Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
Arthur Goldstein suggested to Mike Schirter, James Eterno and
myself a few weeks ago that we hold a meeting for ATRs with blogger Chaz's School Daze (his name is Eric, not Chaz) because of the immense depth of knowledge Eric has accumulated and also his ability to handle the slings and arrows of ATRdom with relative aplomb. Arthur thought Eric could help ATRs who are having difficulty adjusting.
James Eterno gave us some history of the ATR situation and has a report of the meeting at the ICE blog (SUCCESSFUL MORE-ICE ATR MEETING) where he listed some of the issues discussed by Eric:
The history of the ATR mess
The 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014 (now expired) ATR agreements
Rights of ATRs
Contacting Mike Sill/Amy Arundell at the UFT if an ATR's rights are being violated
Filing grievances
Attempts to organize ATRs
Age discrimination
Difficulty in getting hired permanently
Provisional positions
Problem codes for people who are 3020a hearing survivors
Weekly, monthly, or yearly rotations-What works best?
Organizing ourselves
ATR's having a class for six months being covered under Danielson
Mike and I had offered the assistance of MORE in getting space, putting together an ad and an agenda. I was hoping we would have time to talk about forming a shadow UFT chapter and how to move forward but there were so many questions that Eric responded to with knowledge and patience, we never got to that part - other than people saying they want to hold another session, possibly in mid to late January. At the end of the day I felt really good about what had occurred.
Mike got MORE to donate a few bucks for light refreshments. As the day approached I had mixed feelings: About giving up what was turning out to be the last beautiful Saturday before entering 5 months of dark, cold weather. About trying to try to work with ATRs since basically giving up 5 years ago after putting a great amount of personal effort into trying to put together a group of ATRs - that effort dissipated into bickering and recriminations. We had modest goals for this event: Provide information so people can survive the best they can. If this group keeps meeting it might morph into something but we'll see.
I had no idea of how many people might show -- I was thinking maybe a small handful. Mike told me about 15 had responded on FB - given the usual attrition, I guessed about 10. I imagined we would basically sit in a circle and strategize the possibilities for ATRs going forward. I drove into the city early and went shopping for some basic refreshments - some soda and pretzels and chips but not so much that we would be left with lots of leftovers.
I got there shortly before the 1PM advertised start time to find over 15 people already in the room. Oh well, I thought as I put out the refreshments, first come first serve. People were chatting, some meeting for the first time, and some came over to chat as I laid out the refreshments. I had an engaging conversation with a soon to retire ATR - retiring because conditions had just gotten too bad. A 2nd careerer he had less than 15 years in the system. A guy with a PhD who really wanted to help kids and teach - so impressive and a deep thinker about education. He said he had been in 100 schools and things were deplorable. I congratulated him on his pending retirement and told him how I've tried to extricate myself from the ed mess since I retired -- call it an Eexit - but gravity keeps pulling me back - I said I would understand if he never wanted to talk about schools again but if he wanted to stay in the struggle from the safety of retirement he should get in touch. I'm hoping he does.
It was 1:20 and people kept drifting in but I started the meeting with an intro and a report on the section I was supposed to do - a brief history of the 2008 rally and the impact it had on the UFT and DOE - as I reported the other day --- Reminder of ATR Meeting Sat. Nov. 19 1-4 PM - ATR History - 2008 Rally Redux.
A sign up sheet was being passed around and I assured people they did not have to sign it if they didn't want to and also that we would not bombard them with emails about MORE -- I felt this was not an event to push MORE - but to use the resources of MORE as a caucus to support initiatives coming from ATRs - MORE doesn't have an ATR agenda or program -
Well, the upshot is that around 40 people showed up and Eric stood for almost 2 hours answering every single question with a depth of knowledge --and he also managed the group so well as if teaching a class - I've seen some ATR events disintegrate -- and allowed people to share experiences and get their points in. Every single person had a chance. I know I learned so much.
One of Eric's points was that the UFT is not useless as some ATRs claim. That Amy Arundell and Mike Sill will get stuff straightened out when called. Many in the audience affirmed that point too. While acknowledging the problems with the UFT in helping the DOE create the ATR situation, I never imagined an ATR event where the UFT would receive any praise at all.
By the way - ICE will be meeting on Dec. 2 to discuss a number of issues, including the recent election and doing more events like this - space is limited since we go to a diner so if interested contact me.
A key point go follow here is that the Bush and Clinton dynasties even though from different parties, were broken. I don't necessarily agree that neo-liberalism is dead. Much of the Republican Party is still neo-liberal and in fact no matter what Trump says that looks like populism, the reality is that privatizers are expressing neo-liberalism and Trump is a privatizer -- people think he will be big government - from what I've read the infrastructure Trump plan is privatizing in spades. The latest data shows that Trump support came from educated, wealthy people, and that more poor people voted for Hillary. So be careful about focusing just on the white uneducated. Oh, it's too complicated for my poor brain. Let me know when the new era arrives. And if you see fit to donate at the end of reading this piece.
Goodbye, American neoliberalism. A new era is here
Cornel West Trump’s election was enabled by the policies that overlooked the plight
of our most vulnerable citizens. We gird ourselves for a frightening
future The
neoliberal era in the United States ended with a neofascist bang. The
political triumph of Donald Trump shattered the establishments in the
Democratic and Republican parties – both wedded to the rule of Big Money
and to the reign of meretricious politicians.
The Bush and Clinton dynasties were destroyed by the media-saturated
lure of the pseudo-populist billionaire with narcissist sensibilities
and ugly, fascist proclivities. The monumental election of Trump was a
desperate and xenophobic cry of human hearts for a way out from under
the devastation of a disintegrating neoliberal order – a nostalgic
return to an imaginary past of greatness. White working- and middle-class fellow citizens – out of anger and
anguish – rejected the economic neglect of neoliberal policies and the
self-righteous arrogance of elites. Yet these same citizens also
supported a candidate who appeared to blame their social misery on
minorities, and who alienated Mexican immigrants, Muslims, black people,
Jews, gay people, women and China in the process.
This lethal fusion of economic insecurity and cultural scapegoating
brought neoliberalism to its knees. In short, the abysmal failure of the
Democratic party to speak to the arrested mobility and escalating
poverty of working people unleashed a hate-filled populism and
protectionism that threaten to tear apart the fragile fiber of what is
left of US democracy. And since the most explosive fault lines in
present-day America are first and foremost racial, then gender,
homophobic, ethnic and religious, we gird ourselves for a frightening
future.
What is to be done? First we must try to tell the truth and a
condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. For 40 years,
neoliberals lived in a world of denial and indifference to the suffering
of poor and working people and obsessed with the spectacle of success.
Second we must bear witness to justice. We must ground our truth-telling
in a willingness to suffer and sacrifice as we resist domination. Third
we must remember courageous exemplars like Martin Luther King Jr, who
provide moral and spiritual inspiration as we build multiracial
alliances to combat poverty and xenophobia, Wall Street crimes and war
crimes, global warming and police abuse – and to protect precious rights
and liberties.
The age of Obama was the last gasp of neoliberalism. Despite some
progressive words and symbolic gestures, Obama chose to ignore Wall
Street crimes, reject bailouts for homeowners, oversee growing
inequality and facilitate war crimes like US drones killing innocent
civilians abroad.
Rightwing attacks on Obama – and Trump-inspired racist hatred of him –
have made it nearly impossible to hear the progressive critiques of
Obama. The president has been reluctant to target black suffering – be
it in overcrowded prisons, decrepit schools or declining workplaces.
Yet, despite that, we get celebrations of the neoliberal status quo
couched in racial symbolism and personal legacy. Meanwhile, poor and
working class citizens of all colors have continued to suffer in
relative silence.
In this sense, Trump’s election was enabled by the neoliberal
policies of the Clintons and Obama that overlooked the plight of our
most vulnerable citizens. The progressive populism of Bernie Sanders
nearly toppled the establishment of the Democratic party but Clinton and
Obama came to the rescue to preserve the status quo. And I do believe
Sanders would have beat Trump to avert this neofascist outcome! In this bleak moment, we must inspire each other driven by a
democratic soulcraft of integrity, courage, empathy and a mature sense
of history – even as it seems our democracy is slipping away. We must not turn away from the forgotten people of US foreign policy –
such as Palestinians under Israeli occupation, Yemen’s civilians killed
by US-sponsored Saudi troops or Africans subject to expanding US
military presence.
As one whose great family and people survived and thrived through
slavery, Jim Crow and lynching, Trump’s neofascist rhetoric and
predictable authoritarian reign is just another ugly moment that calls
forth the best of who we are and what we can do. For us in these times, to even have hope is too abstract, too
detached, too spectatorial. Instead we must be a hope, a participant and
a force for good as we face this catastrophe.
Since you’re here …
…
we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian
than ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues
across the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for
your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a
lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we
believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your
perspective, too.
Fund our journalism and together we can keep the world informed.
A really energizing video. You captured the essence of both events. That RW set up the informational session at HQ to run simultaneously with the militant event outside Tweed is grounds for recall.... the apoplexy of her crew was borderline hysterical (funny and overwrought). Wine and cheese...you can't make it up.... Comments on ed notes, Nov. 30, 2008
I was asked to review the events of Nov. 2008 and checked back in the Ed Notes archives. The Nov. 30, 2008 piece by Angel Gonzalez outlines the events of Nov. 24 2008 as the UFT and DOE tried to undercut the rally. (The rally sparked us to found the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM) a few months later which was the precursor of MORE.)
In all my years of being involved this was one of the best grassroots rallies - it pulled out 200 or more people -- and I've always hoped the ATRs would do something again but despite various attempts by Angel and me and others through 2011 to use GEM as an organizing tool, nothing ever jelled again.
Since the UFT tried to split the rally I went to the wine and cheese UFT diversion while David Bellel taped the rally itself at Tweed - the UFT stationed people at the subway to try to divert people away from the rally to the wine and cheese. At 6PM the UFT leadership meandered uptown toward the rally with Randi trying to convince me to give her the tape. I broke the tape into 2 parts. Most people only watch Part 1 - watch Part 2 which includes Randi's walk up Broadway and how she tried to speak - as did Leo Casey.
Here was the intro to the videos:
On November 24, 2008, teachers without positions, known as ATRs, held a rally at Tweed. They had forced the UFT to endorse the rally but in the interim the UFT signed an agreement with the DOE. The leadership called for an information meeting at UFT HQ, a mile away at the very same time the rally was due to start. Mass confusion. I taped the UFTHQ while David Bellel did the rally. The back story is how desperate UFT leaders were to suppress the tape I made. In fact, today at the Delegate Assembly they will pass a gag rule to try to prevent future embarrassment.
Guest column By Angel Gonzalez, Retired UFT Teacher - November 30, 2008 The October Delegate Assembly (DA) resolution calling for a mass Nov.24 rally at the DOE was initiated by ATR Ad-Hoc Committee members who were supported by UFT opposition caucuses (e.g. ICE and TJC) and many other delegates who understand that seniority is a sacrosanct union provision. The resolution called for a protest to support the ATRS: "THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the UFT will organize a mass citywide rally to show our unity and strength, calling on the NYC Department of Education to reduce class size and give assigned positions to all teachers in the Absent Teacher Reserve who want assignments before any new teachers are hired." While Randi Weingarten initially signaled tepid approval for this friendly amendment to support the ATRs, she simultaneously threatened to cancel support--and move the body to reject it--if she did not agree with the argument (the motivator) for it as presented by John Powers. The DA did overwhelmingly approve the call for this "Support the ATRs" rally, with Ms. Weingarten's subsequent approval. Perhaps Ms. Weingarten's reluctance to support such a militant mobilization, initiated at the grass roots, was due to the realization that the source of the ATRs' predicament lay in our last [two] contracts, in which the UFT Executive Board negotiated away seniority transfer rights. For years, the UFT leadership's strategy has been to lobby government officials for "favors" to our members in exchange for an endorsement from our union. This focus on intimacy at the top has contributed to our leaders' becoming disconnected from our day-to-day reality in the classroom. Depending upon fickle politicians as opposed to the strength and conviction of our members has served to backfire on teachers and the students and families we serve. The DA is the body that should direct the UFT Executive Board. If this is so, why do so many delegates feel that the Executive Board has to approve our decisions in order for them to be realized? In truly democratic structures, the leadership fulfills the will of the membership—not the other way around. Our DA saw an opportunity to seize the moment and affirm that reducing class size while also allowing our experienced teachers to continue to offer their expertise benefits students and honors the hard-won rights that our colleagues fought so hard for in years past. As the Nov. 24 date set for the rally approached, and as rank and file members began to be energized with the feeling that together we were finally fighting back, the UFT Executive Board was quietly negotiating--what can only be characterized as a back-room deal--to temporarily stall the dismantling of seniority and tenure. It is unclear if the motivation for these discussions was to assuage the powerful City Administration who obviously did not approve of an angry rally exposing the outrage of the ATR fiasco, or to quell the spontaneous mobilization of so many members who felt that they were helping to construct a movement to defend our rights. Ms. Weingarten's proposal to alter the character of the rally into a silent candle-light vigil would have reduced us to a group of passive mourners, as opposed to a body of professionals rightly proclaiming what belongs to us, while exposing the City's ill-conceived and costly indignation to which it condemns our ATRs. The DA was correct in identifying the need for a mass rally, and strong member opposition to a "silent vigil" forced the Executive Board to back down. A week before the rally, further attempts to squelch it materialized in the "deal" brokered by the Executive Board and the City—again only a temporary band-aid on a gaping wound. This agreement encourages, rather than mandates, placement of ATRs with an administration whose track record has shown unprecedented commitment to eat away at public unions' power. It is tantamount to having the fox watch the chicken coop. The deal was characterized as a resolution to the issue by the UFT leadership, who decided there was no need for a rally after all. It would appear that the threat of the rally was being utilized by the UFT leadership to maneuver this deal. This is corroborated by the fact that the Union made no genuine efforts to mobilize or organize in any broad way for this event. However, the passion of the members and our just cause began to take on a life of its own, beyond the leadership's control. Teachers are tired of give-backs. We deserve more respect than that. The final blow to this member-driven initiative was the Executive Board's decision to call for a meeting to celebrate the band-aid "agreement" at Wall Street [UFT] Headquarters, at exactly the same time as the rally! A leadership that truly supported its members' needs and aspirations would have instead supported this rally. A subsequent meeting could have announced the proposed temporary stop-gap measure, with the recognition that serious errors were made in the 2005 negotiations—the framework that set these unfortunate events in motion. Regardless, the ATR rally started at 4PM, bringing out over 200 spirited members -- thanks to the hard work of the rank and file organizers. Many speakers denounced both the City and the UFT officials who created this situation and allowed it to fester so long. Although Ms. Weingarten declared that the rally was unnecessary at the 4pm Wall Street "wine and cheese" meeting, she appeared with a bullhorn as the rally was winding down at 6pm (with about 75 people). She gave lukewarm thanks to the organizers, perhaps to assert a certain level of control or to save face, in light of such strong grass roots sentiment regarding what many have defined as a carefully crafted strategy to chip away at tenure . When Marjorie Stamberg, a key rally organizer, approached the bullhorn to address the crowd, Ms. Weingarten refused to let her speak, chastising her "for what she did." The crowd chanted: "Let Marjorie speak!" forcing Ms. Weingarten to relent. After Marjorie spoke, many members began to chant: "Restore Seniority Transfer Rights Now!" Clearly frazzled with the dissidence targeted at UFT leadership, the Executive Board's contingent left the rally. This rally was an excellent beginning in our hard battle ahead to restore our contractual seniority transfer rights, to protect tenure, and to bolster and defend our contract. In a truly democratic union, the leadership has faith in and responds to the will of the membership. The "deals" that have been made over the past 30 years to "save" unions have in fact resulted in the dismantling of Trade Unions and workers' rights across this country. We cannot abide continued UFT complicity with the City's plans, which waste valuable qualified experienced educators--and over $75 million annually--while further diminishing the quality of education that our children deserve. Our communities have the right to know that part of this plan results in experienced and quality educators being replaced with less costly, less experienced teachers, thus impacting negatively on the quality of education for their children. The lack of information, transparency and open debate in our union denies member input into critical issues about pedagogy and historic union rights. An uninformed membership gives even a well-intentioned leadership free rein to function as it pleases. As the economy worsens, we need to take a strong stand in defense of the rights of teachers and communities, rather than to facilitate the erosion of all that has been built over the years. From the momentum generated by the ATR Ad-Hoc Committee, we could help to build a democratic movement within the UFT that recognizes that our strength derives from our members' interactions, conversations and mobilizations. Such efforts will require a great deal of work, but the alternative is to passively stand by as we observe the destruction of quality education and ALL of our members' rights. We need to build the fight for a UFT contract that promotes and defends: 1. Seniority Rights 2. Tenure Rights 3. Smaller Class Size 4. Against All Merit Pay Schemes 5. Against the use of testing to rate teacher performance 6. Quality and Justice - Not Testing 7. No cutbacks 8. No more privatization schemes (Charter Schools and vouchers inclusive) 9. No layoffs and more. Our current UFT leadership has not indicated its commitment to achieve these goals—it is up to the members to make this happen! For more about the ATR Rally, the ATR issue, the current UFT-ATR agreement with the City and other comments go to:
http://supportatrs.blogspot.com/ and http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=50
Details for the event tomorrow:
Arthur Goldstein suggested MORE hold an event for ATRS where they get to speak and discuss issues of importance to them. He asked an expert on ATRs - blogger Chaz if he would be there to share his knowledge. What will be the outcome? Could be some proposals or just a place where ATRs emerge with more knowledge than they had going in. At the very least some discussion on dealing with gotcha supervisors and protecting themselves.
In addition - there will be some talk about ATRs who have gotten permanent positions and how that occurred - not many but some.
ATR Information Event
Please share with ATRs in your school
History: How the DOE and UFT created this mess starting with the 2005 contract, the 2008 ATR rally, the UFT wine and cheese party, the 2011 deal where ATRS were sacrificed (weekly rotation) for no layoffs,the 2014 agreement plus recent updates.
Know your rights and lack thereof; how to deal with roving supervisors; survival techniques
Fighting back. What do we want? What can we do to pressure UFT and DOE for change?
Experienced ATRs will be on hand to answer questions.Special guests: blogger Chaz's School Daze, James and Camille Eterno and Ex Bd member Arthur Goldstein.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 1:00 PM-4PM
CUNY Grad Center, 5th Ave between 34th and 35th St. Bring ID.
Room 5414
Sponsored by MORE/UFT and Independent Community of Educators
In a vote only a little less unlikely than the election of Donald Trump
as US President, it was reported that four Unity Caucus members defied
their caucus obligations to vote for Norm Scott for a seat on the UFT
Executive Board. ... James Eterno, ICE blog, MULTIPLE UNITY CAUCUS MEMBERS VOTE FOR NORM SCOTT
If Mike Schirtzer was able to persuade 4 Unity people to defect and vote for me, Hillary would have won if he was her campaign manager. I want a recount - Only 74 out of 101 EB members voted.
Still, I Blow a Kiss to My Unity Caucus Slugs - er - Fans (all 4 of them).
I was shocked this past Monday to discover that you can lose an election by the popular vote. Why, no electoral college for this one? Did we get returns from Wisconsin yet?
As reported by Arthur Goldstein in his report of last Monday's UFT Exec Board meeting:
Election results for Exec. Board functional chapter opening:
Nancy Barr 64 votes Norm Scott 10.
There are 101 members of the Ex Bd. I'm waiting for the absentee ballots to come in before conceding. Wait - let me do the math ---hmmmm---- my 10 plus 27 uncounted votes --- darn -- I still can't win --- see what happens when an aging retired teacher runs against a Unity candidate from the nurse's chapter?
Eterno speculates as to why the Unity defections:
Unity members were impressed by Mike Schirtzer's speech on behalf
of Norm
Multiple Unity people wanted to actually make a
protest point.
My guess is they wanted me on the EB to eat up all the leftover food.
Actually, if you read some of the comments on James' post from what seems to be Unity insiders, there may be some internal strife but never enough to have much of an impact.
If they had let me make a speech I would have said "Give me more sandwich choices at EB dinners or give me death."
When Mike Schirtzer nominated me for the position a few weeks ago and the boychik made such a fab speech, he promised me I would win - win 7 votes from the MORE/New Action EB members. I told him I wasn't even sure I would get those votes.
So on Monday I decided not to go to the meeting to suffer da agony of de feet. I have enough problems walking.
Well, James Eterno thinks I made history by getting 4 Unity votes (one of the MOREs was not there so I had 6, not 7 votes from our EB people).
Since it was a secret ballot, UFT security has been taking fingerprints off the defector ballots to determine who they were. But they won't find anything.
My Unity defector posse (sorry Lebron James) knows enough to vote while wearing gloves.
Marshall Auerback, Counerpunch: a large chunk [of women]
still voted for him, and larger numbers of Hispanics voted for Trump
than Romney. Doesn’t that suggest that identity politics has reached
some sort of limit?
The
establishment, especially the Democratic Party establishment, keeps
enforcing what divides people rather than what unites people by
embracing identity politics and ignoring class....
Obama
is personally likeable, but did he really give us anything as great
and durable as FDR did in the 1930s? The Affordable Care Act was
effectively RomneyCare (with the comparable problem that there remains
no means of controlling private health insurance costs, a fact that was
cruelly revealed days before the election when 25% hikes in health
insurance premiums were announced), much as Dodd-Frank was a joke in
terms of achieving genuine financial reform, especially when one
compares it to the legislation that emerged out of the Great Depression
(which lasted unchanged for over 40 years). The Pecora Commission
(established in the GD’s aftermath) was given relatively free rein to
investigate the causes of the crisis and to go after the fraud.
Widespread defaults and bankruptcies wiped out a lot of the private
sector’s debt. The financial sector was downsized and rendered
relatively unimportant for several decades.
If Obama had offered up a serious version of the New Deal, especially since he had control of Congress in the first 2 years -- but also remember the massive economic downturn and the hysteria -- yet bold vision might have captured something - yet the bailout led to the tea party.
I don't agree with everything in this piece. Definitely worth reading.
One of the funniest, well-acted superbly directed and produced musicals not just at the Rockaway Theatre Company, but anywhere. Only 3 performances left. For my RTC column in The Wave submitted for publication, Nov. 18, 2016. And oh that set which consists of 60 oil barrels.
Memo From the RTC: Raucous (Laugh) Riots Break Out in Rockaway as Toxic Avenger Infection Spreads
By Norm Scott
I didn’t expect to love The Toxic Avenger, the Frank Caiati-directed rock musical currently running at the Rockaway Theatre Company through this weekend (Fri., Sat. at 8PM, Sun at 2PM). I was there to tape on opening night and figured that once would be enough. NOT. I went back last Sunday – and the show was even better and I’m going to every show I can get to this weekend. With word of mouth spreading about one of the funniest shows we’ve seen at the RTC, at a time when many people feel they need a good laugh, seats will be scarce, but make every attempt to see this show.
Musical Director Jeff Arzberger (Junkyard Jeff) has recruited Richie Wretch, Aw-Phi, Atomic Aaron and Twinkling Drew Vanderwinkle for his band, SEWAGE. Frank Caiati has managed to convince five of the top RTC performers in history, all with spectacular singing and acting talents, to give up months of their lives to give our community this wonderful gift of a show. Between them they play 40 different roles.
Having RTC superstar Breezy Point native Catherine Leib back as the Blind Girl after a few years absence would be enough to make this show a must see. But the hits keep coming. Her tour de force performance confirms that she can do anything on stage. I always loved her in the straight dramatic roles she played in the past. This time she affirms what a great comic actress she can be. People were comparing her to Lucille Ball. A smart producer of stage, screen or TV should snap her up.
Chazmond Peacock (playing Black Dude) - one of the great talents not only at the RTC but in the world –just ask anyone who has ever seen him in anything - is back after his shattering performance in La Cage Aux Folles just a few short months ago. How does he have the energy to do these shows back to back?
Chaz is joined as a henchman by the always amazing Broad channel native, Matthew Smilardi (White Dude), who got raves and laughs playing Chaz’ maid in La Cage, joins Chaz on stage playing men, women and everything in between. I’ve never hear Matt sing better and camp his way to some of the biggest laughs of the night. (The 2 of them playing lady hairdressers is worth the price of admission). And wait ‘till you see those body parts fly.
Relative RTC newcomers Rheana Flemons Adelstein (the mayor and mom) and Miguel Angel Sierra (Melvin Ferd The Third) blew the audience away with their giant voices and comic acting talent. I heard Miguel sing at an RAA concert last year and was just waiting to see the RTC find a way to showcase his talents. Rheanna played Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors” not long ago. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about her performance in Toxic. The power of her voice could knock down walls. But she matches that with a comic, campy performance, playing the evil mayor and Melvin’s mom, sometimes both roles at the same time – watch those magic costume changes.
Frank has updated some of the political material to reflect the times. Don’t be surprised to see photos of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. We even saw some updating between the Friday and Sunday shows last week and we expect more fun to come this weekend.
If you haven’t called the RTC hotline (718-374-6400) to try to get in on the fun the second you finish reading this don’t be surprised to get a visit from some green guy covered in sludge with one eyeball on his check.
Leaked emails showed that AFT's Randi Weingarten promised to act as an
attack dog for Hillary Clinton against another union that had endorsed
Bernie Sanders in the primary. (STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is going
to be the next president of the United States. I feel a wild urge to
scrub my hands with steel wool and bleach after typing those words—my
fingers feel filthy.
If we want to avoid a similar nightmare in the future, we have to
parse this election’s lessons and figure out who is to blame—not for
cheap point-scoring, but to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes
again. That means we have to talk about how American union leaders
helped hand this race to Trump.
There is so much info an election analysis coming in I can't keep up with it or even read it all. A bunch comes from the relentless work of Michael Fiorillo.
There are attacks on people who supported Trump, attacks on the Dems, attacks on Clinton, people who defend the people who did vote for Trump, attacks on those who didn't vote for Clinton but went 3rd party or didn't vote at all, attacks on people who did vote for Clinton (from the left), defenses of some of the ideas Trump put out, and more. So I am compiling stuff for those who want to delve in, with more coming in a follow-up.
I'm trying to find a political path and it often comes down to class vs. identity politics, the latter being used to go after Trump people for being white supremacists and white privileged. My instinct is to build some bridges between the Bernies and the Trumpies for the future. I know people need to vent. The demos do not help build bridges, but so be it for now.
Last night I was hanging with political colleagues since the 70s. One pointed out that even if Bernie was the candidate and lost he would not have spent the campaign attacking Trump but raising issues and he would have left a movement in place. With Hillary we are left with picking up the pieces. All we can do from our perch is keep focusing on the work in the union. Imagine if the UFT/AFT had opened things up for Bernie to get traction. But our union leaders don't want a movement because they are threatened by it and are at base neo-liberals.
The interesting intersection of Trump and Bernie is where they attack the neo-liberal agenda. We need to keep finding these intersections. By the way, most of the Trump disaffected voters (vs the rock-ribbed Republicans) liked Bernie and respected him. A Bernie movement can bring them back but not if they are under constant attack as being ignorant racists.
Here goes. Have fun!
Democrats have occupied the White House for 16 of the last 24 years, and for four of those years had control of both houses of Congress. But in that time they failed to reverse the decline in working-class wages and economic security. Both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama ardently pushed for free trade agreements without providing millions of blue-collar workers who thereby lost their jobs means of getting new ones that paid at least as well...
Trump, Empathy and Epistemic Closure | The American Conservative
Very long video clip, but if you just listen to Blyth (who predicted a Trump victory in May) between roughly the 11 and 18 minute marks, you'll hear a very succinct and global explanation for Trump's win...
Arthur Goldstein suggested MORE hold an event for ATRS where they get to speak and discuss issues of importance to them. He asked an expert on ATRs - blogger Chaz if he would be there to share his knowledge. What will be the outcome? Could be some proposals or just a place where ATRs emerge with more knowledge than they had going in. At the very least some discussion on dealing with gotcha supervisors and protecting themselves.
In addition - there will be some talk about ATRs who have gotten permanent positions and how that occurred - not many but some.
ATR Information Event
Please share with ATRs in your school
History: How the DOE and UFT created this mess starting with the 2005 contract, the 2008 ATR rally, the UFT wine and cheese party, the 2011 deal where ATRS were sacrificed (weekly rotation) for no layoffs,the 2014 agreement plus recent updates.
Know your rights and lack thereof; how to deal with roving supervisors; survival techniques
Fighting back. What do we want? What can we do to pressure UFT and DOE for change?
Experienced ATRs will be on hand to answer questions.Special guests: blogger Chaz's School Daze, James and Camille Eterno and Ex Bd member Arthur Goldstein.
Saturday, Nov. 19, 1:00 PM-4PM
CUNY Grad Center, 5th Ave between 34th and 35th St. Bring ID.
Room 5414
Sponsored by MORE/UFT and Independent Community of Educators
Senator Bernie Sanders, who opposed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic
primary, went on to say, quote, "To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious
about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in
this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him. To
the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and
anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him." .... Amy Goodman, Democracy Now
Sanders—that statement from Senator Sanders is actually quite
remarkable, because he isn’t coming out and saying everybody who voted
for Donald Trump is a racist troglodyte. He’s not saying that everyone
who voted for Donald Trump is a misogynist who hates women and cast
their vote for that reason. He’s saying that there are a huge number of
people who voted for Donald Trump, and not for Hillary Clinton, who have
very valid grievances. And those grievances are grounded in a system of
policies that both political parties have played an equal role in
creating. Look at what he is describing: jobs going overseas, industries being
destroyed, Wall Street being protected. You can go back into the '80s,
into the era of Reagan and trickle-down economics and the destruction of
unions, to find the genesis of it. And then you look into the ’90s,
with NAFTA and free trade mania and the
liberation of Wall Street from all kinds of constraints, and into the
2000s, when in the post-2008 economic crisis the Obama administration
prosecuted not a single Wall Street executive responsible for that
crisis, while continuing to build the world's largest penal state,
largely for poor people, people with no power. And it’s this inequality,
this oppression of huge numbers of people in the name of globalism and
free trade, that Bernie Sanders is describing in that statement as why
Trump won..... Glenn Greenwald on Democracy Now
Bernie almost always knows how to hit the right note. He is reaching out to some Trumpers - think of the people when Trump doesn't deliver - Bernie thinks bigger than most of the ideologues on the left.
....both Brexit and
Trumpism are the very, very wrong answers to legitimate questions that
urban elites have refused to ask for 30 years.” Bevins went on: “Since
the 1980s the elites in rich countries have overplayed their hand,
taking all the gains for themselves and just covering their ears when
anyone else talks, and now they are watching in horror as voters
revolt.”
I've been in a debate with some of my comrades, a number of whom wouldn't vote for Hillary but now want to march in the streets protesting Trump. As one radio commenter said, they should be marching on the Democratic National Committee for not treating Bernie fairly. I get it - Hillary was a bad choice -- but I also think people needed to bite the bullet and fight her after the election. At the DA the other day I asked people I spoke to whether Hillary should have been making speeches to Wall St over the past 4 years or visiting the very devastated areas that used to vote Democratic? One delegate told me a story about someone who was canvassing in one of these areas and when he knocked on a door a guy told him he was the 17th person to come knocking over the past few weeks - he'd been there for 40 years as things fell apart and no one came knocking - until Trump.
Trump vowed to destroy the system that elites love (for good reason)
and the masses hate (for equally good reason), while Clinton vowed to
manage it more efficiently.
My argument has been that if we automatically brand the 50,000,000 people who voted for Trump as deplorable and go out marching what happens is that the middle - many people who voted for Hillary - will be asking how we would be reacting if Hillary won and the opposite occurred - Trump's people marching. I also see some charging the system was rigged - exactly what Trump was mocked for claiming.
Clinton suffered her biggest losses in the places where Obama was
strongest among white voters. It’s not a simple racism story.
Did you know that 80,000 people in Michigan left the president slot blank while Hillary lost by 12,000 votes?
Two pieces by Greenwald - video on Democracy Now and an article in The Intercept.
Glenn Greenwald: Bernie Sanders Would Have Been a Stronger Candidate Against Donald Trump
In 2008, Obama, with control of both houses of Congress, could have immediately resolved the immigration issue once and for all, or alleviated the misery of those burdened by housing and student debt, but he followed a strictly neoliberal governing philosophy, catering only to the banks and big corporations. (In a way, election 2016 is payback from the white working-class for everything Obama failed to pursue as a possibility in his two terms.)...
Essentially, those who chose Hillary over Bernie during the primaries, when we had a clear choice, voted for Trump, since Bernie was always the stronger candidate against Trump or any Republican general election candidate. The polls consistently proved it......
Zizek had it right, Michael Moore had it right, and I had been saying all along that this outcome was inevitable. I wrote back in May that Trump would win by pinning neoliberal failures squarely on Hillary’s shoulders......
The liberal elite, all during this campaign, showed its intolerant colors, mocking anyone who raised questions about Hillary’s background and competence as inherently misogynist, sidelining questions of political economy in favor of preferred identity politics tropes
... Anis Shivani, Alternet
From Michael Fiorillo who keeps coming up with the greatest hits.
By the way - who is Zizek? He is a Marxist who was on the Brian Lehrer show the other day and had a fascinating analysis of neo-liberalism and the left and why he felt Trump was a preferred option to Hillary's neo-liberalism. (Not that I think Trump will actually end up doing much of the non neo-liberal things he said he would do.)
There have always been two narratives about this election. One predicted what actually happened in the end, while the other missed the boat completely.
Narrative 1. Bernie Sanders represents the unachievable in American politics. Hillary Clinton is the candidate of experience and realism. Donald Trump is a temporary phenomenon, feeding on passions and resentments, not meant to last the duration. Trump’s supporters are more economically privileged than Clinton and Sanders voters, and are motivated by pure racism and misogyny. The election is about the cultural values of tolerance, openness and identity, therefore we must support Hillary. Anyone who doesn’t support Hillary must be suspected of harboring racist and misogynist feelings themselves.
In the 2016 presidential election, 79 percent of New Yorkers voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president, down from 81 percent for Barack Obama in 2012. See how your New York City neighborhood split the vote between Clinton and Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential election.
This came from my cousin in Israel from a contact of his in Oregon.
The flood of Trump-fearing American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in past weeks. The visibly failing Hillary Clinton presidential campaign is prompting an exodus of left-leaning Americans, who fear they'll soon be required to own guns, pray, pay taxes and live according to the U.S. Constitution. Canadian border residents say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, climate change activists, and "green" energy proponents crossing their fields at night.
"I went out to milk the cows the other morning, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in my barn." said southern Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. "He was cold, exhausted, hungry, and begged me for a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"
In an effort to stop the flow of these illegal American aliens, Mr. Greenfield erected higher fences, but the north bound liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared the Rush Limbaugh program across the fields, but they just stuck their fingers in their ears, and kept coming.
Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals just south of the border, pack them into electric cars, and drive them across the border, where they are simply left to fend for themselves after the battery dies. "A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions." an Alberta border patrolman said. "I found one carload of illegal American liberals without a single bottle of Perrier water or even any gemelli with shrimp and arugula. All they had was a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet and some kale chips. When liberals are caught, they are sent back across the border, often wailing that they fear persecution from Trump supporting normal Americans.
Rumors are rife about re-education camps being built across the USA where liberals would be forced to drink domestic beer, study the Constitution and find jobs that actually contribute to the economy.
In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways to cross the border. Some have come disguised as senior citizens on bus trips to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in blue-hair wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses, and quizzing these supposedly senior citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to ascertain if they really were alive in the 1950s. "If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age." a Canadian immigration official stated.
Canadian citizens have complained that the continuing massive influx of illegal American liberals has created an organic-broccoli shortage. Plus, they are buying up all of the Barbara Streisand CDs, and are overloading the internet while downloading jazzercise apps to their cell phones.
"I really feel sorry for these illegal American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them all." A Toronto resident said. "After all, how many Black Lives Matter majors does one country need?”
Sanders, a self-described Democratic socialist, repeatedly warned in the primary that he would have a greater chance of defeating Trump. Poll after poll showed
that he would have beaten Trump in the general election by wide
margins. Instead, his candidacy was repressed — and now Clinton has lost
to Trump.
Michael Fiorillo: How did they blow this election? Let us count the ways... A highly flawed and weak candidate, carried along by a complacent,
self-serving, out-of-touch bunch of "meritocrats", and a media chorus...
Schools report teachers and students in tears. Some will be holding counseling sessions this afternoon.
I believe that over the next 4 years the system will be so rigged the Democrats will never get back into power. I'm not sure there is a way to counter that for at least the next decade. Only catastrophic governance leading to chaos - but don't forget the brown shirts and paramilitary police, FBI and veterans who supported Trump - they will never turn over power now that they have it.
While neo-liberalism savaged the working class, no group felt its impact more than teachers under the assault of both parties. You’ll notice that basically the only area that Republicans didn’t attack Obama on was education. Our union – AFT/NYSUT/UFT aided and abetted this assault since it began in the mid-80s – led by the Clintons in Arkansas. The opt-out movement was in its own way similar to the Trump revolt – and note how our union and the DOE disparages and tries to suppress it. Many teachers, reacting to the hurried Hillary endorsement and the disparagement of the Bernie movement could not pull the trigger for Trump. Estimates are that 35% of the teachers were either out and out Trump supporters or could not pull the trigger for Hillary. Given the Trump/Republican ed agenda, which will be even a bigger disaster than ed deform, was sad.
I voted for Hillary because the alt was so bad. Those who couldn't in all conscience vote for Hillary should take a good like down the road over the next 4 years and tell my how your conscience feels.
Election Musings
Reality Based Educator: They'll continue with the elite circle jerk and furiously blame "Bernie Bros" or Greens or "deplorables" instead of looking into the mirror and saying "Why have we embraced neo-liberalism, bringing about the de-industrialization of the country, the financialization of the economy and Trump to the White House?"
Newark teacher under assault, comment on my post declaring I was voting for Clinton (No Third Party Vote for Me)....I did it. I voted third party. I had never done it before. I couldn't vote for Clinton because I could not sanction another four years of neo-liberal promotion of endless wars, unflinching charter school support and Wall Street coziness. I could not vote for Trump because I am a woman and I would prefer not to end up in a concentration camp. Sorry Norm! I did not have it in me to pull the lever for HRC.....
This was affirmation that Trump could win, which I have been telling people for the past 2 weeks. Even Trump supporters like my brother-in-law was more skeptical than I was. Some estimates are that 35% of teachers broke with their unions to either vote Trump or third party. I voted for Hillary and felt a left movement from Bernie and Warren could move her.
I've heard this sentiment directly from many teachers, most of them women and Bernie supporters. Some were voting for Trump, most 3rd party. My wife and I had lunch last week with 2 old friends, both retired UFTers -- both seemed to be going Trump. That was certainly an early warning sign. Once again, our union leaders put their money on the wrong horse in the primary where they never gave Bernie a chance - and they are also doing the same in supporting de Blasio who will face an even greater wall of Trumpists in his next election.
The arrogance and slavish support for the Democratic party no matter how much they shit on educators and the mocking of Bernie supporters is coming home to roost.
Maybe we Sanders supporters weren't as crazy as we were told. That's the brightest thought I can muster out of this. Maybe the AFT/ NEA super early endorsement wasn't such a great idea after all.... NYC Educator: http://nyceducator.com/2016/11/holy-fucking-shit.html
I hate Trump and the neo-liberal Democrats. I hate the GOP. The Democrats have mostly abandoned their constituency, which is people who are financially vulnerable, and that includes the middle class, whether you're "white" or not, whether you have education or not.
. . . email from teacher
Of course our union leaders and the Democrats, instead of blaming themselves, will try to blame people who voted for Jill Stein. Perdido St. School blog touches on that:
Dem elites and Clinton shills are already taking aim at Sanders people or Greens, blaming Trump's victory on them. As usual with the elites and their functionaries, they miss the truth. And just so we can get the "The Greens did this!" bullshit out of the way: Clinton shills did a lot of mocking this year, first the Sanders people during the primary, then the Trump supporters during the general.
One thing Clinton and her shills never did - try and understand the real pain and terror many in this country feel over their economic futures. A lot of those people sent a big "Fuck You!" to the elites last night, though I think that will come back to bite them in the end.
A Republican president with a Republican Senate and a Republican House is going to do a lot of damage in the short term. Add in all the crazies Trump is sure to bring along - Rudy, Christie, maybe Palin - and it's even worse.
As for the Supreme Court, that strategy Obama pursued doesn't look so hot now either - the chance to transform the Supreme Court is now lost to Dems. Remember that union case that ended up 4-4 after Scalia died? You can bet another case like that one is going to rear sooner rather than later and those automatic dues the union elites lap up will go out the window with Clinton's electoral map to victory.
The "Fuck you!" sent last night, as with the one the British sent with Brexit, is going to be a costly one in the end. But I blame Dem elites for this mess - this loss is squarely on HRC and her neoliberal cohorts. This ought to be a wake-up call to Dem elites that neoliberalism must go and the party needs to embrace a true populist agenda.
But I'm under no illusions that Dem elites will learn the correct lessons from this.
This is the chance to remake the Democratic Party into a vision closer to Bernie's but we know that the AFT/UFT leadership will never go along with something too left or progressive. The one good thing about this election is that the Clintons are finally gone from the stage and our leaders will have to find another neo-liberal Democrat to tie itself too.
Cuomo, one of the happiest men in America today, for President in 2020 anyone? Randi and Mulgrew probably already endorsed him behind closed doors.
Heading to the Delegate Assembly today with a hard copy of ed notes to hand out. More later - if I'm not on the way to Canada.
In comparison, 9 percent of young blacks and 24 percent of young Latinos voted for Trump.
College-educated whites
White college graduates made up 37 percent of voters
49 percent of them voted for Trump, while 45 percent voted for Clinton.
54 percent of college-educated white men voted Trump.
45 percent
of college-educated white women chose Trump, while 51 percent chose
Clinton. This is the only white demographic tracked by the exit poll
that Trump didn’t win.
Non-college-educated whites
Whites without a college degree made up 34 percent of voters
Hillary was anointed by our union and the Democratic Party establishment pretty much the day after the 2012 election. Here is some commentary from Thomas Frank, who predicted a Trump win, at the G
