Memo from the RTC: Guys and Dolls Reports Plus Selected Pics

Some recent columns in The Wave on the show. And some photos.

Liverlips Louie

Add caption

My Texas wife - married for 30 seconds

One of the casts leads

The other

Nicely Nicely, Bennie Southstreet

The Hot Box Dancers - take off those minks

Nathan Detroit, Big Julie

The Gamblers

The kids

Mimi and friend

Tokyo Mo

Memo From the RTC: The Kids Are Alright 

By Norm Scott

July 24, 2015

The beautiful Guys and Dolls set has been struck and building the set for the upcoming “Little Shop of Horrors” (opening on August 21) has commenced. G&D ran for 10 sold-out performances over 3 weekends. As the fame of RTC productions with its immense talent pool has grown even some long-time patrons had difficulty getting tickets. People lucky enough to see both casts were wowed. My wife saw it 3 times and said the show topped itself every time even as she had to suffer watching me try to dance with the mostly 20-something Guys in all 4 knock-out numbers. The Dolls kept up in their fabulous costumes in their Hot Box routines, especially when they threw down their minks and pearls and just about everything else – leading to howls of delight from the audience. The Guys and the Dolls did come together in the amazing Cuban café dance/fight routine culminating in the breakaway beer bottle smashed on the head of dancer Atsushi Eda who then goes careening all over the stage. Since there had been a few mishaps with the bottle in earlier shows, the cast broke out into applause when it worked perfectly the final weekend, especially since Producer Susan Jasper had been reminding us the props cost $7 a piece. Supposedly made of sugar, some intrepid cast members picked up broken pieces and tried to eat them. They shall remain nameless.

The double cast, mostly ranging in age from 13-mid-twenties, and production crew is so large that trying to talk about everyone would fill up the entire Wave. So let me focus on the impressive teens. You know you hear too many negative stories about today’s youths – or Yutes in the parlance of My Cousin Vinny. Well, just hang around the RTC and see Yutes in action: responsible, team players, considerate, and most of all, incredibly talented.

Thirteen year olds Steve Wagner and Andrew Feldman, who were amongst the stars of RTC’s Lost in Yonkers and vets of the RTC children and teens program, returned to play a variety of roles, at times having to add little mustaches.  These kids are totally into the theater with already large resumes and an awareness that makes me see what I missed as a kid.  And they are so reliable in every way and interact with the adults of all ages so naturally. Andrew travels all the way from Woodmere to be in the shows.

There is no room to talk about all the young lady teens, ranging in age from 15 to 19. When Director John Gilleece entrusted the key role of Adelaide to an 18 year old college freshman, Caitlin Byrne, for half the performances, some people doubted him. Her bravura performance validated his casting choice. She is a grad of LaGuardia HS where she studied voice and playwriting.

Over a few shows I’ve gotten to know some of the other teens. Leigh Dillon, who will be a junior at Fort Hamilton HS in Bay Ridge, has been in RTC shows for years, coming all the way from Brooklyn. She was accepted at the famed LaGuardia HS  but chose Fort Hamilton. Leigh is a quadruple threat. She can sing, dance, act and is a mean trumpet player. And is a delightful young lady.

I’ve been in a few shows with Kayla Ann Healy, Casey Stabiner, and Kacie Reilly, all of whom have an extensive knowledge of the theater and bring so much charm and grace with them, onstage and off. Casey just finished her freshman year at SUNY Purchase studying theater and performance. Kacie just graduated from Scholars and will be attending Marymount Manhattan College in the BFA Acting program. Kayla will be a senior at Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan where she is majoring in drama. All of then are from Rockaway, Broad Channel of Howard Beach.

I’m just about out of room and will talk more about the next age group, the twenties next week and I will post links to some of the video from the show and the boys doing the girls and girls doing the boys dances at the cast party.

RTC has taught me, a lifetime teacher, the value of theater work as an educational activity. The RTC, so influenced by current and retired teachers, is like one big classroom. If I were teaching now I would forget the curriculum and just do play after play in my class. From set design and building, to performing, the kids would learn everything they needed to know about functioning in society. The test would be the performances. But of course I would be in a rubber room for not testing kids to death. And goodness, how could they try to fire me when my salary got too high if they didn’t have tests? Wait a minute. This is an RTC column, not School Scope.

Norm rants on education and other issues at ednotesonline.org

Memo from the RTC: Many Guys, So Many Dolls and Some Cats and Dogs Too

By Norm Scott

July 17, 2015

The Rockaway Theatre Company wrapped up the 2^nd weekend of sold-out performances of Guys and Dolls with the proceeds of the July 12 Sunday matinee going to the North Shore Animal League shelter in the Carol Jasper Memorial Benefit performance. RTC Producer extraordinaire Susan Jasper has honored her late family member over the past decade with this generous donation.

The actors kept sneaking out during breaks to the trailer to check out the animals, with one dog making its acting debut by being carried across the stage cuddled in the arms of one of the Dolls, prompting a comment from one of the Guys: I wish I were a dog. I saw at least 3 cats I wanted to take home but I called and Bernie and Penny said they don’t need any more siblings.

This is the final weekend  where we do 4 performances – Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings at 8PM and Sunday matinee at 2PM - I hear there are lots of seats available for the Thursday and Friday shows while Sat and Sunday may be sold out. The cast party will follow where we know the Dolls will be dancing the Guys’ musical numbers and some Guys will try the Dolls (not me). Can’t wait to see them do “Take Back Your Mink” as they remove their clothes. Could be an ugly sight.

There has been a lot of comment on the double casting of the major roles due to the enormous talent pool. Last time I talked about the blow me away 4 performances of  Adelaide (Nicole Mangano/Caitlin Byrne) and Nathan Detroit (John Panepinto/Matthew Smilardi) roles.

The other leads – Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown (Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons in the film) were also double cast. Michael Whalen, who shared the role of the Devil with John Penipento in last year’s “Damn Yankees”, brings the right touch of  mature charm and danger to Sky while the younger Danny Cruz  (Joe Hardy and Damn Yankees) adds a classic matinee idol flash to the role. As singers and actors their slightly different interpretations makes seeing the show with both casts a must. They both bring top notch singing and acting to the roles and dance with the crap shooters when not in the lead.

And the same goes for the Sarah roles, played by Maria Edwards (with Mike) and Renee Steadman (with Danny). Renee, originally from Trinidad and now residing in East NY Brooklyn, made her RTC debut in Godspell and with her operatic voice is fast becoming an RTC mainstay. If you were just passing by the theater not knowing a play was on and heard her singing you would stop dead in your tracks. Many people coming out of the theater after the show came over to her to say how extraordinary her singing was. So the next night when Marine Park resident Maria Edwards, making her RTC debut,  went on in the role I snuck into the back of the theater. Holy Cow. Oy, oy, oy! How can this little production company known as the RTC attract such awesome talent time and again?

Listen, I can go on and on about the show. The young ladies – the Dolls - from high school juniors on up – are not to be missed. And the Guys – from junior high up to – ME – get wild audience reactions as they dance their way in and out of trouble shooting dice – and also try not to rock the boat in the bring down the house number. Some people coming out actually told me I finally learned how to do the box step – thanks to choreographers extraordinaires – new mommy Nicola DePierro-Nellen (whose mom Phyllis plays a noticeable role in her mink) and Gabrielle Mangano, who I keep pestering with questions about which foot I have to move during “The Oldest Establishment Permanent Crap Game in NY.” We’ve watched Gabby and sister Nicole grow up on the RTC stage.

I’ll close with kudos to an often overlooked the major role played by chief Costumier Kerry O’Conner, who also shares the role of General Cartwright with Cathy Murfitt. Kerry is a den mother to the enormous cast and the numerous costume changes. She helps everyone find the proper costumes and even for a low-end performer like me took so much time in getting me shirts, suits, ties, cowboy boots, string ties, etc. Imagine doing this kind of work for 40 people? I blanched in horror when she found me a green double-breasted suit – I have never worn a DB and didn’t even know how to button it. But the suit grew on me, especially when so many of the Dolls commented on how nice it looked and some Guys told me they had dibs on it for a future show.

Is Unity a Democratic Organization: Unity Caucus and Democratic Centralism

I'm following up on my recent post: How Unity Caucus Uses the District Reps to Control.

I have much more to say about this as a way of explaining how Unity Caucus and other groups operate. On the surface, groups that operate under democratic centralism are democratic internally but all agree upon joining to adhere to the decisions of majority rule. Not outrageous - except when Unity considers itself the UFT and tries to force everyone else in the UFT who are not Unity members and did not sign on to dem cent to follow that in the mass organization - the UFT itself -- and that has been a tactic of smaller groups controlling larger mass orgs - stifle dissent by labeling it undemocratic - we voted, the majority won, not shut up and follow along. Except that they manipulate democracy in the UFT.

I also maintain that Unity itself is not a democracy but top-down -- there are votes but people vote the way they are supposed to. Shanker, Feldman, Randi - make basic decisions and people follow -- Mulgrew may be allowed to make a few of his own. Then they use the Unity cadre to impose those decisions on the rest of the UFT.

Here is a comment sent to me by email:

Democratic centralism seems to be a very idealistic principle. It claims to resolve an apparent contradiction of opposites. A diversity of perspective, emphasis of thought and idea wonderfully coalesces into an agreed upon unity of plan for collective action. But doesn't this idealistic principle ultimately morph into an actual reality on the ground that is far more specific and commonplace? 

Doesn't idealistic democratic centralism morph into either majority rule and/or consensus democracy (more or less what MORE does), or in the case of UNITY and some groups, rigid democratic dictatorship for either left or rightest policy? With the latter, you can forget the nice centralism. It's absolute conformity or be socially excluded, eliminated or demonized, and, in its extreme form, bodily assassination. 

Politically divergent dictatorial, totalitarian and subversive organizations have morphed into democratic dictatorships from socialist democratic centralist idealism? Meanwhile it amazes me how organizations manage to put group-think blinders on their followers. 

Actually ICE is a consensus group while MORE is a majority vote group - and I think not just a simple majority vote but something more than a majority for important issues. I think simple majority rule can cause deep splits in groups when the minority just misses.

How Unity Caucus Uses the District Reps to Control the Membership and Narrow the Growth of the Opposition

CORRECTED: Changes in green

One thing people have to understand about the Unity Caucus on the city, state and national (called Progressive Caucus) is that only 100% control is acceptable - not 60% or 75% or 95%. But 100%. When there are voices of opposition, they are attacked as being disloyal and anti-union.

How does the UFT/Unity bureaucracy keep track of pockets of opposition in so many schools? Through the middle management employees, the District Rep. Every school in the city has a district rep who communicates through the chapter leaders but when there is a strong opposition person in the school, is willing to go around them - sometimes by actively recruiting someone in the school to challenge them.

They track dissident voices and call out reinforcements when a school seems to be going off on an anti-Unity track -- for instance, the district rep informing the teachers at the dissident PS 8X that Mulgrew was coming to see them - soon - certainly before next year's elections -- to try to put out the fire. And to some extent a visit by Mulgrew will move some people on the fence.

Unity works hard to get some of these people into Unit to shut them up.

Remember the Unity Caucus loyalty oath - or what it really is -Wiki says - democratic centralism - the name given to the deontological principles of internal organization used by Leninist political parties, and the term is sometimes used as a synonym for any Leninist policy inside a political party.

Yes, Unity is a Leninist party. Leo Casey in debates with people in MORE likes to defend the Unity loyalty oath by raising the issue that some people in MORE are in organizations that have their own version of democratic centralism -- another diversion by Leo since MORE itself doesn't operate under DC - and if it did I would quit immediately. But I have been pretty open inside MORE that I have reservations about people who subject themselves to a loyalty oath - or democratic centralism - since they are bound to each other and their organization and in a mass organization like MORE that can cause problems - and at times it has. (I'll get more into this in a separate post).

The same thing goes for Unity - they are bound more to Unity than to the people in the schools. Just look at Paula Washington's comments on ed notes defense of everything Unity - which caused her to lose her recent chapter leader election.

In some cases, Unity woos a dissident with promise who they deem ambivalent -- first they say that being associated with an opposition is not a problem -- it is but they are hiding that. Then they entice them with offers of joining Unity and getting to go to conventions with a hint at after school jobs and even the big enchilada - a full-time union job that will get them out of the classroom. I have seen numerous people go that way -- I can't tell you how many people who used to hand out Ed Notes in their schools ended up in Unity - they were targeted to shut down the ability to reach the rank and file. Recently a MORE supporter underwent heavy Unity recruitment and finally succumbed, not totally surprising to me since I detected some game being played -- like guarantees that MORE lit was going into boxes and others in the school saying they never say any MORE lit. Call it playing the double game - using a connection to MORE to make them a more attractive Unity candidate. Once they join Unity they start avoiding saying hello to me -- and other slimy stuff. Reports often come in that they become amongst the worst - they entered Unity in an unprincipled manner and begin to function that way. After all, they were once a critic who felt the union was letting people down and then suddenly go silent and start selling the Unity line. What does that say about their believability - and honor? To me they are the least trustful people in Unity.

(Does anyone think that the same offer could have been on the table for people like James Eterno, Julie Cavanagh, Kit Wainer and even me, who was being recruited into Unity in the late 90s before I went rogue? No job offer would ever tempt us.

There are 32 K-8 district reps and 6 high school districts but they are divided up amongst more than 6 district reps -- the number is fuzzy as some handle small schools - with the proliferation of small high schools, the union added DRs. There are also Drs for paras, special ed district 75 and other special districts. (Yes, it is a job machine for around 40-45 people). Monthly meetings are held where the UFT propaganda is laid down for CLs to follow -- these are not meetings to share problems and issues in schools and come up with solutions.

By the way - every district rep is supposed to teach one period a day - they are on DOE salary but the UFT reimburses the DOE for the time they don't teach during the day and the get additional compensation for the hours from 3-6 plus any other time they put in. Every one of them makes a 6-figure salary.

In all the years before 2002, every district rep was Unity Caucus except for Bruce Markens who was elected by the most dissident group in the union - the Manhattan High Schools chapter leaders. Bruce was re-elected for a decade from 1991-2000 despite Unity attempts to dislodge him. After he retired, Tom Dromgoole, his successor was also in Unity and was independent and followed in Bruce's footsteps from 2000-2002. After Randi made it an appointed position, fearing a backlash from the still strong Man HS CLs -- big schools still dominated - she appointed Tom. But some felt over the next few years with the sword hanging over his head as large schools disappeared and his base disappeared with them, he was forced to adhere more to the Unity line in order to keep his job. And to make it worse, some of Bruce and Tom's former supporters actually ended up joining or supporting Unity with one now having a full-time job. Unity is relentless in undermining any opposition.

As I said, even 1 person not in the Unity fold is unacceptable to the Unity machine.

So in 2002, Randi eliminated district rep elections because she never wanted to see another Bruce Markens. They created a bogus process of interviews but the UFT leadership really makes the choice of this crucial position.

Over the years, some top-notch opposition people have gone through the process just for the hell of it because they know they have no chance. James Eterno applied for the Queens HS DR position at one time. He was clearly the most qualified candidate. Yelena Siwinski applied for the District 22 position - no one is more qualified than she is. And I believe another top-notch MORE candidate is currently applying for a vacancy he will not get.

Even I applied for the position in District 14 before I retired with an understanding that my voice, like Bruce, would remain independent. Top union officials came to my interview to enjoy the fun - and we had a blast - when they asked me to produce sample of my newsletters I had Ed Notes - everyone broke up. Believe me, the guy they chose is tepid at best. If there were an election I believe I had a shot at winning because I was so aggressive in dealing with my principal when I was CL - and many CLs liked that. Also even some Unity people who are there for the conventions wanted an independent voice - it was pre-ICE and I wasn't with any caucus.

At least an election for DR forced them to be somewhat responsive to the chapter leaders - unless these CLs were also Unity and had to follow the party line from above - which was true in most cases. So elections are not an end all until the Unity dominance of the CLS is broken -- part of my strategy of organizing from bottom up instead of making the UFT elections the big deal.

Unity has a machine and that machine pervades most schools with little opposition at the school level except for a relatively few. There are signs of some breaks in that - witness the 60 people who came out for the MORE CL training recently - and new people are in contact regularly. So something did break in the schools to some extent. Unity will try to recruit these people into Unity through the district rep and at their 3 training sessions in the fall -- these are important to Unity in an election year in that they can shut down opposition lit in schools with Unity CLs controlling the gate - unless the opposition has a contact willing to stand up to them in the school. Unity can only be broken by going after them at the school level day by day, month by month, year by year. Election outcomes reflect that work and if an opposition ever had people in hundreds of schools who could organize a serious block at the Del Ass, Unity would be facing a loss of control from below.

District Reps have a major function -- to stop this from happening.

Today - MORE Summer Series: How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School

While the UFT fights the opt-out movement, MORE works to help build it in partnership with parents.

For those of you not paying attention -- opt out is a defense of teachers under the gun of the testing movement which is designed to undermine our public schools and profession. See the reports of teachers being forced to reapply for their jobs at renewal schools and face deployment into the ATR pool.

Did you know that over 175,000 New York State families opted their students out of high stakes tests this spring?

Come to our discussion about how to build this movement in your school, this Thursday

THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

High Stakes Testing and the Teacher Evaluation System are suffocating public education. As Diane Ravitch states ‐ the only way to save our schools is to starve the data beast. That is the mission of the opt out movement. Find out how teachers around the state are working together with parents to organize against high stakes testing and fight for the schools our students deserve!

UFT Election Musings: What Can Be Won and Is it Worth it to Try?

The Eternos and I at Tues Nite Yankee game

The other day I posted some thoughts based on the recent MORE retreat:
MORE Doesn't Retreat at Retreat Plus Some of My UFT Elections Thoughts - Don't Kvetch, Organize!

ICE, MORE, New Action get together at Yankee game: a precursor of things to come?

James and Camille, joined by Ellen Fox and Ed Beller talked about some of this election stuff at the Yankee victory-- NORM SCOTT, CAMILLE AND JAMES ETERNO PLOT ELECTION MOVES
- they were happy even though Camille, James and Ed are Mets fans because the Mets won too. Other than Ed, we are all UFT political junkies - we tried to talk between innings or during pitching changes.

All of them were in New Action until the 2003 sellout. Ellen and the Eternos left to help form ICE while Ed remained in New Action. Ed, James and Ellen were all elected and re-elected as high school executive board members repeatedly during the 90s through 2001, getting over 3000 votes each time.Ed is no longer active in union politics.

I pointed out in my blog piece that the 7 high school UFT exec bd seats were winnable by MORE in the upcoming election based on the 2013 numbers. They are winnable because retirees don't get to vote in that portion of the election. And neither do any of the high school non-teaching staff like secretaries, paras, guidance, social workers get to vote for these 7 positions. Classroom high school teachers only. This used to be the case for the HS VP position - until Unity lost in the mid-80s and changed the rules in 1994.

Unity is used to changing the rules when they lose. After New Action once again won the then 6 HS ex bd seats in 2001 - with over 3000 votes - Randi figured out a clever way to prevent this from happening by buying New Action and offering to hand them these seats by not running any Unity candidates against them. All they had to do was let Randi run unopposed. And so they did - except ICE and TJC threw a monkey wrench into the scheme by running and winning these 6 positions.

James and Jeff Kaufman for ICE did such a powerful job for 3 years, Unity - and New Action were mortified and thus made sure that no independent voice (non-Unity endorsed) representing classroom teachers without conditions would get on the Ex Bd. In 2007, for the first time, Unity put New Action people on the Unity slate so they could win -- and they split the HS Ex Bd seats between them. (When they raised it from 6 to 7, the split was 4-3, Unity.

New Action would ask some questions, maybe raise a reso or 2 and then make sure everyone got to go home on time. They are the loyal, well-behaved "opposition", so unlike the aggressive Jeff and James were. Everyone goes home happy - when James and Jeff were there, Unity did not go home happy.

New Action high school vote totals dropped from 3000 in 2001 to around 700 in 2004 - and 450 by 2014 - so how did that work out? Pretty good for them I guess since they are handed 10 ex bd seats and some jobs. Not so good for rank and file teachers.

So, let's get back to the 2016 elections.
To beat Unity + New Action + any other vagrant caucus running would take an extraordinary effort and require MORE to focus most of its resources on the high school election, probably ignoring other areas like elementary and middle schools and functionals - all areas where retirees don't vote.

To win 7 out of 100 Ex Bd seats - for what purpose? To make some noise? To take us to where New Action was 15 years ago? Their focus on these seats never led them to build much more of a base outside the high schools. And what do you do if you win? Go to meetings like ICE did every 2 weeks to support your people in a total Unity environment?

On the other hand, a win would show that Unity can still be beaten and it would restore an independent voice.

On the other hand, if MORE intends to go much beyond where New Action was before the dirty deal with Unity, it needs to reach deep into the schools. A focus on winning the high schools could distract MORE from that goal.

On the other hand, MORE could use the actions at the Ex Bd to raise issues of concern - it is easier to do there than at the DA since once you get 5 Ex bd people to sign on a reso must be dealt with.
And given that nothing else can really be won, why not go for this?

On the other hand, how exactly do you sell people on getting involved in an election that can win only such a small sliver of 7% of Ex bd and no officer or AFT/NYSUT delegate positions?

OY VEY!

While touching on some of these issues at the retreat, MORE did not get into the discussion in depth and is still far from getting deep into election stuff, focused more on supporting people in the schools.

Should MORE go for these seats even if the other parts of the campaign suffer? Given that MORE got almost 5000 votes in the 2013 election, can even 5-10% of these people be activated in a way to take part in the campaign beyond just voting - like becoming a spokesperson for MORE In their school and making sure people vote?

As for me, I am still not committed to getting deeply involved in yet another election but would appreciate any of your thoughts either in the comments section or by email.

Leo Casey Attacks Leonie Haimson Over Class Size, Defends UFT Inaction on Issue as Roseanne Takes Him Head On

What's Leo Casey's response to Haimson calling out the UFT on not fighting to lower class size????  He actually tries to defend the UFT's inaction by insinuating that parents don't want lower class size. .... Roseanne McCosh, PS 8X

Leo, the gift that keeps giving

Roseanne on the case. I can't wait for Mulgrew to visit PS 8.

Mr. Casey,
And your mean-girl antics continue...Leonie Haimson fights for lowering class size.  She has also been vocal against high-stakes testing and vocal in support of parents who opt their children out of state tests.  It's bad enough that the Unity-controlled UFT is on the wrong side of all of these issues but now you seem hell bent on attacking Leonie Haimson for merely pointing out where the UFT stands on class size.  You guys have done nothing, own it. 

More disturbing news on the UFT.....The arrogance and snarkiness continues from Leo Casey of the UFT.  Leonie Haimson's organization, Class Size Matters, understands the detrimental effects of large class size.  What's Leo Casey's response to Haimson calling out the UFT on not fighting to lower class size????  He actually tries to defend the UFT's inaction by insinuating that parents don't want lower class size.  We know they do, but my question is... why doesn't the Unity-controlled UFT care that we, the dues paying teachers they work for, want lower class size? The MORE caucus of the UFT supports lowering class size.  The Unity caucus led by Mulgrew does not. (The line in the sand gets clearer and clearer, doesn't it? MORE=GOOD for teachers, UNITY=BAD for teachers. As always---please share this with whomever you want. See Unity-UFT Casey's tweets below :
Roseanne

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@leoniehaimson @pfh1964 @TeacherArthurG @lanecindy1234 @rweingarten @UFT Just curious Is there one real parent in school who has criticized?

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@leoniehaimson @TeacherArthurG @pfh1 @rweingarten Would be nice if you actually talked to parents before deciding what they want.

MORE Doesn't Retreat at Retreat Plus Some of My UFT Elections Thoughts - Don't Kvetch, Organize!

After last week's MORE retreat where UFT elections were discussed for the first time this cycle, it looks like I have lost my battle to keep MORE out of the UFT elections -- though I will not concede I lost my debate with Schirtzer (The Great Scott-Schirtzer Debate: Boycott UFT Elections) until I see a slate put together. I'm sitting on the fence as to my level of involvement if such a slate is put together.

My vision of an election is that it must be part of the long-time work a caucus does, not an end all and be all where the focus shifts from that work into "election year" mode. I would have to believe that MORE won't fall into the election trap where it takes short term shortcuts. In the past that approach has never helped a caucus grow and in fact I've seen the outcome of elections help shrink groups as people who actually believed they could win drop out after the election.

That is why I am trying to impress on MORE that they must be honest with people and tell them what can be won in an election and what cannot be won - like the presidency and other officers, 80% of the Executive Board and all 750 delegates to the AFT/NYSUT Representative Assemblies. Anyone telling you Unity can be beaten in these areas is either lying or deranged.

I will admit I am intrigued at the challenge of helping MORE get enough high school votes to defeat Unity and New Action and any other caucus. On the surface it looks impossible but the numbers in 2013 put the 7 high school exec bd seats in play (more details in the future). MORE finished within 150 votes of Unity but the 450 or so New Action votes went to Unity. If New Action were to team up with MORE I have no doubt they would beat Unity in the high schools and elect people not endorsed by Unity for the first time since ICE-TJC won those seats in 2004.

What astounded me last time in 2013 is that Unity only got 1575 votes out of 19,000 sent out - and despite a massive and expensive campaign. Imagine that - Unity couldn't even get 10% of the high school teachers to vote for them. They have put some effort into outreach since then so it wouldn't surprise me to see their votes go up. The wild card is still New Action - despite some of their members telling us there is some disagreement over continuing to support Mulgrew I don't believe they will give up their 10 guaranteed Ex Bd seats and the jobs. But I believe that if MORE matched the 3000 votes New Action without Unity support got in 2001, MORE would win those seats. In essence it needs to double the high school numbers from 2013. Not easy but possible.

Could MORE win the 11 elementary school and 5 middle school Ex bd seats? They weren't even in the ballpark last time -with about 20% of the vote so I don't expect that to happen. But once again the Unity totals in elementary school were in the 5500 range out of 36,000 elem ballots sent out - around 15% of elementary UFT members. MORE would have to quadruple its totals from last time to have a shot. And with other groups out there splitting the vote, it is very unlikely.

MORE addresses 2016 election for first time

Last week MORE met in what was termed a "retreat," a term I dislike because it is used in such a phony manner by so many in the NYCDOE. A retreat is basically a very long meeting focused on the long and short range goals of an organization. At my age long range is about 10 minutes, so I am not always at my best at these meetings - er - retreats.

This was MORE's first retreat since last July - 2014 - when things in MORE were somewhat different. Since then there has been a degree if reorganizing and shifting priorities internally and externally. I won't go into the weeds on this but people who have been active know there was some struggling over a bunch of political stuff in MORE - messaging, what audience to appeal to, etc. MORE pretty much marked time last fall cutting back on activity until some of the issues could be resolved. In December there was some stirring and in the winter and spring, MORE began to perk up by focusing in issues related to the chapter leader elections and chapter leader training, work in the opt-out movement and in support of ATRs - despite some sturm and drang from people who have been activists for about 2 weeks, MORE/ICE people have been in the battle for ATRs for over a decade but do a lot of the work behind scenes so as not to use the ATRs as a political football.

About half the time at the retreat was spent discussing regular MORE organizing and half the UFT elections. There does not seem to be the same urgency I saw in 2013 - a good thing - MORE will take its time and let things work organically. Normal local organizing will go on. I imagine choosing candidates will take place in November.

I liked what I heard - A less intense and more relaxed view of UFT elections. There is no concern as to how many caucuses are running -- MORE just has to do its stuff - don't kvetch, organize.

People recognize that the recent chapter leader elections have more impact on the union than the 2016 elections - a good sign was the 60 plus turnout at the CL training -- and look for a Unity response by intensifying its recruitment efforts and disparagement of MORE.

MORE, recognizing that the battles are not just local, is also involved with Stronger Together on the state level and UCORE on the national level.

So people are busy bees - the MORE summer series continues this Thursday with building the opt out movement. The astute among you understand that a parent led opt out movement is the biggest threat to ed deform - which is why the deformers are trying every dirty trick to derail it - and having the UFT/AFT working to undermine the opt out movement doesn't help us.

THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

Et Tu Bernie - Reveals Himself as Deformer, Shrinking Distance with Hillary

it comes down to this--On the one hand, you have Democrats. Top down, Test-and-Punish, privatization in the inner city, and the Common Core corporate scam. On the other hand, you have Republicans. Who want to destroy public education entirely through charters, vouchers, and privatization. Honestly, when it comes to policy, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.... Daily Kos

How interesting that Republicans seem less deformy than Democrats?
Of course, closet deformers at the AFT/UFT like Leo Casey go on the attack over our opposition to deformy stuff by branding us tea party supporters.

Beware the Strawman

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@rubinsteindds @NTampio @mma718 @MOREcaucusNYC You don't want to discuss Common Core, where your position is aligned w/Republican far right.

Leo Casey @LeoECasey

@NTampio @mma718 @MOREcaucusNYC Or maybe you would like to join Walker, Jindal, Cruz, etc. campaigns, becuz they oppose Common Core.

Poor Leo, Randi, et al -- stuck with the deformy Democratic Party for life.

Really, over time, what does it matter who the AFT endorses? It is about the process. I would support Bernie and probably will - but I have a hard time backing people with ed deform tendencies.

See Eterno at ICE blog for some interesting points and links to Ravitch pieces on the Murphy Amendment. WHERE TO NOW EDUCATION PROGRESSIVES?

Harris Lirtzman left an important comment:

Never underestimate the power and moral suasion that the mainline civil rights groups have on the Democratic Party--for good and historic reasons. We all know that there are many local and state civil rights groups that have come out against the testing and accountability regime because they see, on a day-to-day basis, the harm that is being done to children-of-color in our public schools. Never forget that Dennis Walcott was president of the National Urban League before he became Bloomberg's education puppy and then Schools Chancellor.

The national civil rights organizations had a reasonable case to make in the days before NCLB was enacted that children-of-color were overlooked when school accountability was an aggregate statistic, if it was measured at all. Urban schools were never held accountable for their performance and, despite Title 1 funding, were often abandoned by school boards and administrators. I would think that ten years of NCLB might have disabused them of the belief that annual accountability testing ensures that children-of-color get the support and interventions they need in their schools but old fears take a long time to die and I don't believe that people who say that the mainline civil rights organizations have "been bought off by Gates and the reformers' are being fair though I'm not naive and don't doubt that the funding they get is part of it all.

NEA said that it would use the vote to score Senate members. The AFT took no position.

I am not a man who usually bites my tongue but I have nearly bitten it in two the last few weeks as I watch many of my colleagues transform the long-time debate about pushing back the reformistas and opposing the authoritarian structures in our unions into a litmus test about whether someone supports Hillary Clinton or the sainted Bernie Sanders. The arguments are couched in terms of "process" but the real conversations and the most scalding comments now are about a particular political endorsement which I, at least, don't think will make that much difference in the long run. I don't support the early AFT endorsement of Hillary Clinton--I think it was a cynical undertaking which, importantly for me, violated a pact among the members of the AFL-CIO not to endorse any candidate before July 30. So much for labor solidarity and "we shall not be moved."

I have pretty much taken a vow of silence on any of this union political endorsement outrage because I am agnostic about Bernie Sanders and pragmatic about Hillary Clinton. Agnosticism and pragmatism turn out to be verbotten among teacher activists who easily lose track of the fact that they, in aggregate, represent a relatively small number of teachers nationwide and who need to maintain some humility in face of the challenges that all of us fighting the reformistas, at large, and the authoritarians, in our unions, face every day.

I think that there will be some long term damage, in terms of trust and credibility, so long as teacher activists call out "process" when they really are upset that a particular candidate was endorsed. Many teachers do support that candidate. Could the endorsement have been delayed and a more open process used to come to a decision? Of course. But the tenor of the debate is disproportionate to the harm done and seems to me to indicate a certain naivete about how the political process works and how our unions have played this game for many years. Perhaps we've reached a point of "no mas." I hope so but let's be honest about why, now, the "no mas" has taken on such a personal edge to it. 

Hey there - don't rely on politicians - organize and one day show up at their door with thousands.

Daily Kos

Bernie Sanders Just Broke A Promise 

Well, he and almost every other Democrat in the Senate. Why, oh why can't they get it right on education?
The Senate was going through its vote-a-rama on amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act when the Murphy amendment came up for a vote.

What is the Murphy Amendment, you ask?
Short answer, it's a continuation of the same Test and Punish policies of the failed No Child Left Behind.

The 12-page text of Murphy’s SA 2241 reads more like No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its detailed prescription for reporting on student test results, for “meaningfully differentiating among all public schools” (i.e., grading schools), including publicly identifying the lowest five percent, and, among interventions, potentially firing staff and offering students the option to transfer to other schools and using part of the budget to pay for the transportation.” This amendment would have enacted tough, federal-mandated accountability, akin to setting up an “achievement school district” in every state.

Almost every Democrat voted for this. This was co-sponsored by Elizabeth Warren. 

She even released a statement expressing her disappointment.

[In her statement, she says the ESEA as passed] “eliminates basic, fundamental safeguards to ensure that federal dollars are actually used to improve both schools and educational outcomes for those students who are often ignored.” That sounds good until you realize what she means. “Educational outcomes” mean test scores. She’s talking about test-based accountability. She is against the ESEA rewrite because it doesn’t necessarily put strings on schools’ funding based on standardized test scores like NCLB.
She continues, “Republicans have blocked every attempt to establish even minimum safeguards to ensure that money would be used effectively. I am deeply concerned that billions in taxpayer dollars will not actually reach those schools and students who need them the most…”
She is upset because Republicans repeatedly stripped away federal power to Test and Punish schools. The GOP gave that power to the states. So Warren is concerned that somewhere in this great nation there may be a state or two that decides NOT to take away funding if some of their schools have bad test scores.

And Bernie said he was going to "End No Child Left Behind" yet he voted for this extension of the same. Right now, Democrats seem to be under the impression that the only way to tell if a school is doing a good job is to engage in high stakes testing and only use the test scores as a guide.
Which is utter bullshit. The only thing a test score shows is parental income.
Real school accountability would be something more akin to the original vision of the ESEA – making sure each district had what it needs to give kids the best education possible. This means at least equalizing funding to poverty schools so they have the same resources as wealthy ones.
But today's Democrats won’t hear it. The Murphy Amendment seems to show that they’re committed to punishing poor schools and rewarding rich ones.
So it comes down to this--On the one hand, you have Democrats. Top down, Test-and-Punish, privatization in the inner city, and the Common Core corporate scam. On the other hand, you have Republicans. Who want to destroy public education entirely through charters, vouchers, and privatization.
Honestly, when it comes to policy, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference.

Final Days of Guys and Dolls at the RTC - Entire Run of 10 Shows Sold Out - David Bentley Reviews Show

The rowdy esprit de corps that permeates the wonderful ensemble efforts of this cast is highly visible in the interactions of these lovable gangsters. A standout in that regard is the

 brilliant performance of Chazmond Peacock in the role of Nicely-Nicely. His joyous delivery of the show’s Act Two blockbuster, “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat,” was a Broadway-caliber performance.

Chazmond Peacock in the role of Nicely-Nicely, Photo: Courtesy of RTC, John Panepinto

And if you think gangsters can’t dance, think again before you see the talented guys in this cast do their stuff while gambling their way through numbers like, “Oldest Established,” and “Luck be a Lady.” (Choreographer, Nicola DePierro-Nellen).
 
Miss Byrne is sensational as this adorable nightclub singer who is losing patience at being “engaged for fourteen years,” and having to make up stories in order for her mother to believe that she and Nathan are already

married with children. Byrne’s terrific voice and flair for comedy would have carried this role on any stage, anywhere, and Broadway audiences wouldn’t have hesitated to declare her a star. Whether leading the talented Hot Box Girls in both “Bushel & a Peck,” and the uproarious, “Take Back Your Mink,” or joining in brilliant duet with smooth-voiced Smilardi for the savage, “Sue Me,” or better still, knocking the ball out of the park with the hilarious, “Adelaide’s Lament,” this gal has it all. Wow!

... David Bentley, www.ThePeoplesCritic.com

Those long days (matinees) and nights are coming to an end this weekend at the Rockaway Theatre Company after 3 months of intensity - set building,

Photos by John Panepinto

almost daily rehearsals and spending almost 5 hours at each performance. Even after getting home at 11 I am too keyed up to sleep. I now understand the fascination some people have with being involved in theater work and the immense amount of time they put in. Above are John Panepinto's (who plays Nathan Detroit and a crap shooter on alt days) super photos he took of the entire cast, including me in my 2 roles (I have no lines to remember thank goodness.)

Tonight MORE and ICE pal Yelena Siwinski and her boyfriend are making the trek out to Rockaway to see the show, as is former colleague and fellow writing group member Mary Hoffman.

Last week another former colleague and theater critic (www.ThePeoplesCritic.com) and Rockaway resident David Bentley came to see the show and his review was picked up by The Wave: http://www.rockawave.com/news/2015-07-17/Weekender/Summer_Fun_from_Guys__Dolls.html?pk_campaign=Newsletter

He sent me an advance copy which was sent to the cast and they were thrilled. He sent this message with other links to his review.

I am happy to report the GUYS & DOLLS review now resides in two locations. You may have already seen it if a subscriber to my website, but if not, just check out the lead story at:

 www.ThePeoplesCritic.com

In addition, the story was also picked up by the BroadwayStars website in New York where it now tops my listings there at:

https://broadwaystars.com/index.php?author=David+Dow+Bentley+III

David is an interesting story. He was my teaching neighbor just down the hall for 25 years and preceded me as chapter leader - and was a Unity Caucus member who often fed me info -- I first heard the name Randi Weingarten from him when he told me there was some resentment over her being pushed ahead of others. He took the 1995 buyout at age 50 and went back to his first love - the theater - by becoming The Peoples Critic, reviewing plays from his second home near Houston and on his travels back and forth to Rockaway and upstate NY where he hails from.

I'm so glad I found this opportunity so close to home. Most people involved come from outside Rockaway and travel through big traffic jams to get there. Yesterday one of our dancers, a native of Japan, had to take a cab to make it on time.  And I feel so at home with so many teachers involved.

Master builder Tony Homsey,

who plays a few roles in the show, is already at work building the set for Little Shop of Horrors, opening in August. We are building a turnatable to revolve the set and I'm heading over now to put the thing together. Monday we strike the set and Tues be start building in earnest.

Despite New NYS Ed Commish, NYSAPE Will Continue to Grow the Opt-Out Movement

And you can help by attending the MORE Summer Series: THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

High Stakes Testing and the Teacher Evaluation System are suffocating public education. As Diane Ravitch states ‐ the only way to save our schools is to starve the data beast. That is the mission of the opt out movement. Find out how teachers around the state are working together with parents to organize against high stakes testing and fight for the schools our students deserve!


Capital Confidential

Opt-outers will continue to protest tests

Yes, we’ve got a new education commissioner as well as some new Regents and Pearson, which had become a lightning rod for criticism has been dumped in favor of another test developer, Questar.
But that doesn’t satisfy members of what could be called the growing anti-testing movement who are urging parents to start their childrens’ new school year — about 6 weeks away — with opt out letters stating their kids won’t participate in the standardized tests that are in part used to grade teachers.
A group known as NYS Allies for Public Education is planning to send out standardized opt out letters in the coming weeks.
Here are some more details from NY SAPE

The end of the Albany legislative session in June brought no relief for parents of New York seeking to reduce the most excessive testing regime and reverse the most destructive education policies in the nation.
However, parent efforts, while not sufficiently rewarded, have led to shifting winds of change in the Empire State. For the first time in recent memory, massive spending by ‘Big Money’ donors were beaten back by the voices of the people and the Assembly, who resoundingly shut down Governor Cuomo’s unconstitutional attempt to illegally divert public dollars to fund private schools through his proposed Education Tax Credit based on model legislation from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Similarly, attempts to increase the cap on charter schools by the GOP-led Senate were rejected.
After the close of session, the independent Board of Regents, fired embattled school testing giant Pearson corporation. That change coupled with several leadership departures at the State Education Department (NYSED) and an exodus of ‘Fellows’ in the privately funded Research Regent Fellows program offered glimpses of light for outraged parents.
Left untouched however, was Governor Cuomo’s unconstitutional education mandate to link his politically motivated teacher evaluation system to student test scores, a centerpiece of his ‘Big Money’ donor’s agenda. A Siena poll this week shows that three out of four New York voters believe Cuomo’s education agenda is not working to help students. Parents in this supermajority of New Yorkers will not rest until the harmful, inappropriate high-stakes testing linked to teacher evaluations are reversed and real fundamental changes are made to the educational landscape.
The Opt Out movement will continue to grow until parent control of student data privacy is restored, school districts regain local control, and test prep factories are driven from their children’s classrooms forever.
“We have seen the departure of the Commissioner of Education, Deputy Commissioner, numerous SED officials, a data collecting system, inBloom and now Pearson, the infamous testing company. This in the end does not change the foundational issues with education policies in New York or bring relief to students. Damaging laws, poorly designed education policies, a bullying governor, and an unresponsive Regents’ majority are the underlying problems.” said Lisa Rudley, Westchester County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE.
“Parents across New York showed their force by opting out of harmful practices of high-stakes testing to reclaim their children’s classrooms and many were elected their school boards to advocate for their children. Parents will be showing up in droves to refuse high-stakes tests and deny the data this coming year and casting their ballots in 2016 only for legislators that are truly advocating for our children,” said Jeanette Deutermann, Nassau County public school parent and found of Long Island Opt Out.
“In the end, even the legislature did little to protect our kids. Despite all of their promises, nothing was done to reduce time spent on testing or the secrecy surrounding inappropriate test questions. Legislation enabling teachers to discuss already released test questions is absurd. It is the un-released questions that often hold the most egregious examples of inappropriate content,” said Bianca Tanis, Ulster County public school parent, educator, and founding member of NYSAPE.
Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters added, “The Education Tax Credit, an unconstitutional backdoor voucher system, was stopped in its tracks despite the ‘big money’ lobbying and relentless efforts of ‘mega donors’. While the number of charter schools to be added in NYC doubled from 25 to 50, the Senate Republicans made sure that this would not affect their districts.”
“While six Board of Regent members took a bold stance in formulating a plan that would have provided some much needed relief from these harmful policies, they were defeated by the balance of the board who opted to maintain the status quo,” said Eric Mihelbergel, Erie County public school parent and founding member of NYSAPE.
NYSAPE, a grassroots organization with over 50 parent and educator groups across that state, are calling on parents to hand in their test refusal letters on the first day of school to reclaim their children’s classrooms and to stop the destruction of our public schools. Updated 2016 test refusal letter coming soon.

Sixty Show at MORE Hardcore Chapter Leader Training / Summer Series Continues Next Week

Yelena Siwinski at MORE CL workshop

I joined Kit Wainer and Yelena Siwinski and 60 others at part 1 of the MORE chapter leader workshop last Thursday. Mike Schirtzer moderated. Part 2 will be in August (check here and MORE upcoming details). They have way more experience than I did as CL -- I only did 4 years but learned so much that I shared with the mostly new chapter leaders and delegates. I pushed for us to do this early in the summer since I imagined the new people might have some nerves over taking on this position and we needed to give them immediate advice and also let them know there is a support group for them.

I firmly believe MORE must not be a traditional opposition caucus that focuses on running in the UFT elections every 3 years but a service organization for UFT members who feel under served by the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership which often has other concerns - like undemocratically endorsing presidential candidates way before necessary - and if some Unity slug tries to tell you that this was the AFT, not the UFT, laugh in their face - the AFT is controlled by the UFT.

I taped the 3 presentations - there are loads of ideas presented by Kit (high school), and Yelena and me (elementary school). I focused on the political role within a school chapter leaders can play -- if done in the interests of the staff and not yourself -- you have some levers of power that you can use to build support and thus protect yourself and your members from retaliation. 



MORE Chapter Leader Summer Workshop - July 9, 2015 from Grassroots Education Movement on Vimeo. (https://vimeo.com/133271046)

Here is the report from the MORE listserves with an announcement of the next summer series next Thursday, led by the always amazing Jia Lee.

Over 60 people, many of whom were newly elected Chapter Leaders and Delegates, joined us at our Hardcore Summer Series Training last week!

Veteran Chapter Leaders Kit Wainer, Yelena Siwinski, and Norm Scott (check out their video presentations) led workshops on the nuts and bolts of leading your chapter, gaining support in your building, working with the school community to build a strong union chapter, and being able to counter anti-teacher administrators.

Thank you to all those who came out!  There will be a second session will be August 20th and we will have a Fall workshop with mentoring for  Chapter Leader/ Delegates in October, details to follow.

THURSDAY, July 23rd How To Build an Opt‐Out Movement in Your School
4pm‐7pm
The Dark Horse, 17 Murray St. NYC, Near City Hall, Chambers St, WTC
Drink specials: $4 drafts, $6 well drinks & $7 wine

High Stakes Testing and the Teacher Evaluation System are suffocating public education. As Diane Ravitch states ‐ the only way to save our schools is to starve the data beast. That is the mission of the opt out movement. Find out how teachers around the state are working together with parents to organize against high stakes testing and fight for the schools our students deserve!

MORE-UFT
http://more.nationbuilder.com/

Add Boston to the Union Militancy Movement -- Antonucci at EIA

It will take ages before organized opposition can have a demonstrable effect on NEA, and its growth in AFT is offset by the stranglehold the establishment caucus has in New York City’s United Federation of Teachers. But at the very least we can expect union incumbents everywhere to start shoring up their left flanks and publicly adopt more progressive stances.... Mike Antonucci, Educational Intelligence Agency

Mike A is the only ed reporter covering the growing movement within teacher unions. MORE is local versioanworking closely with UCORE on the national and ST on the state levels, in NYC being in the belly of the Unity beast and also, due to the fundamental lack of democracy in the UFT being the least likely to capture even a sliver of power.

He is correct in that Randi and crew will try to sound progressive to coopt the militants' message but endorsing Hillary the way they did will counteract that.

We linked to Mike's previous reports on this issue. Antonucci on Teacher Unions and The War Within.

Add Boston to the Union Militancy Movement

Posted: 09 Jul 2015 08:59 AM PDT

Richard Stutman has been president of the Boston Teachers Union for 13 years, and he will continue be president, having run unopposed last month. His union, however, is changing beneath him.

An opposition caucus, called BTU Votes, ran a candidate for executive vice-president who lost by only 65 votes to the incumbent. Today’s Boston Herald has a story about election irregularities, but the real story is the unexpected strength of the opposition and its candidate, Jessica Tang.
Tang’s campaign web site indicates she is part of the growing teacher union militancy movement. She mentions she has “relationships with and access to union leadership from several other locals including the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Chicago Teachers Union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, and Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association.” All of these unions are places where militants were elected over establishment candidates.

She also supports the United Caucuses of Rank-and-File Educators (UCORE), which is a fledgling attempt to organize like-minded members across state lines. I can’t say if UCORE will be the coalition necessary for these social justice unionists to upend incumbents in even more large locals, or perhaps compete at the national level, but it’s interesting that the thoughts of those involved in the movement are running along those lines.

Don’t get too excited/worried. It will take ages before organized opposition can have a demonstrable effect on NEA, and its growth in AFT is offset by the stranglehold the establishment caucus has in New York City’s United Federation of Teachers. But at the very least we can expect union incumbents everywhere to start shoring up their left flanks and publicly adopt more progressive stances.

More Reactions to AFT Hillary Endorsement

What is most destructive in the AFT’s endorsement of Clinton is that it has disempowered members at precisely the moment when we most need revitalized teachers unions to save a system of education that is being destroyed as a public good by powerful elites and the politicians they control... Lois Weiner, Jacobin

Randi Weingarten has a lot of work to do if she expects the AFT to work for Hillary Clinton.... If anything, the AFT 's endorsement of Clinton will only stoke the fires of Bernie's campaign, with working teachers everywhere poking its embers...It will be up to Weingarten and others to tamp down the flames of dissent and disgust engulfing corporate Clinton.... The Pen is Mightier than the Person blog.

Leo Casey has apparently been assigned to do the tamping down and has been on a twitter rampage challenging a variety of MOREs -

• No Weekend at Bernie's for AFT - Leo Casey Gets MAD at MORE 
• MORE 15,000 hits re AFT Hillary Endorsement, Roseanne Response to Leo Casey, Email to Colleagues

Unity flack Peter Goodman has a laugh out loud piece comparing Bernie to the McGovern debacle in 1972.

My take is that Randi knew there would be this reaction and decided to get it done early and allow time for the air to go out of the balloon and knowing full well that when presented with the final choice of Hillary vs any Republican slug most people will go along. Unless Bernie actually mounted a 3rd party candidacy alla Nader or Ross Perot.

My old right wing pal Mike Antonucci at EIA is one of the few to connect the AFT endorsement with the possible Supreme Court decision to take away the agency shop and make the UFT/AFT go trolling for dues. How willing will Bernie supporters be to turn over $1300 a year to an organization that functions this way? Most will because they believe in unions - but maybe they will seek other union options.

Mike put up his 2 cents with a summary of the dissent - including the great piece Mike Schirtzer put up on the MORE blog (Clinton Endorsement, Wrong For Our Union). (Leo froths at the mouth when I ref Mike A).

Endorsement Unites AFT Behind Hillary… If You Believe AFT

Well, That Could Have Gone Better

Posted: 14 Jul 2015 10:34 AM PDT

• Contact the AFT and demand they rescind their endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• Dissent in the Ranks: AFT Rushes to Endorse Hillary Clinton — Then Endures Online Backlash
• Teachers Say No Freaking Way to AFT Endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• Clinton Endorsement, Wrong For Our Union
• Reject The AFT’s Premature Endorsement of Hillary Clinton
• AFT Leaders Say, You Don’t Like The Hillary Clinton Endorsement, Too Bad
• The AFT’s Endorsement of Hillary Clinton Is an Insult to Union Democracy
• Birds of a Feather Weingarten and Elia Mistake Teachers For Statues
• The American Federation of Teachers Endorsed Hillary Clinton—and Not Everyone’s Happy About It

Lois Weiner, a former NYC HS teacher and delegate, has a piece at Jacobin
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/07/weingarten-president-primary-bernie-clinton/

What’s Wrong With the AFT?

The American Federation of Teachers’ top-down endorsement of Hillary Clinton is an affront to democratic unionism.

by Lois Weiner

On Saturday, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced that its executive council “overwhelmingly” endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for president. It did so, the official announcement says, on the basis of interviews (not released to members) and the results of a poll.

The decision couldn’t be more wrongheaded, and it’s one that members should demand the union executive council rescind. We should propose instead a decision reached by a very different process: a referendum of members that follows and is informed by debate in union outlets.

Do You Know a Sociopath? I Bet You Do

Recent observed and often bizarre behavior by some people we know have caused some of us to look for diagnostic signs of what is driving

this behavior. Sociopathy is more widespread than we think. I consider Randi and Bill Clinton have many elements. Watch the behavior of some people and check that off against some of the information below.

They are masters at turning one group of people against another group while proclaiming themselves to be the one true savior ....they never feel guilt because they can justify anything they do -- you will often hear them say they can sleep at night - because to them lying -- well, not as much lying - but telling half-truths and parsing language to give the impression they want is justified. They often paint themselves a victims or persecuted. 

All sociopaths are narcissists, but not all narcissists are sociopaths. Because of this, all sociopaths have a huge ego. When you meet, they will tell you a huge list of things that make them sound absolutely remarkable... It is important to the sociopath to play victim... Most people feel uncomfortable telling a lie, and usually need to confess the lie and have a need to be honest. A sociopath is opposite to this... When caught in a lie a sociopath will always

·         Change the subject
·         Blame someone else
·         If pushed will become angry, and point out your shortcomings, but rarely will he ever admit to the lie.

The last point made an impression on me since I saw it happen so often recently. Bring up a point of vulnerability to them and you find yourself responding to an entirely different point and the original point gets buried. I will get into the specific details of this behavior in a follow-up.
 
Some more key points:

Sociopaths are more spontaneous and intense than other people. They tend to do bizarre, sometimes erratic things that most regular people wouldn't do. They are unbound by normal social contracts. Their behavior often seems irrational or extremely risky.

Sociopaths are masters are presenting themselves as heroes with high morals and philosophy, yet underneath it they... undermine, deceive, and often incite emotional chaos among entire communities. They are masters at turning one group of people against another group while proclaiming themselves to be the one true savior. Wherever they go, they create strife, argument and hatred, yet they utterly fail to see their own role in creating it. They are delusional at so many levels that their brains defy logical reasoning. You cannot reason with a sociopath. Attempting to do so only wastes your time and annoys the sociopath. 

One of the more offensive duties of being an investigative journalist is taking out the trash -- exposing liars, fraudsters, con artists and scammers for the people they truly are. Each time we investigate a sociopath, we find that they always have a little cult group following of spellbound worshippers who consider that particular sociopath to be a "guru" or "prophet."... Mike Adams (NaturalNews)

Do you know any sociopaths? Adams estimates that 4% of the population are SPs.

A friend tells me she has known many people with sociopathic tendencies and they often accomplish a lot. They are very convincing and often charismatic - and it often takes years of dealing with them to realize you are being manipulated - and used - and I am very gullible. I think my years of friendly contact with Randi taught me a lesson - she has many elements of sociopathy -- ...they never feel guilt because they can justify anything they do -- you will often hear them say they can sleep at night - because to them lying -- well, not as much lying - but telling half-truths and parsing language to give the impression they want is justified. They often paint themselves a victims or persecuted.

Sometimes it takes years to figure this out and then you smack yourself in the head and say, "of course." That happened to me with Randi when she slipped out of her usual mode with an email in which she said How dare I talk to a union president that way? The smack in the head that I had been played. I am an easy mark to play it seems - even recently someone I believed in and trusted and defended has opened my eyes.

To me a sociopath is an outgrowth of what I would term spoiled bratism as a child - or the opposite - denied being a spoiled brat and making up for it as an adult. It is a high form of selfishness - the person has to get his or her way - actually, it is mostly men it seems - though I have heard some women described as sociopaths - and think I even ran across one or two. You can never convince them they are wrong and if you disagree they cannot understand it and will never stop badgering you about it and will consider your refusal to agree as a personal slight and a badge of disloyalty - even when it might be the slightest of issues.

I was a spoiled brat and at times in my life I felt I was on the edge of being so selfish as to verge on sociopathy - or sociopathic behavior. I have to fight against such tendencies. My saving grace is self-critical analysis and a lot of Jewish guilt. Sociopaths never feel guilt and often proclaim how they can sleep at night.

How to spot a sociopath - 10 red flags that could save you from being swept under the influence of a charismatic nut job

Why cover this subject? I've seen a lot of people get hoodwinked, scammed or even harmed by sociopaths, and it bewilders me that people are so easily sucked into their destructive influence. I want to share with Natural News readers the warning signs of sociopaths so that you can spot them, avoid them, and save yourself the trouble of being unduly influenced by them.

Much of this information is derived from the fascinating book, The Sociopath Next Door, which says that 4% of the population are sociopaths. The book is a fascinating read.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036112_sociopaths_cults_influence.html#ixzz3eqAwi9fz

10 signs for spotting a sociopath

#1) Sociopaths are charming. Sociopaths have high charisma and tend to attract a following just because people want to be around them. They have a "glow" about them that attracts people who typically seek guidance or direction. They often appear to be sexy or have a strong sexual attraction. Not all sexy people are sociopaths, obviously, but watch out for over-the-top sexual appetites and weird fetishes.

#2) Sociopaths are more spontaneous and intense than other people. They tend to do bizarre, sometimes erratic things that most regular people wouldn't do. They are unbound by normal social contracts. Their behavior often seems irrational or extremely risky.

#3) Sociopaths are incapable of feeling shame, guilt or remorse. Their brains simply lack the circuitry to process such emotions. This allows them to betray people, threaten people or harm people without giving it a second thought. They pursue any action that serves their own self interest even if it seriously harms others. This is why you will find many very "successful" sociopaths in high levels of government, in any nation.

#4) Sociopaths ... wildly exaggerate things to the point of absurdity, but when they describe it to you in a storytelling format, for some reason it sounds believable at the time.

#5) Sociopaths seek to dominate others and "win" at all costs. They hate to lose any argument or fight and will viciously defend their web of lies, even to the point of logical absurdity.

#6) Sociopaths tend to be highly intelligent, but they use their brainpower to deceive others rather than empower them. Their high IQs often makes them dangerous.

#7) Sociopaths are incapable of love and are entirely self-serving. They may feign love or compassion in order to get what they want, but they don't actually FEEL love in the way that you or I do.

#8) Sociopaths speak poetically. They are master wordsmiths, able to deliver a running "stream of consciousness" monologue that is both intriguing and hypnotic.

#9) Sociopaths never apologize. They are never wrong. They never feel guilt. They can never apologize. Even if shown proof that they were wrong, they will refuse to apologize and instead go on the attack.

#10) Sociopaths are delusional and literally believe that what they say becomes truth merely because they say it!

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/036112_sociopaths_cults_influence.html#ixzz3epo95AEP