Support the Chicago Teacher Union: A Day Without a Teacher

If Chicago loses this struggle, so do we. The Chicago Teacher’s Union is preparing to strike. But to win they need the world behind them. If we want quality education for all, we need the Chicago Teachers to win this showdown. ---- From A Day Without a Teacher Campaign

Imagine a day when every teacher in the nation did not go into school. As unlikely as that event is check out the idea below from CTU community allies.

For the past 2 years I've tried to make a study, mostly long-distance, of the approach of the CTU/CORE people and the UFT/Unity crew. My last two trips -- to Detroit at the AFT and DC at SOS have given me some insights that I hope to share in a separate post. But here is one clear example. Leo Casey said at SOS that we should carefully pick our battles (I'll put up some tape maybe tomorrow). Imagine what the UFT would be telling us if they were in a similar battle. Chicago is reaching out to the world.

I just received this message from Chicago Teacher Union Chief Financial Officer Kristine Mayle. 

Hi Norm. It was great seeing you in Detroit. Could you please share this link with your NY and other networks. Some community allies of ours started this page as part of a solidarity campaign with CTU. We are trying to get our message out to teachers everywhere and this page will help us communicate our needs and updates about what is happening here.

Just 2 years ago Kristine was teaching special ed in a Chicago elementary school. Then she was elected to one of the top 4 officer positions in the Chicago Teachers Union. She's been sort of busy. I met Kristine 3 years ago when she was part of a CORE contingent at a conference with people from 5 cities held in LA. The amazing hard work she did those few days was seriously impressive. I remember thinking -- almost a year before they won the election --- if they have lots of Kristine-like people they are going places. And so they do and so they did.

CALL FOR "A DAY WITHOUT A TEACHER"

This is a campaign to connect teachers, ed workers, students, parents, and communities across the nation to fight against the destruction of public education and for a public education system worth fighting for. 

How can you help?

The situation in public education as it stands is intolerable and is only getting worse.

The carefully planned attacks by the ruling class to defund, deskill, and privatize our education system have resulted in the avalanche of attacks we face on a daily basis. Massive budget cutbacks, exploding class sizes, media vilification, testing mania, school shut downs and charter school expansion, destruction of tenure and seniority, packaged curriculum, and on and on.

Both Republicans and Democrats serve this agenda, and while so called “education reformers” use racial justice for their public relations, in truth their policies only increase the oppressive inequities facing our children, parents, and communities.

Make no mistake. We must choose between watching the promise of our children silenced or joining a massive resurgence to fight against these attacks and for a transformed educational system worth fighting for. One that delivers quality education for all. And that choice is upon us.

This fall, teachers in Chicago are being pushed into a corner they can’t survive without fighting—a 20% increase in their work day and the replacement of standard raises by financial favoritism, essentially ending the union itself.

This struggle is of crucial importance, signaling the fate of teachers for the country as a whole. Chicago is home to the third largest teacher’s union in the country and a President of the United States seeking reelection this fall. Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s ruthless Mayor who is out to destroy the union, is Obama’s former Chief of Staff.

If Chicago loses this struggle, so do we. The Chicago Teacher’s Union is preparing to strike. But to win they need the world behind them. If we want quality education for all, we need the Chicago Teachers to win this showdown.

That is what “A Day Without A Teacher” is all about. Like the millions of immigrants who refused to work on May 1st, 2006. Like the thousands of Madison teachers whose courage showed people across this rich nation what is possible if teachers take collective action for the well being of all.

We all face struggles like what is happening in Chicago. Only by acting together can we reverse the tide. Another education system is possible. A Day Without A Teacher is the first step in making it so.

Stand with Chicago when they need it!
Quality Education for All!

Get Involved.

1. Join the National Steering Committee or get organizations or people you know to join it or express interest in the concept. This can only happen if people like you step up to make it so.

2. Circulate a petition asking your fellow education workers and allies to support the concept, and send us their information: phone, email, and city are essential

3. Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/DayWithoutATeacher

4. Donate money at online at www.wepay.com/donations/a-day-without-a-teacher-solidarity-with-chicagoquality-education-for-all

5. Submit a photo and explanation for “Why a Day Without a Teacher?” in your state, school, or district

6. Help organize a Day Without a Teacher Organizing Group in your area to spread the word, organize an action or gathering place, and begin the process of creating the nationwide movement we need to transform education.

Questions? Ideas? Contact us at: daywithoutateacher@gmail.com or call (612) 567-2849.

Basic Info

Launched	June 19, 2012

Contact Info

Website	http://www.wepay.com/donations/daywithou... http://www.facebook.com/DayWithoutATeacher

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Video: SOS12 - Karran Harper Royal: How [some] African Americans and Civil Rights Leaders Got on the Wrong Side of the Ed Reform Movement

Karran Harper Royal has some story to tell about New Orleans and the ultimate in ed deform. The fact that she was initially won over by the charlatans like Paul Vallas is instructional for all of us: don't give up in anyone. Thus, when you meet some of the arrogant parents from certain charters run by people named Eva. treat them with sunshine and tell them they will one day come back into the fold of real reform.

Karran by the way is a founder of Parents Across America and we used footage of her at the premiere PAA event in our film. I wish we had room to use more. (Here is the 11 minute video I made of that Feb. 2011 event).



SOS12 Karran Harper Royal: How [some] African Americans and Civil Rights Leaders Got on the Wrong Side of the Ed Reform Movement from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/47206728

Obama Ed Policies Cause Blowback - What Will it Cost in the Election?

I gave generously in 2008. I will not give.

I walked miles and knocked on doors. I will not knock.

I will vote Green for President.

Betrayal by a friend is the worst betrayal of all. 
----Carol Burris, HS principal

Did you ever think that hundreds of thousands of teachers throughout the country are refusing to contribute as they did in 2008 because the Democratic Party, from the White House on down, has cynically blamed teachers for the nation's dismal record of poverty and inequality. ---- Mark Naison

A highly placed union official recently said that there is an expectation that teachers will vote for Obama despite the anger of so many at his deformed ed policies. But the worry was that they would not put themselves out in any way to actually work for him. I certainly won't be getting up on an early Sunday morning to drive to Allentown. (I’m going to Obama with a banjo on my knee). In fact I am voting Green, as many educators in NYC are.

Mark Naison posted:

To all the Democratic Party leaders and Move On organizers who are deluging us with emails complaining that Republicans are raising more money than Democrats- Did you ever think that hundreds of thousands of teachers throughout the country are refusing to contribute as they did in 2008 because the Democratic Party, from the White House on down, has cynically blamed teachers for the nation's dismal record of poverty and inequality. I know a lot of teachers who plan to vote for President Obama; but precious few who will campaign for him or give money until the Administration's education policies begin to change

 Carol Burris, one of the most respected voices in education, a high school principal of the highest level, won't vote for Obama and to me that spells trouble for the Democrats who have led the assault on teachers, from Rahm Emanuel to Andrew Cuomo.

I gave generously in 2008. I will not give.

I walked miles and knocked on doors. I will not knock.

I will vote Green for President.

Betrayal by a friend is the worst betrayal of all.

Educators in the know are pissed off and not willing to take it anymore. It may be a drop in the bucket but maybe not. My sense is that in a close election, educators may well say fuck it and go Green or even Romney, figuring how much worse can it be? I still think it would be bad but on the other hand if my pessimistic nature takes hold and as expected a Republican like Romney makes the economy tank, as we can expect, better he (Hoover-like) take the hit and that may lead to a more liberal alternative ala Roosevelt. Or it might lead to a far right-wing takeover (Hitler in the early 1930s where what was a fringe 10 years before became the government.)

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Video from SOS12: Teachers' Unions, Teachers' Rights, Teachers' Voice

This is must see though I know it is long. This workshop led by Mike Klonsky and featuring his brother Fred, Dr. Michael A. Walker-Jones, Executive Director, Louisiana Association of Educators, along with one of my Chicago pals Xian Barrett is loaded with meat. Even Leo Casey makes an appearance with a comment that may cause some comments. In the audience were John Elfrank-Dana, CL of Murry Bergtraum HS and Arthur Goldstein, CL of Francis Lewis HS.

Xian's comments offer some blueprints on the organizing in Chicago. Unfortunately my battery ran out and I lost the last part of his comments. But later, Jaisal Noor, from The Real News Network, interviewed Xian and was kind enough to let me film it. It is included at the end. So if you don't have time to watch the entire thing at least scroll ahead to that part. It was about 10 minutes. (I will put that up in a separate post with come commentary on how the unions in NYC and Chicago differ.)

Here is the official lineup:

Dr. Michael A. Walker-Jones, Executive Director, Louisiana Association of Educators; Fred Klonsky, Chicago activist, blogger, and former local union president of the Park Ridge Education Association, and Xian Barrett, member of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). SOS Steering Committee members Lee Barrios and Mike Klonsky will help moderate and act as respondents.

https://vimeo.com/47136948




Teachers' Unions, Teachers' Rights, Teachers' Voice - SOS 2012 Washington, DC August 4, 2012 from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

AFT Membership: Do the Numbers Add Up?

How does AFT report 1.5 million members to the public, and 873,454 members to the U.S. Department of Labor?  --- EIA

In the short term, the relative increase in AFT strength will have no effect. But if through policies or pure luck AFT were to hold its ground while NEA continued to experience large losses in membership, it could cause a sea change in relations between the two national teachers’ unions. -  EIA

If AFT is changing to "solution-driven unionism," what does that make the current unionism? --- EIA - http://www.eiaonline.com

When the National Education Association announced it had lost 118,186 members.
 it made headlines early last month. So when Randi Weingarten said during her speech at the AFT convention 2 weeks ago that the membership had held steady (though at the Progressive Caucus meeting she said it had gone up) she did it with a touch of gloating. I was sitting with Lee Sustar in the press section and we were wondering about the numbers -- how could the total number of votes which is listed at around 800+ thousand. How does that jive with a 1.5 million membership?

EIA's Mike Antonucci explores some interesting aspects on the AFT. Always read Mike with the caveat that he brings an anti-union bias but his facts can be trusted and analysis taken seriously. His point about the relations between the NEA and AFT is an important one. I know a lot of people think Randi is ambitious in the sense of having an eye on a cabinet post while I think her real ambition is to be the head of a merged union of almost 4 million members, something Al Shanker may have dreamed of but could never attain. I will refrain from making any snide remarks about either of them. What was clear at both the AFT and NEA conventions was that there are no merger talks on the national level but there are talks on the state levels, which I feel is the real strategy -- one state at a time. (Note Mike's comments on the state mergers.)

Questions About the AFT Convention. The American Federation of Teachers wrapped up its biannual convention in Detroit, and a few items have me wondering:

a) How did AFT get its New York Times columnist to show up when NEA couldn't?

b) If AFT is changing to "solution-driven unionism," what does that make the current unionism?

c) It's not surprising that Vice President Joe Biden delivered essentially the same speech as he did to NEA, but couldn't the delegates dream up a different chant?

d) How did the mainstream media fail to identify exactly who was protesting Biden's speech?

e) Is it a good thing that AFT members can get a 25% discount on something like this?

Could AFT Membership Really Be Up?

The American Federation of Teachers claims it currently has 1,536,684 total members. This is noteworthy because it constitutes an increase of 552 members since 2010 – a period during which the National Education Association lost 118,186 members.

Your first reaction was probably the same as mine: That can’t be right. But after allowing for the utter lack of independent confirmation, and the idiosyncracies of how NEA and AFT report their total membership numbers, an examination of the available figures indicates it is indeed possible.

Before I demonstrate, let’s begin with the unsolved mystery portion: How does AFT report 1.5 million members to the public, and 873,454 members to the U.S. Department of Labor? I don’t have the answer to that question. Other than the omission of retirees from the latter number – which can’t possibly total more than 660,000 – I have no explanation.

The second anomaly is easier to explain. Ever since the first NEA-AFT state affiliate merger in 1998, both national unions have included the total membership of merged affiliates in their numbers. Today, with four merged state affiliates, there are more than 650,000 union members who belong to both NEA and AFT.

But each of those members is not two people, and does not pay full dues to both NEA and AFT. Yet NEA counts the full 400,000 New York State United Teachers in its membership, and AFT also counts the full 400,000.

So, without any state-by-state numbers to look at, how can we evaluate AFT’s claims? By looking at NEA’s numbers for those merged affiliates – Florida, Minnesota, Montana and New York. Lo and behold, despite overall bad numbers for NEA, those four state affiliates showed a combined increase of 10,251 members in 2011. Since they also constitute more than 42% of AFT’s total membership, the gains by these affiliates probably offset losses in others – and could still have had some left over to compensate for losses everywhere in 2012.

In the short term, the relative increase in AFT strength will have no effect. But if through policies or pure luck AFT were to hold its ground while NEA continued to experience large losses in membership, it could cause a sea change in relations between the two national teachers’ unions.

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

If life found on Mars it should not have tenure -- Michelle Rhee, Campbell Brown, Students First

Curiosity lands with provis

KJ wants to open charter chain on Mars

The Rhee, Brown, Students Last troika issued a statement soon after Curiosity landed on Mars early this morning to "assure there is no tenure on Mars to protect sexual predators. Rhee was cheered by the exemption covering mayors who also played professional basketball. "Kevin always wanted to visit Mars," she declared. "He wants to be the first to open an all-girls chain of charter school chain on Mars."

@SOS12 Videos: Deb Meier, Jonathan Kozol, Nancy Carlsson-Paige

I'm so busy processing videos I haven't had time to blog about the fab 2 days at SOS2012 in DC this past weekend, a great followup to my 5 day trip to the AFT convention in Detroit last weekend. Lots of bloggers were there so in my next post I'll put up links and some commentary. Here are 2 keynotes. How thrilled was I when Nancy Carlsson-Paige (who is so accomplished but always seems to have her name attached to the fact she is Matt Damon's mom ---- and yes I did it too) told me how good "The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman" was. (You know I am embarassed by the poor producation stuff I was so often responsible for so having someone like Nancy who is connected to the film industry say that means a lot.)

And being at any event with the great Debbie Meier is always such a treat. (My battery ran out during her funny and insightful keynote but here is what I got.


SOS12 Debbie Meier Keynote
------------------

https://vimeo.com/47010658


SOS12 Jonathan Kozol Keynote from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/47017912



 Being away has its disadvantages.
 My wife and her pal Shelly have conspired to bring in a new homeless kitten which Shelly has been feeding in her back yard -- they are at the vet now. I know Shelly's husband Joel is behing this, getting even with me for convincing him to take in a cat he doesn't like 15 years ago. Just wait Joel, I'm sending every stray to your yard with a personal note from me.


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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

SOS - Saturday Day 2 - Debbie Meier and Jonathan Kozol

I tried to post this Saturday night but the hotel internet connection wasn't working.

I can listen to Deb Meier all day. (See the one on one interview I did for our next film). Don't forget that a major counterattack against ed deform comes from the blogging between Deb and Diane Ravitch. Diane is a policy person who often tells us she was looking at the schools from a plane looking through a bombsite. Deb was on the ground in classrooms. She didn't need to do academic studies of the schools to know the ed deform movement would fail. Deb is the first teacher to get the MacArthur grant genius award.

After dinner we heard another great presentation from the legendary Jonathan Kozol.
I posted the full videos of these 3 keynotes on ed notes:

@SOS12 Videos: Deb Meier, Jonathan Kozol, Nancy Carlsson-Paige

Below are some tweets from Arthur Goldstein and others on both of Deb and Jonathan in reverse order so you can get a flavor of what they were saying if you can't get to the videos. Arthur does a great job of getting to the essence.

Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

No matter what they do to try to silence me, I will keep on fighting in this struggle with you to my dying day. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol
 

4h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

I like irreverent children. Power of intelligent irreverence is what we need. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

4h TCBGP ‏@TCBGP

When asked to comment on Chick-Fil-A's problems with gay protests, Ronald McDonald simply said, "I'm lovin' it".

Retweeted by Arthur Goldstein

4h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

In a real democracy, kids would not have to rely on their charm to get an equal education. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

4h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

Charity no substitute for justice. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

4h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

Very small class size, time teacher can give class as result--if good for children of privileged, good for poor. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

4h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

Is solution really throwing money at it? I say yes. Dump it by helicopter. Bring it myself. Split class sizes by half. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

5h Arthur Goldstein ‏@TeacherArthurG

Success for all. didn't work in Bronx, so tried in Chicago, Didn't work there, tried iin LA. SFA didn't work anywhere. #SOS12 #JonathanKozol

MORE BELOW

Randi Still Wants That Stool at the Table

Randi Weingarten...wants her 1.5 million members to be open to changes that might improve public schools.

Debby Pope, who works in the CTU's grievance unit, said the message from Chicago was simple: old-fashioned hardball, combined with outreach to parents and communities likely to be hurt by public school closings, works better than compromise. "We will not be heard at the table unless we are out there in the streets seen and heard fighting," she said. 

----Reuters

Time out from @SOS reports though lots of discussions have been going on pertinent to this -- and I will try to get those videos up ASAP -- see especially the union session from this morning where Leo said some interesting things -- even more interesting that there were some UFT chapter leaders in the room. @SOS - Teachers' Unions, Teachers' Rights, Teachers' Voice.  I have lots of tape of CTU/CORE member Xian Barrett who explains so much that will illuminate why the UFT/AFT is one thing and the CTU is something else.

In this article Randi is at it again and this article delineates the fault line between AFT/UFT position and that coming out of Chicago. Sure I would like a real seat at the table and yes I would lobby politicians but it is not about Randi having that seat -- though what she gets is a stool. We don't do an ask or lobby until we have a massive force behind us. And that force has to be built first which the UFT and AFT are not doing. You know why? You can't build such a force in a fundamentally undemocratic union.

U.S. teacher union boss bends to school reform winds

By James B. Kelleher

DETROIT, July 31 | Tue Jul 31, 2012 7:36pm EDT
 

(Reuters) - In the maelstrom of criticism surrounding America's unionized public teachers, the woman running the second-largest educator union says time has come to collaborate on public school reform rather than resist.

Randi Weingarten, re-elected this week for a third term as president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) with 98 percent of the vote, wants her 1.5 million members to be open to changes that might improve public schools.

That willingness to engage, she says, could win over parents, taxpayers, voters, well-funded pressure groups and cash-strapped cities that have blamed unionized teachers for high costs and poor performing schools.

"We have to unite those we serve and those we represent," Weingarten said in an interview with Reuters at the AFT convention in Detroit. "And we have to think ... what's good for kids and what's fair for teachers?"

Weingarten rebuffed her critics in the union for mistaking collaboration with surrender and said her overwhelming victory in the election showed rank-and-file members supported the move.

"There are a lot of people who are very angry for legitimate reasons and want to hear simply the 'fight back'," Weingarten said. "But this is about fighting for things as well as fighting against things."

Across the United States, public education -- and the often unionized teachers and support staff employed in the sector -- are under attack from reformers who argue the country's schools need to be reformed and partially privatized in order to improve student performance.

Weingarten was attacked by critics for a willingness to throw her support behind deals in places like Philadelphia and Cleveland, where AFT locals bargained away tenure protections, or New Haven, Connecticut, where the union accepted a teacher evaluation system that removes teachers whose students don't perform well on standardized tests. 

"Some people would argue what happened in New Haven is not solutions-driven unionism," Weingarten told Reuters. "Do I embrace every single aspect of that agreement? Is everything single aspect of that agreement part of my particular belief system about how education should run? Of course not."

Weingarten's call for greater community outreach strikes many observers as a realistic strategy for building support for public education, long attacked for high costs and poor results.

"She has said she's open to any reform, under certain conditions, except private school vouchers. She's drawn the line there," said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at a liberal-leaning think tank, The Century Foundation, and author of "Tough Liberal" a biography of former AFT President Albert Shanker.

"But on every other issue - charter schools, merit pay for teachers - she has said that the AFT is willing to talk. And I think that's the right tack to take."

SUMMER OF DISCONTENTS
But activists in the union, hardened by the layoffs, furloughs, pay freezes and benefit cuts that states and municipalities have forced on teachers nationwide in a weak economy, remain vocal and leery of Weingarten's blueprint for the future.

"We have to ask ourselves what are the solutions that are driving the particular model that Weingarten is talking about," said Jeff Bale, a professor at Michigan State University who spoke at a panel discussion hosted by AFT dissidents from Chicago and Detroit.

"Concessions don't lead to more prestige with the public. Concessions don't win more credibility at the bargaining table. They lead to more concessions."

Critics say Weingarten's willingness to see traditional job protections like tenure disappear and to accept charter schools, merit pay and other changes is a retreat from core principles and plays into the hands of those who want to eliminate public education, privatize government services and curb the ability of workers to unionize.

What the new approach will mean for AFT's membership remains to be seen. Like its bigger counterpart, the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, AFT has seen its full dues paying membership decline in recent years, according to its official filings with the United States Department of Labor.

AFT spokeswoman Carolyn Fiddler says total AFT membership -- which includes retirees and members paying partial dues -- is actually up from "1.5 million and change" in 2010 to "1.5 million and some more change" in 2012, a claim repeated in the state of the union report issued at the Detroit convention.

At the event, officials said AFT, which represents teachers and other school staff as well as healthcare workers, had signed up 79 new bargaining units in 18 states in the past year.
REAL FIGHT LEFT?

Weingarten told Reuters that there was "real fight left" in the AFT. But the question is how widespread and deep it is.

One convention highlight came when the 3,000 delegates, [actual number of delegates reported at start of convention was 2300] in a spirited floor vote, unanimously backed a "special order of business" promising the union's full support for "AFT educators in hostile bargaining environment who are fighting to defend fair contracts and the right to bargain collectively."

That describes just about every AFT local in the country.

But the resolution specifically cited five cities, including Chicago, the nation's third-largest public school system, where teachers represented by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have been involved in bitter contract talks with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, and could walk out beginning on August 18.

At a weekend caucus on the sidelines of the convention, delegates from Chicago and Detroit, where an emergency manager has imposed a 10 percent pay cut on teachers, were skeptical the national union has the appetite for strikes or walkouts.

But they agreed, as William Weir, a Detroit public school teacher put it, that "it's time to do things differently."

Activists seemed especially excited by CTU, which resisted an effort by Emanuel to unilaterally impose a longer school day and won -- a rare victory these days for a teachers union.

Debby Pope, who works in the CTU's grievance unit, said the message from Chicago was simple: old-fashioned hardball, combined with outreach to parents and communities likely to be hurt by public school closings, works better than compromise.

"We will not be heard at the table unless we are out there in the streets seen and heard fighting," she said.

(Edited by Peter Bohan and Mary Milliken)

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

@SOS Karran Harper Royal: How [Some] African Americans and Civil Rights Leaders Got on the Wrong Side of the Ed Reform Movement

Karran is the best there is at exposing the ed deform New Orleans "miracle." And a founder with Leonie Haimson and others of Parents Across America.

She opposed the status quo back in the 90's so she can't be accused of defending the SQ.
She could have been on the ed deform side given her history of activism but saw through it. She knew Howard Fuller and was sympathetic at times. Thus she can understand why some African-Americans line up there.
One of major Afr-Am who line up on wrong side of ed reform is Pres. Obama.
Waivers for NCLB worse than the original NCLB. Can keep child in failing school forever thru turnaround.
New Orleans choice is often NO  choice. She can't out her son in the charter school 2 blocks from her house because of "choice."
Her son goes to a charter miles away -- if her son gpa drops below 2.0 in 11th grade he will be kicked out.
Language of corp reform -- data walls.
Neediest children get unqualified teachers thru TFA -- make out like bandit -- almost a million $ to TFA for bringing in only 250 teachers.
We're being forced into school choice which depends on segregating children -- ability and socio-economic means by not providing transportation. Her son's school -- principal gets $5000 a yr car allowance while kids denied trans expenses. Before Katrina - 55% Af-Amer to 33% post Katrina - counseled out. And all sorts of fees ---school is 2nd highest performer in NO.
Language of some of the initiatives -- eg. highly effective teachers = rated by test scores.
Partnerships -- someone will be making money.
Al Sharpton got on the wrong side of ed reform.
We need our civil rts ldrs to be on right side.
Lists Afr-Amer on wrong side: Mayor Cory Booker, Kira Orange Jones TFA Ex Dir), Jonah Edelman.
Scared of Cory Booker.
SEIU - supported Kira Jones -- mentions Dana Peterson SEIU organizer -- saw SEIU organizers.

Teachers who say cannot say they don't like to be political -- MUST.
[Depends on how you view "political" - Karran says run for office and lobby -- I tend more toward only doing that after you build a massive support org. Become organizers first. Not sure we disagree on anything. Maybe nuanced.]
Q from teacher trainer -- dangers of resistance.
Karran - we all have to work but we also have to have principles. In NO - New Teacher Roundtable -- with former TFA people doing outreach to TFA teachers. They have no support net -- gotta reach out to them. Use work to hide realities.
http://newteachersnola.posterous.com

Karran going to New Zealand where they want to use earthquake in Christ Church to charterize all schools.

Check out James Boutin SOS Posts:

SOS Conference 2012, Day One

SOS Conference 2012, Day Two Morning

 

@SOS - Teachers' Unions, Teachers' Rights, Teachers' Voice

 Panelists: Mike, Fred Klonsky (Frmr Park Ridge Ed Assoc Pres), Sian Barrett (Chicago TU), Michael Walker Jones (Exec Dir of Louisiana Assoc of Ed).

Room is filled with many union activists -- a bunch from NYC. CLs Arthur Goldstein and John Elfrank-Dana plus Leo Casey.

Interesting there are people from groups similar to MORE from Providence and Newark and some other areas of Jersey. A principal from NYC just said (proudly) that her new chapter leader ran on a MORE platform. (I'm glad Leo wasn't eating anything he could choke on.)

But in the spirit of good fellowship, Leo and I continued our detente from last year's SOS - Mike Klonsky even took a pic of us shaking hands yesterday.


Michael Walker Jones
Catalogs outrages (similar to what Nancy Carlson-Paige (Matt Damon's mom) did at last night's keynote --- which I'll edit and post next week). 
Leo just commented on Walker-Jones comment about John White that your loss was our gain. WJ: we have let the opposition bring us to our knees with attack on the unions. He has counseled out 75 people from profession. How they have framed the union. LO tchrs have no protection. White has no sense of history -- he can't bear to sit next to him. Boy can I show him video of this bloodless vampire in action in NYC.

Jones makes great point about unions backing down and apologing. Stand for Children in Mass forced union of highest performing state to back down and make a deal. Expresses the real outrage many of us are feeling at the defensive posture of unions.

I've been pointing out that the worm is turning in many ways and one of them is inside the top union leaderships themselves --- the attack is so fierce that they almost have no choice.

Fred Klonsky:
Just retired from suburban Chicago district. Bargained about 10 contracts, attended every NEA conv since '93. Had union background in prev work.
Took him 5 years to know what he didn't know -- why objects to TFA.
Began to look at social role of unions and teachers once he got teaching down. (my experience in my 4th yr.)
Talking about what union should do.
Really good stuff from personal view --- I have to post the video when I get home.
Fred and I had some rough spots over the years and I introduced myself to him yesterday and glad I did. I find him really impressive.
Was told when bargaining: "Teachers just another cost to be contained." Now barg not for bread &butter but for dignity and self respect.
Also have to build consensus with colleagues. Eg. common core -- some tchrs like idea.
Also -- world outside classroom - political and social. Many tchrs not comfortable in that role.
Senate bill 7: Tells Jonah Edelman story - I won't repeat.
Rights reg tenure, seniority removed, Val Added count 50% of eval. 75% vote to strike. All unions lobbied for it except Fred's union. (AMAZING).
IA (state union)  spun it as victory for teachers. Now accepted as disaster. In one yr went from 1 local to entire state.
New unionism -- results based unionism - Randi's gig. Really old -- concessions redefined. Fighting back would be new,


Xian Barrett from Chicago TU

I got to know Xian real well over the years. He often represented the involvement with student activist element of CORE and CTU. Stud and comm organizing.
Until 4 yrs ago he was a teacher in southside of Chi in poor area.
Careful about getting rid of Duncan concept -- replace one neo-lb with another.
New Orleans most extreme but Chicago and everyone else facing the same.
Even mom and pop charters being attacked and cannibalized by charter chains.
Old CTU leadership hostile to own members. Wanted to be active in the union but had doors slammed in his face. Not from TFA perspective of I want to solve unionism but want to contribute.
Opposition in Chi fragmented.
Met 10 fellow activists. Some were in a book group. Push union and take back our schools. 2 yrs later -CORE -- every elected position of the union. Didn't appoint only from own caucus -- chose best out of r&f and not caucus. (HEAR THAT UNITY).
He headed polit caucus of CTU -- now back in classroom and proud of it. I was fired and terminated from CHI -- blacklist not for people who hurt children but for people who organize -- he got off that list (HEAR THAT UNITY WHICH COVERS UP THE DREADED DISCONTINUED LIST).
I'm back where I was -- but now have a fighting leadership and union --- not just about the leadership but everyone. Needed 75% of all members. As we org buildings they got scared -- Rahm org camp to attack tchrs -- tchrs had to hand out letters to parents that said if your teacher voted for strike were aganst children. Hard for isolated tchr but having a fighting union made it easier -- voted 98% of those who voted and 92% of all tchrs.
Another vote on fact-finding report -- report came out for 18% raise for tchrs based on longer school day --- coming to all as part of Deformer astro turf report.
CTU House of Del voted unan against that report offering an 18% raise (HEAR THAT UNITY which would have gobbled that up.)
Now want to fight for class size and tenure etc not just for raises.
Working w comm orgs to have elected school bdds -- who governs schools (HEAR THAT UNITY).
CORE began as social justice caucus -- not vie for leadership initially -- attacks from old CTU ldrship -- attacked them for working directly with parents and comm - they responded that that YES WE ARE).
Important to give people in power choices as opposition -- rep members demo -- can be done with old or new ldrship -- could be very excited to have new group working with them -- then if they don't -- take next step. (Interesting point that some were making in MORE -- to not run this time but start out with campaign to give Unity a choice. But time frame of elections made that difficult.)
****We brought in a lot of active political people representing leftist orgs -- we were not going to bring in outside leftist agendas -- ISO, Solidarity, PLP. etc. ) we would slap each other back when it began to look like a leftist agenda with overly ideological components. I starred this because MORE in its early stages has to address this issue.)

Every single ed gathering we tried to get a few people to --- not to control dialogue but to reach out and support.
We had a political plan for org but also a plan on how to govern. We got to 600 out of 650 schools -- won 60% of vote. Oh shit -- we are in power. But not capital Oh shit since we had a plan. CTU new ldrsh supported SB7 but realized they would take damage and didn't defend a bad decision.
This is OUR civil rights struggle of our time. We win by taking on the struggle they say they are taking on that struggle.
DAMN -- battery ran out and I missed part of one of the best presentations. Xian rocked.

Leo
Politics of governance -- in oppositon can do polit of protest. Given we are in a war --- impor to hold ground we can defend. If we gain ground we can't defend we can be routed. Fighting on max ground we can hold. Leave us w ground we can't hold.

Jones - prob w unions claiming victory to members -- we took gas but didn't claim victory.
Natl and state ldrs talking about wrong thing. We need to go back on natl and st level and go back to roots.

Xian -- can have a pretty rad agenda and still be positive. Ie. Just don't say common core sucks but talk about uncommon core -- what will work with students. Don't just say Obama sucks -- not as a counter to elect Obama but what will work for students and communities. As educators we are the experts .

James -- reported -- community centured pedagogy. COCO in Chicago.
Mike K: Common Core comes out of struggle for equity -- the class nature of curriculum -- Jean Anion at CUNY studies -- what kids in Miss and Boston get. One reason for CC idea. Problematic. Community engagement also used to create segreg and -- think what they want to teach down south.

I wanted to make a point about without a democratic union we have

Tomorrow morning they will reconvene but I have to leave.

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

@SOS - Shanta Driver on Building New Civil Rights Movement

Wasn't I just in Detroit @AFT? Well now I'm in DC @SOS. 
But I can't get away from Detroit.

Speaker Shanta Driver from Detroit doing early keynote (Saturday, August 3 9AM):
Building the New Civil Rights Movement: Why We Need Direct Action to Defend Public Education." Shanta is a civil rights lawyer based in Detroit and with the group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN).

A few notes:
Last 10 years the worst in history -- our own trail of tears. 1/3 of schools left from 7 years ago. Entire neighborhoods with no public education. A master plan for Detroit to turn city from 1 million to half a million and closing public schools is an integral part of the plan. Anyone who could get out has gotten out.
One of first acts of Arne Duncan was to come to Detroit and declare war on the public ed system under the guise of "improvement."
I'm taping so the video will be available at some point so I won't go into more detail.

Best point -- Detroit Federation of Teachers had a secret rep (they didn't tell the members) on the board that was looking undermine the public schools. (see the video I put up a few days ago where DFT leader Keith Johnson makes a rousing speech about what was done to them --- these guys really need to be hit over the head over and over again with an ed deform plank before they even begin to think of putting up a sign of resistance.

4 years of RTTT has done nothing to put a dent in the popularity of pubed --  key is to organize students. One of problems with resisters it the idea of "we just have to convince the politicians as if they don't know what is going on."

She went to last 2 AFT conventions and it is clear that teachers hate Arne Duncan but leadership of those unions believe in working with Obama and Dems - has made the one force capable of leading the fight for public Ed has handicapped the movement.
Joe Biden at AFT convention. Same speech an NEA -- but had problem getting it out. Biden knows the crimes that have been committed but knew a lot of teachers would not walk out. That sense is palpable to the politicians. Standing up to them is what it would take.

Next workshop sessions will include a labor one with Fred and Mike Klonsky (I met Fred for the first time yesterday and Mike last year at SOS). I'll blog during that one too.

Yesterday was also a busy day and I'll catch up on that later.

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.

Video - @AFT Convention - Biden Speech - Chicago Teachers Say STOP RACE TO THE TOP

See our previous post with stills:

@AFT - Chicago Teachers Protest RTTT During/After Biden Speech

http://youtu.be/C0MRDhndDAs

TODAY: MORE Summer Series #3: MORE Summer Series - MORE Messaging and Outreach

Each one, Teach one

 

Session 3 of the MORE summer series event is TODAY

 August 2nd.    5-8

Lolita Bar (downstairs): 266 Broome street, (corner of Allen) Manhattan

map HERE

This is a chance to learn about MORE, meet other union members who are down for a different UFT and to enjoy some cheap happy hour drinks and good conversation.

The event is scheduled from 5-8. We will start with a brief intro to MORE.

Followed by some hands on organizing practice!

How DO you talk to your colleagues about these important issues? What do you say when they ask tough questions? What can you ask them to do to be involved?

The UFT has not had to do any actual organizing for decades. If we want to build a strong, democratic union where members are educated and ready to take action, we need to organize and have many conversations with our co-workers. If we want a mobilized base that can fight collectively for better working and learning conditions . .

WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO TALK TO EACH OTHER?

We will close by making sure that everyone knows how to get and stay involved in the ongoing work of MORE and we'll have plenty of time to schmooze and enjoy a beverage.

Hope to see you! Feel free to bring friends!

ASK MORE FROM YOUR UNION!