Julie Cavanagh Video at MORE Press Conf and at WNYC: Here's Why NYC Teachers Should Reject Labor Contract

Union members have been without a contract for more than five years. We, along with the communities we serve, have faced a tidal wave of attacks on our neighborhood schools. A new contract has the power to right these wrongs....Many teachers I know would have happily conceded some financial compensation in favor of a greater improvement to teaching and learning conditions. Given this contract extends beyond the next mayoral election, it wrongly surrendered a great opportunity for meaningful improvement... Julie Cavanagh, MORE

While Julie takes on the financial issue, she also tackles the other issues that are not being talked about in this article published on the WNYC web site.

But first watch this video of Julie at the MORE press conference after the DA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOgFQ28xBgg&list=UU9iVb99ewF1omA6LbPUWEOg&feature=share




http://www.wnyc.org/story/opinion-wait-fair-contract-isnt-over/

Opinion: Here's Why NYC Teachers Should Reject Labor Contract

Thursday, May 08, 2014

By Julie Cavanagh

(Stephen Nessen/WNYC) 

 

The proposed new contract for New York City public school teachers highlights the current mayor's commitment to collaboration and communication between the United Federation of Teachers and the city after years of deteriorating learning and working conditions.
It includes some steps forward in rebuilding respect for educators, including parents more and improving conditions for students and teachers. But I have serious concerns about several aspects of this proposal.

For example, the proposed contract would divide educators into several tiers. Once we destroy union solidarity, we destroy our union. Career ladders are nothing more than a merit pay scheme with a different name. Teacher leadership is critical to the success of schools but dividing teachers by salary is not a way to achieve this goal.

Due process, job security, and fair evaluations for all educators are the foundations of any teacher’s union contract. There cannot be two sets of rules for educators. Those who were excessed through no fault of their own and were placed in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool should not be held to a different standard than their fellow union members.

I also hoped this contract would address pay parity. Occupational and physical therapists, who are essential to the success of the children we serve, make considerably less than their educator colleagues. Paraprofessionals also deserve consideration in this contract, as they are underpaid for the important and challenging work they do.

While I commend the effort to address the needs in hard-to-staff schools, I believe a different path should be taken. Wraparound services, reduced class size, additional nurses, librarians, social workers, counselors, healthy food initiatives, after-school and weekend academic programs, and extracurricular activities are all proven formulas for success, not $5,000 bonus pay. Simply, I feel this money would have been better spent on direct services to children.

I also commend the additional time for educators to work in teacher teams, engage in meaningful professional development, and complete the monumental tasks that we frankly do not have the time to complete. However, I am concerned that the change leaves our children behind, because, with the information I have seen thus far, there will be no efforts to replace targeted intervention for students.

UFT members are dedicated professionals and although we didn’t become educators for the money we do have families to raise and financial obligations to meet. I am a teacher, a wife, a mother, and a New Yorker; I want to live where I work and provide my son with every opportunity, including doing my part to improve our schools and society for him and all children and their families.

This proposed contract would have members accept raises, worth less than 2 percent each year between 2009 and 2018. This does not keep up with the rate of inflation. Salaries around the country have fallen behind, which has caused terrible income inequality for many families of the children we serve. Every working man and woman deserves a living wage and fair annual cost of living increases. If our union does not take this stand, who will?

If we accept this deal, other union members may be forced to accept similar bad contracts. Politicians now have the green light to refuse to negotiate in good faith and force pay freezes for workers, deferred raises and a contract below the rate of inflation.

Union members have been without a contract for more than five years. We, along with the communities we serve, have faced a tidal wave of attacks on our neighborhood schools. A new contract has the power to right these wrongs. I believe the path to real change must be traveled together. Only through the active involvement of our members, parents, and with respect for all students can we achieve the promise of public education.

Many teachers I know would have happily conceded some financial compensation in favor of a greater improvement to teaching and learning conditions. Given this contract extends beyond the next mayoral election, it wrongly surrendered a great opportunity for meaningful improvement.

 Julie Cavanagh 

• Julie Cavanagh is a special education teacher at P.S. 15 Patrick F. Daly in Red Hook, Brooklyn. She is also an active member of the MORE caucus, a group of public school educators.
    
  
  Below is the longer version published on the MORE site.
  

  The Wait Isn’t Over

  by morecaucusnyc
  
  By Julie Cavanagh
  Teacher/Chapter-leader P.S. 15k
  A shortened version of this was published at WNYC/NPR Schoolbook 

Elfrank-Dana Slams Mulgrew on DA

Dear President Mulgrew,

I was surprised by your insinuation that I am against people's right to vote when I objected to retirees voting last night. 

Are you going to let me vote for my District Rep instead of appointing her/him?
Are you going require high school VP to be elected only by high school members instead of having their votes disenfranchised?
Are you going to be concerned that you are elected mostly by retirees, as member voter participation is barely 20 percent at election time? 

If the answer to these questions remains NO, you are sadly, smugly self-righteous.

John Elfran-Dana, CL Murry Bergtraum HS

And here are some more comments from John:

Unity Dominated DA Rubber Stamps Surrender

As expected, the recipients of patronage jobs at the UFT in exchange for their vows of silence and obedience (a prerequisite for membership in Unity caucus) voted for this lousy contract proposal.

James Eterno, Chapter Leader from Jamaica High School, makes a monkey out of Mulgrew showing him he was out of order by not allowing for alternating pro/con speakers in debate and that the time limit was for the question period. The parliamentarian even had to approach the dais and correct President Mulgrew. 

Furthermore, Eterno challenges Mulgrew's assertion that there's "no money" out there to get us the raises now. Eterno cites reports in the press of city budget surpluses that now and in the future. Presently over a billion dollars. That the money can be moved around to get the teachers the dignity other unions got with raises immediately. Mulgrew escaped by ruling him out of order. It's the old adage - "Never argue with the guy who controls the microphone." To read on go to www.MoreCaucusNYC.org 

Mulgrew did had a flash of religion when he said my objection to letting retirees vote on the contract (which for the most part does not affect them) was an affront to voting rights. I say religion because this is the same UFT President who won't let Chapter Leaders vote for their own District Reps. This is the same UFT President that allows your vote for High School Vice President as a high school teacher to be disenfranchised by allowing retirees and elementary and middle school members to also vote for VP, and visa versa (guaranteeing via this bogus "at large" VP a Unity caucus/retiree majority in each election). This is the same UFT President who thinks there's no problem with less than 20 percent of the membership voting in union elections. Hence, my surprise about his smug self-righteousness surrounding voting rights.

 

Fear and Loathing at the UFT Delegate Assembly Contract Vote As Mulgrew Filibusters

Mulgrew purposely shut down the debate with Julie Cavanagh, his opponent in the UFT elections last year, waiting at the microphone to speak. Mulgrew will never let Julie get up in front of a DA -- look for them to call a fire drill if she ever manages to get the mic.

Who would think that Mulgrew could turn the UFT into a more undemocratic institution than Randi Weingarten? Give me the days of Shanker and Feldman who at least followed basic rules of order. Lesson to people opposing Unity: Don't expect to be able to use the floor at a DA to make any points -- most of your time will be spent fighting for time.


Even I, the ultimate cynic, expected there to be a debate of sorts. The fact that Mulgrew purposely chewed up almost all the time, then called on a Unity Caucus hack to speak and followed with another -- until James Eterno temporarily put a stop to the farce -- means they know their arguments in favor of the contract can't stand up to scrutiny. I mean, how do you jive the DA vote with so many reports coming in from schools where almost everyone is saying NO? Not just from schools where MORE has activists. People at the DA who I didn't know - I was handing out VOTE NO leaflets -- told me their schools were opposed.

Of course this is before the UFT sends out its horde of people -- working on our dime -- to sell the contract with all sorts of distracting and specious arguments. Too bad the number of schools with a strong voice countering the Unity spin are a minority -- how much a minority will influence the final outcome.

This comment from JP at facebook:

Would have loved to have a chance to hear different perspectives; however at today's Delegate Assembly, the vote was pushed through to send the contract to a member wide vote. Four were allowed to speak for and two against before our union leader stopped the debate and went to a vote. The big scare tactic to rush to a vote was the claim that if we don't do this today, we'll be placed at the back of the line while the other 150 unions get negotiated with. By then, we may not get what we have right now. As a union of professionals, is this how we operate? Rushed and without consideration to the multitude of perspectives, questions and to discuss, this is not professionalism. S,o here's our chance before the member wide vote

Join

Vote No UFT Contract Organizing Meeting

Saturday at 12:00pm

Ya Ya Network - 224 W. 29th St., 14th floor

MORE held a post DA press conferences outside the Hilton -- I will put up some video -- and issued a press release - which I will put up with the video -- and will lead a campaign against starting with a meeting this Saturday beginning at noon. All invited who want to give us a shot at winning this vote -- or at the very least, turning this into a referendum on the Mulgrew leadership.

I'll be posting stuff through the day so don't get worn out.

Our pal Urban Ed was at the meeting and has a report:

Urban Ed

How Did Mulgrew Get a Such a Sizable Majority At the DA on Wednesday? - He talked! He talked so long that people who don't usually go to Delegate Assemblies (many of whom feel out of place just being at one) were afraid they'd ...

And here is the first part of James' report on the ICE blog:

MULGREW MANGLES DEMOCRACY BEYOND RECOGNITION AT DA AS CONTRACT IS SENT TO MEMBERSHIP

It was a very sad day indeed in the history of democracy at the May Delegate Assembly.  The meeting was moved to the NY Hilton.  I am going to dispense with my usual lengthy summary of what President Mulgrew said because you've already seen most of it in the UFT propaganda literature or you will hear it when union representatives come to your schools.

Mulgrew made the case for the contract for over an hour and then doubled the question period to half an hour to speak some more.  He finally allowed for debate on the contract after 6:00 pm when there is an automatic adjournment at 6:15 p.m. His basic argument is that the city has no money for raises because former Mayor Bloomberg depleted the labor reserve. The one sided discussion was worse than even the usual DA mangling of democracy.  It was a complete sham.

After Mulgrew finally finished talking, one Unity person (majority caucus of the UFT which does not allow dissent) spoke in favor of sending the contract to the membership for ratification and then Mulgrew pointed to a second Unity member and that is when I sprung forward and called for a point of order.  As everyone who regularly reads this blog knows, debate is supposed to alternate between speakers for and against every topic according to Robert's Rules.  Since there was a speaker for the contract, there should be one against.  The Unity speaker was willing to yield the floor so Mulgrew gave it to me.

I had a thorough speech ready (see below) where I was about to go point for point to refute much of what Mulgrew said.  I started right out on the economics. 

"Up until two months ago at the DA, Mulgrew was telling us that the city has money but they always say they are broke.  I keep reading in the papers that the city surplus is growing."

(Mulgrew in February:
“We look at the city’s fiscal numbers all the time; it is clear to us that there is money out there. We need our teachers to be paid at least at the level of the school districts around us, which we are not.”)

I continued: "The city is not in bad shape financially so why are we settling for so little.  If we take out the 4% + 4% for the first two years that just equals the last pattern (and we won't see until between 2015 and 2020), the pattern we set for the rest of municipal labor is 10% total over 7 years."  That is the worst pattern in municipal labor history (at least as long as I have been around)."  At this point, Mulgrew stopped me and said I was wrong.  I responded that according to Robert's Rules when I have the floor, he has no right to interrupt me. I also told him that I have an interpretation of what's in the agreement and so does he and that doesn't make me wrong.

Someone then called a point of order and said that during the question period we agreed that people would only get 30 seconds to ask a question so I was only entitled to the floor for 30 seconds and my time was up.  Mulgrew said I could make one more point and I responded by telling him that the 30 second rule was for the question period.  I also stated that I sat and listened to him politely for an hour motivating the contract and now it was my turn.  He claimed that was my one point and time was up.  I then proceeded to say that I wished I was being recorded (earlier he said UFT policy is no recording) because the entire membership should be permitted to see how he treats people who are dissidents.  There was fairly loud applause as I walked away. 

Maybe I should have stayed and further held my ground but I felt I blew away his no money argument and other people could handle some of the other issues as well or better than I could.

Unfortunately, they never had the chance.  The opposition's next speaker took his 30 seconds to point out how Mulgrew was wrong on his 30 second rule as it pertained to the question period.  We had one other Delegate who had the chance to speak.

Mulgrew then stopped the debate at exactly 6:15 p.m. and called for the vote.  The overwhelming Unity majority obeyed their caucus obligation and supported the contract.

Time allotted for contract discussion:

• Pro contract side talked for well over an hour. 

• The opposition was given about 3 minutes of which half of the time was spent trying to keep the floor and tell the president he was out of order.  Would you call that a fair debate?

I have written out the points I wanted to make and will instead make them here.  Below that is a statement on health care.  We don't have to make up anything about the contract.  It is bad enough to fall on its own.

Read the rest of James' report.

Vera Pavone on the UFT Contract

The power of a union derives from the power of its membership acting together. But also, its ability to get the support of a wider part of the community.

So, the main job of a union is to build solidarity among its membership and with its natural allies. In the case of a teachers’ union the natural allies are parents, community, students, other unions and workers, and other teacher unions throughout the state, country, etc. 

Each stance that the union takes must be measured against the effect it has on building unity. Seen from this vantage point the proposed contract offers up a number of red flags:

1. The vulnerability of ATRs: Although they mostly play down the vast problem of unfair, incompetent, corrupt and often insanely vindictive principals and supervisors (except when they were arguing for the “objective” VAM to rate teachers), our union leaders along with DoE and city officials are surely aware of the problem that this poses for ATRs sent to these schools. Two such principals can end the teaching career of any ATR, ¾ of whom were excessed from closing schools or schools that lost student population. With the practice of sending ATRs from school to school, almost every one of them will end up in those schools with a lot of staff turnover. In addition, in selling out the ATRs, this puts the UFT leaders in the camp of those who say that ATRs who aren’t wanted by principals are incompetent teachers.

2. The extra pay scheme for so-called expertise, which only serves to create divisions among staff: This is especially dangerous in the present context of top-down unworkable educational mandates, widespread favoritism and other types of corruption, which unfortunately may the norm. Good teaching practices are best developed and spread in a collaborative way. For the union to sign on to a competitive winner and loser approach to rewarding individual teachers is a further blow to collegiality and solidarity.

3. The less than cost-of-living wage increases that have ramifications for all other municipal employees.

4. Nothing about class size and increased services for children, particularly crucial to those teachers (a majority of classroom teachers) who are working with children who are have needs that can only be met in small classes and with extra supportive staff. Nothing that addresses school closings and using test scores to punish students and teachers.

5. We have seen how the DoE, mayor, and union leaders have been so far unable/unwilling to take on the State in standing up against the high stakes testing/common core mandates, and the usurpation of funding and property by charter school businesses and private contractors. Our union contract should have an added agreement in which the DoE, mayor, and union work together along with other municipalities and school districts throughout the state to end the current policy of siphoning education money into private hands, and redirect all government education funds back into public education.

Vera is a retired school secretary and a founding member of ICE.

MORE Press Release: UFT CONTRACT: NOT A DONE DEAL UNTIL THE MEMBERSHIP VOTES

I should be at the MORE press conference outside the Hilton as this is published at 6PM just after the Unity Caucus dominated Delegate Assembly votes YES without having had a chance to read the full 46-page Memorandum of Understanding. (If I'm not check local hospitals.) Watch the Unity trolls throw everything they can against the wall trying to disparage the MORE campaign. Readers know that I have urged MORE to not just talk about the money even though that seems most on the minds of people. To put all the things in and not in the contract aside from the money issue in context. (I spoke about these aspects at the UFT Ex Bd meeting the other day.) Look for a great piece written by Julie Cavanagh that puts all if it in perspective --a piece that may be published by one of the mainstream media.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 7, 2014

CONTACT: Harris Lirtzman  (during the school day) OR Megan Moskop, media@morecaucusnyc.org

**PRESS RELEASE**

UFT CONTRACT: NOT A DONE DEAL UNTIL THE MEMBERSHIP VOTES

MORE --  A UFT Caucus -- Calls for Teachers to Vote “No!;”

Launches grassroots campaign for a “Contract NYC Educators Deserve”

New York:  Today, members of MORE-UFT (The Movement of Rank and File Educators) launched their campaign urging UFT members to vote “no” on the UFT contract proposal. MORE represents a growing number of educators who believe that the long awaited contract should do more to bring us closer to the schools our students deserve.

The contract proposal under consideration spreads what UFT leaders call an “18% raise” over nine years. This amounts to a 2% raise per year - the approximate rate of inflation. A 2% raise does not adequately address widening disparities between New York City and surrounding counties in class size, pay scale, or working and learning conditions.

The UFT’s own NY Teacher newspaper reported that more than one in eight New York City teachers over the last eleven years have left to work in “nearby suburban systems that have higher pay, lower class sizes and better teaching conditions.”  

If we truly want to reduce teacher attrition, recruit a diverse force of highly qualified teachers, and give all NYC students the education they deserve, we need a contract that demonstrates respect for educators through competitive salaries and improved working conditions in our schools.

A contract that demonstrates respect for educators would move away from pay inequity and “merit pay” schemes that reward some teachers and students at the expense of others. It would provide due process and protections for all teachers, including those who are in the Absent Teacher Reserve.  A contract that honors educators would allow them to choose and create appropriate assessments for measuring and shaping their students’ learning. It would not ratify the use of use of new one-size-fits-all standardized tests to evaluate students and teachers.

Teachers across the city generated MORE’s, The Contract NYC’s Educators Deserve. On their website, MORE provides resources for teachers to lead discussions in their own schools as UFT members make decisions about how to vote on the contract in June.

“The proposed contract had the power to right the wrongs of the last administration, and while there were clear efforts aimed at improving communication and collaboration, too much as been left on the table.  I will continue to urge the UFT and the City to go back to that table and come back with a contract that both respects educators by improving our working conditions and also provides for improved learning conditions for our children.” - Julie Cavanagh, a teacher at PS 15 in Red Hook Brooklyn who ran as MORE’s Presidential candidate in the last UFT election

“The UFT can negotiate a better contract because there is power that is not being harnessed here: the thousands of rank and file teachers, and their communities. MORE is calling for an end to the tiered, corporate-model provisions of this deal, and instead, a grassroots negotiation process driven by members’ participation.” -Jia Lee, a teacher and parent at the Earth School, and a “Teacher of Conscience” who refused to administer standardized tests this year.  

“UFT members never got to vote on ‘Advance’ (the new teacher evaluation system) or the resulting High Stakes Tests, but we will all vote on our contract this year, so it is important that each UFT member makes an informed vote.  The contract is not just about our ‘bread-and-butter’ issues. It is a legal document that dictates working conditions in our schools.”  - Kit Wainer, High School teacher, UFT Chapter Leader

“Allowing the city stretch it out so that money we were owed since 2009 won't be fully paid back until 2020 really lets the city off the hook. As for setting the pattern of 10% over 7 years, this is an abysmally low pattern to establish. We did better monetarily under the anti-union Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani.  I can understand why other labor unions in the city are angry with Mulgrew, particularly when it is considered how much surplus revenue the city has.” - James Eterno, Chapter Leader at Jamaica HS, and member of the UFT’s negotiating committee.

"We need a contract that includes a fair and research-based evaluation system. It is already obvious that the new test-obsessed evaluation system is not only an inaccurate, inauthentic, and harmful way of sorting students and teachers, but it is also unfair to English language learners and students with special needs.” -Seku Braithwaite, middle school teacher

“Alongside other mobilized teacher unions in Portland, Chicago & St. Paul, MORE is fighting for the schools our children deserve. Starting with the premise that our working conditions are our students learning conditions, MORE is fighting for smaller class sizes, more arts and enrichment programs and less testing for our students. Teachers in Chicago and Portland have shown us that when teachers fight side by side with parents and students for the schools we all deserve, we can win.” –Megan Behrent, high school chapter delegate

About MORE: MORE, a growing UFT caucus in the UFT, organizes for a democratic, member-driven union, based on the motto "Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions!”  In 2013 MORE co-organized the “More than a Score: Talking Back to Testing Forum” with parents in Change the Stakes and the “Fair Pay for City Workers Forum” with members of over a dozen unions. MORE ran candidates in the New York State Teacher’s Union (NYSUT) elections in April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbkqXmDz62Y).

###

The Movement of Rank and File Educators is the Social Justice Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers.  To learn MORE, visit www.morec

Former Unity Caucus Member: Arthur Goldstein is telling the truth about loyalty oaths

Loyalty to the truth rather than Unity makes for better sleeping at night... Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X, former Unity Caucus member

This is in response to attacks on Arthur challenging whether there is a loyalty oath. Remember when Lauren Cohen mentioned the loyalty oath at the NYSUT convention? They started booing her. Touchy, touchy, touchy.

There are Unity Caucus people who agree with us. I know because they tell me. And I think there are  more and more people in the Unity closet who would jump to the opposition if it every shows viability. I know that they never had respect for the opposition in the past, especially New Action - I watched them disparage NAC for years at Ex Bd meetings. Now that they are partners things are a little more subtle. The other night at the UFT Ex Bd meeting, there were 15 MOREistas there - the first time MORE showed up - and an interesting dialogue took place with Mulgrew that surprised a lot of people, including me. But more on that meeting later on.

One of the big fears at the top is that if MORE ever reaches a critical mass -- and to me that is a third of the working teacher vote in an election - like CORE did in their first election -- that is a game changer. (Ignore the retiree issue until MORE gets to first base.)

Until this email from Roseanne, one of my favorite correspondents, came in the other day, I hadn't realized she was in Unity at one time.

Arthur Goldstein is telling the truth about Unity loyalty oaths. I can attest to the loyalty oath.  I joined Unity when I was a much younger and less informed  UFT member and a relatively new chapter leader.  I was nominated by my DR. We even attended a meeting/dinner at a nice restaurant with Randi and her right hand man near Washington Square Park to be initiated into Unity.  Not only did I sign the oath but I also distinctly remember this guy's words when he spoke. 

He said if we disagree with Randi, we are not bad people but we can't join Unity.  I can't remember his name off hand.  I signed the damn oath myself so it definitely exists. 

I stopped paying my Unity dues years ago and started speaking up when I realized we were being led around by the nose.  Loyalty to the truth rather than Unity makes for better sleeping at night.  I might still be a Unity member---who knows---who cares.  ...... Roseanne McCosh, PS 8x

Roseanne McCosh: Why I Am Voting No to the UFT Contract

Roseanne has been in touch for a number of years - she follows issues very closely and shares them with her staff at PS 8 in the Bronx. She was chapter leader for a number of years before passing it on to the next gen. She shared this with teachers in her school. She has never been to a MORE meeting. So Roseanne represents rank and file teachers. So when Unity attacks the opponents of the contract as being just malcontents who will oppose everything Unity does, Roseanne is clearly an example that the opposition to the contract goes way beyond the usual suspects.

By the way, Roseanne emailed me that she agrees with me that an overemphasis on the money issue results in ignoring all the other crap not being dealt with regarding working conditions, which are not addressed -- other than - possibly- the paperwork issue -- and we'll see how that works out. But Roseanne also points out that the money  issue is what people are talking about. So here she focuses on that.

In the last few contracts we gave up seniority rights, the right to grieve letters in the file and agreed to additional time twice (The 100 minutes that Randi sold as time for paperwork quickly became 150 minutes of teaching).  And despite what the UFT is saying, there are givebacks in this contract too.  And the money is not as good as they’re selling it to be. This is a complicated contract to explain with respect to the money.  But for those who look at the money as a deciding factor, stick with me---I will discuss the money as well---and you will probably have to read it a few times to fully grasp it.

GIVEBACKS:

• The suspension of all union rules in some schools:  Unity/UFT will sell this as an SBO which is in the hands of the staff to vote upon.  It’s a dangerous precedent for a union to agree to allow some members to subvert our contract.  In the long run it makes it easier for NYC to chip away at out contract yet again in a subsequent contract.  Am I the only one among us who thinks it is completely inappropriate for a UNION LEADER to advocate for the elimination of a union contract in some of our schools as part of a new contract? I have to believe there are many like minded colleagues who see this as a dangerous, slippery slope to eliminating our rights right here at PS 8 in the future.  This is all I need to vote NO---but there’s more.
• ATRs are being sold out:  It will be easier for the DOE and principals to conspire to fire them.  If our school burned down tomorrow, we’d all be ATRs.  If budget cuts caused excessing, some of us would be ATRs.  Whether an ATR is a good or bad teacher is irrelevant.  This system has always had the opportunity to document incompetent teachers and fire them as long as the system exercised due process.  Lazy administrators not willing to do the leg work to document true incompetence is the root of the problem but yet the media blames the union.  My point is that in order to protect the good teachers we must also protect the bad.  The same rights that protect the bad also protect the good.  Should we throw out the right to a jury trial in this country just because some criminals go free at times? 
• Evening parent conferences have been doubled and extended to 3 hours.  Sure the grade and faculty conferences are gone but they were NOT held at night.  Now we get to come to work even more exhausted than usual another 2 days.
• TIME SWAP:  The 150 min after school tutorial is gone and replaced with 80 minutes of PD every Monday and an additional 70 minutes on Tuesdays as follows:  parent meetings, phone calls (40 min) and 30 minutes of a meeting of some kind.  I call this a giveback.  Here’s why:  When we first agreed to additional time Randi (past UFT president) sold it as time for us to do paperwork and an opportunity for a big raise that will finally put NYC on par with suburban salaries.  So until we actually get to use the time for paperwork and our salaries are truly comparable with the suburbs, it’s a damn giveback.  
• The Teacher Evaluation Changes are more beneficial to administrators than to teachers.  Speak to me if you want details, I’m writing too much as is.
• Health Care Concessions:  They won’t tell us what it is other than NYC wants 3 Billion in savings.  Seriously.  No one knows what they are going to cut.  Reporters asked for details.   No one answered.  What does that tell you? 
• Delay of Retro and Pay Increases with 0% interest.  The last time the City did this we were paid 9% interest.  This time 0% interest.  I call that a giveback.

The $$$:

The headlines read 18% with full retro.  This misled all of us until we started to read the details.  I bet when you read that headline you thought what I thought:  8% for 2009-2011 that other union got and then some other equally distributed percentages that would lead us up to 18%....Plus retro from the start.  WE WERE WRONG!!!!!!!

• Fall 2014:  We will get a $1000 one time bribe to vote this crap contract in. We will get 1% for 2013 (May 2013 thru April 2014) and another 1% for 2014 starting in May 2014.  For me, at top salary, that means BEFORE taxes I will have about $83 in my paycheck.  For those earning 60-70 thousand, you’ll be lucky if you see an additional $40 in your paycheck after taxes and pension deductions if they come out of your paycheck (including TDA).
• While NYC refused to give us an 8% raise in 2010 or 2011, they gave other NYC unions 8%.  The UFT is trying to convince us that they won because they got that 8% as retro.  The initial email sent to us didn’t include any details so I did some digging and discovered why they withheld the details: 

• That 8% will not be fully included in our paychecks until 2018.  Not the retro---but the actual increase that should have been in our paychecks from 2011 to the present will not be seen in full until May 2018. They will dole the 8% out in 2% increments in May of the following years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018.  Now I will address the retro for that 8%:
• The retro we are owed on the 8% will be doled out in 5 increments starting in October 2015 and ending in October 2020.  By the start of the school year in 2018 we will only have seen 1/4 of that retro.  By October 2019, 3/4 of the retro will have been paid to us and the final piece of the crap pie will be served to us in October 2020.  Other unions will have had that money in their pocket for almost 10 years by the time we get it and the UFT calls that a win.

So what are all the pay increases that we can expect and when can we expect them?  When will retro for pay increases be paid? I created a table on the next page. 

Lingering Questions:  What exactly are the 3 Billion $$$ in health care concessions?  How screwed are the people who are looking to retire between 2015 and 2018?  The delay in payment increases and retro has to affect your final average salary and pension in some negative way.  But you will have to calculate that yourselves.  For me---I am retiring before the final retro payment and before the new top salary becomes my final average salary because no money in the world can keep me from suffering under this dysfunctional system for one more day than I have to.   I don’t care if I get gypped---I’ll be free! And because my past brothers and sisters in this union were strong and fought hard, I will retire with an income I can live on.  I’m sorry for those of you who will not reap the same rewards. But if you vote yes to this contract, you kind of deserve to continue to get screwed. At what point will you say “No, I’m not eating another crap sandwich being served up by our own union leadership?” Take a stand NOW.  Vote NO

Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X.

Roseanne produced this table:

The UFT Has Declared This A Victory???????? Basic math and common sense proves they are poor judges of what it means to be victorious.
Year and % of Increase	Year/Month Money Increase Will Be Seen in Our Paychecks	Year/Month Retro On This $$$ Will Be Paid
2009-2010 = 4%	Between May 2015 and May 2018 (a 6-9 year wait from the date we earned the money.)	Between October 2015 and October 2020 (1/8 in Oct 2015, another 1/8 in Oct 2017.  Also, 1/4 in Oct 2018, another 1/4 in Oct 2019 and the final 1/4  in October 2020)
2010-2011 = 4%	Between May 2015 and May 2018 (a 5-8) year wait from the date we earned the money)	Between October 2015 and October 2020 (see details above)
2011-2012 = 0%	We get NOTHING for this time period	No retro to be had on ZERO%
Nov 2012-Apr 2013 = 0%	We get NOTHING for this time period	No retro to be had on ZERO%
May 2013 = 1 %	Fall 2014	The UFT timeline is unclear but sometime before January 2015 we will get the retro on the lousy 1%.
May 2014 = 1 %	Fall 2014	The UFT timeline is unclear but sometime before January 2015 we will get the retro on this lousy 1%.
May 2015 = 1 %	May 2015	Retro not necessary
May 2016 = 1.5 %	May 2016	Retro not necessary
May 2017 = 2.5 %	May 2017	Retro not necessary
May 2018 = 3%	May 2018	Retro not necessary
In the past the UFT and NYC had delayed pay and or retro and we received juicy interest payments and got February break added because of it.  We didn’t give something for nothing.  To put it simply, THIS DEAL SUCKS! If they can’t afford to pay us, then give us something that doesn’t cost them a dime---like the elimination of the 150 minutes of extended time! While the UFT wants us to settle for these scraps, the transit workers union got a better deal:  They already got their 4%+ 4% with full retro and while we get 0% for 2011 and 2012, they got another 4%.  And for 2013 and 2014 they get 3% while we get 2%.  They got full pay and retro immediately!  FDNY and NYPD will hold out for more.  They have already panned what the teachers are being offered.

 

MORE Press Advisory: NYC Public School Educators to UFT Leaders: “Go Back to the Bargaining Table!”

This was sent out to the press last night. Even if you are not part of MORE, join the campaign by downloading and printing leaflets for your school. MORE is willing to help organize events in your local area around your school to discuss the contract to counter the Unity spin.

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES: May 6, 2014

CONTACT: Harris Lirtzman (during the school day) OR Megan Moskop , media@morecaucusnyc.org

**News Advisory**

UFT CONTRACT: NOT A DONE DEAL UNTIL THE MEMBERSHIP VOTES

NYC Public School Educators to UFT Leaders: “Go Back to the Bargaining Table!”

MORE --  A UFT Caucus -- Calls for Teachers to Vote “No!;

Launches grassroots campaign for “Contract NYC Educators Deserve”

WHEN: Wednesday, May 7 2014, approximately 6:15pm (After UFT Delegate Assembly)

WHERE: SW Corner of 6th Ave and 54th St, in front of Hilton (1335 Ave of Americas, NYC)

WHAT: MORE-UFT (Movement of Rank and File Educators) calls for UFT members to vote “no” on the leadership’s contract proposal. The bargain under consideration:

• Spreads what UFT leaders call an “18% raise” over nine years. This amounts to a 2% raise per year - the approximate rate of inflation.
• Ratifies a teacher evaluation system based on the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers, despite a growing movement against over-testing, including parents who are opting children out of the tests.
• Does not address pay disparities, such as the salary cap for Occupational Therapists and Physical Therapists and low starting salaries for teachers.
• Ignores members’ calls for stronger checks against abusive administrators.
• Divides teachers with extra “merit pay” for those picked by administrators.
• Undermines due process protections for teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve.

MORE calls for a grassroots negotiation process driven by members’ participation. Teachers across the city generated MORE’s, “The Contract NYC’s Educators Deserve.”

WHO: MORE, a growing UFT caucus in the UFT, organizes for a democratic, militant union, based on the motto "Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions!”  In 2013 MORE co-organized the “More than a Score: Talking Back to Testing Forum” with parents in Change the Stakes and the “Fair Pay for City Workers Forum” with members of over a dozen unions. MORE ran candidates in the New York State Teacher’s Union (NYSUT) elections in April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbkqXmDz62Y).

VISUALS: Teachers wearing T-shirts and buttons will gather with signs and banners.

RSVP: e-mail media@morecaucusnyc.org

###

The Movement of Rank and File Educators is the Social Justice Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers.  To learn MORE, visit www.morecaucusnyc.or

MOREista Brian Jones to Run for Lt. Gov on Green Party

Well, I guess the UFT won't be endorsing the Green Party against Cuomo and Duffy, his Lt. Gov ed deform slug who tried to shove the mayoral control shiv into Rochester when he was mayor there.

I am excited to let you know that Brian Jones has stepped up to run as the Green Party candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Brian would not just balance the Green Party ticket. He will multiply it.

To be sure, balance is good. He's downstate; I'm upstate. He's a Teacher; I'm a Teamster. He's black; I'm white. He's younger; I'm older. 
Brian brings a record of effective and significant organizing, speaking, and acting on the issue that I am hearing the most about from voters as I campaign around the state: public education.

Governor Cuomo's education policies are openly advancing the privatization of public education sought by the hedge funders and corporate contractors who seek to profit from education spending. Cuomo is doing what the hedge funders who invest in charter schools are paying him to do with their over $1 million in campaign contributions to Governor 1%. 

But the people who want to fight back and vote for an alternative are growing every day. Students are being denied a sound basic education by the corporate privatization agenda. Parents are angry at the high-stakes testing linked to Common Core-poratization, which is really about privatization and profits, not quality education. Teachers are up in arms at the attacks on their wages, benefits, working conditions, unions, and very standing as professional educators.

Taxpayers all across the state want an alternative to the Cuomo's rich man's budgets that lavish tax breaks on the rich while so many school districts face fiscal distress. Dozens of districts are headed for outright insolvency and takeover by a state-appointed control board even as their property taxes still go up and school funding, staffing, and programs still go down 

Brian is a leader in the movement for quality public schools and resistance to the corporate reform agenda. He believes that quality education should be a human right, not a just a luxury for those who can afford it.

Brian helped organize the Movement of Rank and File Educators, the social justice caucus of the United Federation of Teachers. He has had op-eds on education policy printed in the New York Times, the Indypendent and other publications. He has appeared on Democracy Now!, MSNBC, and New York City media speaking to these issues. He co-narrated the film, The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. He contributed to the book, Education and Capitalism: Struggles for Learning and Liberation. Brian has also lent his voice to several audiobooks, including The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World and Howard Zinn’s one-man play, Marx in Soho. Brian is the recipient of a 2012 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship. 

In short, Brian is not just better on the issues. He is better qualified than anybody the Democrats or Republicans are capable of finding to run for Lieutenant Governor on their tickets.

Please nominate Brian Jones for Lieutenant Governor at the Green Party convention on Saturday May 17 in Troy.

And please, make a financial contribution to our campaign today so that after the convention, we can hit the ground running.
-Howie Hawkins
Candidate for the Green Party nomination for New York Governor

Howie Hawkins
http://www.howiehawkins.org/


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