Mulgrew the Carpenter: Measure Once, Vote Twice in UFT Backing for Politician Supporting School Closing

....When thinking chapter leaders and delegates reasonably supported Jamaica chapter leader James Eterno's request not to endorse Lancman, Mulgrew called for a second vote. The fact that a leader would instantly call for a second vote when things do not go his way is, in itself, quite a statement. ---NYC Educator, UFT Leadership: Those With Conscience Need Not Apply.

NYC Educator was writing about James Eterno's DA report on the ICE blog: (OPPOSITION TO SCHOOL CLOSING SHOULD BE REQUIRED FOR A POLITICIAN TO RECEIVE UFT ENDORSEMENT)

Unity Caucus hacks are out in force on the MORE blog bragging about how Mulgrew stood up against closing schools. But as I always say, watch what they do not what they say.

So what do these hacks do when faced with endorsing a candidate who backed the DOE closing of Jamaica HS? Read on and weep. James wrote:

strong opposition to school closings should be a make or break issue for our endorsement and on the phase out of Jamaica High School, Assemblyman Lancman was not our friend.

When Jamaica was first put on the proposed phase out list at the end of 2009, not only was Lancman not friendly to a delegation that came to visit him, that included the Jamaica PTA President some students and me, he was spewing DOE talking points while simultaneously he was also involved in community meetings with DOE officials to help start the replacement schools.  When he saw that we had organized the community in January 2010 and pretty much filled up our one thousand seat auditorium against the closure, he temporarily changed his tune and spoke against the closure but then did nothing after to help us.

A year later after we won lawsuit one to stop the closure of Jamaica and many other schools, but Joel Klein deprived us any help and proposed phasing us out again, Assemblyman Lancman was back in our building to endorse not only phasing us out but also a DOE plan to take the best students out of Jamaica High School to put them in the new Jamaica Gateway to Sciences High School. Our top sophomores and juniors were transferred out to the new school with Lancman's full support....Other local politicians such as Senator Tony Avella and Councilman Mark Weprin signed on to the 2011 UFT second lawsuit to stop Jamaica's closure which I hope the UFT is not abandoning.  (President Michael Mulgrew interrupted me to say the UFT was not abandoning the suit to which I replied that this is very good news) Councilman Leroy Comrie and Assemblyman David Weprin have been great friends too (as have the local community boards, civic organizations, churches and others). Meanwhile, Lancman in the spring of 2011 told a delegation of students who went with the NAACP to Albany to lobby for Jamaica that there was nothing he could do.

Opposing school closings should be mandatory for any politician to get a UFT endorsement.  Rory Lancman by his actions has shown that he favored the totally unjustified phase out of Jamaica High School.  I strongly oppose this endorsement.

So James made all these points at the DA and actually seemed to win even Unity people over. Until the Mulgrew count once, vote twice dictum came down.

When I finished speaking, I received some nice applause from the Delegates.  Barbara Silberman, a retiree who was the political action person for Queens UFT, spoke next and pointed out that Lancman was good on UFT issues and in fact introduced a bill to lower class sizes.  She then said she was sorry for what happened at Jamaica. That was the end of the discussion.
The vote followed and clearly the Lancman endorsement did not have enough votes to carry.  Mulgrew must have been stunned that a recommendation from the leadership was going down to defeat so he called for a second vote.
From where I was sitting it was clear that a number of Unity Delegates, who all sign a pledge to support caucus positions in union and public forums as one of their caucus obligations, were moved by what I said and decided to abstain rather than support Lancman.  This was not good enough for Mulgrew.  Hence, the call for another vote.  This time, knowing that the leadership was watching close, the Unity faithful woke up and supported Lancman. His endorsement carried.

James then makes the important point about the UFT and school closings:

... the UFT leadership talks a good game about opposing school closings but when it's time to put their money where their mouth is, they sometimes come up short. The Lancman endorsement is proof.

NYC Educator takes a strong stand:

The fact that a leader would instantly call for a second vote when things do not go his way is, in itself, quite a statement. In any case, thus were all the Unity faithful aroused from their momentary bout with conscience, and pressed into carrying their promise to support whatever they are told. To characterize those chapter leaders as activists or supporters of teacher interests is ridiculous. How can you represent teacher interests if your prime directive is to carry out the leaders' will without question?
What is the purpose of union? Is it to stand up for member interests?  Or is it rather to sway at the whim of corporate media and hope for the best?

School Closings: Chicago Union Mobilizes Entire Teacher Corps to Fight Hit List

...while the UFT leaves each school to fight for themselves.

Note the message from Karen Lewis below.
Don't use the phrase closing schools. Use Hit List. Don't think because your school is not on the list that this is not coming to you soon.

Can you imagine our UFT union leadership sending us such a message!!
In fact Rahmbo and Bloomberg are out to close and privatize as many as they can feasibly accomplish. With every closed school the union is weakened. The strike was a lesson in the dangers of people acting collectively. 

Here is the blurb:

The Mayor's office and Board of Education have threatened to close up to one hundred of our neighborhood schools. CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett is expected to release the hit list within a week.

Through the month of February, CPS held hearings underwritten by the Walton Family Foundation (Wal-Mart) to sell these school closings to the public. We encourage everyone to pledge their attendance at one of these meetings. Visit http://ctunet.com/closings to take the pledge.

Concurrently, charter school profiteers have been pushing their message of replacing neighborhood schools with charters through the so-called "School Choice Week." The public did not buy what the saboteurs and privatizers were selling and thousands attended these meetings to save all schools from closing. CTU members and our parents and community partners have organized summits, knocked on doors, and phoned aldermen.

We, as a Union, need to be prepared for the release of the hit list by staying organized and vigilant.

CTU President Karen GJ Lewis explains what we all must do to save our schools.

Here is the link: http://youtu.be/ZcwsLPj1Zuk

MORE Happy Hour in Brooklyn and Staten Island: Fri, 2/15 Meet the Candidates!

Fri. Feb. 15  Staten Island 4-7pm

The Burrito Bar

585 Forest Ave

https://www.facebook.com/events/209936455811220/

*Please Spread the Word**

WHAT: MORE happy hour

WHEN: Friday, February 15th. 4 - 6:30 

WHERE: Freddy's Bar:  627 5th Ave between 17th & 18th St. Brooklyn NY 11215

Hi all,

As you know, MORE, the Movement of Rank and File Educators, the new alternative caucus in the UFT, is running in the elections for all officer positions this spring, from president on down. (I am on the ticket as the vice president for elem. schools!)

Next Friday, MORE is hosting a happy hour. . . for fun, some socializing and as a chance for folks to meet some of the candidates and find out why we are running (and why you shoud vote for us!). Julie Cavanagh, our candidate for Pres will be there as well as some of the other candidates. 

Feel free to print and distribute the attached flier to friends and colleagues!

Hope to see you there!

Sam Coleman

3rd Grade Teacher, Brooklyn

NYCoRE member

MORE candidate for UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools

 http://www.facebook.com/events/423104114439528/

And another next week:

 

Fri Feb 22 4-7pm Elmhurst, Queens 

Terraza 7

4019 Gleane St

https://www.facebook.com/events/444153422322802/

Ohanian Lays Waste to Common Core (Once Again)

Keep reminding yourself that both the UFT/AFT and the DOE/Ed deformers support CC.

Here is Susan's latest report:

Cartoon: Advice from Dr. Seuss.
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=712

Cartoon: Facebook deactivation contract.
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=711

Cartoon: Rosa Parks
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=710

Cartoon: follow Gates money trail
http://susanohanian.org/cartoon_fetch.php?id=707

Cartoon: Purpose of the CCSS
http://susanohanian.org/show_nclb_cartoons.php?id=847


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Won't Get Fooled Again? Reasons to Resist the Common Core
Michael Paul Goldenberg
Rational Math Ed blogspot
2013-02-09
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=418

Outstanding, short summary of what's wrong with the experimental, risky, and destructive Common Core.

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Education forum spotlights core
Editorial
Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal
2012-10-30
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=417

This editorial is rather breathtaking in its misrepresentation of--everything.

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Policy Leader to Shift From Gates Foundation to College Board

Chronicle of Higher Education
2012-12-10
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=416

David Coleman's former partner at Gates Foundation joins him at College Board.

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Board balks at Common Core; Tantasqua pushes state to drop new school standards
Craig S. Semon
Telegram and Gazette
2013-01-22
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=415

 I say 3 Cheers! for a board that is still willing to think for themselves and insist on local autonomy

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Kindergarten lessons intensify under newly adopted Common Core State Standards
Venita Jenkins
The Fayetteville Observer
2013-01-07
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=414

One more example of the wholesale acceptance of the Common Core. The cheerful acceptance of the burial of child-appropriate kindergarten values just leaves me too sad to comment.

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Knowledge Quest webinar aligns graphic novels to the standards
Press Release
 American Library Association
2013-01-31
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=413

In a new Knowledge Quest webinar hosted by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), writer Katie Monnin will guide attendees through aligning graphic novels to various national standards, including the AASL learning standards and the Common Core State Standards.

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Online Testing Is Coming to New Jersey Schools -- Ready or Not
John Mooney
NJ  Spotlight
2013-02-04
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=412

Read current PARCC propaganda being spread in New Jersey. Read the NJ superintendent's quote of the week on PARCC.

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Gates-Financed Common Core Standards Turn Kindergarten into Global Economy Zone
Susan Ohanian
Daily Censored
2013-01-30
http://susanohanian.org/core.php?id=411

If you doubt that the Common Core is all about undreaming a dream, watch the video described here.

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To the editor
Leonard Marcus
New York Times
2012-12-11
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1520

 People in the world of children's books rarely make statements attacking political programs. It's good to see this.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus, USC
Los Angeles Times
2013-02-06
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1519

Short and to the point.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
Publishers' Weekly
2013-02-06
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1518

Librarians seem to be rushing to embrace the Common Core. The required testing will end up destroying libraries.

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To the editor
Stephen Krashen
New Jersey Spotlight
2013-02-05
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1517

Common Core testing: where the money is.

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To the editor
Michelle Shory, Knoxville, Clara Lee Brown, Knoxvi
KnoxNews.com
2013-02-03
http://susanohanian.org/show_letter.php?id=1516

A response to Tennessee senator described as nutcase.

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What are Windham education officials hiding?
Jonathan Pelto
Wait, What? blog
2012-02-06
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1509

Here's how to make sure test scores rise in one easy lesson.

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Prince George’s considers copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post
2013-02-02
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1508

 In a move declaring teachers to be serfs, Prince George claims the right to anything they create at home and using their own technology

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Test Your Public Ed Savvy
Susan Ohanian and Stephen Krashen
The Progressive
2013-01-26
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1507

If you missed it at The Progressive, here's our Ed Savvy quiz. Please note: Unlike the claims of Standardistos, ours are verified.

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The kids who get left behind Some students' achievements mean nothing to educators (sic) obsessed with testing
Eileen Riley-Hall
Albany Times Union
2012-02-02
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1506

The low scores on standardized tests  of a child with autism will not only deem her a failure, but under the new teacher evaluation system these tests scores will also be considered evidence that her teachers are ineffective.

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Beware of Foundations Bearing Gifts
Sarah Darer Littman
CT News Junkie
2012-12-14
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1505

As a reader noted, this reporter does her homework! It makes her unique.

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The Operator: Is the most trusted doctor in America doing more harm than good
Michael Specter
New Yorker
2013-02-04
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1504

I recommend this article for what it reveals about our society's worship of celebrity--and eagerness to embrace whacky fads. The author is talking about health care, but of course it could be education.

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Health Care's Trick Coin
Ben Goldacre
New York Times
2013-02-02
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=1503

The Feds twiddle their thumbs on the kind of outrage Goldacre exposes-- while continuing to use teachers as punching bags.

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 Get Schooled Good advice from educator: Let your kids choose own path, in college and life

Atlanta Journal-Constitution  Get Schooled Blog
0000-00-00
http://susanohanian.org/show_yahoo.php?id=801

A breath of fresh air from the Get Schooled Blog at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The comments are very negative--except for mine.

More on Seattle teachers' boycott of the MAP test

... 'The tests themselves are known as 'junk science' because of their pseudo-scientific basis in metrics while they notoriously produce unreliable, unreproducible, and even faked results...'

Sarah Jaffe - February 08, 2013
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3967&section=Article

[Editor's Note: The following essay -- "What You Need to Know About the Seattle Teachers' Rebellion and the Deeply Flawed Test That Inspired It" -- first came out on February 6, 2013 on Alternet. The coincidence of the essay appearing on the same day the Chicago Teachers Union voted unanimously at its House of Delegates meeting deserves to be read by Substance readers. The only necessary historical correction that needs to be made is that Chicago was the first city to have boycotts of so-called Standardized Tests, beginning with the Substance publication of the Chicago CASE tests and continuing through the "Curie 12" -- the English teachers at Curie High School in Chicago whose boycott of the CASE tests in 2002 forced Arne Duncan, then CEO of Chicago's schools, to drop the CASE tests].

High school teachers in Seattle are saying no to the spread of high-stakes standardized tests. On January 10, the staff of Garfield High School voted unanimously to refuse to administer the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test to their ninth-grade students. For two weeks they've held firm, even as the superintendent of schools has threatened them with a 10-day unpaid suspension, and teachers at other schools have joined their boycott.

“Garfield has a long tradition of cultivating abstract thinking, lyrical innovation, trenchant debate, civic leadership, moral courage and myriad other qualities for which our society is desperate, yet which cannot be measured, or inspired, by bubbling answer choice 'E.'” wrote Garfield High history teacher Jesse Hagopian in a Seattle Times op-ed.

Garfield High's Parent-Teacher-Student Association and the student government have issued statements backing the teachers, and their union, the Seattle Education Association (an affiliate of the National Education Association) has been holding phone banks and rallies in support. NEA president Dennis van Roeckel called the teachers' stand a “defining moment within the education profession.”

The boycott has become national news and attracted support around the country; a letter in solidarity with the teachers has been signed by close to 5000 educators, authors, and activists including former US Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities, Deborah Meier of the Coalition of Essential Schools and Pedro Noguera of New York University. The American Federation of Teachers posted a letter of support from president Randi Weingarten on its Facebook page.

Jean Anyon, professor of social and educational policy at the City University of New York Graduate Center and a supporter of the boycott, called what the Seattle teachers are doing “amazing.” “There have been very few groups that have decided to defy these tests,” she pointed out. “In terms of an outright boycott by a school, if it's not the first it's close to it.”

The tests, Anyon noted, are notoriously unreliable, with results varying from year to year and nearly impossible to replicate.

Ira Shor, professor of rhetoric and composition at CUNY Graduate Center, who writes on composition theory and urban education, commented, “The tests themselves are known as 'junk science' because of their pseudo-scientific basis in metrics while they notoriously produce unreliable, unreproducible, and even faked results. Yet these tests are used to judge what students know and how well teachers are doing their job.”

These tests, he explained, emerged around World War I as “intelligence” tests for the US Army. Public schools took them up at a time when dropout rates were high among working-class students and young people were “sorted” into tracks, pushing working-class students into vocational programs while the more elite students were tracked for more rigorous academic work. During the Cold War, students were tested more rigorously, but the '60s and '70s saw pushback from social movements on the way education was set up. But, Shor noted, for the last 40 years, there has been a strenuous public relations campaign pushing for more testing -- more “accountability” to keep American students “competitive.”

“The long attack on public education and the public sector amounts to a culture war where the first prize is public opinion,” he said.

The MAP test is a particularly egregious example of the problems with standardized testing. It was acquired by the former Seattle Schools superintendent while she was on the board of the company that sells it; a state audit in 2011 found that she committed a serious ethics violation by not disclosing this fact when the school district spent about $4 million on the test.

Ninth- and tenth-graders in Seattle already take five additional tests, required by the state, and 11th- and 12th-graders take three. The MAP is not required by the state and doesn't affect students' grades, but it is used to evaluate teachers, who point out that students are unlikely to take the test seriously, so educational time is being diverted for tests used simply to punish educators.

Additionally, the MAP is a computer-adaptive test (CAT), which means that if the student gets a question wrong, the next one is easier; if she gets an answer right, the next one is harder. Students can rush through the test quickly if they don't care about their marks, while if they do work hard on the test they can wind up frustrated. “Students who...are sick of assessments find out quickly that if they choose random answers, the questions get easier,” writes assessment expert Jem Muldoon.

“Benefitting grandly from the sabotage of public education are various corporate forces,” Shor pointed out. “The deep pockets funding this war have been called 'the billionaire boys' club' by Diane Ravitch--Bill Gates, Eli Broad, the Walton family, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, and assorted Wall Street scions in such groups as Democrats for Education Reform. Tests like MAP are corporate weapons to produce numbers 'proving' that public education has failed to educate our children and that it's the teacher unions protecting mediocre teachers who are at fault.”

From the Seattle teachers to Chicago's public schools to the Pathways curriculum at CUNY, Anyon said, “The union-bashing, attempts to control teachers, cut union power and control the workforce is all part of this neoliberal austerity ideology and practice...It's a shrinkage of what is good and valuable [in the classroom] to what is deemed useful for the workforce.”

“We know that high-stakes tests are being used to redline the poor and working class out of access to a quality education, and are now being used to get rid of teachers, to deny them tenure,” Michelle Fine, distinguished professor of social psychology, women's studies, and urban education at CUNY Graduate Center, said. The tests tend to have a class and race bias, yet don't serve as a good predictor of students' performance in college the way, say, grade point average does. Even as more and more tests are being pushed on public school students, she noted, now a third of elite private universities are not relying on them for admissions. Elite students, in other words, are not being tested the way working-class students, many of them students of color, are, throwing more roadblocks in the way of those students' access to higher education.

The Seattle teachers' decision to refuse the test comes amid a growing backlash against standardized testing and other forms of education “reform” that come at the expense of educators' freedom and judgment. “All over the country, parents, teachers, superintendents, lawyers and university folks have been signing petitions and publishing articles about the grotesque misuse of high-stakes testing with little traction, in part because President Obama and [education secretary Arne] Duncan have really endorsed the overuse of high-stakes testing on students, on teachers and on schools,” Fine said.

The Chicago Teachers Union last fall made testing a cornerstone issue of its strike, and this April, United Opt Out is planning a four-day “Occupy the DOE” protest and teach-in outside the Department of Education in Washington DC. Anyon noted that New York parents have begun organizing against the tests, though Fine pointed out that many of the parents who can opt out are well-off, while working-class parents worry they'll hurt their kids' chances if they do.

The teachers have until February 22 before their threatened suspension would kick in. The superintendent has also announced that he'll organize a task force to investigate possible alternatives to the testing regime and the MAP in particular, but the teachers are refusing to back down. Ravitch and other supporters have vowed to raise money for them if they are suspended.

Shor said, “Standing against the test as the Garfield HS teachers have done, following the September 2012 strike of Chicago teachers, needs to spread, and if it does, public education as a public good may yet be saved from corporate plunder.”

Want to age well? Check Out My Friend Shirley

I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Shirley Joel, the leading light of the Active Aging group I sometimes work with as a videographer. We interview people who do not let age get in the way of doing amazing things and these get turned into a regular show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network. The people in the group are mostly retired media people with an amazing array of skills and experiences. What a wonderful group of people to be associated with.

Shirley was married to one of the premiere Life Magazine photographers, Yael Joel, who had an awesome career.

Initially, Shirley asked me and my friend Mark for help with editing. Mark really knows Final Cut Pro and Shirley would shlep from Manhattan to Rockville Center on the LIR where I would pick her up and head over to Mark's place where he and Shirley would edit while I watched. Of course we broke for lunch. Finally, Shirley decided the shlep didn't make sense if the only learned Final Cut Pro on her own -- something that has eluded me due I'm sure to my short attention span and unwillingness to jump into something full force.

Shirley, who ran her own ad agency, is focused. So lunch with Mark when she was there was short. (When Mark and go alone that becomes our main focus.) She exerts amazing leadership skills in the Active Aging group and makes sure things get done. I am always attuned to people with her management skills (like my wife) because I am so deficient in this area. And I should mention that one of the things that initially attracted me to Julie Cavanagh when we first met were these same kind of skills.

Some excerpts from a Salt Lake City newspaper.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865572071/Want-to-age-well-Research-suggests-benefits-to-trying-a-new-challenge.html?pg=all

Want to age well? Research suggests benefits to trying a new challenge

By Celia Baker, Deseret News

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 5 2013 2:17 p.m. MST

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Shirley Joel edits video in her Manhattan apartment. The active 84-year-old learned to use Final Cut Pro editing software during her eighties.

Elizabeth Stuart

Summary

Research shows that cognitive declines that occur with aging can be stemmed by staying socially engaged and mentally and physically active.

On a recent winter morning, sunlight spills over the paintings, books and mementos that fill Shirley Joel's New York apartment, where she sits editing video on her iMac computer. There's nothing remarkable about this scene — tens of thousands of people use Apple's Final Cut Pro software every day in America — except for one thing: Joel is 84 years old.

At an age when some of her peers adamantly resist the march of technology, Joel taught herself to use the software program so she could edit digital video.

Every week she produces and edits a television show about active aging for a neighborhood station, and that's what keeps Joel seated before the iMac for many hours each week.

"I don't have it 100 percent mastered, but I'm pretty good," she said. "My grandson is amazed."

Immersing herself in challenging projects ensures that Joel continues to exercise her brain, muscles and social skills during a life stage that sees many senior adults grow lonely and slip into mental and physical decline.
To those over 65, the mantra "Use it or lose it," applies, according to numerous studies. Gradual decline in overall health and cognitive function is inevitable with advancing age. However, seniors who challenge their brains, keep moving and maintain social connections reap benefits that go far beyond the enjoyment that comes from their active lifestyles

Embrace challenge
A born go-getter, Joel hasn't needed such counsel. Besides rearing three children with her husband, she pursued a career in advertising and retailing that included a stint as ad manager for Saks Fifth Avenue. Late in her career, she had to make the crossover from manual to computerized layout and design, as her whole industry did.

"I went enthusiastically," she said, with a zest that begins to seem typical as she talks about her television show, “Active Aging.”

“Our goal is to counter the image of aging and portray a vibrant approach to all aspects of living, whether you are retired or not,” Joel said about her show, which airs on the Manhattan Neighborhood Network, a public access television station. “We show older people embracing new challenges and participating dynamically in all aspects of society.”

Joel's husband, one of the original photographers for "Life" magazine, died six years ago, and she lives alone in Midtown Manhattan. She's determined never to stop learning — the latest iteration of that is her new goal to learn the Spanish language. Attending live theater is another passion for Joel, but the television show is the one that really stretches her.

“Telling a story is extremely creative,” Joel says of her volunteer job. “I interview the person, then develop a narrative around that person. It’s very challenging and extraordinarily interesting. Editing at the computer is labor-intensive and requires a lot of patience. I will sometimes say to myself, ‘What am I doing, spending hours at the computer?’ ”

Producing her show keeps Joel out in her community. She likes living in a city that has good public transportation and recommends it. Walking to and from the subway as she goes about her activities is good exercise, a key factor in maintaining cognitive function in senior adults.


Those aging boomers would do well to stay active. A 2011 Japanese study showed that mice that exercise daily had higher levels of glycogen — “brain fuel” — in their brains’ cortex and hippocampus, the areas responsible for learning and forming memories.

Williams advises that senior adults continue physical activities to the degree their health will allow, suggesting walking and swimming. Continuing scholarly work and reading will stimulate cognition, and staying involved socially with family, friends and community is important to optimal aging, she said.

So why not take steps to avoid those declines by taking a word of advice from Shirley Joel?

“You find a passion,” she said, “maybe one you haven’t been able to develop. You tap different resources maybe you weren’t aware of. One really has to be willing to adventure, be flexible and try new things.”
Joel said she has never forgotten words uttered by one of her interview subjects, a woman who retired from life as a reporter for NBC, then joined the Peace Corps at age 63:

“Retiring? You retire a boat. You retire a debt. You don’t retire a person.”

Norm in The Wave: Trying to Get Sandy Out of My Shoes (and not succeeding)

By Norm Scott
(published in print and at www.rockawave.com)

Since Howie Schwach turned this column over to me when he became editor of The Wave a long, long, time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I’ve attempted to stick to the subject. This column is called “School Scope.” I guess that means I should be writing about schools. Or education. Or mouthwash.

I started off the school year in September after a summer off as I usually do, catching up on the summer ed news you all were hungering for. I wrote about the Chicago teachers strike followed by a slam against Chicago Mayor Rahmbo. Then a piece of satire on Teach for America and the NFL replacement refs (if you don’t get this it’s a teacher thing). Then we took a river cruise in Portugal during the first 2 weeks of October where we discovered the wonders of Port wine before resuming the column with a piece on the upcoming Presidential elections (remember those?) where I announced I was voting green. That was October 26, or what is now known as -3 BS (Before Sandy), Rockaway’s new dating system. The column didn’t resume until +53 PS (Post Sandy) with three columns covering an hour by hour account of weathering Sandy on October 29.

Well, two weeks ago I figured it was time to go back to the school stuff or change the name of the column. So I wrote about the big brouhaha about the teacher evaluation system. But when I opened up The Wave on January 25 (my wife’s birthday) my pathetic little column about education was lost in a sea of Sandy. Yes, we all can’t get Sandy off our minds. It comes up in almost every conversation amongst friends and strangers.

Two weeks ago we were at the Howard Beach Animal clinic which had just reopened that morning, recovering from the Sandy devastation. We had dropped off Penny the Runt, the feral kitten our good “friend” had convinced us to rescue from her backyard, who seemed to have reached spaying age. It was early in the day and the place was packed, with people coming from as far away as Staten Island. It was so good to see Dr. Weinstein who had gotten ill during the post-Sandy interregnum. I’m sure the stress of almost losing a business he loved so much played no little role – as it did with our alarm guy who also became ill from being so run-down due to the enormous work load. The doc, still recovering, was beaming with pleasure at being back. “I’m so glad everyone showed up,” he said. It dawned on me that he really didn’t know if he still had a viable business until that morning. The serious long-term impact on isolated Rockaway, which was in the midst of a revival, will be told by the businesses that can come back.

The impact of Sandy seems to go way beyond the loss of material goods. Naturally, the topic of conversation with Dr. Weinstein was mostly storm-related while Penny was very understanding and waited her turn. Hey, she has stories too. Her mom and brothers, still outside, survived the storm, most likely by climbing trees, and she was very happy. We left her for the day and went across the street to Dunkin’ Donuts and there were a bunch of guys there telling stories, naturally, about Sandy. We joined in. Entire neighborhoods of strangers are still sharing stories today, +102 PS.

Everyone in the world has heard of Rockaway. I am taking a course in storytelling in Manhattan. Other than me, the other 6 people plus the instructor are not native New Yorkers but all knew where Belle Harbor was when I told my Sandy story. Most of the stories we tell in class have humor in them as we prepare for a performance. I tried, I really tried. No dice. While we tell our Sandy stories to each other with animation, it just didn’t feel right to try to “craft” a story and I let it all hang out. We’re just not ready to stop talking about Sandy.

Norm still blogs about educrap (and Sandy) on his blog: ednotesonline.com

Analysis of the CTU strike/how CORE changed the union Plus MORE

Kristine Mayle, one of the officers of the CTU, sent this link to Ethan Young's piece. This piece relates to the work MORE is trying to do.

I am most interested on the CORE organizing efforts within the union so I reprinted a section below. One of the key things they did was educate themselves. They first got together to read Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" to understand exactly what was going on and then transmitting that knowledge to other Chicago teachers. You don't get well over 90% of the members to support a strike in these times without this crucial understanding of the threat of neo-liberalism. Ask any Chicago activist teacher and they will know exactly what you are talking about. Ask any Unity Caucus member what neo-liberalism is and they will say "Only one year to get rid of Bloomberg." Duh! The UFT not only misinforms the rank and file but their own core Unity activists. (By the way, I hear Mulgrew is now using my "ed deform" expression all the time. I should have copyrighted.)

But I will point out a couple if inaccuracies. To say "decades-old" UPC (Unity style caucus) is missing the point that in 2001 an insurgent caucus led by Debbie Lynch defeated the UPC but Debbie then lost to them in a runoff in 2004 where she missed winning on the first round by a percentage point --- meaning that the UPC was a severely weakened caucus even though they won overwhelmingly in 2007. There were enough internal tensions inside the UPC to cause them to split and that opened the way for CORE which formed not long after this UPC 2007 win where they trounced Debbie's Caucus. It was clear there was a need for a new voice.

ASIDE:

Same with MORE in a sense. It was clear after the 2010 elections that ICE and TJC were just not going to be viable. There was pressure from a newer CORE-like generation of activists from groups like GEM (which some people take to be an ICE retread but in fact it was not, attracting people like Julie Cavanagh and others who would never have been involved with ICE. Also the NYCORE union wing wanted to get more involved, as did Teachers Unite. There was resistance from many in ICE and though I can't speak for TJC, there was clearly resistance to the idea of MORE too.

So even though I jumped on board the MORE idea given that I pretty much knew ICE was not going anywhere as far back as 2007, which was why I jumped on GEM in 2009 which was not a union oriented group but more active in opposing charters and defending public ed but clearly saw that without a union component --- and don't think the UFT hacks weren't sniping at GEM too -- and then played a role in bringing all the groups together to explore common actions and that morphed into MORE.

Back to CORE.
Ethan Young states: Within two years of rapid growth, CORE defeat- ed the old guard UPC with 60 percent of the vote....

That has to be put in context. In the first round in 2010 they came in 2nd to the UPC by a hair -- each getting around 33% -- a remarkable achievement for a new 2-year old caucus -- and something that if MORE accomplished would be a game-changer in the UFT. There were 5 caucuses running, including Debbie Lynch's which got about 15% and the UPC splitoffs. They all tossed their support to CORE for round 2 and that is where the 60% came from. Do not take lightly the fact that UPC still got 40%. With CORE being up for election this May they still need 50% to win without a runoff. Hopefully, CORE has built on its 33% but have they built enough to capture over 50%? That should be a fascinating election to watch.

Here in NYC we have the 23 year old New Action which has seen its support drop to a quarter of the support they used to have over the decade since making the dirty deal with Unity in 2003. I still believe if they had continued to be a real opposition they would be in a position to have kept winning the high schools where they used to get over 3000 votes. In 2010 they got 750 HS votes while ICE/TJC received 1350 (and Unity 2600). And in fact if they had actually organized instead of being happy to have their 6 Exec Bd seats they could have turned into MORE. But they made the wrong bet. Yet the leaders seem very happy and cozy with their little jobs and their gift 8 Exec bd seats. They would rather have a quarter of the support they had than actually put up a fight against Unity. In fact if MORE and New Action had pooled candidates for the high schools Unity couldn't win. But that wouldn't happen as long as NA supports Mulgrew.

Instead, MORE needs to get the same 3000+ votes New Action used to get. If MORE can educate teachers, especially in high schools, that a vote for New Action is a vote for Unity they could win these 7 EB seat away from the NA/Unity combo. If it were up to me I would put out a fact sheet on NA but it is not up to me. There are people in MORE who think that one day NA will turn on Unity once again and join the fray. I have no such hopes. But would love it if I was wrong.

Kristine Mayle

Read this! A really nice analysis of the CTU strike and how CORE changed the union.

TEACHERS ON STRIKE 

http://www.rosalux-nyc.org/teachers-on-strike/

When newly elected President Ronald Reagan fired more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers in 1981, he was also firing the first shots in a new offensive against workers in the United States. The new logic of neoliberalism, with its insatiable appetite for low wages and powerless workers, ha…

DOWNLOAD PDF

Here's a section of the intro to the piece:

....All is not doom and gloom. In the midst of this onslaught, the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU) has struck back with one of labor’s biggest victories in recent decades. The CTU strike of September 2012 brought together 26,000 workers to successfully fight a proposal by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to lengthen the school day by two hours with no pay raise, plus other measures intended to weaken the job secu-rity and voice of the city’s teachers. In the context of the so-called educational “reform” movement—a subterfuge by conservative and neoliberal forces intended to weaken the institution of public education—the CTU’s victory could prove crucial. In the larger war against public unions—the last major bastion of U.S. labor and only political player capable of challenging corporate dominance in the game of campaign finance—the labor movement has finally struck back.

In the following study, writer and activist Ethan Young dissects the CTU’s victory and draws lessons for the labor movement, and indeed the U.S. Left, on how to fight back and how to look forward.

Here is the section I am interested in sharing:

CTU elections in 2010 turned out the decades-old leadership group, United Progressive Caucus (UPC). The winners came from the relatively new Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE), with backing from an older dissident caucus, ProActive Chicago Teachers (PACT).

A handful of teachers formed CORE in 2008, at a moment of crisis for the CTU and of ongoing emergency in the school system. The leader- ship of UPC was split over a $2 million budget deficit. The union had lost more than 18% of its membership to firings resulting from then-mayor Richard M. Daley’s sweeping privatization plan. Daley put low-rated schools in “turnaround,” firing all staff and replacing them with selected newcomers.

The CORE founders first acquainted themselves with the neoliberal campaign as a whole, study- ing critical studies and analyses like Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine. They then targeted the demand for job security and the impact of standardized testing. As they took on new members, they set up committees with an eye toward expansion and public debate on Daley and Duncan’s plans for public education:

⇒ The Communication committee presented research findings on the system’s failures on its website and newsletter and prepared special material for CTU delegates’ meeting.
⇒ Outreach organized meetings with teachers around the city to discuss the issue of class size. CPS critics have long argued that aver- age classrooms are overstuffed and nearly useless for teaching purposes.
⇒ A committee focusing on the union’s House of Delegates planned interventions in the meetings of CTU school reps.
⇒ Advocacy planned special educational and agitational events.

CORE worked hard to share skills and informa- tion with new members, to help them get to the roots of the system’s failure in Daley’s policies. At the same time, they outlined key workforce issues: paid and pensionable family leave; use of scripted “learning” and high stakes testing; contractual rights to file grievances over class size; school closings; charter proliferation; and so-called merit pay, aimed at tossing out teachers in “problem” schools. They also included quality of education issues, such as lack of school libraries and air conditioning.

Chicago’s tradition of community organizing was a boon to the caucus. From the start, CORE sought allies at the community level. In August 2008, their first public panel discussion on edu- cation issues included speakers from the well-established community groups Blocks Together, Parents United for Responsible Education, The Pilsen Alliance, South West Youth Collaborative, Access Living, Clergy Committed to Community, and Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization. This was the start of an ongoing interaction, helping ground CTU members in broader community concerns, while putting education higher among those concerns for organizers in various “working class-based” social movements.

This is far from standard procedure for a big union. Without fanfare, CORE set a course that would move CTU from traditional “business unionism” to the (still mostly speculative) model proposed by some progressives, “social move- ment unionism.” It’s a big leap from strict collec- tive bargaining to incorporating the concerns of other social movements. For many unions, it’s a leap just to acknowledge that labor is a move- ment among other movements.

Within two years of rapid growth, CORE defeat- ed the old guard UPC with 60 percent of the vote....

For more download the pdf.

Why Won't Unity Tell the Truth About Ed Deform and Chicago Union-Busting Charter Machine

Note how aggressively the CTU has been battling the charter chains while the UFT.... well, you know the drill -- they are hiding behind their astroturf groups who are out there. Why are they ashamed to openly take on the crooks like Eva et al.?

First, read this message from George Schmidt on Facebook re the fightback -- see what can happen when a union stands up and pushes back? Note George's points about the real intentions of every one of the ed deform gang, a message that has been hammered home to Chicago teachers, who won't be telling them the falsehoods that all they need to do is wait out Rahmbo.

Here, Unity acts like John King and Merryl Tisch are fair minded mediators and not allies of Bloomberg and Eva and all the other ed deform slugs. Which given that so many rank and file teachers are fully aware of the game being played, the UFT's misdirection and misleadership to me puts them on their side once you start asking WHY?

Need I say that MORE is trying to model itself on the CTU's CORE, which by the way is running for re-election this May with Karen Lewis again heading the ticket.

Considering the problems with violence in Chicago's communities (not all; we live in a police district that is safer than the suburbs of Oak Park and Evanston, according to crime data), it should be national news that Rahm Emanuel's administration has hired a "tough ex-Marine" to do a pacification program aimed at...

The Chicago Teachers Union and the critics of this year's two big RAHMLIES -- the "underutilization crisis" and the "billion dollar deficit."

When RAHMGANGS running even more rampant across the city partly -- because of the RAHMERCS who were hired from out of town (clueless about Chicago realities) to run the schools, police, and libraries -- it's not surprising that RAHMBO is now hiring a former NATO pacification guy to fly the drones in against Chicago teachers and parents who are fighting against this year's Hit List.  

One of the cool things about this year is how almost every one of their hypocrisies and Hollywood stunts (Rahm's people try to script everything with the help of about three million dollars in propaganda hacks at the "Mayor's Press Office" and the CPS "Office of Communications") is falling flat because from one end of Chicago to the other everyone knows the game plan is to destroy the city's real public schools, close dozens of schools, then privatize them (at those infamous dollar a year leases) via the charter schools.

The want to New Oreleans-ize Chicago, but their plan is running up against democracy. So naturually, a school system that is facing a BILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT has been able to afford to hire this military guy to pacify the communities and add dozens of FACE bureaucrats to the "Network" offices.

Back when Chicago had a free press (instead of today, when the facts only come out in the Indy press, Substance, and the unions), these stories would have been Page One, and the mayor's plans and cronies would have been laughed out of town. Nowadays, instead, the Chicago Sun-Times, now owned by Rahm's cronies, seems to believe it can get some kind of New Age Pulitzer Prize for putting the mayor's picture on Page One the most in any one year. (Maybe they thing that RAHMIFICATION of the FRONT PAGE will somehow charm people into forgetting about the murder rate?...)...  -- George Schmidt

UNO – The Face of the New Chicago Machine

Chicago has a reputation as a town run by a political machine. Today, the power of the machine no longer lies in ward organizations; it lies in the business community and business-friendly politicians and organizations. http://ow.ly/hrGAq

The United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) successfully navigated the waters to stay a force through both the traditional machine and the new machine. UNO was one of the community groups that backed the legislation that started Local School Councils (LSCs) and immediately used its power to push its own agenda through them.  http://ow.ly/hrH4R

When Mayor Daley’s son Richard M. Daley was given reign over the public schools in 1995, taking much of the power away from LSCs, UNO changed course to open its own charter schools, which allowed it to receive public money and distribute it largely without fetters. This required a change in ideology.  Instead of empowering the Latino community by amplifying its voice, it worked to change the sound of that voice. Ultra-right wing reactionary think tank the American Enterprise Institute praises the organization in its report American Citizenship:

“UNO fundamentally understands citizenship education as a project of assimilation and Americanization.” http://ow.ly/hrI5V :

UNO’s current CEO, Juan Rangel benefits from following the corporate line as he makes $266,000 a year, more than the CEO of all 600+ Chicago Public Schools. http://ow.ly/hrQ8z

This new approach led to clashes with local movements to open new schools. http://ow.ly/hrILD

Always forward thinking; UNO founded the Metropolitan Leadership Institute, which prepares hopeful leaders with its brand of pinstripe patronage. http://ow.ly/hrKcm

Graduates of MLI have been appointed to top-level government jobs. http://ow.ly/hrKjm

Although MLI operates under a shroud of secrecy, its graduates follow a largely anti-union line. During the Chicago Teachers Union strike, one of the union’s most vocal opponents was MLI graduate Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno. http://ow.ly/hrKHd

Moreno’s remarks largely resembled those of UNO CEO Juan Rangel: http://ow.ly/hrKWV

[CEO Rangel] praised the work of wealthy charter school supporters -- and mayoral allies -- like Bruce Rauner and the Pritzker family. "Do we have the resolve to embrace Chicago's wealthy community... and support them as a focal source of energy that fuels the school reform movement with their money? Or will we shy away from them and allow the silly talk that currently passes for debate about the so-called one-percenters privatizing our schools?"

UNO pushes an anti-union agenda because it is a key player in Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s privatization plan. Rangel was co-chair of Emanuel’s mayoral bid.

UNO is really a political organization; one that is larger and more powerful than the traditional ward organizations in that is has no set boundaries. There is no need for to hide their money because it is awarded to them above the table, but doled out below.

Companies with UNO contracts have made large political contributions to UNO-backed candidates for state and local office and UNO workers have volunteered on these campaigns.

UNO’s was able to proliferate its charter schools with a $98 million dollar state grant awarded to them by the Illinois legislature. http://ow.ly/hrLKN

It’s important to note that this $98 million was in addition to the local and state funding UNO receives for operating schools.  So UNO receives funding like public schools, millions of state aid on top of that, and contributions from corporations like Wal-Mart. http://ow.ly/hrQwz

Parent groups filed a complaint with the Inspector General’s office to find out how that grant is being used since UNO refuses to be transparent. http://ow.ly/hrNzC

UNO thwarts Freedom of Information Act requests through MLI graduate Homero Tristan who is one of UNO’s lawyers. http://ow.ly/hrNUT

Tristan left his post as the City’s Human Resources Commissioner amid a hiring scandal. http://ow.ly/hrO54

This state grant allowed for the immediate proliferation of UNO charter schools, which meant more contracts to go around. http://ow.ly/hrM6X

If that was not enough, The Walton Family Foundation (Wal-Mart) added additional start up money for a new UNO campus. http://ow.ly/hrQwz

Of course the Walton’s understand how to hedge market share. They funded CPS’ campaign to promote public school closings. http://ow.ly/hrRcN

The Chicago-Sun Times released a list of contractors who benefited from UNO’s immense war chest. http://ow.ly/hrLW8

UNO has expanded its operations into janitorial services and is winning contracts from the City that traditionally went to union businesses. http://ow.ly/hrSlO

UNO fashions itself as an alternative to the old school machine but it is merely a new version of it. After Chicago’s Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) broke up amidst scandals, it created a vacuum that UNO filled. http://ow.ly/hrSR6

UFT Election Starts Today - MORE Election Leaflet - Download and Print

MORE will send them to your school if you want. Or pick some up at the Delegate Assembly today or the MORE meeting on Saturday.

Don't let any Unity hack tell you you do not have the right to distribute lit. (Contact Kit Wainer if there is a problem.)

See below for a note from Kit Wainer on procedures for distribution of lit during the elections when you can go to other schools to stuff mailboxes. (You can put MORE lit in boxes of your own school all the time.) We will post copies of the memorandum allowing you to do so.

[Excuse the jumbled type on the names -- it will print fine -- just an anomaly of this blog.]

VOTE MORE by morecaucusnyc

To: MORE leafleters
From: Kit Wainer
Re: Leafleting in the school mailboxes

Thank you for helping MORE get the word out about our 2013 election campaign!
As you place our election leaflets in the mailboxes within schools there are a few things you should know.
1. You have the right to place union literature in the mailboxes within your school or within any other school, as long as you don’t do it while you are on duty. You can do it before or after school, or during your lunch period.
2. When going to other schools make sure to sign in with security (bring photo ID), go to the office where the mailboxes are, and introduce yourself to the secretary. Show the secretary, or any administrator who asks, the Department of Education memorandum which allows you to place election literature in the mailboxes.
3. Do not agree to leave the stack with the secretary, the UFT chapter leader, or anyone else. You have a right to put them directly in the mailboxes.
4. Do not get into fights or arguments! Speak confidently but not aggressively. Getting into a battle will do you no good. If after you have shown everyone the Department of Education memorandum they still won’t let you leaflet, contact Kit Wainer (KitWainer@yahoo.com). Kit will contact the UFT and the UFT will get the Department of Education to tell the principal to let you in. You will then be allowed to return on another day.

Thanks,

Kit

How UFT District Reps Undermine Democracy. VOTE MORE

The District Rep was pushing the Unity ballet too telling people how can they just vote for the entire unity party by checking the box. -- report from a teacher

Yes, the Unity/UFT hacks are out pushing their drugs on union time and on our dues. Here was a District Rep while on the UFT dole (at well over a 100 grand a year) pushing Unity Caucus during an ostensible meeting on the wonders of the evaluation system. My feeling is they must be getting a bit nervous when they are willing to so openly violate labor law, which can lead to a charge in front of PERB for misuse of union dues for open politicking.


As I've been saying, unless there is someone in the school actively pushing back, they can get away with this crap. But the teacher/reporter, while possibly not confronting the DR, was not buying any of it, a sign they will be having some problems selling whatever they agree to.

The UFT person from my district came to my school and wanted to talk to us about the new evaluation system... saying how great it was because Mulgrew fought so hard for it... and it really pissed me off because doesn't the union care what the members think? Why is the district rep personally visiting buildings to hype up a crappy eval system when we dont even have a contract? She was saying oh and the test scores are only 20% and Mulgrew worked so hard to do this... and then she is doing backflips over Danielson and how great it is, when it is being misused.

This report is representative of why there are no elections for District Reps, the main agents --- the middle men and women between the top-level union and the chapter leaders.

Want to do something about this? Hand out the first MORE election leaflet in your school which will be available for downloading later in the day from the MORE web site. Or you can email me for a copy. Or you can have us send or deliver a batch if you don't print them yourselves.

Ballots go our early April so there will be a school by school battle with a focus on the eval system and MORE is outgunned and outspent and also has to battle on a 2 front war with every New Action vote going to Mulgrew. What do you think Mulgrew will do with a big "mandate?"

 

MORE Candidate Francesco Portelos on NYC Firefighter Evaluations

Just a little analogy I thought of as I sat in exile for blowing the whistle on corruption. Ridiculous? Exactly!

I have nothing but the utmost respect for NY’s Bravest.
-Francesco Portelos
Parent, Educator UFT Chapter Leader
Candidate for UFT Middle School Executive Board Seat

New NYC Firefighter Evaluations

As the mayor of NYC and governor of NYS try to come up with a better way to support teachers, by evaluating them, the public asks….”Why only evaluate and support teachers?”

“The public is absolutely right. Don’t other civil servants need support as well? Let’s change the evaluation system for everyone!” replied the  mayor, during a press conference yesterday.

Starting next month, every FDNY employee will undergo a strict new evaluation. 20% of the evaluation will be  based on something called Value Retained Model or VRM. The way VRM works is that an accountability expert will make sure to arrive to the scene of a fire first. They will take pictures and videos of the building from the point they arrive to the time the firefighters have finished.
 Full story at:

http://protectportelos.org/new-nyc-firefighter-evaluations/

Parents, Advocates to Protest Michelle Rhee’s Right-Wing Agenda At Book Signing Event TONIGHT

Did you see the disappointing Jon Steward interview with Rhee last night where he had the chance to make her sweat? Here is some retribution. Actually, would have been fun to picket at the Stewart show -- might have spurred him on a bit.

Media Contacts:

Julian Vinocur. 203-313-2479. julianvinocur@gmail.com

Dan Morris. 917.952.8920.dlmcommunications@gmail.com

***Media Advisory for February 5, 2013***

Parents, Advocates to Protest Michelle Rhee’s Right-Wing Agenda At Book Signing Event

TONIGHT, 6:30pm, February 5th, 2013, Cornell Club

6 East 44th St. between 5^th & Madison Ave.

WHO: Outraged parents and education advocates affiliated with New Yorkers for Great Public Schools.

WHAT: Parents and education advocates will speak out against Michelle Rhee, CEO of StudentsFirst, in front of an event for her new book, Radical: Fighting to Put Students First. They will highlight her support for a dangerous right-wing agenda that has harmed public schools in New York City and across the country.

WHERE: Cornell Club, 6 East 44th st. between 5^th & Madison ave.

WHEN: 6:30pm, February 5th, 2013

Feb. 4, 2013 Blogging Team Goes Head to Head With Unity Caucus

UFT Elections: MORE vs Unity/New Action

The UFT election goes into full swing starting this Weds. Tonight's Ex Bd meeting (where I may get a bite to eat) will ratify the procedures. Petitions will be available on Weds. Feb. 6 before the Delegate Assembly, after which Unity Caucus is holding a 6:30 meeting at Fashion Industries HS so they all can get their petitions signed. MORE is working on its own plans -- and you are invited to help.

Well, with the election season, comes the Unity defense.

Have you checked out the MORE blog recently (Morecaucusnyc)?

Some of our city's top bloggers have volunteered their time to work with MORE and the writing has been fantabulous. I am supposed to be part of this crew but I have a very tough time trying to write in the voice of an organization instead of my own voice.

I know that MORE positions don't perfectly align with Ed Notes so changing tone is a chore I have not mastered. Yes, I am an attack dog and Unity slugs and hacks try to paint MORE as a subsidiary of Ed Notes. Unity people can't conceive that everyone in a group does not speak with one voice.

When our crew write official MORE pieces they go through a process where the Steering Committee (totally open to anyone in MORE) gets 24 hours to edit and approve before publishing. I bet my stuff will never pass muster since after 42 years of seeing Unity inaction it is hard to modify my venom. Really, I have a hard time giving them credit for anything. But I am on the extreme end, along with some of my colleagues in ICE who are also on the older end of the spectrum and know how Unity operates. I haven't yet convinced many of my colleagues in MORE that Unity is Vichy. Many in ICE are also with MORE but maintains an independent voice on the ICE blog. The more MORE younger gen of activists see Unity in operation close up and personal the MORE they will see the frustration of trusting them in any way. The reaction by some young uns to the early Unity attempts to suppress our lit is a sign.

Anyway, I now have the attention span of a flea. Given that all these bloggers are actually working while I laze away the days makes them even MORE awesome.

Check out the MORE blog you will see Unity flacks appearing to argue their case. Some of it is really funny in their convoluted arguments.

Bloggers have been out there analyzing the Unity position.

Assailed Teacher takes their arguments apart:

SEVEN WAYS TO DEFEND UFT LEADERSHIP

NYCDOENuts hits Unity from another angle:

Wow, Is It UFT Election Season or What? Unity Attacks

And NYC Educator uses his deft scalpel:
It's Election Season

Then there is Leo Casey who can't stay away despite supposedly moving to Washington to work for Randi at the AFT. There is no point in my going into all the details of the back and forth -- just follow the links.

Reality-Based Educator takes on the task:

Leo Casey Explains Collective Bargaining To Us

As I said, the bloggers at MORE have done some great work. Here is an awesome piece of work from one of the 4 Horsemen (3 if you subtract me) who took on the task of writing this in a MORE media/blogging committee conference call at noon on Saturday and sent back this piece in almost polished form a few hours later. We were all blown away by the work put into this.

Morecaucusnyc

DOES MICHAEL MULGREW BELIEVE THAT OUR TEACHERS’ WORKING CONDITIONS ARE OUR STUDENTS’ LEARNING CONDITIONS?

Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. This has been MORE’s stance since our inception. We understand that there is a relationship between the erosion of our rights as workers and the erosion of quality education in our city over the past 10 years.

A few days ago, on the UFT website, Michael Mulgrew used our slogan in a piece defending his actions in the ongoing battle over teacher evaluations in New York State. Unfortunately, using our slogan is not the same as believing it. His actions surrounding the evaluation controversy cast serious doubt on whether he considers the learning conditions of our students at all, let alone the working conditions of the teachers he is paid to represent.
By examining the origins of this evaluation fiasco we can see just how much Mulgrew, along with the rest of our union’s leadership, take into consideration our students’ learning conditions. What we consider a fundamental belief is clearly nothing more than an empty slogan to the ruling Unity caucus.

 Read MORE...

And one more from NYC Educator

UFT--Champion of Junk Science