attempt to wipe out the lone opposition voice on the Executive Board. See his video.

ICE-TJC High School Executive Board Candidates

Peter Lamphere is a union activist and teacher at the Bronx High School of Science. Previously, Peter was a UFT Delegate from Columbus High School where he led a rare UFT victory to stop his school from being closed completely. The fact that there is a Columbus High School at all that is still in existence is due in no small part to Peter’s organizing ability.



Sam Lazarus has over twenty years experience as a teacher. He currently works at Bryant High School where he is in year four as chapter leader. Sam organized his school and region in leading a Region 4 protest rally that successfully put a stop to Region 4 micromanagement. Teachers in Region 4 are no longer required to use the “workshop model” in all of their lessons thanks to Sam’s organizing and his ability to organize the UFT to join the fight. It was Sam’s idea that the UFT should combine with other unions rather than accept the horrible giveback laden 2005 Contract.



Marian Swerdlow was educated in NYC public schools, and has a Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University. She is the author of "Underground Woman: My Four Years as a NY Subway Conductor." She has taught at FDR H.S., Brooklyn since 1990, and has been a UFT Delegate for twelve years. She has presented many resolutions at the UFT Delegate Assembly including many attempts to persuade the Union leadership to actively engage the rank and file.



Nick Licari is the longtime chapter leader from Norman Thomas High School in Manhattan where he teaches. Nick helped to elect the only two independent, non Unity District Representatives back when there were elections for that position. Nick is a strong advocate for his members at Norman Thomas and he has led several demonstrations to protest conditions at his school. Nick was the Teachers for a Just Contract candidate for President in the 2004 UFT election.

James Eterno is a twenty year veteran social studies teacher at Jamaica High School who has been chapter leader for 11years. He has been elected to the UFT Executive Board for ten years, seven in New Action and the last three as an ICE-TJC representative. Eterno left NAC when they decided not to run against Randi in 2004. He has authored numerous resolutions that have become Union policy including a recent proposal to demand that the UFT oppose the closing of schools. He argued against Mayoral Control of the schools as early as 2001 when Randi first argued in favor of it.

Jeff Kaufman is the Chapter Leader of Rikers Island Academy. Even though the Department of Corrections along with the Principal at Rikers conspired in 2995 to have Jeff removed from the school because he was helping a student, his chapter still overwhelmingly reelected him as their chapter leader. Kaufman was completely exonerated by the DOE and has taken his case to return to Rikers the State Public Employees Relations Board. Jeff has questioned Randi on numerous occasions at the Executive Board where he has served for the last three years. Jeff made a demand that the UFT hire staff to do our own investigations when teachers are removed from schools. Why should we rely on special investigations people to make the only record of any incident?

James Eterno (left center) and Jeff Kaufman (right) at Oct. 2005 rally at UFT HQ calling for a NO VOTE on the 2005 contract.

Jeff and James also led a vociferous opposition to the Fact Finding report that led to the Draconian givebacks of the 2005 Contract. First, they warned Randi in 2004 not to go to fact finding because they knew we would lose based on precedent of 1993 and 2002. Randi ignored them. Then, they told Randi to reject the Fact Finding Report when it was released and to start all over. She again reacted with anger. Finally, when the final Contract was agreed to, they pointed out all of its flaws and made the case the Contract would be a disaster for UFT members. Randi’s reaction has been to attend fewer Executive Board meetings and when she does show up, she usually is only there for part of the meetings. If she can’t face tough questions from UFT Executive Board members, then how can she stand up to the Mayor?

How Unity Uses At-large Voting to Control the UFT

UFT Election Notes - Feb. 25, 2007

Statistics (rough):
80,000 teachers in schools.
20,000 non-teachers (paras, secretaries, social workers, guidance, nurses, etc.)
55,000 retirees
Total: 155,000 members

If you break down the UFT election into categories, you can see the inherent lack of democracy built into the system. All 11 officer positions are voted on at-large — the entire membership, which includes 55,000 retirees. Even the divisional Vice Presidents -- elementary, high school, middle schools and vocational schools - are included. They used to be voted on only by their division but Unity changed the rules to assure they will never be threatened with having even one opposition member on the AdCom (Administrative Committee.) All 11 officers are also members of the Executive Board and the Delegate Assembly.

Using at-large voting is the key to control, since retirees make up 1/3 of the union membership and vote overwhelmingly for Unity.

What about the other 78 members of the Executive Board?

42 members are also elected at-large. So far, 53 (42 + 11) for Unity.

14 functional (non-teachers, including retirees) are as good as at-large: make the total 67.

The 22 remaining members of the EB come from the 80,000 teachers actually working in the schools: Elem (11), Mid Schl (5), HS (6).

So let's say the majority of people actually teaching in the schools vote for ICE-TJC. Let's take an extreme case and say 75%- around 60,000 teachers vote to elect ICE-TJC in these three divisions. That would give the representatives of the 80,000 teachers in the schools only 22 out of 89 seats on the Executive Board, leaving Unity with over 75% of the EB seats.

If this scenario ever occurs (even with a 51% majority), the opposition would have a very good case to make with the members that there must be fundamental change in the constitution that can allow such blatant manipulation. We can guarantee Unity will respond in ways to try to maintain control. One way is to dilute the % of working teachers in the UFT by adding nurses, home workers, etc., a process that is already in the works. Thus, the United Federation of Teachers may one day be a union where teachers are a minority.



Unity Caucus will organize banana pickers to solidfy its reputation as running the biggest banana republic in North America.

So far, the opposition has been able to win the 6 high school seats on a fairly consistent basis and once won the middle schools. They have never gotten close in the elementary schools. When New Action, which had been winning these high school seats went over to the dark side and joined with Unity in the 2004 elections, that spurred TJC become active in elections for the first time, while leading to the formation of ICE in response to the New Action sell-out. The result was that the ICE-TJC high school candidates defeated New Action.

But holding 83 out of 89 seats is not enough control for Unity. This time they are endorsing the New Action candidates for high school Ex. Bd. so that a vote for the Unity or the New Action slates will count as a vote for the New Action candidates. If they win in the high schools there will be no ICE-TJC members of the Executive Board. In addition, Unity has guaranteed New Action at least 5 seats on the Board by running 5 New Action candidates at-large.

Commercial, commercial, commercial
That is why it is so important for high school teachers in particular to vote the ICE-TJC slate (DO NOT VOTE ONLY FOR INDIVIDUALS). The six ICE-TJC people running have a lot of experience as part of the opposition to Unity for many years.

James Eterno (Current EB member, and a member for many years, CL Jamaica HS)
Jeff Kaufman (Current EB member, CL Rikers)
Peter Lamphere (Teacher at Bronx High School of Science, former Delegate. Columbus HS)
Sam Lazarus (CL at Bryant HS and the instigator of the Region 4 rally against Reyes Irizzary.)
Nick Licari (CL at Norman Thomas HS for many years, TJC Pres candidate in 2004)
Marian Swerdlow (Del, FDR HS and active in the opposition for 15 years.)

(More extensive biographies will be posted soon.)

Election these 6 people to the Executive Board will preserve some vestige of representation for opposition voices to Unity.

A list of ICE-TJC candidates for officer and executive board can be found at http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/

Gene Prisco on Mayoral Control

See Gene's video.

Gene Prisco was a teacher for 33 years, a member of the local school board in Staten Island for five years and has been a community activist for many years.

In 1998, he ran for Congress as the Democratic nominee against right-winger Vito Fossella. Fossella had a near zero rating from the AFL-CIO.

Because Gene has been outspoken on issues within the UFT over many years, the UFT refused to support him.

Fossella has supported all of Bush's policies and has been one of the most anti-labor members of Congress.

Lack of support for Gene typifies what is wrong with the UFT's political strategy through COPE that often results in supporting enemies of teachers while denying support for friends of teachers.

Gene is running for one of the UFT Executive Board At-Large positions in the UFT elections.

Yelena Siwinski, ICE-TJC Candidate for Assistant Treasurer on the UFT Elections

Yelena is chapter leader at PS 93 in Brooklyn.
Click here to see why she is running for one of the top eleven officer positions with the ICE-TJC slate.

Evaluate your supervisor

This supervisor has reached rock bottom and has started to dig.
This supervisor is really not much of a has-been, but more of a definite won't be.
When she opens her mouth, it seems it is only to change feet.
He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.
This supervisor has delusions of adequacy.
He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them.
This supervisor is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
This supervisor should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better.
She's got a full 6-pack but lacks the plastic thing to hold it all together.
A gross ignoramus --- 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.
He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier.
I would like to go hunting with him sometime.
He's been working with glue too much.
She would argue with a signpost.
He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room.
When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.
If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one.
A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on.
Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.
I still can't believe he beat out 1,000,000 other sperm.
Some drank from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled.

A principal, known for his long faculty meetings, noticed a teacher leave in the middle of his presentation and come back right before the meeting was over. When asked where he had been the teacher said “out getting a haircut.”
“But why didn't you get one before?”
“I didn't need one before.”

An Administrator in Every Pot

IN Every PoT (INEPT), a new program being implemented by the DOE, promises to put an administrator in every classroom.

The INEPT program will guarantee teachers will be monitored constantly. “Clearly, the problem with our school system lies with a lack of supervision over an inadequate teaching staff,” said a DOE spokesperson.

“Our goal is to have a supervisor/ teacher ratio of one-to-one. No teaching experience will be required for a job as an administrator. We actually prefer to recruit people from the business community. Our experience with Chancellor Klein has shown that people with no clue about education and a great PR staff can fake it enough to make it look like they know what they are doing. Better yet, they don't carry the baggage of having taught, an experience which might engender sympathy for teachers and children and interfere with our business approach to education.”

The DOE is claiming such success for this program, NASA is adapting it and will henceforth hire people from the Agriculture Department to build the next generation of shuttles.
—N. Scott

ANNOUNCING THE DEATH OF BROOKLYN COMPREHENSIVE NIGHT HIGH SCHOOL

Read press release at Norm's Notes.

Travels to a Distant World

by Norman Scott

They say traveling to far away places can be broadening. But sometimes the longest journeys are not measured in miles.

An invitation to attend a luncheon sponsored by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research required preparations worthy of a trip to the Himalayas.

Generally perceived as being right wing supporters of privatization efforts and often leading the attacks on public schools and teacher unions, their mission statement is “to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.” The lead quote on their web site is by Rudy Giuliani. Better get the full battery of shots.

The luncheon featured Christopher Cerf, the Deputy Chancellor for Organizational Strategy, Human Capital, and External Affairs for the NYC Department of Education. That mouthful of a job description tells you a lot. As an educational writer I have criticized and satirized Cerf, the former CEO of Edison Schools, a for-profit company that milks money from the public schools. Cerf has been featured recently in the press for all kinds of fun things, like trying to hide not selling his stock in Edison and only doing so surreptitiously when it became clear this fact would be revealed. I had published a photo on my blog of Cerf seeming to be dozing at one of Joel Klein’s press conferences. Klein is his boss. I better bring a food taster.

The luncheon was being held at the University Club on 5th Ave. and 54th St. Always prepare for journeys by reading your travel guide. Mine said:
“Designed by Stanford White this is the city's grandest clubhouse. With its deep rustication, grand proportions and superb craftsmanship, it is the city's finest Italian Renaissance palazzo-style structure. As impressive as its exterior, the interior of the building is splendiferous with rich marbles, gilded columns, fine woods and excellent murals by H. Siddons Mowbray. The three most impressive rooms are the reading lounge on the elevated first floor overlooking Fifth Avenue, the magnificent third-floor double-height dining room that stretches the length of the building's side street frontage, and the enormous, vaulted library. In 1987 the club admitted women.”

Hey! Change takes time in far away places. I better get a 2nd set of shots.

I dressed carefully. Digging out my best and darkest corduroy jacket, I desperately searched for a pair of matching corduroy pants that would give the rough impression I was wearing a suit. I found something. It was black. Sort of. I put on a black button down shirt worn over a black tee-shirt with white lettering that said “Quantum Samurai Scorpions” given to me by the robotics team at Aviation high school. In case of violence, I would rip off my jacket and shirt and use the scorpion on my shirt to back them away. But I would be helpless if they resorted to blowguns that shot voucher darts. I added black sneakers disguised as shoes for quick getaway and I was ready to go.

On my way down the street, my feet began to slip on the ice from the storm the day before. Back to the house to change into my tan-with black-border waterproof hiking boots that I had bought for last year’s trip to Costa Rica but hadn’t worn since. I could kick my way out of there if attacked. My outfit complete, I was off to the B train with a change for the V at 47rd St. I practiced my moves in the subway.

I approached the University Club with stealth, searching for a way in. I used my passport to get past the outer-borough-denizen filtering system. Then past the next six doormen — after a brain scan designed to seek out alien thoughts — like any inclination to oppose the conversion of every public school in Manhattan into condos.

I approached the next barrier, a man in a red jacket whose first words were, “You need a jacket and tie,” looking at me like I had just been scraped off his shoe. I opened my coat and said, “I have the jacket. One out of 2 ain’t bad.” He didn’t smile. “The invitation didn’t say anything about a tie,” I whined. “We have ties in the back,” he said, looking down at my hiking boots.

I was going to ask him where I could change money since I heard they used a currency I was not familiar with — millions. I’m pretty much a ten and twenty man. I thought better of it.

I went to the cloakroom to check my dark, down coat, which left feathers clinging to my corduroy. I tried to cover up the ketchup stains still lingering from last night’s fries. The guys at the checkroom sent me to the back to pick out a tie from a rack of rejects. I chose a lovely school tie – blue field with yellow markings, some of which looked to be moving. I made the tie in the mirror in the lobby while sneering people passed me by. Finally, I was ready for combat.

The Manhattan Institute luncheon was on the 7th floor, not one of the three grand rooms, but c’est la vie — maybe next time. I got off the elevator and approached the lady at the entry desk sitting with a pile of nametags in front of her. I expected mine wouldn’t be there, sure the people from the Department of Education, who’ve have been tracking my every move, would try to keep me away. But there it was. It had a safety pin on the back. I looked around to see where other people attached their tags so I wouldn’t make myself stand out by having a nametag out of place. For a moment, I thought of showing my defiance by putting it where it was guaranteed to get noticed. Not a good idea. Damn safety pins.

I entered the room. Lots of wood and twenty-foot ceilings with painted angels hovering over clouds, looking down with looks on their faces like they had to pee. I was one of the first ones there even though it was 12 o’clock. I forgot to be fashionably late. There was a table with drinks. Wine. A glass of red would calm me down and then I could stand in the corner and observe the species, getting in touch with my own Jane Goodall. Mingling was not going to be happening for me today.

The lady in front of me asked the server what the white wine was. “Chardonnay” was the response. She snorted and said, “I’ll take red.” “Red for me too,” I echoed. She turned and smiled. I said, “I really want Merlot but am afraid to ask since that wine movie trashed the Merlots.” “I like Merlot too,” she laughed. We spoke about wine and schools for the next ten minutes. Turned out she was also a fugitive from NYC schools, but had risen considerably higher than I, becoming one of the rulers and shakers before she retired to become CEO of a company setting up charter schools nationwide. We exchanged contact info and I was off to my corner to listen and observe. I heard lots of breathless, “We’re just waiting for the charter schools cap to be lifted.” The public Ed gravy train will be long indeed.

I become a mingler after a glass of wine on an empty stomach takes effect. I floated around looking at nametags. There was the former CEO of one of the major financial firms in the world. Dismantling public schools is hot with the corporate types — they can say they served humanity. I saw two reporters I knew. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. “Norm, good to meet you. I feel like an alien.” It was JB. We knew each other from a common listserve we are on but it was the first time we had met. There were other aliens whose names I recognized. It turned out there were more people there for the free lunch than I imagined. We banded together like Custard’s army at the Little Big Horn.

Finally, we were called to lunch. Chicken and dessert. And a roll. Not top shelf. The wine had gone to my head. I sat at a corner table with someone I knew from years before. Cerf made his outrageous presentation to much clucking from the audience. I disagreed with 99% of it. When the question period came, I raised my hand in vain. Just as I was about to rip off my jacket and shirt and start using Quantum Samarai moves, I got called on for the last question of the day. Needless to say, there won’t be a next time.


This article was originally written as a travel piece for the LostWriters web site and can be accessed at: http://www.lostwriters.net. It also appeared in print in The Wave on Feb. 23, 2007.

Camille Johnson, ICE-TJC candidate for Secretary

View Camille's video as she speaks on the UFT Election.

First Step (Salary) to Last - Quite a Journey

An interesting debate broke out on ICE-mail over the gap between first and last salary steps. I've heard arguments on all sides (as you can see, there may be more than 2 sides to the question.)

Sean writes:
Higher salaried teachers are in this predicament due to the Unity Caucus' bargaining strategy over the last 30 years which has deepened the division between those at the top of the pay scale and the median salaried teacher.

In Most NYS school districts, median teacher tenure is between 10-15 years. In NYC its 5-6yrs. The difference between the median salaried teacher and the top salaried in NYC is unequaled anywhere in the USA. Hence the endangered higher salaried teacher which Unity had relied upon for support over the years and on into retirement is now exposed and vulnerable, an endangered species, as a consequence of Unity's misleadership.

Unity boasts that it has achieved near parity with suburban districts. This is not an straight up lie when the pays scales alone are compared side by side but it is nevertheless a fraudulent misrepresentation of the prevailing situation on the ground. It obscures Unity's bargaining strategy over the years which has created the precarious sitting duck situation now faced by members at top salary.

The actual median salary paid in NYC (represnting that of a 5-6 year teacher) is much lower than the than the actual median salary paid to a suburban teacher who usually has between 10-15 years on the job. The higher salaried teacher is a comparative rarity in NYC, and if our bosses have anything to say about it, they will become even rarer.

It was 8 years to top pay in 1974 now its 22. A living wage is a living wage whether you are 30 or 55. A solidarity approach puts a living wage for all in first place, not the slice and dice, divide and control policies of the "Unity" caucus.

What does the opposition propose now that the corporate reformers seem inclined to buy two teachers for the price of one? It is an important question because it is about overcoming the disunity that the Unity caucus has institutionalized within the salary schedule.

I think the charge of "age discrimination" is a false flag that diverts attention from the ridiculous disparity between the top and bottom of the pay scale. It diverts attention from a lousy contract that offers no positive job quality enhancements for senior teachers who have skills and knowledge acquired through a lifetime that need to be preserved and passed on.

There are not unlimited resources and there never will be. Any management responsible for budgeting will be faced with the same choice; Two for the price of one? Why not? This would be the case whether you have democratically elected school boards or corporate/centralized/mayoral controlled bean counters making such decisions. How did we arrive in this pickle and how to get out?

Bring up the bottom to meet the top? Bring down the top to meet the bottom? What's the solution?

From a labor perspective you aim for solidarity. Unity's pay scale divides the members. Most members don't stay for more than five years(low salaries, lousy conditions anyone?).

Why should a step 5 teacher support another member who makes twice a much, has a paid off house that has appreciated considerably, earned a degree when it was either free or inexpensive, has a quarter million $ in the TDA, voted for Unity these past 20 years and never cared much what happened to the teachers behind them in line to retirement not to mention the majority who pack it in by their 5th year)? This is the solidarity deficit that is Unity's legacy.

The charge of "age discrimination" is not applicable and diverts attention away from Unity's divisive approach to salaries. Its not the "age" of the teacher, it's the longevity increases that have put higher salaried teachers into a vulnerable position even as they welcomed these increases!

Longevity increases should be gradually rolled back into steps 1-8 in lieu of pay increases for those at the top rate. Sure this is going to arouse criticism from the top salaried but what is the alternative? Short of that or in combination, percentage increases should be replaced by flat rate across the board increases that will also tend to gradually compress the salary gap.

Reward seniority through job enrichment and an array of choices that utilize the knowledge and skills of the experienced educator and free them from the full class load to be mentors and school leaders as they see fit. Rewards for seniority should be more weighted towards enhancing job satisfaction than in the gold ring that Unity has over the years dangled before their loyalists. ( assuming of course that top compensation is at an acceptable level which I think $100,000 is)

I did not see in the rank and file program or in the contract negotiations a demand from the the rank and file opposition for an alternative bargaining strategy that would lead to the compression of the pay scale. This is a bit of a Gordian Knot that Unity has created for its own self preservation. I think this is only one piece of the UFT reform puzzle but It merits a closer look and a bold stroke if the opposition is to evolve out of its perennial gadfly role.

Here is one response to Sean. What do you think?

The problem I have with his argument is that it is based on the fact that NYC teachers as a whole do not last very long. He accepts this as a given and then uses that to argue that the negotiating strategy needs to change as a result of this so that more of our increases are spent on salaries on the lower tiers then on the upper tiers.

He ignores the historical fact that for most of our years people didn't leave the system as a whole early in their careers and to me the main reason for that is that the attacks on teachers were focused in only some parts of the city while most teachers were immune. This longevity of the teaching force is why the salary schedule was stretched out from 8 to 22 years over our careers--people mostly stayed until retirement.

To me the discussion then becomes do you deal with the underlying weakness that the UFT has placed teachers in vis a vis an aggressive DOE or do you throw up your hands and accept that as fact and change salary negotiating strategy to take this reality into account.

Of course there is no doubt that there is a need to return the schedule to a shorter time frame between minimum and max and also to insure that newer teachers are receiving a fair early salary. With the new contract entering teachers will be earning more than 45,000 -- certainly not enough for what a nightmare they have to face but much more reasonable if this were a humane system to work in.

ICE-TJC WIN!! They WIN!!!!

— the lottery for ballot placement and for the NY Teacher.

ICE-TJC won top spot in the lottery for the order on the ballot and in the NY Teacher in 2 separate drawings. Bob Astrowski represented Unity and in both instances he picked the ICE-TJC slate number 1. I chose 2nd and in both cases picked Unity. New Action came up last by default -- they had no rep present -- probably too busy with their UFT jobs.

Astrowski is being sent to run the retired teacher chapter in Antarctica.