MORE and New Action to Run Joint Slate in Upcoming UFT Elections

MORE announced a potential ground-breaking agreement with New Action to run together in the UFT elections, subject to ratification by the membership. Read it here: morecaucusnyc
MORE and New Action Propose Joint Slate for UFT Elections

James Eterno and Kit Wainer, two former UFT presidential candidates were joined by the always amazing Lauren Cohen, chapter leader of PS 321K and a rising star in the movement, as MORE reps in meetings with New Action over the past month to hammer out an agreement.

There is a long convoluted history behind the announcement of a united slate for the 2016 elections by MORE and New Action, still to be ratified by the MORE general membership after a discussion at this Saturday's MORE meeting - the first of the school year. MORE steering has already voted to recommend ratification.

At Saturday's meeting MORE will also discuss and nominate potential presidential candidates. The agreement with New Action allows for the candidate to come from MORE.

I will be telling a more detailed story with background in upcoming blog posts because I think in order to move forward we have to understand the historical context and the lessons learned. I posted Part 1 of the history of opposition caucuses in the UFT  which took us up to the mid-90s.

• UFT Caucus History/Math Lesson: Long Division - Part I

My thesis has been that multi slates and multi caucuses has been a hindrance to developing an effective opposition. There is some irony in taking this position, given that I helped form a new caucus called ICE in late 2003 in response to the New Action deal with Unity, which disemboweled the opposition in the UFT. Over time it became clear to many of us that we needed to create one big tent and MORE was the result. New Action has been invited into the tent since MORE's formation. 

This is not exactly what is happening - at this point - though one might get that impression from  headline  from NYC Educator 
New Action Joins MORE - New Action has come to its senses and decided to align itself with tried and true activists in the MORE caucus. Opposition is finally coming together.

I wish New Action members actually joined MORE so we could build one brand for the opposition. But New Action prefers a joing MORE/New Action slate where we work together but as 2 separate organizations.

New Action and MORE are running much along the lines that ICE and TJC ran together in the 2007 and 2010 elections. I think that even though it is better than having 2 separate lines on the ballot it still sends a message to members - why do you need 2 caucuses?

ICE and TJC finally got the message that we had to be in one caucus together in order to move forward and withdrew from UFT electoral politics even though ICE maintains itself as a non-electoral caucus. I have no problems with various groups putting forth their ideas but for UFT elections I believe we need one group. While the current agreement with New Action is not an ideal one from my perspective, I view it as a beginning with the hope that New Action members will get involved in MORE and join MORE steering to help run it.

Many of us have been severe critics of New Action over the past decade, non more so than former New Action member who was tossed out, along with Ellen Fox and Camille Eterno and Lisa North when they balked at the deal with Unity and then joined me and other Ed Notes supporters to form ICE.  Here is James' take on the announcement on the ICE blog where some of his reservations seeps through.

MORE and NEW ACTION TENTATIVELY AGREE TO RUN TOGETHER IN 2016 UFT ELECTION

I will urge MORE members to ratify the agreement on Saturday because it is the right thing to do and a way forward for the opposition. MORE, unlike the older caucuses, has been successful in attracting a new generation of activists, mostly in their 30s with a long career ahead of them. Most members of ICE and TJC understood back in 2011 and 2012 that we had to give up some of our independence in the interests of building a force to challenge Unity. I am hoping that this elections is a transition faze towards that aim.

The reality of groups like ICE, TJC and New Action is that we are too loaded with retirees or soon to be retirees. You can't build an opposition on the backs of retirees or teachers looking down that road even though Unity relies very much on retirees to hold on to power.

MORE is being run by 8-15 year teachers, not even halfway through their careers. Retirees like me have been happy to take a step back and let them take over. They are the future.

Can you point me to literature explaining the governance structure of the UFT?

I'm asked this question often as people try to explain this to people in their school who ask.
I tried to simplify my old confusing graphic. It's not easy to fit this all in.
Think of 3 branches - the Ad Com and Exec Bd elected this year and the 3rd branch is the Del Ass - Unity controls every branch and has for 60 years.

All Officer, Exec Bd and AFT/NYSUT positions are up for elections this school year. School and functional based chapter leaders and delegates are also on a 3 year cycle but are elected a year before the UFT elections take place.

See if this works for anyone interested in your schools.

Print this out and see if it clear enough to share. I can send you the pdf if you email me.

Charter School Scams Go On: Where's Bernie or Hillary?

These stories keep coming in by the minute. Ravitch alone has a pile of them:

• California Charter School Test Scores Plummet 
• A BASIS Charter Parent Explains Why She Is Moving Her Son to Public School
• Jeff Bryant: How Jeb Bush Turned Florida’s Schools into a Cesspool of Corruption, Chaos, and Cronyism

And here's one from Alternet on the federal handoff to charters.
Where are our candidates on these issues?


http://www.alternet.org/education/web-secrecy-surrounding-federal-half-billion-handout-charter-schools

Web of Secrecy Surrounding Federal Half-a-Billion Handout to Charter Schools

More than $200 million in fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the charter school industry have been documented.

 

 

Education

Web of Secrecy Surrounding Federal Half-a-Billion Handout to Charter Schools

More than $200 million in fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the charter school industry have been documented.

By Jonas Persson / PR Watch

September 8, 2015

 

 

Print

19 COMMENTS

The U.S. Department of Education is poised to spend half a billion dollars to help create new charter schools, while the public is being kept in the dark about which states have applied for the lucrative grants, and what their actual track records are when it comes to preventing fraud and misuse.
Already the federal government has spent $3.3 billion in American tax dollars under the Charter Schools Program (CSP), as tallied by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

 

But the government has done so without requiring any accountability from the states and schools that receive the money, as CMD revealed earlier this year.
Throwing good money after bad, Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for a 48 percent increase in federal charter funding earlier this year, and the House and Senate budget proposals also call for an increase—albeit a more modest one—while at the same time slashing education programs for immigrants and language learners.
The clamor for charter expansion comes despite the fact that there are federal probes underway into suspected waste and mismanagement within the program, not to mention ongoing and recently completed state audits of fraud perpetrated by charter school operators.
Earlier this year, the Center for Popular Democracy documented more than $200 million in fraud, waste, and mismanagement in the charter school industry in 15 states alone, a number that is likely to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Is now really the right time to plow more tax money into charters?
Insiders Deliberate Far from the Public Eye
The Department of Education is currently deciding what states to award $116 million this year, and more than half a billion during the five-year grant cycle.
So who is in the running and what are their track records?
Which states have applied for a grant designed to eviscerate the public school system in the name of “flexibility?” (CMD's review of state applications and reviewers' comments from the previous grant cycle exposed “flexibility” as a term of art used by the industry for state laws that allow charter schools to: operate independently from locally elected school boards, employ people to teach without adequate training or certification, and avoid collective bargaining that helps ensure that teacher-student ratios are good so that each kid gets the attention he or she deserves.)
There is no way of knowing.
The U.S Department of Education has repeatedly refused to honor a CMD request under the Freedom of Information Act for the grant applications, even though public information about which states have applied would not chill deliberation and might even help better assess which applicants should receive federal money.
The agency has even declined to provide a list with states that have applied:

“We cannot release a list of states that have applied while it is in the midst of competition."

The upshot of this reticence is that states will land grants—possibly to the tune of a hundred million dollars or more in some cases—all at the discretion of charter school interests contracted to evaluate the applications, but without any input from ordinary citizens and advocates concerned about public schools and troubled by charter school secrecy and fraud.
But, if people in a state know that a state is applying they can weigh in so that the agency is not just hearing from an applicant who wants the money, regardless of the history of fraud and waste in that state.
Charter Millions by Hook or by Crook: The Case of Ohio
Despite ED’s unwillingness to put all the cards on the table, state reports tell us that Ohio has once again applied for a grant under the program.
The state, whose lax-to-non-existing charter school laws are an embarrassment even to the industry, has previously been awarded at least $49 million in CSP money—money that went to schools overseen by a rightwing think-tank, and, more worryingly, to schools overseen by an authorizer that had its performance rating boosted this year by top education officials who removed the failing virtual schools from the statistics so as not to stop the flow of state and federal funds.
As The Plain Dealer put it in an exposé: “It turns out that Ohio’s grand plan to stop the national ridicule of its charter school system is giving overseers of many of the lowest-performing schools a pass from taking heat for some of their worst problems.”
Another component of this plan, it turns out, was to apply for more federal millions to the failing schools that—by a miraculous sleight of hand—are no longer failing.
The director of Ohio’s Office of Quality School Choice, David Hansen, fell on the sword and announced his resignation in June. But Democratic lawmakers suspect that this goes higher up in the chain of command, and have called on State Superintendent Richard Ross to resign.
Did the scrubbed statistics touting the success of Ohio’s charters find its way into the state application for federal millions, signed by Superintendent Ross?
What about other states, such as Indiana, with a similar history of doctoring data to turn failing charter schools into resounding success stories?
After Abysmal Results, States Re-apply for More Money
While the known unknowns are troubling, the known knowns—to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld—are also equally disturbing.
For example, Colorado applied for grant renewal this year.
But, the last time around, in 2010, the state landed a $46 million CSP grant thanks in no small part to the lax “hiring and firing” rules and the lack of certification requirements for charter school teachers--a reviewer contracted by the U.S. Department of Education to score the application noted.
Look at California.
Through meeting minutes from the California State Board of Education we also know that the Golden State submitted an application this year. In 2010, California was awarded $254 million over five years in CSP money, but as the Inspector General discovered in a 2012 audit, the state department of education did not adequately monitor any of the schools that received sub-grants. Some schools even received federal money “without ever opening to students.” A review by CMD revealed that a staggering 9 out of the 41 schools that shuttered in the 2014-'15 school year were created by federal money under CSP.
How about Wisconsin?
Wisconsin received $69.6 million between 2010 and 2015, but out of the charter schools awarded sub-grants during the first two years of the cycle, one-fifth (16 out of 85) have closed since, as CMD discovered.
Then there’s Indiana.
Indiana was awarded $31.3 million over the same period, partly because of the fact that charter schools in the state are exempt from democratic oversight by elected school boards. “[C]harter schools are accountable solely to authorizers under Indiana law,” one reviewer enthused, awarding the application 30/30 under the rubric “flexibility offered by state law.”
This “flexibility” has been a recipe for disaster in the Hoosier state with countless examples of schools pocketing the grant money and then converting to private schools, as CMD discovered by taking a closer look at grantees under the previous cycle:

• The Indiana Cyber Charter School opened in 2012 with $420,000 in seed money from the federal program. Dogged by financial scandals and plummeting student results the charter was revoked in 2015 and the school last month leaving 1,100 students in the lurch.
• Padua Academy lost its charter in 2014 and converted to a private religious school, but not before receiving $702,000 in federal seed money.

Have They Learned Anything?
Secretary Duncan has previously called for “absolute transparency” when it comes to school performance, but that’s just a talking point unless he releases the applications, or even a list of the states that are in the running, before they are given the final stamp of approval.
As it stands, there is no way of knowing if the state departments of education seeking millions in tax dollars:

• Have supplied actual performance data that reflect the reality for students enrolled in charter schools rather than “scrubbed” or doctored numbers;
• Try to outbid each other in “flexibility” by explaining, say, how charter schools in X can hire teachers without a license and fire them without cause. In its 2010 application, the Colorado Department of Education, for example, boasted of how charter school teachers are “employed at will by the school”;
• Have corrective action plans so as to avoid repeating the costly waste and mistakes from the previous grant cycle (such as schools created by federal seed money closing within a few years or never even opening).

Because the federal charter schools program is designed to foster charter school growth, which in turn means that money will be diverted from traditional public schools to an industry that resists government enforcement of basic standards for financial controls, accountability, and democratic oversight, the public has a big stake in this and a right to know more, before their money disappears down black holes.
 

Sheri Lederman's lawsuit Points the Way to a Class Action Suit for ALL UFT teachers---

...but it will never happen with a union leadership that defends APPR, as Arthur Goldstein points out today: Leadership Defense of APPR Is Total Nonsense . "UFT leadership sold us this bill of goods."

Maybe Sheri Lederman's lawyer will take on 65 thousand NYC teachers.

I'm not big on going to court since I believe they are stacked against us - lawsuits are often a distraction from real organizing - and they cost a ton.

I guess my question of the day is - can the UFT/NYSUT be embarrassed into going to court? My guess is if there is enough demand what they will do is do a faux court case to deflect people from real action - they will gather names, etc and then strangle the case from backstage.

Why? Because as Arthur points out the UFT is in favor of APPR. You can surmise why they are but maybe that is not the important issue, though many of us suspect the links to ed deformers might the issue, the seat at the table and even money changing hands.

Carol Burris covered the case at WAPO- The Answer Sheet

The exasperated New York Supreme Court judge, Roger McDonough, tried to get Assistant Attorney General Galligan to answer his questions. He was looking for clarity and instead got circuitous responses about bell curves, “outliers” and adjustments. Fourth-grade teacher Sheri Lederman’s VAM score of “ineffective” was on trial.
The more Ms. Galligan tried to defend the bell curve of growth scores as science, the more the judge pushed back with common sense. It was clear that he did his homework. He understood that the New York State Education Department’s VAM system artificially set the percentage of “ineffective” teachers at 7 percent. That arbitrary decision clearly troubled him. “Doesn’t the bell curve make it subjective? There has to be failures,” he asked.
The defender of the curve said that she did not like the “failure” word.
The judge quipped, “Ineffectives, how about that?” Those in attendance laughed.

I think the judge's reaction is a sign this case could be won. Which must scare the hell out of our union leaders.

#SEAStrike - Outcome of Social Justice Unionism: Parents Support Seattle Teacher Strike, MORE Chapter Leaders Letters to Staff

A teacher strike without the support of parents is a losing strike. The Guardian has a report on the strike: Seattle teacher strike: parents show support despite scheduling upheaval

Advocacy for students has been as much a part of the strike negotiations as the battle over salaries, with requests for longer recesses, smaller caseloads for educational staff, transportation reforms and less testing.
Organizing through social media, including the citywide Facebook page Soup for Teachers, parents brought food from carrots to donuts, and encouragement to teachers picketing in front of their neighborhood schools. 

I hear some teachers talk about the conditions they face, with nary a mention of the students or the parents. Taking the narrow view puts teachers and their union in a box. Teachers have to be fighting not only for themselves but for their students and that brings the parents along.

Look at what some of the more affluent parents are doing:

The strike has drawn more attention to economic disparities within the district as parents from more affluent areas who have aimed to reach all of the district’s 97 schools witness some of the challenges facing the lower-income schools. Darcey Pickard, a mother of two children at Louisa Boren STEM K-8, organized a group to support the underserved schools in west Seattle after learning one school didn’t have a PTA – something she didn’t even know was possible.

No wonder "it's all about me" charters are unpopular in the state of Washington. And how delicious that Bill Gates has to see this taking place in his own backyard.

MORE's friends on Seattle have asked for photos from NYC schools supporting the strike.

Jia Lee:

Dear Colleagues,

The fight in Seattle is the one we're in the midst of here. The success of SEA caucus in galvanizing teachers, parents and students around a collective vision for their public education system resonates with us all. Please send support their way as they head into a historic battle for their professional rights and justice for their schools. 

Any support will give those, who've identified financial hardship during the strike, courageous teachers some peace of mind in the days ahead. 

http://www.gofundme.com/nb4h89r4

In addition, Dan, of SEA caucus, and elected exec board member of Seattle Education Association asks for photos of support and posting them to SEA Solidarity on FB.

Lauren Cohen of P.S. 321 has kicked us off! Let's show MORE support! When you go in, after your name, add MORE/UFT so they know where you're coming from! 

In Solidarity,

Jia

Dan Lupkin letter to staff on supporting the teachers:

Educators in Seattle are on strike for better learning conditions for their students, and for better pay and working conditions for themselves. They are dealing with many of the same issues we are, from High Stakes Testing to overcrowded classrooms to stagnant salaries that don't keep up with skyrocketing costs of living in a large coastal city. Because of the Taylor Law and our timid, compromised union leadership, we will almost certainly not be in a position to strike to defend our students and our profession any time soon, so the SEA is striking on our behalf too; a victory for them is a victory for all of us, let there be no question that we are all in this together.

They are not being paid while on strike, so I would ask each of you to show solidarity with our colleagues by contributing to the Seattle Education Association Strike Fund. I gave $30, it doesn't have to be a lot, but that money will keep the lights on and the rent paid in our colleagues' homes, and every little bit counts. Even a $1 contribution sends a message of solidarity. 

Have a great weekend!

Dan Lupkin

Technology Coordinator / UFT Chapter Leader

PS 58 Brooklyn, The Carroll School

Incidentals:

The high cost of charter advocacy:
http://edushyster.com/school-i-believe-in-movement-i-dont/

Why Common Core Results Are Bogus - and Why Are Ravitch and Bernie Horn Exposing This Instead of the Teacher Unions?

In layman's terms... Great and must read/share article
http://dianeravitch.net/2015/09/13/bernie-horn-the-common-core-results-are-not-actually-test-scores-must-read... Jia Lee

We hear the mantra from the ed deform faux teacher E4E types - and our own unions - that we just need better tests. Double-Double BULLSHIT!!
(I always tell you that E4E and the UFT/AFT are in various degrees of common core ed deform mode).

We know why the unions are silent in the face of such evidence. Of course I'd like Diane to call them out on this openly but let's take what we can get and do it ourselves.

I'm cross-posting the Ravitch piece because it is so clear in summarizing the Bernie Horn post. But go to his article too.

Bernie Horn: The Common Core “Results” Are Not Actually Test Scores: MUST READ!

This is a terrific article about the Common Core test results. It explains in layman’s language how the test scores are calculated and converted to scale scores.
When you read the “results” in the newspaper or get the results for your child or your class, you need to understand that the “scores” are not really scores:
The only things that have been released are percentages of students who supposedly meet “proficiency” levels. Those are not test scores—certainly not what parents would understand as scores. They are entirely subjective measurements.
Here’s why. When a child takes a standardized test, his or her results are turned into a “raw score,” that is, the actual number of questions answered correctly, or when an answer is worth more than one point, the actual number of points the child received. That is the only real objective “score,” and yet, Common Core raw scores have not been released.
Raw scores are adjusted—in an ideal world to account for the difficulty of questions from year to year—and converted to “scale scores.” A good way to understand those is to think of the SAT. When we say a college applicant scored a 600 on the math portion of the SAT test, we do not mean he or she got 600 answers right, we mean the raw scores were run through a formula that created a scale score—and that formula may change depending on which version of the SAT was taken. Standardized test administrators rarely publicize scale scores and the Common Core administrators have not.
Then the test administrators decide on “cut scores,” that is, the numerical levels of scale scores where a student is declared to be basic, proficient or advanced
The cut scores are the passing marks. They are arbitrary and subjective decisions made by fallible human beings. They can raise the passing mark to create large numbers of “failures,” or they can lower the passing mark to create a “success” story, to celebrate their wonderful policies. In some cases, the cut score is set high, so many students “fail.” The next year, or year after, the cut scores are lowered, and HOORAY! Our Wise Leadership Has Create Success!
As Horn writes:
Now, when a news story says that proficiency percentages were “higher than expected,” you should know what was “expected.” The Common Core consortiums gave the strong impression that they would align their levels of “proficiency” with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) nationwide standardized test. (That is, by the way, an absurdly high standard. Diane Ravitch explains that on the NAEP, “Proficient is akin to a solid A.”)
Score setting is a subjective decision, implemented by adjusting the scale and/or cut scores. If proficiency percentages are “higher than expected,” it simply means the consortium deliberately set the scores for proficiency to make results look better than the NAEP’s. And that is all it means.
It is no different from what many states did to standardized test results in anticipation of the Common Core exams. New York intentionally lowered and subsequently increased statewide results on its standardized tests. Florida lowered passing scores on its assessment so fewer children and schools would be declared failures. The District of Columbia lowered cut scores so more students would appear to have done well. Other states did the same.
The bottom line is this: The 2015 Common Core tests simply did not and cannot measure if students did better or worse. The “Smarter Balanced” consortium (with its corporate partner McGraw-Hill), the only one to release results so far, decided to make them look better than the NAEP, but worse than prior standardized tests. The PARCC consortium (with corporate partner Pearson) is now likely to do the same. It’s fair to say the results are rigged, or as the Washington Post more gently has put it, “proficiency rates…are as much a product of policymakers’ decisions as they are of student performance.”
You MUST MUST MUST MUST open the link to the cut scores announced by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which Horn helpfully supplies. Scroll down to pp. 5-6. You will see that the cut scores predict that most students will “fail” in every grade. Only the top two levels are considered “passing,” that is, proficiency and advanced. In third grade math, 61% are predicted to “fail.” In fifth grade math, 67% are predicted to “fail.” In eighth grade math, 68% are predicted to “fail.”
The ELA predicted failure rates are slightly better, but even there, the majority of students are expected to “fail” because the cut score was so high.
If they chose different cut scores, the proportion passing or failing would be different, higher or lower.
This is not unique to the Common Core tests. This is the way all standardized testing is graded.
You can see how easy it is for political figures to manipulate the passing rates to their advantage.

Let's Charterize ALL Public Services - Start With Fire Department - Chris Pearce at Teachable Moments

I love this graphic on charterized fire departments. For many years I have been raising the farce of privatizing police and fire as a contrast to public schools. Why not bring choice to fire departments or police departments and even sanitation - like I don't like my garbage collected on Tuesday - set up a competing charter so I can have my choice of days. Oh, there are so many places to go with this idea. Don't like the way the war is going? Set up a competing military force. Let the infantry have a choice of supply depots or air support. Well, here is the graphic that Arthur Goldstein shared on FB.
 
https://chrispearce.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/my-latest-comic-for-ohio-schools-magazine-is-up/

Hi everyone… still a few weeks away from starting up comics full time, but I thought you might enjoy my latest contribution to Ohio Schools Magazine. I’m pretty happy with the way it came out.....

PS 7X Teachers Support Seattle Teachers Strike #SEAStrike

It is exciting to see when school chapters come together to support teachers on strike a continent away. Our recent post tried to make the point why this is important.

Why Seattle Teacher Strike Matters - MORE and Port Jefferson Station Express Support

One day the majority of NYC teachers come to believe that resistance will take massive sacrifice and things will change. Keep these photos coming.

Bruce Dixon at Black Agenda Report: Day 24, #FightForDyett Hunger Strike Continues, Black Political Class Stands for Privatization

Bruce Dixon: The black misleadership class in Chicago and nationally, along with its new-jack aspirants like the Campaign Zero/Teach For America crew, know what side they're on. They stand for school privatization, for the gentrifying, the scattering, shattering and dissolution of what remains of urban African American communities. It's the stand of Republicans and Democrats alike, and especially of big city mayors and the black urban Democrat regime that rules black politics these days.

Among national political parties, only the Green party has a firm position opposing privatization of public schools. There are also national formations like the opt-out movement, and others active on the side of justice too. But again, in Chicago, as in Philly, New York and elsewhere, Congressman Bobby Rush and the gaggle of black mayoral minions have taken their stand for privatization. They know which side they're on.

---Submitted by Bruce A. Dixon on Wed, 09/09/2015 - 08:15,

Some people on the left agree with Bruce Dixon about the leadership of the black political class but I am not comfortable being critical of black leaders. I'm also not comfortable when white people scream about race constantly. I get it when black  people do. 

So I'll punt and let Bruce A. Dixon do it:]Bruce A. Dixon do it in this report on the Dyett hunger strike in Chicago.

Day 24, #FightForDyett Hunger Strike Continues, Black Political Class Stands for Privatization 

 

Why Seattle Teacher Strike Matters - MORE and Port Jefferson Station Express Support

There's no little irony that social justice oriented teacher unions are leading the way in militancy and a willingness to strike while UFT/Unity type unions are passive. That's why I love it when so-called action oriented UFTers opposed to the leadership try to put down MORE as too "social justicey". They just don't get it.

They should take a good look at Seattle - and Chicago where SJ caucuses - MORE brothers and sisters - CORE and SEE are leading the way against ed deform -

MORE people are informing their chapters about these events so UFTers who want to fight back understand what it will take - teachers at the school level must go out and work with parents and community to build the kind of support necessary for us to fight back effectively. Or MORE's support for the #FightForDyett – Support the Hunger Strike against School Closings - in Chicago where parents are fighting to keep a school from being closed and savaged by ed deformers. (Chicago teachers lost 10,000 jobs over the past 15 years of deform).

MORE's Lauren Cohen, Chapter leader at PS 321K, one of the leading opt-out schools in the city, helped organize this support photo:

MORE/ST/UCORE/UFT Chapter Leader Lauren Cohen and her PS 321K chapter

When I began teaching the UFT had a "no contract, no work" mantra - meaning that the day after a contract expired we would be on strike. That only happened in 1967 - and not long after that mantra disappeared, thus leaving us go years without a contract.

Not since 1975 has the UFT been on strike. We know all about the Taylor Law 2 for 1 penalties, the removal of dues checkoff and severe financial - if not crippling - penalties against the union. All these rules came as a result of the 1967 and 1968 UFT strikes. The 1975 strike was an anomaly - no contract on the table - but massive cuts - the leadership did not want to go on strike but was forced to by an outraged membership who saw their schools crippled by massive budget cuts that resulted in the loss of 15,000 jobs. Shanker even went to jail - which we, part of the opposition (Coalition of School Workers - CSW) - considered a rigged show so he could end the strike and make a crippling deal to save the city with our pensions while the working teachers got screwed (shortened school days, loss of preps, frozen everything - like no repairs). The system didn't begin to recover for 15 years. And soon after came ed deform. Unity Caucus has been the steward of 40 years of disaster - 47 if you add in the '68 strike.

Since then our own union leaders have used the threat of a strike against the members -- giving up the major weapon. 

Either other states don't have such onerous penalties or the unions just don't worry about it.

The Chicago Teacher Union 2012 strike as schools opened was a major event and they are talking about going on strike again - but this time, as my pal George Schmidt urges, it will be a winter strike which will have a bigger impact that one in balmy fall days. Male teachers are already beginning to grow their winter beards.

It is no accident that the Social Justice unionism movement in Chicago has caught on in so many other cities - as evidenced by our national UCORE coalition from 15 states. A growing SJ oriented caucus in Seattle, where Jesse Hagopian came within a hair of winning the recent election as president, has played an important role in the strike - gaining parent and community support - and how ironic it is in the home territory of Bill Gates - and how delicious that the State of Washington courts ruled charter schools unconstitutional?

When we were in Seattle for the Bill Gates AFT convention in 2010, the local union, which I believe is NEA, has minimal presence - though some of them did hold an anti-Arne Duncan demo when he came to lunch at a restaurant. Due to the work of a caucus - Social Equality Educators (SEE) - there is a world of change as evidenced by the strike.

Socialist Worker has an article summing it up: Teachers draw the line for Seattle schools


Beth Dimino and Brian St. Pierre of Port Jefferson Station come out strongly on Seattle Teacher Strike and call for NYSUT to do the same.

Seattle Teachers On Strike!

The Seattle Education Association is ready to strike tomorrow, on the first day of school in their district, if negotiations tonight do not reach an agreement. In a situation reminiscent of the Chicago Teachers Union's 2012 strike, the teachers in Seattle are ready to strike for more than just typical "bread and butter" union issues. While things such as salary increases and length of work day a... See More

PJSTA Passes Reso in Support of SEA; Launches Solidarity Campaign

At today’s Representative Council meeting the PJSTA’s governing body passed a resolution in support of the Seattle Education Association who are currently on strike in Seattle as they fight for the schools Seattle’s students deserve.  Additionally the PJSTA pledged to launch a solidarity campaign in our schools and asked NYSUT to similarly support the SEA while encouraging it’s locals to issue their own resolutions in support of the SEA. Details on the solidarity campaign will hit the buildings tomorrow.
Here is the text of the resolution…

 

Jitu Brown #FightforDyett from Michael Elliot

Michael Elliot:
I met Jitu Brown at the Network for Public Education Conference in Chicago last April. He shared a story with me about Florence B Price Elementary School and Jackie Robinson Elementary School in Chicago, and their destruction at the hands of Chicago Public Schools. Its a tragic story that is echoed around the country, where the voices of communities are ignored and politics takes over. 

Michael is a film maker/editor, a parent who has been activated by the opt-out and anti-high stakes testing movement and a Change the Stakes stalwart.

https://vimeo.com/138892667


Jitu Brown #FightforDyett from Michael Elliot on Vimeo.

Another reason to love Michael

As Schools Open Why Do I Still Get Butterflies? - School Scope, The Wave

This is my back to school column for this Friday. In my early years of retirement I felt joy at not going in. Now I feel the same knot my teacher friends do. I may just spend the day drinking.

As Schools Open Why Do I Still Get Butterflies?

By Norm Scott

Maybe Jews have it right. Match the New Year to the beginning of the school year. I can just see those ancient wise men over 5773 years ago saying, “My kids are going back to school – thank God – let’s celebrate.”

The back to school calendar controlled my life as a student and a teacher from the age of 5 though 57 when I retired. Thirteen years later, being so involved with education issues and working with teachers plus living in a beach community like Rockaway where Labor Day is a sort of culminating event, I still operate on ta September to June calendar, with summer occupying separate niche. I set up all my folders of junk on my computer that way. My brand new folder for this column: 2015-16.

I’m writing this on the day after Labor Day. I live down the block from PS 114 and watch the teachers pull up in their cars and head over to school for a day of meetings and setting up classrooms for tomorrow’s opening when kids show up. Some won’t be leaving until 6PM tonight. Many started coming in last week to do all the things that cannot be done in just a few hours today.

Tonight is the real day of butterflies as people get themselves mentally ready to meet their students. For me, in my 35 years in the system, tonight is the realization that my freedom is gone for the next 10 months as I would eat, think, dream of the tasks that have to be done. It is not just the physical freedom that ends today, but the mental freedom and relief.

It has actually been 31 years since I had major responsibility for setting up a classroom and preparing to spend a year with 30 students. After 18 years of teaching my own class, the rest of my career was as a computer cluster teacher and then a district tech support person – such light lifting compared to the first part of my career. But that experience totally energized me with excitement and enthusiasm. I loved setting up my room and meeting the new kids, though on the first few days I missed the kids from the year before so badly. It took about 2 weeks before I forgot them – experience teaches you that by June I would be crazy for these kids and miss them just as much when the next year began. Teaching in that first part of my career was like a drug. But then again, I had relative freedom to teach until a test-driven principal began to put into effect the kinds of controls that have come under ed deform. It was at that point – in the early 80s after 15 classes that I had thoughts of leaving the self-contained classroom.

Given what I am hearing today, there is no way I could teach under the conditions being imposed on teachers. Last week I was talking to one of the young actors at the Rockaway Theatre Company who is/was studying to be a teacher. “I’m thinking of switching,” he said. “Every teacher is telling me how bad it is.” Now we are hearing early warning signs of a massive teacher shortage, especially as the economy heats up and there are more options.

I stay involved with the mostly 30-something teachers in the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE)- http://morecaucusnyc.org/ -  because they offer some hope for the future of the teaching profession as great teachers and activists, willing to stand up to the forces of the corporate education deform assault on the public school system and an often complicit UFT. MORE works with the parents of Change the Stakes, which is the leader of the opt out of the tests movement here in the city. 20% of students in NY State opted out last year. That number will grow despite attacks from the ed deformers and their lackeys in the corporate press – eat that Cuomo.

MORE has published a back to school guide for teachers under the gun of an unfair rating system with important and useful information regarding the “Advance” ratings that NYC teachers received in their NYC DOE email, written by a MORE chapter leader to his fellow teachers: Letter To Members On Ratings. http://morecaucusnyc.org/2015/09/03/letter-to-members-on-ratings/.

Norm has dragged himself off the beach to write this column and will drag himself back to the now empty beach until next time. He has a new Iphone and will blog from the beach at ednotesonline.org.

The Wave, September 11, 2015

Union Election Lessons -If Unity Lost they will Go to Court - Hawaii is an example

When caucuses from around the nation (UCORE) met in Newark last month we had a presentation from Amy Perruso who was one of the statewide

Amy Perruso, HSTA Secty-Treasurer

winners in Hawaii in the election challenged by the incumbents (See below for her report and links to the story). Note that the judge ruled to call another election -- which they won by a bigger margin ---- but if you think the courts are our side, think again. (I would bet my pension that if Unity lost and went to court the court would rule for a do-over.)

People do not give up power very easily and given the controlling role Unity Caucus plays at the city, state, national - and even international levels - expect a major battle in the courts if Unity should ever lose -- but readers of Ed Notes know that unless the UFT constitution is changed drastically to control the retiree influence and restructure the union to tamp down on at-large voting - losing for Unity is impossible.

To Unity, losing would be if MORE won ANY seats on the UFT Exec Bd even if only 5% of the seats. Or if MORE received a substantial uptick in votes that would establish a more viable opposition with deep reach into the schools. Unity will do whatever possible to prevent these things from happening.

And don't expect the constitution to change given that process must go through the Delegate Assembly and a 100% controlled UFT Exec Bd. [One good reason for MORE to try to gain a foothold on the EB - and Unity will do what it can to prevent that - even supporting 3rd party groups behind the scenes to tamp down the MORE vote.] In 1994 when the NAC coalition didn't win any EB seats, Unity used the occasion to change the election rules in their favor.

Unity doesn't really have to steal an election because it does the work before hand. The UFT/NYSUT/AFT leadership under Randi Weingarten figured out more sophisticated ways of undermine an opposition by buying them off with the offer of jobs, influence, seat at the table or helping behind the scenes to form multiple opposition groups so the membership never has the clear choice between 2 caucuses. In the 90s we saw some 3rd parties on the ballot that on the surface didn't seem to have the capability of getting enough signatures on petitions - the thought was that Unity accepted what they had or even signed the petitions for them. (I imagine a caucus can challenge the signatures if it wanted to.)

Unity prefers to have multiple opposition groups to avoid a one on one election. Years ago they made it relatively easy to get on the ballot - it looked initially like a democratic move - but we realized there was a lot of method to their "democracy." You don't even have to be a caucus to run for something - if you can get 100 signatures you can run for any position except officer. If you can get 900 signatures you can run for president.

Can Unity steal an election?
When people charge that the UFT leadership is manipulating the ballot count in union elections I always scoff. The opposition isn't close enough for them to risk stealing the election. And besides, Unity vote totals don't look so good either. But if we ever start getting close, I have no doubt they will get desperate and anything is possible. When Unity lost the high school VP election in 1985 they went to court to challenge the election - a supreme case of chutzpah. (They waited to change the rules to keep this from happening again when they had total control of the EB in 1994).

The union hires the American Arbitration Association (AAA)
to run the election. When you watch the count you notice that the UFT official in charge - often Unity Caucus leader Leroy Barr - is consulted on all major decisions regarding the vote. Clearly, the UFT/Unity is paying the AAA over many years and the AAA doesn't want to lose the contract - so anything is possible. We send observers on vote count day -- but we not on the days before when envelopes are opened. But on the whole we have rights to ask questions and watch as ballots are fed into the machine. I haven't figured out how they could corrupt this process.


But organizations hired to handle the vote have been found complicit of fraud in the past - so nothing is impossible.

One way that could is to move voting into the schools - like the contract vote - where Unity CLs can have all sorts of free reign. With 92% voting on the contract, a good case can be made for making this move to increase general election totals. That's how they vote in Chicago and when CORE won in 2010, George Schmidt handled security at the school level -  to make sure the Unity-like party in power didn't get their people to manipulate the  ballots at the school level.

I am opposed to school level voting at this time because Unity controls too many schools. I would stick with the current system. It is up to the opposition to create enough of an infrastructure at the school level and get out the vote - if it can't do that it doesn't deserve to win anyway.


The statewide election in Hawaii is an example of incumbents losing an election and doing a do-over. Here is a summary of Amy Perruso's  report at the Newark conference. (She gave me permission to share it.)

Her campaign statement for Hawaii State Teachers Association - HSTA

Amy Perruso - Hawaii Teachers for Change

Amy’s story: She hopes we won’t have to re-learn her painful lessons. At first, didn’t have a caucus, but 3 top slate officers were activists on different issues. 
Corey (new pres)-contract, work-to-rule, heat abatement.
Justin-progressive dems, radical voice w/in NEA.
Amy- focused on testing and professional autonomy. 
She came to UCORE last year w/ no intention of running for office. Started to organize circle. Base is statewide. Chapter is conservative, so organized more outside it. Paths began crossing. Corey already had political ambition to run for pres. asked Amy and Justin to run, faith in each other. Not from a small clique, not even sure about being on the same page. Had to push each other to hammer out parameters and shared values. Intense discussion of shared platform, primarily around fighting teacher eval. and; democratic Social Justice Uunion.

1st lesson: You need to follow all the rules and exceed them! Dot every I, cross every T, etc. double ## of petition signatures, etc.

Really didn’t expect to win, didn’t have base @ her school. Won from speaking to frustration of teachers statewide. Had already been doing the work, being the voice of opposition for a long time. Also, union was hollow, not organized. 

Whole campaign was on groundwork of principles, and then union was coming out publicly with wrong answers, so we could stand up and say, “actually we think this” we didn’t anticipate how stupid leadership would be. (i.e. when a legislator said we should be paid more, union leadership chided him for “raising members expectations.”) “be ready to dance.” 


Board of directors threw out election results, had another election on the last day of school. Appalling.

What to do? Culture of conformity and acquiescence, but decided to file a lawsuit, got good press coverage. Journalists had good analysis and coverage. Prestigious labor law firm agreed to do it pro-bono. Held a press conference, etc.  Then won second election by even a bigger margin. Raised teacher and public awareness, outrage.

MUST SUSTAIN YOURSELF IN THE FIGHT. And know lawyers.

Pushing nationals more largely to uphold democratic unionism. When we went to court, judge said, law applies to private sector unions, not public. Still worthwhile to have threat of lawsuit. Have to be willing to appeal to the law. Lawsuit brought media, and so does having members come out in force.

Here are links to the Hawaii story and others:

Rumore wins in Buffalo - Ed Notes Online - Blogger

May 19, 2015

And from the oft-anti- union Educational Intelligence Agency (EIA) comes this news on the election in Hawaii where the losers are fusing to leave. As Glenn Tepper emailed: This is deja vu all over again, circa UFT 1980's…

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

Labor Notes and EIA's Antonucci on Hawaii "Stolen" - Ed ...

May 22, 2015

In Hawaii from reports below, about a dozen teachers didn't get ballots - which apparently were sent out to them after the complaint - and the people in power are using that to toss out the results: As reported in Labor Notes: ...

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/

 

Union News Update from PJSTA - Ed Notes Online - Blogger

May 20, 2015

Out in Hawaii, a slate of opposition candidates called Hawaii Teachers for Change challenged for the leadership of their statewide union. After they won the president and secretary treasurer seats, the incumbents voted not to ...

Stolen Election? Reformers in Hawaii Fight to Take Office ...

www.labornotes.org/.../stolen-election-reformers-hawaii-figh...

Labor Notes

May 21, 2015 - At the union's most recent convention, she said, Hawaii Teachers for Change ... highly visible education activists before they ran for union leadership. ... A version of this article appeared in Labor Notes #435 June 2015.

Missing: fraud

ICEUFT Blog: MIXED ELECTION RESULTS FOR ...

iceuftblog.blogspot.com/.../mixed-election-results-for-challengers.html

May 18, 2015 - Meanwhile, out in Hawaii the teachers' union leadership lost the election and now ... We hear you loud and clear and we will continue to advocate for all of you and for our schools and public education. ... ed notes online said.

Hawaii Teachers Deserve Better From Their Leadership ...

www.civilbeat.com/.../hawaii-teachers-deserve-better-from-their-leadersh...

May 19, 2015 - The 13,500-member Hawaii State Teachers Association is holding officer ... Union members began voting in mid April, but when results initially came in, ... If there were "irregularities," a word which connotes purposeful fraud ...

Hawaii Teacher's Bid to Halt New Union Election Fails in ...

www.civilbeat.com/.../hawaii-teachers-bid-to-halt-new-union-election-fai...

May 29, 2015 - A new election for Hawaii teachers union leadership posts is expected to go forward after a state Circuit Court judge denied a teacher's request ...

Missing: fraud

Teachers Union Board Votes to Throw Out Election Results ...

www.civilbeat.com/.../teachers-union-board-votes-to-throw-out-election-...

May 17, 2015 - UPDATED: HSTA held an election and then a runoff vote for union ... after the Hawaii State Teachers Association Board voted Saturday night to ...

Missing: fraud

Campbell High teacher files lawsuit in HSTA election dispute

www.staradvertiser.com › News › Breaking

Honolulu Star‑Advertiser

May 27, 2015 - An ongoing dispute over the results of a recent Hawaii State Teachers Association election for president and other officers to lead the powerful ...

Hawaii Teachers Association Candidate Questionnaire ...

watchdogwire.com/.../hawaii-teachers-association-candidate-questionnair...

Apr 17, 2014 - One carefully-couched question challenges the teacher evaluation ... find the same quality articles that expose waste, fraud and abuse as well as ... Hawaii Teachers Association Candidate Questionnaire Challenges ... ACLU and NAACP suing Ferguson School District for having 'Unfair' election practices ...

May 29, 2015 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

www.hawaiifreepress.com/.../tabid/65/.../May-29-2015-News-Read.aspx

May 29, 2015 - Teacher sues over union election. Corrupt Halau ... Fraud. Psychological Factors Behind Hawaii's High Health Scores. HP: Here are three other ...

October 28, 2010 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

hawaiifreepress.com/.../tabid/65/ID/.../October-28-2010-News-Read.aspx

Oct 28, 2010 - Aiona-Finnegan launch Statewide bus tour Early Voting open Oct 19-30: ... handling of complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in Hawaii for ... Wil Okabe and the teachers union feel strongly that Hawaii should ...

Public education in Hawaii - Ballotpedia

ballotpedia.org/Public_education_in_Hawaii

Ballotpedia

Aug 20, 2015 - There were 11,608 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 16 students, equal to ..... The mission statement of the Hawaii State Teachers Association reads: .... Vote fraud | ... Election Policy Logo.png.

Attack on Ed Deform: Unionization Closes Racial Wage Gap - Doesn't the Achievement Gap Get Closed Too?

“When unions were more powerful in the United States, income inequality was also smaller,” she said. “One component of that is de-unionization.”.. NYT

We can make the case that the entire program of ed deform, the center of which is to undermine teacher unions, has helped increase the achievement gap - which it has anyway due to all the other factors.

This hidden gem of an article was buried in the Saturday edition of the NY Times on a study released on Friday, the graveyard of news - pardon my paranoia. Want to really close achievement gap? Support unionization instead of attacking teachers in unions. Higher pay for parents of struggling students will be the biggest factor, not the bogus ratings of their teachers, in closing the achievement gap.

Sidebar: 

• Another assault on Ed Deform - in the WSJ, yet: New York Teacher Suing Education Department Sees More Swings in Job Review: Long Island educator’s rating shifts from ‘ineffective’ to ‘effective’ in section of 2014-15 review tied to state test results

Of course no one at the NY Times will make these connections - it doesn't fit the ed deform script.

Unionization Important to Closing Racial Wage Gap, Study Says

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/05/nyregion/unionization-important-to-closing-racial-wage-gap-study-says.html?ref=nyregion

By BENJAMIN MUELLER

September 4, 2015

A study released on Friday, noting the gains made by black union workers in New York City, said that raising the rate of unionization among black workers across the country would help narrow the racial pay gap.

The study, conducted by two professors affiliated with the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies at the City University of New York, which issued the report, described high unionization rates for black workers who live in the city compared with national rates.

Nearly 40 percent of black workers who are city residents are union members, compared with roughly 13 percent of black workers nationally.

The difference between the rates of black and nonblack unionization is also especially pronounced in New York City. The black unionization rate is nearly double that of nonblacks in the city, a difference that is much smaller nationally.

The authors, Ruth Milkman and Stephanie Luce, found that black union members enjoyed higher wages than black nonunion workers, and were also likely to have better access to employer-sponsored health care benefits and pensions.

“Unionism offers black workers a substantial economic advantage in regard to earnings — to a greater degree than is the case for nonblacks, reflecting the fact that larger numbers of blacks than nonblacks are employed in low-wage jobs,” the study said.

Unionization shrunk the racial wage gap by roughly half, reflecting the tendency of unions to fight for more equal wage distribution across the workplace. Black nonunion workers who live in the city made about $4 less in median hourly earnings than their nonblack counterparts. Among union members, that difference dropped to $2.

Dr. Milkman, a sociology professor, said in an interview that the findings suggested one path to addressing racial disparities in pay and broader income inequality that have come under increasing scrutiny across the country.

“When unions were more powerful in the United States, income inequality was also smaller,” she said. “One component of that is de-unionization.”

She added, referring to the black unionization rate in New York City, “We knew it was better here, but the extent of that is surprising to even us.”

Dr. Milkman said the findings could be explained in part by the fact that the health care and transit industries, which are major parts of the city’s work force and have high proportions of black workers, are heavily unionized.

The study also found that the share of working city residents who identified themselves as union members continued to rebound, after concern swelled several years ago about the steady erosion of union influence in the city. One in four workers residing in the city were union members over an 18-month period from last year to this year, up from roughly one in five in 2012.

WSJ - U.S. Teachers’ Hours Among World’s Longest -

Take that deformers. But we know the answer of Cuomo types-- teachers just aren't productive enough - make 'em work harder, rate them and scrape them from the system. Let's see how the constant replacement parts work out.

1,097: Average number of hours U.S. teachers spend per year on instruction.

Students across the U.S. are enjoying or getting ready for summer vacation, but teachers may be looking forward to the break even more. American teachers are the most productive among major developed countries, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data from 2008 — the most recent available.
Among 27 member nations tracked by the OECD, U.S. primary-school educators spent 1,097 hours a year teaching despite only spending 36 weeks a year in the classroom — among the lowest among the countries tracked. That was more than 100 hours more than New Zealand, in second place at 985 hours, despite students in that country going to school for 39 weeks. The OECD average is 786 hours.
And that’s just the time teachers spend on instruction. Including hours teachers spend on work at home and outside the classroom, American primary-school educators spend 1,913 working in a year. According to data from the comparable year in a Labor Department survey, an average full-time employee works 1,932 hours a year spread out over 48 weeks (excluding two weeks vacation and federal holidays).
Despite the amount of time that teachers spend working, student achievement in the U.S. remains average in reading and science and slightly below average in math when compared to other nations in a separate OECD report. That remains a concern as education is one of the most important ways a country can foster long-term economic growth.
“Education is a large item of public expenditure in most countries. At the same time, it is also an essential investment for developing the long-run growth potential of countries and for responding to the fundamental changes in technology and demographics that are reshaping labor markets,” the OECD wrote.