Shachtmanism: Unity Caucus, Know Your Roots

Al Shanker's long-time secretary was Yetta Shachtman, Max Shachtman's wife. Almost all the early leaders of the UFT were members of Social Democrats USA (SDUSA) and in fact it was well-known you could not rise in the UFT without being a member.

In 1976 Al Shanker tried to push the UFT into supporting Henry Scoop Jackson for president. I was the opposition speaker at the DA and in probably my best moment in those years raised the guns/butter argument as we were right smack in the midst of the massive 1975-76 NYC budget crisis with 15,000 teachers laid off. I was really astounded at Shanker's brazenness.

Note this interesting 2003 item talking about Shachtmanites in the Bush White House.

Trotsky's ghost wandering the White House

Influence on Bush aides: Bolshevik's writings supported the idea of pre-emptive war 

www.prisonplanet.com/trotskys_ghost_wandering_the_white_house....

Shachtman had a legion of young followers (known as Shachtmanites) active ... When the Shachtmanites started working for Senator Jackson, they forged close ...

Really fascinating stuff and maybe a hint of why the UFT/AFT are closet neo-liberals. Or maybe not so closet. I didn't read it all yet but intend intend to.

Randi was never outwardly known to be a member of SDUSA but some people think she would not have been let in the door if she wasn't, at least in her early days. Some think she would have joined whatever they wanted her to to serve her ambition, that she is agnostic on these issues. I am not sure. But given the fall of the iron curtain before Randi took over and the UFT initial support for both Bush wars, despite the fact it was clear they would decimate education budgets, someone has to show me where she has strayed from basic Shankerism/Shachtmanism.

I'm putting this up front since it has the most application to the UFT:

Social Democratic Shachtmanism

Social democratic Shachtmanism, later developed by Shachtman and associated with some members of the Social Democrats, USA, holds Soviet Communist states to be so repressive that that communism must be contained and, when possible, defeated by the collective action of the working class. Consequently, adherents support free labor unions and democracy movements around the world. Domestically, they organized in the civil rights movement and in the labor movement. Social democrats influenced by Shachtman rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire and the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, but rather opposed bombings in Vietnam and supported a negotiated peace that would allow labor unions and government-opposition to survive. Such social democrats helped provide funding and supplies to the Solidarity, the Polish labor union, as requested by the Polish workers.

Sounds simple when the say "free" labor unions. In fact "free" means any union free of left influence. They spent money undermining left-leaning labor unions around the world, most notably in Chile (see George Schmidt's late 1970s pamphlet in this issue which I can send you upon request.)

Thus the Unity Caucus MUST prevail against any opposition because by nature any serious opposition will have left influences or it wouldn't get anywhere. Some people on the left view New Action, which has/had a left base, as selling out any chance for a real opposition to get a foothold by making a deal with the devil for a few Executive Board seats.

Here is the full wiki piece and links to other info:

Shachtmanism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

 

Shachtmanism is the form of Marxism associated with Max Shachtman. It has two major components: a bureaucratic collectivist analysis of the Soviet Union and a third camp approach to world politics. Shachtmanites believe that the Stalinist rulers of Communist countries are a new ruling class distinct from the workers and reject Trotsky's description of Stalinist Russia as a "degenerated workers' state".

Origin

Shachtmanism originated as a tendency within the US Socialist Workers Party in 1939, as Shachtman's supporters left that group to form the Workers Party in 1940. The tensions that led to the split extended as far back as 1931. However, the theory of "bureaucratic collectivism," the idea that the USSR was ruled by a new bureaucratic class and was not capitalist, did not originate with Shachtman, but seems to have originated within the Trotskyist movement with Yvan Craipeau, a member of the French Section of the Fourth International, and Bruno Rizzi.
Although Shachtman groups resignation from the SWP was not only over the defence of the Soviet Union, rather than the class nature of the state itself, that was a major point in the internal polemics of the time.

Currents influenced by Shachtman

Regardless of its origins in the American SWP, Shachtmanism's core belief is opposition to the American SWP's defence of the Soviet Union. This originated not with Shachtman but Joseph Carter and James Burnham, who proposed this at the founding of the SWP in 1938. C. L. R. James referred to the implied theory, from which he dissented, as Carter's little little pill. The theory was never fully developed by anybody in the Workers Party and Shachtman's book, published many years later in 1961, consists earlier articles from the pages of New International with some political conclusions reversed. Ted Grant has alleged that some Trotskyist thinkers, including Tony Cliff, who have described such societies as "state capitalist" share an implicit theoretical agreement with some elements of Shachtmanism.^[1] Cliff, who published a critique of Shachtmanism in the late 1940s,^[2] would have rejected this allegation.

Left Shachtmanism

Left Shachtmanism, influenced by Max Shachtman's work of the 1940s, sees Stalinist nations as being potentially imperialist and does not offer any support to their leadership. This has been crudely described as seeing the Stalinist and capitalist countries as being equally bad, although it would be more accurate to say that neither is seen as occupying a more progressive stage in the global class struggle.
A more current term for Left Shachtmanism is Third-Camp Trotskyism, the Third Camp being differentiated from capitalism and Stalinism. Prominent Third Camp groupings include the Workers' Liberty grouping in Australia and the United Kingdom and by the International Socialist predecessor of Solidarity.
The foremost left Shachtmanite was Hal Draper, an independent scholar who worked as a librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, where he organized the Independent Socialist Club and became influential with left-wing students during the Free Speech Movement. Julius Jacobson and the New Politics journal continued to develop and apply this political tradition.

Social Democratic Shachtmanism

Social democratic Shachtmanism, later developed by Shachtman and associated with some members of the Social Democrats, USA, holds Soviet Communist states to be so repressive that that communism must be contained and, when possible, defeated by the collective action of the working class. Consequently, adherents support free labor unions and democracy movements around the world. Domestically, they organized in the civil rights movement and in the labor movement. Social democrats influenced by Shachtman rejected calls for an immediate cease-fire and the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from Vietnam, but rather opposed bombings in Vietnam and supported a negotiated peace that would allow labor unions and government-opposition to survive. Such social democrats helped provide funding and supplies to the Solidarity, the Polish labor union, as requested by the Polish workers.

References

• Kahn, Tom (2007) [1973], "Max Shachtman: His ideas and his movement" (pdf), Democratiya (merged with Dissent in 2009) 11 (Winter): 252–259

1. ^ Ted Grant: "The Marxist theory of the state (Once more on the theory of 'state capitalism')", Appendix to Russia: From revolution to counter-revolution.
2. ^ Tony Cliff: "The theory of bureaucratic collectivism: A critique" (1948) at Marxists.org.

External links

• The Lubitz Trotskyana.Net - biographical sketch and selective bibliography
• Collection of writings by and on Shachtman on the Workers' Liberty website
• Max Shachtman Internet Archive at Marxists.org
• New International Archive (1940-1946) & (1947-1958) in the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL)

The Fate of the Russian Revolution, Lost Texts of Critical Marxism Vol 1, edited by Sean Matgamna: Max Shactman, Hal Draper, CLR James, Al Glotzer, Joseph Carter, Leon Trotsky, a.o [Phoenix Press, 1998]

How the UFT Misleads and Obfuscates on Danieleson "Pilot"

Our union was formed in order to protect teachers from administrative malpractice… not to facilitate it. Yet , with the “pilot” unchallenged by UFT leadership and now in its *second* year,   the pedagogy of teachers of severely and profoundly handicapped kids will again be analyzed and  rated according to Danielson’s  ”spam-in-a-can” criteria.
 ----
Danielson doesn’t work in D75. Mulgrew knows this.  Alas, the rest of UFT … even ( and I really don’t  quite *get* this part)   the Special Ed  section of  UFT…does not seem to understand what I’m talking about...
....after twenty-six years on the lookout for this sort of thing, I can recognize a truckload of DOE  *stupid* from a mile away. Especially when it’s headed right at me.
----
So when I saw this… this thing, “The Danielson Framework”, unveiled in September of 2011 and renamed ( Why?)by the NYC DOE ,”Talent Management Pilot”, I recognized a code-blue situation immediately and made a bee-line to my union leader, President of the United Federation of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew.
----
I managed to corner him  after the  UFT monthly Delegate Assembly  in October. I told Mr. Mulgrew that my District 75 “Network” ( group of NYC schools) was “piloting” ( testing) the Danielson Framework as a teacher observation tool in D75.  He exclaimed, and I quote: “They’re using *Danielson* in D75 !?”  He squinted, his brow furrowed. Then  he rolled his eyes. I slapped some related paperwork into  his hand.
 ----Paul Hogan, The District 75 Danielson Pilot: CRASH! Burn! Fizzle………..

Paul Hogan is a retired District 75 teacher and MORE member. He has become active with MORE because of the outrage at not only the DOE but of the tepid, misleading response of the Unity/New Action UFT leadership.

A comment from a mentor to teachers at ICE:

Danielson is being used as a tool for observation all over the place. D 75 is using it -they are said to be "piloting" it. Even though Danielson herself said it is inappropriate for special ed. She said she would be hiring someone to develop a rubric for special ed but it has not happened. Instead there will be an accompanying piece of things to look for-but the rubric is not changing. Principals will be trained in it and it is being rolled out on June 1st citywide and being tauted as the first time everyone in the city will be on the same page. What a claim!!!!

Paul Hogan posted a detailed analysis on his blog. Below are a more excerpts below but read it all at:

The District 75 Danielson Pilot: CRASH! Burn! Fizzle………..

25 Mar
 
Can Charlotte Danielson “cure” Down’s Syndrome?  Can she make it “go away” ( i.e. render it educationally irrelevant)?  What about cerebral palsy? Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?

Ms. Danielson  is the creator of the now-famous “Danielson Framework”. It is  a teacher observation/evaluation tool that is all the rage  in  those school districts  around the country that are  right now undergoing what is generously described as school “reform”.  So my admittedly loaded  question is this: Can she ( or *it*; i.e. the Framework)  enable a  16-year-old quadriplegic — with irreversible birth trauma-related organic brain damage, no spoken language capacity, and profound intellectual disability — to miraculously rise from his wheelchair and his wordlessness and lead his  classmates in a grade-level discussion of , say, Shakespeare’s break with  Renaissance literary convention in “Romeo and Juliet”?

All reasonable people agree: no. But the NYC Department of Education, particularly in the Bloomberg era,  treats  “reason” as one would  sensibly treat a contagious disease.  And, after twenty-six years on the lookout for this sort of thing, I can recognize a truckload of DOE  *stupid* from a mile away. Especially when it’s headed right at me.

Mulgrew used to teach in D75 and *instantly* saw the problem: Danielson’s work is  normed on general education teachers of general education students in general education classrooms. District 75, in contrast,  serves students with severe and profound intellectual and/or behavioral handicaps, often compounded by physical disabilities,  who are taught in specialized, *self-contained*  ( i.e. special ed only) classrooms by teachers who are trained and licensed to do  this highly specialized — and very different — type of teaching.

In short: NO gen ed students, NO gen ed classrooms; NO gen ed teachers in D75. This being the case, it seems inarguable that  mistakes were made ( a lot of them) when, last year:

1. the DOE  assigned 11 schools in District 75 to the so-called Talent Management Pilot ( DOE-speak for its version of Danielson);
2. the UFT agreed to go along with it;
3. no one bothered to consult the Special Ed professionals ( many with post-graduate degrees in Special Ed. and decades of experience working with the student population affected) in those 11 schools; the teachers whose professional lives were about to be turned upside down by the astoundingly *dumb* idea of test-driving  the Danielson Framework through District 75 .

Here’s the problem: Danielson doesn’t work in D75. Mulgrew knows this.  Alas, the rest of UFT … even ( and I really don’t  quite *get* this part)   the Special Ed  section of  UFT…does not seem to understand what I’m talking about. In November of 2012, more than a *year* after my ‘brief encounter” with President Mulgrew at the DA and, after a  lengthy  and complicated correspondence with the UFT VP for CurrIculum  that seems to have gone  absolutely *nowhere*,  I emailed said VP as follows:

“It is not a trivial issue. Evaluating teachers of severely  multiply-handicapped children with a rubric that is designed to evaluate teachers in general education settings with general education students is tantamount to punishing and penalizing teachers who go into this demanding , difficult and highly *specialized* type of teaching. Our union was formed in order to protect teachers from administrative malpractice… not to facilitate it. “

The simple fact is that the vast majority District 75 kids cannot, by definition, perform to the standards  required by the Danielson Framework.  (That’s WHY they’re in District 75!)  Yet , with the “pilot” unchallenged by UFT leadership and now in its *second* year,   the pedagogy of teachers of severely and profoundly handicapped kids will again be analyzed and  rated according to Danielson’s  ”spam-in-a-can” criteria.  The inescapable consequence: artificially low ratings for the aforementioned Special Ed teachers. It’s hard to explain to people  outside of the district  just how   ridiculous this  is; how *utterly* mismatched the tool is to the task;  how blatantly unfair to the specially-trained and  specially-licensed special educators who are — along with their students , of course — its  primary victims.  And, one increasingly suspects, its *targets*.

Ridiculous, you say?  It can’t be? Well, let’s look at some examples. In  Danielson’s  “Domain 3: Instruction,” the classroom teacher can earn a rating of “Highly Effective” ( the highest rating possible; it corresponds to a rating of 4 on a 4-point scale)  *only* if his/her students are observed by the evaluator ” formulat(ing) high-level questions.” Additionally, said students must “assume responsibility for the success of the discussion.”  In short, if one’s students aren’t observed doing this ( i.e. assuming “responsibility for the success of the discussion”) the teacher cannot be rated as “Highly Effective.”  These behaviors are, evidently, what Ms. Danielson expects of high school students in general education.

Now.  Perhaps we can excuse Ms. Danielson. ( And perhaps not . Her website bio says she has experience in teaching “all” levels, which is clearly not the case.) Statistically speaking, we are talking about kids that are outside the norm: 5% or less of NYC public school enrollment. It’s unlikely that Ms. Danielson understood this initially — I told her later —  but many of the youngsters in District 75 programs cannot speak. I don’t mean to say their language is “weak”. Or that they don’t speak *clearly*. I mean to say they literally “cannot speak”.  At all. 


Is something analogous happening here? It’s difficult to know. But  I  do think it’s incumbent on Ms. Danielson… given Gates’ scuzzy  history… to make plain the full  extent of her collaboration with him and be utterly clear on the question of exactly who  is paying exactly whom for exactly what.
Corporate influence aside, other disturbing questions are raised by the D75 Danielson Pilot.   The public trusts that there are responsible and knowledgable adults in charge at  NYC DOE  who  presumably SHOULD have put the kabbosh on a no-go notion like Danielson in D75 but did not, have not, and … apparently… will not. Does not the district have a Superintendent? Do not these 11 schools have a Network Leader? Do these education leaders not understand the nature  and  learning characteristics of the student population whose interests they purport to serve? Did they really read and  really understand the Danielson Frameworks before they decided to take the education of NYC’s least advantaged children out for  what amounts to a two-year joy ride? Do they really know what they’re doing?
Ms. Danielson has a vaguely  worded — and weirdly redundant ( Three paragraphs. Paragraph 3 repeats paragraph 1, nearly verbatim. BTW,should we rate that particular writing sample  1, 2, 3 or 4 ?) — official bio her on  website. She was kind enough to send me two meatier resumes on request. Likewise, Kirsten Busch Johnson, the DOE official in charge of the aforementioned Talent Management Pilot ( the Danielson Framework slightly ——and pointlessly, imo— revised by NYC DOE)  boasts a google-able online resume . Three years teaching experience right out of college. Before going to work for Microsoft, i.e. Gates. (Hey, she must be an expert.)

But what about the Superintendent ? And the Network Leader? You know, the upper-level DOE managers who are really supposed to know these D75 kids. Who are these people, really? I know their names and their faces and have met and spoken with both. Yet I can’t find an online  resume for either. I’m wondering if there’s a reason for that. How much do they really understand about this population? What is their training and education, exactly?  How many years– if any — have they spent  working in classrooms with these profoundly  impaired kids? Did they spend enough time  there to really absorb the nuances and complexities of getting these kids to learn?  Frankly, one doubts it. In any case, this taxpayer  wants to see the resumes.

Alas, we are kept in the dark.  And, while were at it,  let’s look at the building administrators: our principals  and their  assistant principals —  the bottom rung of the ed admin  ladder and consequently the paramecia, if you will, of  the now-immense corporate “reform” movement food chain.  These grim souls  do the dirty work.  Now functioning as professional nit-pickers and fault-finders,  they are in fact  ex-teachers (usually) with very limited ( almost always) hands-on experience themselves.  They nonetheless  go into  classrooms, ( in teams, if you can believe it) observe the instruction in progress and try to make the Danielson-based Talent Management Rubric sound relevant to a situation where no  objective, clear-thinking adult believes it has the slightest applicability.

One could almost feel sorry for them. It’s a fool’s errand if ever there was one.  But, by dutifully following   orders from the “big fish” in this particular  bureaucratic swamp, the small fry get to keep their  out-of-classroom jobs, along with the attendant perks.  So they  play along (or should I say “swim along”), aiding and abetting when and where they are needed. Classroom teachers, consequently,  take on a serious risk by teaching profoundly impaired  kids what they actually need to learn….as opposed to what’s in Ms. Danielson’s  Framework… and  doing so in ways that help those kids to actually *absorb* it.  Whatever her intention,  Ms.Danielson, by her own admission, has no clue as to what they need to learn. Nor how to deliver it. And her rubric reflects that. But what’s really alarming is this: neither do  the DOE “suits” who brought the Framework   into the D75 buildings.  And they’ve been involved with the D75 population for years. At this point , it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that they just don’t care.  At least not about the education of handicapped kids.

So, what do they care about then? Again, I’ve no idea. I’m neither mind-reader nor psychiatrist.  Some people don’t care about anything. Let’s leave that  ”to Dr. Freud along with the rest of it!”  But instinct ( and experience)  tells me  that the Talent Management Program’s application  to D75  is  concerned less with education than it is with *defamation*. This being the case,  it becomes more of a labor/management issue ( or a legal matter) than  an educational one. As to possible motive: it’s a lot easier to fire people if you can manage to professionally  discredit them first… even on the basis of such absurd  evidence as that yielded by the use of the Danielson Framework as a teacher observation tool. And it’s easier still to create a hostile work environment falling just short of the legal standard of  “hostile work environment” by setting them up to fail.  The Framework is useful for this purpose as well.  Then you don’t have to fire them. You can just drive them away.

So… where were we?  OH! Right! Now our union leader is going to do….well…. what exactly?

MORE New Election Leaflet: Ballots Go Out April 3

Download and print for your schools or send an email to your staff with the link. If you want hard copies delivered to you for distribution to mail boxes email more@morecaucusnyc.org.

MORE Leaflet 2Apr2013 by morecaucusnyc

Corrected: Whither New Action: Mulgrew Tops New Action Slate as 10 NA Candidates Run on Unity Slate, Including 2 co-chairs Shulman and Halabi

Historical correction sent in by Ira Goldfine:

In 1977 and 1979 we ran together with TAC and we called ourselves UNITED FIGHTBACK - in 1981 we formed NAC (the N for New Directions, A for Teachers Action Caucus and C for the Coalition of NYC Schoolworkers) and ran a full slate of 675 people with Pessin as the presidential candidate. We took nearly 30% of the total vote and over 35% excluding the functional chapter.

You won't see these facts stated anywhere in New Action literature as they play their
decade-old assigned role of trying to confuse UFT members into voting for them and dividing the forces opposed to Unity. It always wasn't this way.

From 1990-2001, New Action which formed as a result of the merger of two caucuses (Teachers Action Caucus and New Directions*), was the major voice of the opposition, not always the strongest voice (as Ed Notes began pointing out when I started publishing in 1997) but the major place people opposed to Unity were able to go. They were able to garner over 10,000 votes and win the 6 or 7 (depending on the year) high school executive board seats in every election except one during those years. In 1991 they also won 6 middle school seats, thus giving them 13 EB seats, the most an opposition in the UFT has ever had.

It was directly due to this challenge that Unity, after beating back NA in 1993 when Unity regained 100% of the EB, took the opportunity to remove the divisional vice presidents from being voted on by the members of the division to make sure the opposition never gets to be one of the 11 officers (now known as the AdCom). In other words, if the high school teachers voted NA the HS VEEP would still be Unity. Which is exactly what happened in the 1995, 97, 99 and 2001 elections.

Then Randi, in what is perhaps her most brilliant move, made an offer to New Action which was worried about losing the high school seats in the 2004 elections (Unity pushed through a change from 2 to 3 year terms). She would not run ANY Unity candidates for those seats if NA wouldn't run anyone for president against her.

New Action bit and thus was born a collaboration that has turned NA into a shell of what it once was (check the vote totals as they dropped to an afterthought over the past decade.)

But proving the old adage that lemonade can be made out of lemons, the actions of NA spurred 2 other groups into action. Readers and supporters of Ed Notes, which had been critical of New Action for its tepid role as an opposition even before they did the dirty deal, formed the Independent Community of Educators (ICE-- one of the major forces behind MORE today). They were joined by key defectors from New Action: James and Camille Eterno, Ellen Fox and Lisa North. ICE, founded in late 2003 and just a month old, decided to run a slate in the 2004 elections.

Teachers for a Just Contract (TJC), a decade old advocacy group in the UFT, also decided to run for the first time in the 2004 elections. Both groups ran a joint slate for the high schools directly opposing the New Action slate, which without Unity running at all for these 6 seats, assumed they would win. New Action didn't, which pissed Randi off to no end.

The ICE-TJC slate won those seats and put people like James Eterno and Jeff Kaufman on the Ex Bd. For James it was a continuation of his years as the NA rep but now combined with Kaufman, the two of them raised hell with the Unity agenda, challenging them in a way they had not been before. One can imagine how people like NA dictator Mike Shulman felt sitting and stewing at EB meetings watching James and Jeff do their thing. And plotting with Unity how they could remove these thorns in both their sides.

And remove them they did in the 2007 and 2010 elections when they made sure a mix of New Action and Unity controlled the high school seats by running 3 from each caucus on both the Unity and New Action slates. In addition, New Action was given 5 more EB seats at large, including Shulman, who as a retiree finally made it on to the board.

In both elections, ICE-TJC almost doubled the NA high school vote but when their totals were added to the Unity total that shut out ICE-TJC which got no seats on the board.

A look at the 2010 HS slate voting totals: Unity 2600, ICE-TJC 1350, NA 750. A total of roughly 5000 votes out of a potential of almost 20,000.

In the 2013 elections with the rise of MORE, Unity needed New Action more than ever and has rewarded them with 10 EB seats. Thus if you look at the ballot you will see 10 New Action (and 4 Unity, including Mulgrew) running on both slates.

When you see your ballot you will notice that there are only 2 presidential candidates. Julie Cavanagh for MORE and Mulgrew with Unity/New Action next to his name. Thus there are only 2 real choices in this election, not 3.

And if you are a high school teacher you will see an interesting mix of EB candidates for your division. 7 MORE people and 7 mixed New Action and Unity. These are winnable seats if high school teachers come out to vote and vote for MORE, thus giving a real opposition a beach head in the exec bd. Thus it is crucial to get out the vote from the 25-27% in the last election which would give MORE a chance to defeat the NA/Unity combo.

In an upcoming post I will tell you about these 7 MORE people.

-----

*A history of the roots of New Action: Teachers Action Caucus (TAC) and New Directions (ND)

In 1990 the 2 major caucuses in the UFT merged into one caucus with a lot of promise.

TAC was founded in 1968 as an outgrowth of Teachers for Community Control (TCC), which consisted of people who had been associated with the old left Teachers Union which had disbanded in 1964 after suffering from years of persecution from the Board of Education over their ties to the Communist Party. (The very founding of the UFT was part of this anti-left push, but that's for another time.) TCC supported the community against the 1968 UFT strike and when they formed TAC they were branded scabs for many years by the UFT. Despite that they ran campaigns in UFT elections and found a following among teachers on the left, many of whom entered the system in the late 60s. Some were with what was termed the "New Left" and internally there were struggles between what was termed the "Stalinist pro-Soviet" old left and the mostly Trotskyist New Left.

As a non-leftist I entered into this world in the fall of 1970 in my 4th year of teaching. I was associated with a group of left-oriented people who were in neither camp but willing to build alliances. We tried initially with TAC but found that organization locked in its own narrow frame of politics and could make no headway moving policy changes. So we left and formed not another caucus but an advocacy group called the Coalition of NYC School Workers. We had no intention of running in elections but spent a lot of time analyzing and writing on policy and we attracted a large group of followers, including many from the New Left/Trotskyist groups who had no where else to go even if they were unhappy with some of the direction we were heading in.

Sometime in late 1975/early 1976 they split the CSW in half and formed New Directions which was aimed at running a slate in the 1977 UFT elections directly against Unity and TAC. We were adamantly opposed to doing that and formed an alliance with TAC to run together in the 77 elections. I believe we called ourselves New Action Caucus. ND ran its own course, but in some irony they threw out the Trotskyists that had fomented the split from us. (The trots formed a new group that never was a caucus that was called "Chalk Dust" and it lasted until the late 80s.)

It wasn't until around 1980 that New Directions began to join with us to run in elections throughout the 80s, even winning the high school vice president seat for Mike Shulman in 1985, an event that shook Unity. (Some irony here and an entire story how Unity sued themselves that the election was unfairly run and forcing another election, thus keeping Shulman from being seated for almost a year).


Sometime after that, ND had another purge, tossing out their leader Marc Pessin (I could write a book on him) who was apparently obstructing a move to merge with TAC, which had been a bitter enemy and would never have joined with ND as long as he was involved. ND had moved steadily to the right in a sense in that it ignored almost all social issues. Which was interesting and seemed to pave the way for a merger between the old left TAC which had been branded as scabs for breaking the 68 strike and more right ND.

The idea of Unity making a deal with anything to do with TAC was inconceivable until both Shanker and Feldman were out of the picture given their history of ani-communism. Even people like me were preferable and I had quite a few conversations with some of the upper echelon Unity people who loved my critiques of New Action, who they considered spineless. And so they turned out to be.

When Randi made the deal with New Action in 2003 there was just a bit of churning and turning in the graves of the old UFT right wing social democrats. The old guard was not happy, but there was such turnover in Unity, there was no real resistance.

Victory for Seattle MAP boycott teachers

No punishment for teachers in Seattle test boycott

Posted by Linda Shaw

Superintendent Jose Banda announced today that no teachers would be disciplined for boycotting the exams known as the Measures of Academic Progress, or MAP, this winter.
District leaders concluded that  none of the protesting teachers had responsibility for administering the exams, Banda said, so they were not insubordinate by failing to carry out their duties.
At many schools, Banda said, other school staff or parents are responsible for giving the test, not teachers.
“What I found out … is that it’s not the teachers that really do a lot of that stuff.  You have a testing coordinator that’s primarily responsible for setting up the test.”
It’s possible that no teachers failed in their duties because other staff members stepped in to give the exam.
At Garfield, after teachers announced their boycott in January, administrators stepped in to give the exams.  Banda had earlier told Garfield teachers they would face discipline for boycotting the tests.  There were definitely teachers at Garfield whose students were supposed to take MAP reading or math exams during the winter testing period, said Kris McBride, the school’s academic dean and testing coordinator.
Banda called any changes in testing protocol an “internal decision.”
McBride said Garfield teachers they soon will announce whether they will continue the boycott for spring testing, which is scheduled to start April 22.
Banda says he hopes they don’t.  Their concerns, he said, have been heard “loud and clear.”

District Says Teachers Who Boycotted Test Won’t Be Punished

Share

Tweet

E-mail

Print

By Ann Dornfeld

The superintendent of Seattle Public Schools says no teachers will be disciplined for refusing to give students the district-wide Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The district got international attention after dozens of teachers at several schools boycotted the test this winter, calling it a waste of time and money.
Students in Seattle Schools take the MAP test in reading and math two or three times a year, from kindergarten through ninth grade or beyond. In January, dozens of teachers said they wouldn’t give the test winter quarter because it ate up class time without producing useful data.
In response, the district threatened teachers with two weeks of unpaid suspension if they didn’t administer the test. But in a letter to district employees today, Superintendent Jose Banda said it turns out the teachers who refused to give the MAP test didn’t break any rules after all. "In talking to the administrators, they didn’t find, or we didn’t find, that any of the teachers did not perform their duties as was expected with regards to the MAP testing," he said. According to Banda, that’s because none of the boycotting teachers were actually responsible for administering the test. For instance, at Garfield High School, hundreds of students joined the protest by opting out of the test. Banda says teachers had to stay in the classroom with those students while other staff members administered the test in another room.
Garfield history teacher Jesse Hagopian called the superintendent’s decision a "huge victory" for protesters. "Teachers at Garfield are celebrating today. You would see a lot of smiles down here in the doghouse," Hagopian said. But Hagopian says the superintendent’s letter makes it sound like the boycott never happened. He said the real reason teachers aren’t being disciplined is the attention the protest received. "Students, parents and teachers all over the nation called, and e-mailed, and wrote letters, and protested, and rallied, and made their voices heard for an alternative to the MAP test. They couldn’t be ignored," Hagopian said.
The district recently changed the MAP testing policy so fewer students will have to take the exam. But Superintendent Banda said he still expects teachers to give the test spring quarter.
Hagopian says he expects even more teachers will now boycott the MAP test.

MORE Elementary School Exec Bd Slate

 Marking the MORE slate with a big X will count as a vote for each of this great slate of elementary exec board candidates. Now in the bizarro world of the Unity Caucus voting system, MORE Veep elementary school candidate Sam Coleman is voted on by every UFT member and will appear on all the ballots while the 11 MORE elementary Exec Bd slate will only appear on the ballots sent to elementary school teachers.

This is a powerful elementary school list of people who will transform the way the UFT will address the assault on the elementary school classroom teacher, often termed "the infantry" of the school system. They are all great teachers and activists and many are also current, former or future parents of public school students.

Sam Coleman, Vice Presidential Candidate for Elem EB, is in his 8th year as a dual language elementary school teacher at PS 24 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He served as UFT delegate and is an active organizer with a number of grassroots educator groups in NYC.

"I am running on the MORE slate because I believe that the role of the union is to merge the fight for better working conditions, job security and a fair contract with the broader fight to halt the privatization of public education. A member-driven union must be responsive to educators' concerns. At the same time, we, the union, must educate and organize our colleagues to collectively stand up for ourselves and our students. Since joining the UFT I have been deeply disappointed by the contractual sellouts that Unity claims as victories, shocked at the leadership's unwillingness to stand up for members in the schools and humiliated by my union's collaboration with corporate 'education reformers'. It is time for a Movement of Rank and File Educators to put the UFT at the front of the fight for a just public education system.”


MORE ELEMENTARY DIVISION CANDIDATES FOR UFT EXECUTIVE BOARD

Jamie Fidler, who starred in the documentary American Teacher, has been teaching in the NYC public schools for 10 years, at PS 261 in Brooklyn for most of that time and has been an education and social activist for the past decade.

"I am running with MORE because I believe in the power of a strong union when it speaks for their members and accurately represents their voices. As a parent and teacher in the public school system, I want our children to develop strong voices and independent ideas. This can't be accomplished in a fearful environment where the teacher is relegated to a binder and test prep. I believe in public education, where teachers, parents and students' voices are at the center of a strong curriculum and sound policies.”

Emily Miller has been teaching for 6 years and is a second grade teacher in a Spanish/English dual language program in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

“I am running with MORE because students, families, communities and teachers are all in it together. We all want our students to have a high quality education. As MORE says, our working conditions are our students' learning conditions. Smaller class sizes are good for teachers and are very important for students. Evaluating teachers based on student performance on standardized test scores is not fair to teachers and the over emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests is harmful to students.

Lauren Cohen has taught elementary schools for eight years in self-contained special education, inclusion, and general education classes and currently teaches 5th grade at P.S. 321 in Park Slope.

"I am running with MORE because I believe that teachers need to collaborate and mobilize against the attacks on our profession and our students. I used to work in a school with an abusive administration, where I earned a reputation among my colleagues for speaking out against policies that were both harmful to children and violations of our contract. Without the backing of a democratic union, however, it was difficult to effect change and stop the onslaught of excessive paperwork, arbitrary denial of tenure, and inappropriate letters in our files. My renewed passion and drive came from the realization that the threat to the teaching profession was much larger: the systemic obsession with quantitative measures of success has narrowed the curriculum in many schools and marginalized any student whose strengths lie in areas other than reading and math. I am a member of Change the Stakes, a group of parents, teachers, and other NYC residents who are fighting back against the use of high-stakes tests to punish schools, teachers, and students."

Jia Lee has taught since 2002 in a self-contained Bronx high school, then a middle and now an elementary school in the East Village.

“As a special educator, I held high hopes the UFT leadership would advocate for our profession and students against value-added models of evaluation that have caused devastating school closures and the demeaning treatment of teachers. My faith in our current political and union leadership has waned as our voices have been ignored in the current climate of top-down educational reform. I joined MORE because it is an integral voice in our union against corporate infiltration. MORE pushes for a democratic process within our union. MORE understands that union leadership represents its members. As a special education teacher and parent, I find myself feeling hopeful again. Being asked to run with MORE is not only an honor, it is an obligation to my colleagues and our students. Thank you.

Mari Caputo has been teaching at PS 84, D.14, Brooklyn, for close to 25 years. She has served as UFT delegate and is currently serving her first term as Chapter Leader. She is a longtime education activist, advocating for developmentally appropriate, child-centered and experienced-based education for all students.

"We need a union that hears and respects more voices. We need a union that is dedicated to creating, supporting, and protecting excellent working conditions for teachers in every school across our city. I am running with MORE because this caucus has taken a position against the value-added method of ranking teachers which reduces us all to numbers. I am running with MORE in an effort to bring respect, debate, understanding, and joy back to our profession."

Karla Tobar is a 3rd grade bilingual teacher in her fifth year of teaching. She is a delegate at P.S. 443 in the Bronx and a core member of the New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCoRE).

"I am running with MORE because I believe in a democratic member-driven union that takes the voices of all members into account. My vision of a union is one that actively organizes, educates, mobilizes, empowers, and transforms not just members, but all people."

Patrick Walsh is an ESL teacher in PS/ MS 149 in Harlem for 8 years and a thrice elected chapter leader of the UFT.

 “I am running with MORE because I believe that unions, to be effective and just, must be run democratically and that is not the case now. I believe fiercely in participatory democracy in across all aspects of the UFT.”

Yelena Siwinski has spent 18 years teaching at P.S. 193 in Brooklyn, elected co-chapter leader 8 years ago.

“I educate my members about the issues at the city, state, and national levels, motivate them to take action, and lead them to fight for their students and themselves. After sitting on several UFT committees (two Negotiation and the Evaluation committees) I witnessed first-hand how Unity leaders inform us of decisions they made and deals they had brokered with very little voice was given to committee members. I am honored to be running with MORE so that my voice, and the voice of my members, is truly heard. Their vision of the union is one that is run democratically, engaging the voices of teachers, students, parents, and their communities. The only way I can ever really be part of the fight is with a MORE leadership."

Lisa North has taught at PS 3 in Brookly’s D. 13 in Bed-Stuy for 24 years. She has been a chapter leader and delegate for over 15 years as well as active in many groups that include parents, community members, and educators in the fight for a better education for our students.

“I am running as a member of MORE because our union must rebuild from the bottom up. Every school chapter in the city must be organized to fight for an education system that provides the education our students deserve and the working conditions for us to make that possible. Our students need developmentally appropriate learning, experiential learning that builds background knowledge and critical thinking skills, NOT test prep. No more use of testing to punish schools, educators and students.

Patricia Dobosz has been teaching for 30 years (20 in the NYC Public School System) mostly in Early Childhood, currently at PS 157 in D 14, Brooklyn. She is an education/community activist belonging to several grassroots education groups.

“I am running with MORE because I want our union to fight for a fair multi-year contract with retroactive pay, tenure protections, and a call for the immediate end to mayoral control of our public school system.”

Christine Wong is a special education teacher at P.S. 1 in Manhattan in her 11th year teaching. She has been chapter leader for 4 years.

“I am running with MORE because I want to be part of a movement that expands the political voice of all teachers, and deepens our relationship with parents and communities. I think MORE offers an analysis of the deeper political reasons behind the attacks on public education, and the type of social justice strategy it will take to defend it.”



VOTE ONLY THE MORE SLATE ON THE TOP PAGE, TEAR IT OFF AND MAIL IT IN. DO NOT VOTE BOTH FOR A SLATE AND INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES OR YOU VOTE MAY BE INVALIDATED.

Netfix Boss Pushes Anti-Teacher Union Theme in House of Cards

I've been watching House of Cards and was intending to write something about the anti-teacher union POV so thanks to Randy Shaw at Portside for this. He doesn't mention that Netflix boss Reed Hastings is a noted deformer  at the Broad/Gates level. Here are some links to more on Hastings and below the Portside piece another good analysis from Crooks and Liars.

1. Reed Hastings - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Hastings

   Jump to California State Board of Education‎: He became interested in educational reform in ... State Board of Education, and in 2001, Hastings became its ...
2. Reed Hastings On How To Build A $20 Billion Education Juggernaut ...

   www.forbes.com/.../reed-hastings-on-what-it-takes-to-grow-a-20-billi...

   May 11, 2012 – REED HASTINGS: About half my work in education is US political reform around school districts and charter schools, and creating more room ...
3. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Blew $12 Billion In Market Cap. Why We ...

   www.forbes.com/.../netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-blew-12-billion-in-mar...

   May 3, 2012 – I cover education as a sector and as the bedrock of all sectors. ... on competition, technology, and accountability as three pillars of education reform, ... Below are excerpts from Reed Hastings' Education Innovation Sumit talk, ...
4. Schools Matter: Duncan, Hastings, and Gates: The Digital Promise ...

   www.schoolsmatter.info/2011/.../duncan-hastings-and-gates-digital.ht...

   Sep 24, 2011 – When it comes to education, R&D cycles can take years, producing results that are out of date the minute they're ... That Reed Hastings doesn't miss a beat, does he! .... If the Public Mattered to Arne and the Reform Scho.
5. Netflix CEO's Education Reform Views Sneak Into House of Cards ...

   crooksandliars.com › Blogs › karoli's blog

   6 days ago – Netflix's terrific new series, House of Cards, features a legislative battle over education reform as envisioned by Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO.

Netflix's "House of Cards" Promotes Union-Bashing  Randy Shaw March 27, 2013 BeyondChron Netflix’s new House of Cards series offers an inside look at Beltway power games and is far better than most of this genre---which is why its retrograde and even racist union-bashing is so unfortunate.

ICE Meeting Today: Better Not Shout, Better Not Pout, George Schmidt is Coming To Town

At ICE's scheduled meeting today we will have the bonus of special guest Substance,  telling us all about what's happening in Chicago with the school closing protests and the CORE re-election campaign. As one of CORE's founding members, George will also talk about the evolution of CORE from an 8 person group of people in 2008 reading Naomi Klein's "Shock Doctrine" to running the Chicago Teachers Union by July 2010. The theme of George's talk will be from dissidents to the realities of power.
George Schmidt, the founder, publisher and editor of

And that is an interesting theme given many Unity Caucus comments over the years that it is easy for a group like ICE or MORE to be critical when it doesn't have to deal with running a union. And those are not points to slough off and it will be interesting to hear George tell us about that tightrope walk. But I am interested in how the structures of CORE work in terms of organization building. How have they managed to gather so many more committed activists in Chicago than we have done so far here in NYC given they have about 650 schools (soon to drop to 600 if Rahmbo gets his way) while we have 1700 here and 5 boroughs. George often tells me that organizing Chicago is the equivalent of Brooklyn.

Some who are not aware may be wondering what role ICE still plays given that the other caucus, TJC, is no longer functioning.
We all made a decision that once the organizing groups got MORE up and going their official role as decision makers would disappear and MORE would be a membership org of individuals rather than a coalition of orgs which I for one felt would clog up the process.

ICE as one of the constituent groups that helped organize MORE felt we had strong enough bonds between us to continue in some form, mostly as a discussion group to explore issues of interest. And there are some ICEers who are either not interested in MORE, so keeping ICE alive gives them a voice. Plus the  ICEUFT Blog that James and Jeff continue to maintain and gives ICE its own voice in the union debates.

We don't meet often, especially with the work needed in MORE, but think that as a group of older teachers and retirees we have some things to offer which MORE may not have the time or inclination to address. In fact one of my own disatisfacttions with MORE meetings is the lack of time to just talk. MORE people are more action oriented and that just doesn't always suit old fogies like me who love the give and take we always have in ICE.

And we have invited some of the newer people we have met in MORE to join our meetings who we think fit that mold. We meet in a diner and just talk -- and eat. And I never emerge from an ICE meeting without feeling I've learned something or had some issues that were muddled illuminated. The floating agenda and lack of time constraints plus the fact that with MORE doing the work we don't really have to do anything -- but talk and eat.

Ahhh, life is good.

UPDATED: Civil Disobedience and Arrests at Chicago Closing Schools Protest

I am updating as more info comes in. Fred Klonsky has great pics. Here is one.

Jaisal Noor tweeted links to his videos:
@jaisalnoor: Interviews with Karen Lewis and those arrested at #Chicago protest for #EDUjustice & against #CPSclosings

You tube

NPR coverage
In Chicago, Dozens Arrested As They Protest School Closures
by Eyder Peralta
NPR - March 27, 2013
Hundreds of demonstrators, along with the Chicago Teachers Union, marched through the city today demanding that City Hall walk back its plan to close 53 elementary schools and one high school in response to a $1 billion budget deficit....

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/27/175524955/in-chicago-dozens-arrested-as-they-protest-school-closures?sc=17&f=1001

 "People have a right to the neighbourhoods in which they live," said CTU leader Karen Lewis at the rally. "Children have the right to a safe, nurturing, loving environment."
The CTU emerged with considerable public support after it blunted Emmanuel's attempts to tie teachers' pay to test scores last year. It has pledged to continue the campaign of non-violent disobedience. "People who work in the schools and rely on public schools will oppose the mass closings by any and all peaceful means," [Vice-President] Sharkey has told union members. "[School closings] are not something we are prepared to accept without a fight ... We're going to take this fight as far as we have to, to defend our community schools."

Well, you could do what the UFT does when there are mass school closings announced: show a tepid presence with no organizing at closing school meetings like this report in Nation of Change, Shuttered: How America is Selling Out Its Schools

The United Teachers Federation, which represents educators in New York, hasn't even bothered to mobilize its members, apparently preferring to bide its time until the mayoral election in November when, presumably, someone more amenable than billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be in office. 

while

Decked in red t-shirts, members of MORE were out in force at the PEP hearing, standing by parents and students where the UFT leadership was absent. Their hope is that those with a mutual stake in preserving public education can band together to beat back the privatization of learning and build a quality school environment for all.

UPDATE - Video: IS 49 SI Asst Principal Illegally Stops and Frisks Student

See new info below. This info was sent to OSI and they did nothing. When a video about a teacher is out there they pull the teacher and try to fire them. See what was sent to OSI.
And where is the press on this double standard?

How long will the DOE protect the administrators at this school?

http://youtu.be/UR0-MKVZeiA



sent OSI and SCI and they did nothing. From teachers to osi:

Other Allegations submitted 4 months ago about the same assistant principal:

On 9/9/11 AP _______ was seen grabbing student _______ by front desk at dismissal and pushing him back and forth shaking and holding him by his wrists yelling

AP ________ was seen grabbing student _____ in the main staircase on 1st floor by the neck and shaking her. Beginning of 5th period (approx 11:20-11:30) on 12/30/11

AP _______ was observed pulling the hoody strings around the neck of District 75 student____ outside room 228 around 7pm on February 28, 2012

From anonymous staff member submitted on my UFT online suggestion site:

“ On the day (June 6, 12) of the incident, with Student A Ms. ______shielded student A with her body so that she would not get cuffed by School Safety. Student A was pinned against the wall by her AP, her body up against Student A and her two arms against the wall so that she had leverage to move her body if anyone tried to get to  Student A.School safety tried on several occasions to try and secure Student A to be cuffed, but Ms. ______ moved her body to and fro and and school safety was not able to cuff Student A. It was absolutely disgusting to see _____’ body up against a student. All of this can be verified by the video tape from the security cameras, she was next to Rm 131. Hill (principal) called in school safety agents and tried to say that they were responsible for allowing  Student A to get in building. School safety, at dismissal, is usually relieved by Hill or AP (when they were checking staff out for day) so that an agent can go to the doors to make sure they are closed.______was checking out staff for that day, but she did not go early to relive level 3, because she wanted staff to wait for making complaints about having to wait to check out. By the time _____ got to relieve level 3 was the same time that _____sneaked through the doors.

There are no suggestion because no matter what we do nothing is ever done about it… ”

NY Times Attack on Quinn Part of Plan to Make Lhota Mayor by Making Thompson Dem Choice?

So I am a suspicious sort. I agree that Quinn is awful and believe everything in the NY Times article and would never vote for her. But something is fishy. Note this quote from a 2010 Wayne Barrett piece:

Friends of Thompson expect him to try, like loser Rudy Giuliani did in 1989, to stay in play on the sidelines and run for mayor again in four years, when a departing Bloomberg might throw him an endorsement or some checks.... Thompson often looked like a befuddled shadow-boxer, tied to Bloomberg at the hip while serving up obligatory campaign lip.

See Perdido St. comments:

NY Times: Christine Quinn Is A Petulant, Tantrum-Prone Child

and Backlash Against Quinn Grows.  RBE at Perdido has often branded Thompson as the worst candidate in history. 

  

I do think there is a plan operating here. And that is to make Joe Lhota mayor and the only way to do that is to have the weakest possible Democrat as a campaigner run against him.

And that is one Bill Thompson the worst candidate to run for mayor and the supposed behind the scenes choice of Bloomberg both in 2009 and most probably this time too as a stalking horse for Lhota.  The Times has run some puff pieces on Lhota and a look at Thompson's backers leads one to some suspicion -- sorry I can't find the link. Ignore the talk about rifts between Bloomberg and Lhota. They are both part of the undemocratic oligarchy that has a choke hold on the city, especially when it comes to the education and real estate gravy trains.

I wrote about the Wayne Barrett piece in the Voice Jan 10, 2010

The next time you read a New Action leaflet bragging about how they were the only caucus to endorse Bill Thompson, suggest people read this revealing Wayne Barrett piece in the Voice about Thompson's girlfriend/wife and how Bloomberg has helped her.

Bloomberg and Thompson: The (Really) Odd Couple

Bushwick to Broadway: Help My Former Student Ernie Silva Get His Show to Broadway

Ernie it trying to get his show to Broadway and you can help. http://www.usaprojects.org/project/bushwick_to_broadway

I've written about Ernie, who was in my 4th grade class around 1982. Ernie's story it quite engaging. (I wonder if he knows what they've done to his alma mater, Murry Bergtraum?) I went to see Heavy Like the Weight of a Flame at least 3 times and Ernie always managed to work "Mr. Scott" into the dialogue. My claim to fame.

I should write more about that class and how I came to get it  --- a top class my principal was forced to give me due to contract rotation but she tried all sorts of tricks to deny me and I had to file a grievance. One argument I made at the time was that a teacher should experience kids who had a great chance at success at least sometimes in their careers -- too many of my former students had gone down to drug use, prison time, etc. And this class has given me a lot of nachus (that's a Jewish word, not nachos.)

See my piece on Maria, another member of my class who came to our film screening, the first time I had seen her in over 20 years (A Former Student Surprise Visit at GEM Film). Maria was a "can't miss" student who went to Stuyvesant but also had some trials and tribulations. So many lessons from kids in that class.

Maria at screening

This was clearly a golden class with many very smart kids and Ernie was one of them -- guaranteed to make it, right? Well, "Heavy...." tells us of his journey and trials that so many of even our top academic performers go through and reinforces the point we make when ed deformers claim the teacher is the most important element. Believe me, that class could have been taught by a monkey and the kids would have been successful.

One of the most riveting parts of Ernie's show is the stop and frisk segment when he was 12 years old. Quite pertinent with the current court case going on. The judge should see the show which Ernie is trying to bring to Broadway.

MORE Featured in National Publication Article on PEP

The Movement of Rank-and-File Educators, or MORE, is attempting to take over the teachers union in elections slated for April. They want to push the UFT more toward a social justice approach. “What MORE would do differently,” says Julie Cavanagh, a Brooklyn school teacher and MORE candidate for the UFT's presidency, “is change the philosophy and ideology of how the union functions.” That means building “real organic partnerships with the communities that we serve.”

MORE has modeled itself on the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators, which took over the Chicago teachers union in 2010 and led a strike that fought back attempts to cut teacher pay last June. They attribute their success cooperation from the community. Parents and students joined the Chicago teachers on the picket-line. The strike was seen as being about more than a contract, but about the systemic racism within the city's underfunded public schools.

Decked in red t-shirts, members of MORE were out in force at the PEP hearing, standing by parents and students where the UFT leadership was absent. Their hope is that those with a mutual stake in preserving public education can band together to beat back the privatization of learning and build a quality school environment for all.

The United Teachers Federation, which represents educators in New York, hasn't even bothered to mobilize its members, apparently preferring to bide its time until the mayoral election in November when, presumably, someone more amenable than billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be in office.

Nice article in Nation of Change. A few excerpts, but go read it all.

Shuttered: How America is Selling Out Its Schools

Peter Rugh

Published: Tuesday 26 March 2013

A number of specialty schools were among those given the boot, including the Law, Government and Community Service High School in Queens.

Boos and hisses fills the auditorium of Brooklyn Technical High as the governing board for New York City's public schools, the Panel on Education Policy, takes the stage. It's March 11 and the PEP is meeting to consider a proposal from Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott to close nearly two dozen schools.

Parent after parent, teacher after teacher, student after student takes the microphone and pleads for their school to remain open.

Similar scenarios are consistently playing out in many parts of the country. Officials in Chicago last week announced plans to eliminate fifty-four schools next year in one swoop. The city's mayor, former Obama White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, was on vacation at the time of the announcement and could not be reached for comment.

Earlier this month twenty-three schools got the axe in Philadelphia, about ten percent of the city's total. Nineteen protestors, including American Federation of Teachers head Randi Weingarten, were arrested for attempting to block the entrance to the building where Philly's education reform committee dished out the guillotine treatment.

In New York, these PEP meetings have become a tired ritual. Everybody knows what to expect, and this evening's turnout is not what it has been in the past.

Tonight, there's a significant crowd on hand but it falls far short of years before. The United Teachers Federation, which represents educators in New York, hasn't even bothered to mobilize its members, apparently preferring to bide its time until the mayoral election in November when, presumably, someone more amenable than billionaire Michael Bloomberg will be in office.

Following in the footsteps of many who came before him, Bloomberg systematically underfunded the city's institutions of learning. Simultaneously, his Department of Ed has ramped up standardized testing -- a cash cow for giant publishing houses like Houghton-Mifflin-Harcourt and Pearson, who design the tests used to measure whether schools are making the grade or whether the DOE will toss them overboard.

Meanwhile, for approximately every public school the DOE has crossed off its books, a charter school has opened up. Charter's are frequently non-union. They receive public funding but are privately run, sometimes by for-profit educational management firms.

In New York, hedge funds have lobbed large sums of money into charters and often sit on their boards. “Hedge fund executives,” The New York Times has noted, are developing into a “significant political counterweight” to teachers unions and other advocates of public education.

When it comes to an increased emphasis on testing, charters have a key advantage over traditional public schools: they can cross students off their grading sheets if they're not meeting their academic standards. Often that means students with learning disabilities get shown the door.

By contrast, public schools have to take everybody. Public school teachers attest that students with learning disabilities, behavioral problems, or who speak English as a second language commonly enter their classrooms well after semesters have started.

----
Charter-friendly legislation passed by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s helped the neoliberal education model grow roots in the U.S. In the following decade, President's George W. Bush's “No Child Left Behind” bill, followed by Obama's “Race to the Top” program, tied school funding to test results, further facilitating the dismantling of public education.
-----
Yet while the city's Department of Ed has used test results to qualify the closings, they have likewise resisted testing classrooms for Polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCBs.

....bodies young and old shuffled out of Brooklyn Tech late on the evening of the 11th. On the stage panel members appointed by the mayor had executed 22 schools simply by raising their arms when it came time to vote. A number of specialty schools were among those given the boot, including the Law, Government and Community Service High School in Queens.

Watching the proceedings, Noah Gotbaum wondered aloud, “What are we teaching our youth about democracy?”

This article was published at NationofChange at: http://www.nationofchange.org/shuttered-how-america-selling-out-its-schools-1364307870. All rights are reserved.

 

I Don't Believe John King When He Claims Tests Won't Be Used to Close Schools

I don't believe any of them. Just lies to divide and reduce opposition. He is an agent of the new gen robber barons.

That was my response to this comment on the NYState Ed Commissioner's supposed guarantee:

According to his memo, the tests will not be used to close more schools or create focus schools. They will be used to evaluate teachers, because that is "fair", says the King.

So a word of warning to people who think the growing parent opt-out movement is forcing State Ed to modify its policies, my response is watch out for Trojan horses.

The prime directive of ed deform: privatize as much of the public school, unionized system. The target is union teachers. Reduce their share by eliminating contracts, increase their portion.

Speaking of Trojan horses, they have a valuable assistant in all this - the people running the unions who are willing to go along as long as a small share is reserved for their little oligarchy.

Their prime directive is to hold onto power and thus while the different primes of deformers and union leaders seem contradictory on the surface they are not when you go deep.

The unions deal with Democrats who are good with the deal while fearing Republicans who want the bosses gone too.

Note how Rahm's agents will promote Karen Lewis' opposition in the Chicago union elections since Karen is the only big city union leader who won't make that deal.

One of the most interesting moments at the Lewis/Mulgrew event at the UFT on March 15 (The Ides) was when Karen talked about how they gave up their perks with Mulgrew sitting next to her squirming, as did much of the mostly Unity Caucus laden room.

That makes CORE people less subject to the temptations that accrue to union leaders who spend too much time hobnobbing with the 1% rather than with the members.

------
Lisa Donlan added some great info -- see the comment section -- and also added this point:

Making Norm's point:

Six Steps to Effective Teacher Development and Evaluation Sponsored by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Federation of Teachers

BY VICKI PHILLIPS AND RANDI WEINGARTEN

March 25, 2013

Sponsored content by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and American Federation of Teachers.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112746/gates-foundation-sponsored-effective-teaching 

 

John Yanno on The Work Julie Does and the UFT Doesn't

Mulgrew may have been at the DA but he wasn't in the trenches fighting for rank and file teachers and public education. Here, John Yanno provides a microcosm of Julie's work and why so many people who have worked with her are thrilled she is running for UFT President.

Julie highlighted a lot of her education activism in her response to the anonymous comments on the ICE blog (read Julie’s reply here - http://morecaucusnyc.org/2013/03/25/cavanagh-defends-her-record-and-asks-mulgrew-to-debate-his/). But one thing she didn’t mention was that when I was having a problem at my school, it was Julie and not the UFT who came to help us.

In 2010, the NYC DOE proposed housing Millennium Brooklyn in the John Jay High School campus where I teach. While Millennium Brooklyn is not a charter school, many of us at the John Jay campus were opposed to the co-location because of the scarce space in the building. 

There was also the problem of the DOE failing to release promised funds to the school (outrageously, they told us that allowing Millennium Brooklyn in would release those much-needed funds for our crumbling building). 

I knew Julie from the Grassroots Education Movement (this was way before MORE) and her fight at PS15. 

After telling her about what was happening at my school, Julie attended a joint parent and teacher meeting at my campus to help explain what would happen next after the proposal and what steps we could take to prepare for the hearing and the PEP. 

Julie also attended the hearing at my school and spoke powerfully both to the DOE from the microphone but also privately to at least one CEC member about the failure of the DOE to fund the schools at John Jay. Again, this was before there was any MORE, before Julie was running for any office. Julie, a true activist dedicated to education justice, came and said what the UFT leadership didn’t.