Message to Retirees: Our Lifelong Work Has Been Disparaged, Degraded, Marginalized and De-Professionalized

For the first time in UFT Chapter elections I've been working with the Retiree Advocate, which began as a New Action initiative but then broadened to include MORE and independents. The chapter elections are coming up and RA/MORE/NA are going to run against Unity. Unity gets 300 retiree members of the Delegate Assembly who act to reinforce Unity policies. If you are a retiree and interested contact retireeadvocate@gmail.com.
You only have until Tuesday April 10 to sign on to run for delegate. Don't worry, we ain't winning.

RETIREE ADVOCATE/MORE/NEW ACTION

retireeadvocate@gmail.com

I wrote this piece for the campaign lit that will go out to all retirees. It is unedited and Gloria is fixing it up but I wanted to post this in case some of Ed Notes readers are interested in running.

Our Lifelong Work Has Been Disparaged, Degraded, Marginalized and De-Professionalized

UFT retirees spent their lives in public service working with public school children. While things in the NYC school system were never perfect, many of us left with a sense of self-respect for a job well done.

So it has been sad to watch over the past two decades as our profession has come under assault from many directions. The major blame for the failures of the system has fallen on teachers, not incompetent supervisors put in place by their supervisors, often with bad intentions to put pressure on the higher priced teachers to get them out of the system. The “bad” teacher wrap has been used against all teachers. Recent teacher protests in right-to-work states are only the head of the spear of massive teacher dissatisfaction nationwide over the disrespect, the false measuring from invalid tests, the labeling schools as failing, and attempts to connect invalid tests to teacher ratings and compensation. Our union leadership has not done an effective job of pushing back against this onslaught.

Under Bloomberg, over 150 schools were closed down, including most of the comprehensive high schools, with teachers instead of being placed by seniority which was done before the 2005 contract, being forced into an open market that was not very welcoming to those coming from schools branded as failing. Joel Klein’s implementation of the fair school funding formula in 2008 made it almost impossible for the higher salaried UFT members to get transfer. Many were tossed into ATR pools of floating substitutes. Mayor de Blasio, our supposed friend, continued closing down schools this year after his disastrous and expensive “renewal school” project where instead of sending in resources that would actually help teachers, schools were loaded with consultants and teachers forced into often useless professional development.

In the past 15 years principals have been empowered as never before and they have the advantage of consulting with a massive amount of lawyers in DOE Legal who advise them the best ways to get rid of teachers they do not like while said teachers are often sitting there without a clue as to what is being done to them because the principals are working from a handbook while teachers are left defenseless. Teachers in NYC are subject to 4 drive-by observations a year under the despised Danielson rubric, while teachers in the rest of the state are only subject to two observations.

The job of a teacher has been deskilled through scripted instruction as attempts continue to remove qualifications needed to teach. How long before the DOE rolls trucks down the street every morning to search for people off the street to fill the classrooms for a day?

Meanwhile the charter school invasion continued, with certain parts of the city being so overloaded with charters, the very existence of local public schools are threatened.

Think of the poor people who succeeded us as being the proverbial frog in the pot of boiling water.

As you read this you are probably heaving a massive sigh of relief over finally being out from under this state of affairs.

Sadly, this entire degradation of our profession has taken place under the UFT stewardship of Unity Caucus, our opponents in this Retiree Chapter election. As retirees it may seem there is not a lot we can do restore the status our profession once enjoyed. But if you elect us to the leadership of the Retired Teachers Chapter, we will not only continue to defend our interests as retired UFT members but will also engage in a rigorous defense of our former profession by using our time in the Delegate Assembly to call our leadership to account for its failures to adequately stand up to the forces trying to destroy the profession many of us loved.

Can we really call ourselves a union of professionals?

VOTE Retiree Advocate/MORE/New Action.

There IS a reason to vote in the upcoming Retired Teachers Chapter Election.

There IS a reason to vote in the upcoming Retired Teachers Chapter Election.

Retiree Advocate-MORE/NA/Independents - is running a slate and we need your participation.

RUN WITH US!

We hope to get as many retirees as we can.
Unity Caucus occupies the DA with 300 elected members. The more people we run, the better able we are to challenge them!

The positions to be filed include a Chapter Chair, 10 Officers, 15 Executive Board members and 300 retired Delegates to the UFT Delegate Assembly. The logistics for participation are not complicated; we will take care of getting all necessary signatures on the nominating forms. All we need you to do is agree to run on the Retiree Advocate slate.

Why run with us?

MORE (Movement of Rank & File Educators) and NAC (New Action Caucus) have joined with Retiree Advocate to carry our message of union solidarity and transparency to the retiree community. Many long-time members of these active UFT caucuses are now in the RTC and will continue to work to promote a greater degree of activism among members. Retiree Advocate is committed to increasing rank and file democracy in our union. Let’s be inspired by the recent victory of our brothers and sisters in West Virginia who went out on strike and showed what rank & file union members could accomplish with activism and solidarity! We need to be concerned not only with conditions affecting retirees but also with issues affecting classroom teachers as well as larger social justice issues because they are all related.

If you want to participate with us, please reply to retireeadvocate@gmail.com ASAP

When is the actual election?
Ballots will be mailed on Tuesday, May 15 and must be received by the American Arbitration Association by 8 a.m. Thursday, June 7. Ballots will be counted at the AAA at 120 Broadway.

What happens if we win?
Chances are slim but by running as full a slate as possible, we will be sending a message to UFT/Unity leadership: We do not accept the status quo and changes are necessary moving forward into the post Janus climate.

Seriously consider participating in this election.
Send an email to retireeadvocate@gmail.com and let us know that you will be on our slate. We will need your: File # or SS#, Address, Email, Phone #
please reply to retireeadvocate@gmail.com ASAP

RETIREE ACTION PROGRAM
We envision a union that actively promotes the creation of educated, organized, and mobilized school chapters. Our commitment is to vigorously work to:

● Preserve and improve our medical and prescription drug benefits
● Stop implementation of the “Cadillac Tax” on our health benefits
● Expand our Social Security benefits and ensure that they are not diminished or removed
● Win a (single payer) universal health program
● Improve our COLA and pension benefits

SAVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH FULL FUNDING
● Stop the right-wing agenda (Janus, etc.) and insist that our union leadership take more concrete and active measures towards this goal
● Defend our public schools and take a more active role in preventing them from being privatized
● We say No to Charters, vouchers and any system that creates unequal worker tiers
● Work to cut the excesses in the military budget (and in the military budget) and redirect monies to expand social services and benefits in local communities.

PROTECT WORKING EDUCATORS
● We demand that the UFT take immediate steps to increase the degree of support for teachers working under abusive principals and administrators
● Work to eliminate pension “tiers” returning to a single pension level for all school employees
● Utilize our expertise and expand retiree involvement to inform, organize and mobilize school chapters

UNION DEMOCRACY
● In-service members should have greater voting weight when electing representation for union caucuses
● Change the current “winner take all” election system using proportional representation for union caucuses
● In-service members should vote for UFT district reps

Video: YAFFED Press Conf - De Blasio, Farina, Felder Slammed

I reported on the upcoming press conference on Thursday -

YAFFED Press Conf to Protest Sham Rules for Hasidic and Orthodox Schools

Leonie Haimson was there as was former teacher and now city councilman Danny Dromm (head of the powerful finance committee) and David Bloomfield. And a now former IDC Senator whose name I won't mention - our pal Robert Jackson is primarying her.

Here is the complete video I took. I have some experience with the Hasidic political machine, having worked in District 14 in Williamsburg where they used to elect 3 out of the 9 members of the school board despite having no kids in the public schools - well some kids, but that a long a sordid story. They could have elected all 9 members if they wanted to. The deals made were astounding and as a Jew it was especially disconcerting to see how the 95% of the kids of color in the district were marginalized. Eventually $7 million dollars was "disappeared" illegally, which led to an invasion of the district office by the FBI and the US Postal Service. Both Superintendents died at an early age from cancer so there was a convenient excuse to put the blame on them and no one was every prosecuted. I could go on - but here we have former students at these school talking about how they were denied an education as the schools violated state ed laws which apply to every school. I asked if they get money from the state and city and he said YES - so these schools are not free to do what they want.

By the way - in our earliest years of teaching many of my friends had after school jobs in these schools to teach secular subjects and they said it was brutal work -- the kids disinterested and harder to teach than the public school kids.

These Hasidic communities have very high welfare rates - with Kiryas Joel, New York being the poorest in the nation - no talk about welfare queens - maybe kings in this case.

https://vimeo.com/263492801

Danielson Rubric Update: Erik Mears Open Letter to Howard Schoor

Erik Mears from MORE has taken on issues related to Danielson. He appeared at a UFT Ex Bd meeting last month to raise a few of the issues he is concerned with. The UFT's Howard Schoor responded at a recent meeting and here Eric pursues the story.

Open Letter to UFT Secretary Howard Schoor (regarding Danielson Rubric)

Dear Mr. Howard Schoor,

You’ll recall that I addressed you and other UFT leaders at the High School Executive Board meeting in early March. I urged you, in light of four of the Danielson Rubric’s anti-labor sample comments, to demand that the DOE the discard Danielson and repair any damage that illegitimate portions of the Framework has done to teachers. You responded (via email) by noting that only one of the four comments corresponds to an element that teachers are currently evaluated on, and that that comment merely encourages administrators to violate the law in letter, but not in spirit. You added that if principals do follow the letter of the comment, teachers will have legal recourse, and the UFT will fight to defend them.

School Scope: Red State Teachers in Revolt – Can It Happen Here?

Published at www.rockawave.com on Friday April 6, 2018

School Scope: Red State Teachers in Revolt – Can It Happen Here?

By Norm Scott
April 2, 2018

As I write this on Monday morning, teachers in Oklahoma are on strike, following up on the 9 day strike in West Virginia and last Friday’s walkout by teachers in Kentucky (over pension cuts) which is continuing today. Arizona teachers are also threatening to strike. Many of these actions are wildcat strikes, meaning they are not being called by the unions themselves but by a membership in revolt, not only against the state, but their own union leaderships which have been forced to go along. “Union leaders haven’t been aggressive enough. We need to be more aggressive,” said Kentucky teacher Nema Brewer, one of the organizers.

That all these states are right-to-work (RTW) red states who voted for Trump by vast margins is no accident. Super majority Republican control of these states have cut taxes so much, especially on the energy companies, education has been cut to the bone, including teacher salaries. And since union members in RTW states don’t have to pay union agency shop fees, the union structures in these states are weakened, thus not having the infrastructure in place to control the members.

I assume most of the teachers in revolt are not left wing or even liberals. A number of them may have even voted for Trump. Usually in strikes you hear attacks against outside agitators. Not in these cases, as the revolts are truly from the grass roots. Are some of the deplorables engage in a militant revolt, including their own leadership? I know people who voted for Trump just because they were generally pissed off and are very militant against the Democrats who sold out teachers and the teacher unions that support them. This militancy may be carrying over into their unions.

The Supreme Court, in the Janus case, is about to make every state, including NY, RTW. One of the arguments used against Janus is that the unions are often partners with the states and in essence help restrain the members. I wonder if these red state teacher revolts, coming so soon before the Court rules, will influence the Justices.

What does that mean for militancy here in NYC where we have the largest and most entrenched union leadership in the nation, where Unity Caucus has enormous reach? Now if 30% leave the UFT, that is a massive reduction in incoming dues. The patronage machine and possibly the high salaries that keeps them coming to Unity take a hit and Unity begins to lose some control - and if people in the schools get pissed off enough, who knows? But I'm a realist. But my guess is that the politicians in NYS know better - to make sure the UFT leaders remain as strong as possible to assure there are no teacher revolts here. Watch Cuomo and the Democrats figure out ways to help the unions keep collecting dues since they know full well the leaders of the UFT are their friends.

Hear an audio feed of a conversation with West Virginia and Oklahoma teachers at: https://www.facebook.com/jacobinmag/videos/2087299477963409/

Norm is always revolting at ednotesonline.com

YAFFED Press Conf to Protest Sham Rules for Hasidic and Orthodox Schools

Lisa North:
I talked to some of the advocates at a PEP meeting last year. They have been attending the PEP for over a year, but no changes. They told me that quite a few Yeshivas do not teach English, science or social studies. Once they finish school, they often cannot find a job because they do not speak English and often end up on welfare.

Thanks to Leonie for posting this. We saw the Yaffed people appear at PEP after PEP about the yeshiva scams where they get money to teacher secular subjects but ignore all rules. I'm going to try and make the press conf if I can.

Brian Lehrer had a segment on Felder holding everything hostage due to the catering to the Hasidic community.
https://www.wnyc.org/story/push-relax-ny-yeshiva-rules

The reporters and Shulem Deen, the author of All Who Go Do Not Return, a memoir about growing up in and then leaving one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S., discuss State Senator Simcha Felder's efforts to ease requirements in New York state law that the education at private religious schools be "substantially equivalent" to that offered at public schools -- and how he almost held up the New York State budget over this.

April 5 Press Conference to Discuss how NY has Betrayed Its Values to Please A Bully and Next Steps in Fight to Protect the Rights of Orthodox Children

 

For immediate release: New York, NY (4/2/18) 
Contact: Naftuli Moster, Exec. Director, naftuli@yaffed.org 

A press conference will be held in front of City Hall to protest how in the NY State budget deal, elected officials rolled back the protection of children’s right to an adequate education.

When: Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 1pm

Where: The steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan

Who: Members of Yaffed, along with former Yeshiva students and invited elected officials 

Why: A new law passed as part of the 2018 NY state budget was crafted specifically to affect only Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish children. It seeks to weaken the NY State Education Department’s ability to provide sufficient oversight to ensure that these children receive an adequate education.

This law was passed as result of the efforts of Simcha Felder, a State Senator from Brooklyn who alone held up the state budget in order to insert language intended to deprive students of their right to a basic education that will prepare them for good-paying jobs and success in life.

New York State law requires non-public schools to provide an education that is “at least substantially equivalent” to that of public schools, so that no student is left in ignorance. The law requires non-public schools to provide instruction in “arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, civics, hygiene, physical training, the history of New York state and science.”

But this law has not been enforced for decades, by either the state or the city. The Mayor and the NYC Department of Education has delayed taking any action for over two and a half years, even after they had promised to do so repeatedly. The NY Commissioner of Education was in the process of drafting new guidelines to enforce the law, which apparently prompted Sen. Felder’s actions to attempt to exempt Yeshivas from meeting any educational standards. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children are not receiving the basic education to which they are entitled.

At the press conference, advocates from Yaffed, former Yeshiva students and elected officials will speak out against extremists who are strong-arming our government to block sensible education policies, and. will discuss next steps in the fight to protect the human rights of all children to be adequately educated.

For more information on Yaffed’s five-year campaign to achieve a better education for ultra-Orthodox children, see www.yaffed.org

###

Are NYC UFT Members Ready to Pull a Red State Teacher Rebellion? What Would it Take?

There are a group of people in MORE who think the militancy of

UFT negotiating strategy

teachers in the red states can be translated to NYC. Others, knowing the mentality of the people they work with, have their doubts. That doesn't mean MORE should sit on its hands. Not to accept the Unity argument we can't win anything back we lost. Put forth a package of demands that include working conditions for a school system we would be happy to work in instead of the Unity acceptance of the pattern and no more. MORE is in the process of doing that.

A story on Tuesday's Brian Lehrer show included an interview with an Oklahoma 38-year teacher who makes around $44k a year and has about 4 jobs. A teacher from New Jersey called in who makes 90K a year. The OK guy practically swallowed his phone.

Then Brian looked up NYC salaries and said starting salary next year will be over 60k. And top of course is going to be 118K. Taking cost of living into account NYS is 17th in real salary. The red states are near the bottom. Here is the promo:

On Monday, teachers in Kentucky and Oklahoma walked out of school to protest cuts in pay, benefits and school funding. Josh Eidelson, labor reporter at Bloomberg News, and Lawrence Lane, a history teacher from Checotah, Oklahoma, and an OEA member, talk about the strikes, which have grown in force since starting in West Virginia earlier this year.

Have a listen to the 19 minute segment:

The salary issue in the red states is crucial -- they haven't had a raise in a decade since the recession cuts. Here in NYC people may bitch about the retro - but do you think retro pay is even on the table? WV people got a 5% raise. Imagine if they said they wouldn't go back without retro pay.

Now the smart thing coming from the instincts of people in the trenches has been building coalitions outside the teacher circle - gettting parents on their side, but also non-teaching union members who are part of the education landscape -- ie, school bus drivers.

There are other issues in the red states where education has been cut to the bone and teachers are working under horrendous conditions. Their fire is aimed at the governors and state legislatures. While we saw the teachers in Wisconsin slaughtered, this is a new ballgame.

Are teachers here in NYC working under similar horrendous conditions? Reading the blogs you'd think they are. Not being in the schools all I can tell is that Danielson, discipline, large classes, abusive supervisors are some key issues. When I go to MORE meetings or to Delegate Assemblies and Ex Bd meetings people complain but I don't get that there is some flash point that would actually make teachers go out on strike. In fact I don't hear as many complaints from the MORE people about their working conditions as I do on the blogs. Could it be that the MOREs have managed to find reasonably safe schools for themselves and thus don't feel the same pressure teachers working under ogres feel. (See the post from Art and Design HS teachers which is getting a lot of hits - Dear Mr. Mulgrew: The UFT chapter at the High School of Art and Design has been living under distress and oppression for the past two years.

Another factor is that these are wildcat actions - out of the classrooms, not the union leaderships, which are jumping on board. I've been reporting that these relatively weak union leaderships have opened up space for people in the schools to organize. Facebook has been a key organizing tool, thus allowing them to communicate with each other without the filter of the union mechanisms. Some pages grew to 20,000 people in no time. You've got to reach a point of desperation to be willing to lose your job -

There is no sense of desperation here in NYC by massive numbers of teachers. Or of there is they just leave the system.

We have Unity Caucus running the union and their machine with the district reps as middle managers have access to every school and every UFT members and the ability to dampen enthusiasm for job actions while also threatening people with the consequences of an illegal strike - 2 for 1 penalties for every day on strike for the teachers and for the union itself, massive fines.

Can there be wildcat actions here in NYC? Hard to imagine that happening. Imagine if even 10 schools went out en masse, especially since the UFT would tell them "I told you so" and abandon them.

We might see pockets of blue flu stuff where large numbers of people call in sick --  In essence that may be happening without our knowing in schools with horrendous supervisors. I imagine the absentee rate in these schools is higher.

A massive blue flu might keep DOE legal happy. I can see possibly some people starting a facebook page and getting a response but Unity trolls would jump on to disparage it.

So what issues might spur people to greater militancy?

If they try to take shit away.

That was an issue in Kentucky where they are trying to cut pensions. What impressed me about the KY teachers was that they are protesting the attempt to fundamentally eliminate guaranteed pensions for newbies -- the unborn as we used to call it.*

Here in NYC I can see the masses stirring (a bit) if there is an attempt to take away what people have. The major threat seems to be healthcare reductions. Read James Eterno at the ICE Caucus blog: http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2018/04/pba-files-for-binding-aritration-will.html.
Make sure to read the comments -- and comment yourself.

James reports on the offer to the police - PBA.

The City’s latest purported offer to NYC PBA members is the worst they have seen so far, featuring dramatic increases in out-of-pocket health benefit costs and other givebacks that would effectively wipe out the paltry wage increases they would receive. Among the City’s startling demands:

The health benefits reductions similar to those the de Blasio administration is seeking to obtain from the entire city workforce through the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), including the imposition of new medical deductibles, as well as a tiered copayment structures intended to drive members to utilize City-run Health + Hospitals Corporation hospitals and their affiliated doctors. For example, members who utilize top-tier hospitals and their affiliated doctors instead of HHC facilities would see their hospital in-patient copayments increase from the current $300 to $3,000 and their primary care doctor and specialist co-payments increase from the current $15 to $40.

A 57% reduction in the City’s contributions to the PBA Health & Welfare Funds, which provide NYC PBA members with prescription drug coverage and other benefits. This move would result in dramatic reductions in or the complete elimination of benefits provided to PBA members.

The elimination of the PBA Annuity Fund for both current members and future hires.

Along with thes draconian givebacks, the de Blasio administration is demanding that NYC PBA members accept below-inflation raises totaling 3.25% over two years, including months of zero raises.

Is this enough to stir the pot in the UFT?

Some of my pals in MORE seem to think they can be the straw that stirs the drink by agitating around the new contract. I'm betting on the Unity machine being able to counter whatever MORE throws up against the wall, hoping it will stick.

Let me repeat. That doesn't mean MORE should sit on its hands. Not to accept the Unity argument we can't win anything back we lost. Put forth a package of demands that include working conditions for a school system we would be happy to work in instead of the Unity acceptance of the pattern and no more. MORE is in the process of doing that.

But look down the road a few years to post-Janus and we may see a different landscape if the Unity patronage machine is weakened and they no longer have the personnel to blanket the schools with their message of caution. If MORE is still around then, who knows?

*Mayor Giulianni tried to do something along those lines against newbies in the 1995 contract -- I remember some kind of fee newbies would have to pay and would get back only if they stayed in the system for a certain amount of years. Believe it or not, that was a key issue in the rejection of  the contract by UFT members for the only time in history. The bigger issue was raising the number of years to reach top salary from 20 to 25 years. Female teachers went nuts, feeling they were hit harder because of the years they took for child care. The reworked contract cut it to 23 years.

Republican Oklahoma Teacher to Republican Legislature: This is bigger than party politics

See this Republican teacher lay it on.
Thanks to Jim Horn at Schools Matter for the link. 

https://vimeo.com/263047228



MSNBC_04-03-2018_15.57.27 from Martin Cizmar on Vimeo.

===
Washingtom Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/04/02/teachers-are-walking-out-in-multiple-states-blame-gop-economics/?utm_term=.9a123b2b4d7f&__twitter_impression=true

The Plum Line | Opinion

Teachers are walking out in multiple states. Blame GOP economics.

By Paul Waldman

April 2, 2018 at 1:39 PM

Dear Mr. Mulgrew: The UFT chapter at the High School of Art and Design has been living under distress and oppression for the past two years

Mr. Jason Agosto
UFT Chapter Leader
Art and Design HS


Mr. Michael Mulgrew
President
United Federation of Teachers
52 Broadway
New York, NY, 10004

March 29, 2018

Dear President Mulgrew and UFT Leadership,

The UFT chapter at the High School of Art and Design has been living under distress and oppression for the past two years. On January 25, 2016, Principal Manuel Urena arrived at the High School of Art and Design and his tenure as principal has produced record faculty turnover, constant violations of the UFT contract agreed to by the UFT and the DOE, violations of state and federal labor law, blatant retaliation against leaders of our chapter, and a hostile and unhealthy work environment. It is difficult enough to teach and conduct union activity under the above outlined circumstances, but what has made the situation more challenging is the silence, aloofness, and non-response of the UFT leadership in addressing these matters. Alice O’Neil, our UFT District Representative, is well aware of the issues plaguing our school and has even been a firsthand witness to some of them and yet no meaningful action has been taken by Mrs. O’Neil or UFT leadership to remedy these issues.

The Art and Design chapter presence has been silenced in our school. The threat of swift and brutal retaliation at the hands of Mr. Urena and his administration has made chapter members fearful and hesitant to engage in any union related activity. Jason Agosto, our UFT chapter chair, has been subject to the most blatant retaliation from Mr. Urena in the form of negative observation reports, spurious disciplinary letters based on unfounded accusations, as well as the maligning of his reputation amongst parents on our School Leadership Team. What’s more disheartening, is that the UFT leadership has allowed this treatment of Mr. Agosto to go unchecked as the above mentioned actions have continued to occur on a regular basis for two years. The UFT’s non-response to the abuse and blatant retaliation of Mr. Agosto has emboldened Mr. Urena and he has used the UFT leadership’s silence to further retaliate against other vocal chapter members.

The threat of retaliation by Mr. Urena extends to all functions of the chapter within the school. Chapter members who serve on the School Leadership Team have been silenced because anyone who raises an issue that presents a problem or narrative which contradicts Mr. Urena’s is subject to retaliation in the form of negative observation reports and spurious letters to file. Mrs. O’Neil witnessed Mr. Urena in a threatening tone dismiss chapter concerns about Special Education compliance issues at a November 2, 2017 school leadership meeting but yet there was no follow up to the issue on the part of UFT leadership. The same is true for chapter members who serve on the school security team and the UFT consultation committee. This retaliation has been reported to Mrs. O’Neil and UFT leadership on a number of documented occasions but with no action taken to address it.

The Art and Design chapter’s suspicions of Mr. Urena’s anti-union animus were confirmed when in January 2017, it was revealed that Mr. Urena, through one of his Assistant Principals, attempted to recruit a probationary teacher to report information back to administration that was discussed in a December 2016 chapter meeting. Specifically, the teacher was asked to report who the vocal members of the chapter are, who was leading chapter meetings, and who would replace Mr. Agosto in the event of his removal from his position. This incident exposed Mr. Urena’s intent to retaliate against vocal chapter members and was reported directly to Mrs. O’Neil at one of her visits to our chapter on January 5, 2017 and a follow up letter was sent to President Mulgrew on February 1, 2017 describing the specifics of this ordeal. Even with all of this information being reported directly to UFT officers, no action was taken to address it. It is now the subject of a Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) complaint being litigated at the expense of the chapter leader when NYSUT lawyers refused to take on the case. The hearing this PERB complaint requires has been delayed three times since November 2017.

Mr. Urena has further sought to silence the voice of our chapter by refusing to honor School Based Option (SBO) votes on circular 6 (c6) assignments for teachers. In a consultation committee meeting on May 10, 2017, in the presence of UFT CTE Representative, Jeffrey Bernstein, Mr. Urena stated in a pointed and threatening tone, that he would not honor SBO votes and if we proceed with an SBO, he would put every teacher in meetings during c6 periods on a daily basis not allowing teachers time to plan and grade as the current split c6 assignment affords teachers the time to do. In addition, Mr. Urena further stated that if we were to pursue a grievance to force him to honor the SBO process, he would place teachers in meetings every day for their c6 assignments in response to any pursuit of a grievance. Mrs. O’Neil and Mr. Bernstein sent follow up emails to Mr. Urena on May 12, 2017 but he responded that his,“position was clear” and it was up to the Chapter to decide how we wanted to proceed. Mrs. O’Neil stated that she would address this issue with Superintendent Marisol Rosales. However, there was no follow up and the split c6 menu was enacted with no contractually mandated School Based Option vote to reflect the chapter’s participation and voice in the matter.

Our contractual rights have been been further subverted by Mr. Urena’s refusal to meet with our Chapter’s consultation committee without assistant principals present to serve as his witnesses. The contract makes clear that these meetings are to take place with only the principal and the chapter committee in attendance. District Representative Alice O’Neil advised that if Mr. Urena entered any consultation committee meeting with Assistant Principals joining him, we present Mr. Urena with an agenda and respectfully exit the meeting. We did exactly as Mrs. O’Neil directed us to do in September, October, and November of 2017. Mr. Urena, in turn, responds to our exit from these meetings with snarky quips and feigned ignorance as to why we are exiting the meeting all the while knowingly violating the contractual process for consultation. Mrs. O’Neil stated that she would address this issue with Mr. Urena’s supervisor, Superintendent Marisol Rosales and that monthly consultation committee meetings would resume after that. To date, the UFT has not received any update from these meetings that supposedly addressed this issue with the Superintendent.

Adding insult to injury, Mrs. O’Neil reached out to Chapter leadership in December 2017 stating that she was able to secure a consultation committee meeting with our chapter committee and Mr. Urena without the intrusion of Assistant Principal observers on December 21, 2017 at 2:50pm. On the day of the meeting, Mrs. O’Neil abruptly cancelled the meeting with no explanation. Mrs. O'Neil did send Chapter Leader Jason Agosto a cryptic and vague text message with no explanation for the consultation committee meeting cancellation. These events have further silenced chapter voices as the absence of monthly consultation committee meetings all year has deprived the chapter of our voice on issues such as fiscal and budgetary matters, instructional goals, programming, and how to best serve students while honoring the contract. What’s further disheartening is that Mr. Urena has done all of this because he knows UFT leadership will never hold him accountable for it.

Mrs. O’Neil also informed Mr. Agosto on December 7, 2017 that President Mulgrew would be meeting with Chancellor Farina in the days that followed and that the High School of Art and Design was the only high school on the agenda for that meeting. Mr. Agosto nor any member of Chapter leadership has been given any details on that meeting or even if it happened at all. This is yet another example of the UFT’s failure to advocate for its members and defend our chapter from the onslaught of anti-union animus perpetuated by Mr. Urena.

The inaction by the leadership of the United Federation of Teachers in response to the decimation of our chapter at the hands of Mr. Urena is outrageous and disappointing. It makes an already difficult situation that much worse when union officers who are charged with and paid with member dues to enforce the contract in every school have allowed and even tacitly encouraged these actions. Mrs. O’Neil’s actions on December 21, 2017 showed us that UFT leadership is either incompetent or working in collusion with Superintendent Rosales and Principal Urena to undermine our chapter’s position within our school. Further evidence is the recent photo proudly displayed on the UFT website of one of our teachers receiving the UFT’s CTE Award with Mr. Urena standing confidently among art and CTE teachers projecting a false narrative of a vibrant and active UFT chapter.

The legal ramifications of these actions have caused targeted chapter members to pursue outside legal counsel at our own expense to defend our rights and livelihoods since the UFT is not carrying out their duties to do so. Continued contractual violations occur on a daily basis at the High School of Art and Design and the UFT’s leadership has been complicit in allowing them to occur despite having a consistent documented paper trail attesting to them. We demand a meeting between our chapter’s consultation committee and President Mulgrew to address these issues directly to create the working environment that our chapter members deserve. If the UFT refuses a meeting with President Mulgrew and continues to ignore our plight, we will be forced to pursue a PERB complaint against the UFT for failing to enforce the contract and defend members from anti-union animus at the hands Mr. Urena and his abusive administration.

A copy of this letter is being sent to  online platforms to inform members of your inaction and dereliction of your duties. This letter will also be sent to other labor related media outlets as well as to the other major municipal workers’ unions to express our outrage at the UFT’s ineptitude and corruption to our union brothers and sisters across New York City.

We look forward to your prompt response in addressing the above outlined concerns. If we do not receive a response, we will see you in court for the PERB complaint we will file against the UFT in response.

In Solidarity,

Jason Agosto, Chapter Leader
Andrew Savage. UFT Delegate
Robert Robinson, Chemistry Teacher
George Zicopolus, Math Teacher
Janice Edelman, Art/CTE Teacher
Maya Zabar, English Teacher
Ayoka Cox, Guidance Counselor
Rachel Kaplan, History Teacher

cc:
Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE)
Solidarity Caucus
DC 37
Patrolman’s Benevolent Association
Uniformed Firefighter’s Association
Teamsters Local 831
The Chief-Leader
EdNotes
Francesco Portelos
Jia Lee

MUST READ - Kentucky United We Stand - Teachers in Revolt - Jacobin

..... One thing I’ve laughed about is that the politicians blame the teachers’ union for all these rallies, uprisings, and actions. They’ve vilified the unions. So when the sickouts happened, I hope the legislators shit their pants. Because the sickouts had nothing to do with the union — workers just said enough is enough. The Republicans have been lying to themselves, saying that this is all happening because of the big bad unions. But it’s actually the work of pissed off moms and dads.
.......People need to understand that right now we’re not fighting for anything new — we just want to hold on to what we have. And it’s not just about teachers, it’s about all state employees....
..... We formed Kentucky United We Stand as a grassroots group of state employees — all public employees, not just teachers. The purpose was to unify a bunch of folks who don’t have a real union presence; a lot of public employees don’t have a strong union.... ....Kentucky United We Stand was the main organizer of a rally on November 1 to oppose the plans for a special session. About a thousand people came.
.... When we started our Facebook group, it was consciously for action. We were very clear and upfront from the beginning. If you’re not ready to fight, then this group’s not for you.
 -----

EB: How have you related to the main union, the Kentucky Education Association (KEA)?

NB:  I don’t want to talk bad about the union. The KEA put out a good call to educate the people in our community about the attacks on pensions and schools. And they’ve done a good job of getting people to the capitol every day over last few weeks. We’ve had rolling protests in Frankfurt throughout this whole session.But my biggest reason for starting #120 Strong was that the union leaders haven’t been aggressive enough. Our general message was: “We need to be more aggressive and we need to be united.” We realized that if we didn’t build unity, this struggle wasn’t going to win. 

----

EB:  This is some pretty amazing work that you’ve done. Have you been involved in organizing anything like this before?

NB:  Not really. I’ve never been a labor leader or had any experience organizing on this scale. But my dad is a mineworker and he’s fighting for his pension. I said two years ago that I was going to fight for my dad’s pension, so I started trying to get involved and I started following state issues.Working people, that’s my focus. But I’ve never done anything like this before. I’m a mom, I have a ten-year old. I like to drink beer, have a cigar every so often, and cuss a lot. I’ve been telling everyone in the struggle: This isn’t about me, this is your movement. I just helped open the door. This is a struggle of regular working people. I’m not anything, not a labor organizer. I’m just a mom that got really pissed off — and really tired of getting kicked by the people in power. This movement is what America should be. Nobody is going to change the world for you. If you’re waiting for superman, he’s not showing. You have to be your own hero.

--- Nema Brewer, Kentucky teacher who was a major organizer of the current fightback

Jacobin has some of the best reporting on the red state teacher revolts. Eric Blanc (EB) has done a lot of the reporting. Now I don't know if Nema Brewer was a Trump voter, many of whom voted for him because they just don't trust politicians, Dems or Rep. I wish some of the reporting would explore the politics of some of the strikers.

I've been working on a theory -- that there are Trump people involved in some of these teacher actions -- that the anger that fueled  their Trump votes is also fueling their enough is enough actions as teachers.

“This Is a Struggle of Regular Working People”

An interview with

Nema Brewer

Kentucky schools are shut down today amid a growing grassroots worker rebellion. We spoke with one rank and filer who helped organize the action.

Schools across Kentucky were shut last Friday and will be closed again on Monday as teachers and public employees organized sickouts against cuts to their pensions. Jacobin’s Eric Blanc spoke with Nema Brewer, a school district employee and organizer in Fayette County, about the emergence and development of this powerful movement.

https://jacobinmag.com/2018/04/kentucky-teachers-public-workers-strike-pensions-budget

John Merrow, Former Ed Deform Supporting Journalist, Saw the Light

I used to take PBS ed reporter John Merrow over for some of his awful reporting on Michelle Rhee, New Orleans, a major attack on teachers and their unions in the NY Times (or WSJ) 10 years ago.

Over the past 5 years Merrow has seen the light and has become a warrior against ed deform - as Diane Ravitch did. Here she posts links

John Merrow Questions Rick Hess’s Contrition about the Failure of Reform in D.C.

I posted Rick Hess’s article chastising his fellow reformers for their celebration of D.C.’s “success” as a model, which led to their embarrassment when the falsification of graduation data was revealed.

John Merrow posted a lengthy comment following Hess’s article, which is worth reading. - continue - Merrow

Then in 2013 - he began to look at the Michelle Rhee cheating scandals - Ed Notes reported in May 2013:

John Merrow's Growing Relentlessness on Rhee Cheating Scandal Sparks Rhee Scrutiny

John Merrow has been relentless in connecting the dots in the Michelle Rhee cheating scandal. Remember those glowing reports he did on PBS about Rhee (and Vallas in New Orleans?)

Don't underestimate how important the move of media people like Merrow away from supporting the deformers will prove to be.
Connect these dots to Walcott's almost hysterical response to the mayoral candidates.

I see on Dec. 31 Tweedies burning and shredding documents like they did in the US Saigon embassy on the day before the fall.

The New Republic, which I seem to remember being a cheerleader for ed deform (I may be wrong so check my work) has this:

How Michelle Rhee Misled Education Reform A memoir illustrates what's wrong with her brand of school

I think Merrow's turnaround is pretty remarkable. See some of the things I posted about Merrow in the bad old days to see just how far he's come.

Fred Klonsky on Red State Teacher Revolts - Do Weakened Union Leaderships Lead to Stronger Rank and File Movements?

Unions and collective bargaining are also a means of control and provide labor peace.....

The movement is taking place on Facebook and Twitter. Not in NEA or AFT offices and union meetings. That makes things difficult to control. The Koch Brothers, Governor Rauner and others who are backing Janus may be sorry they ever brought this whole thing up..... .... Fred Klonsky,

“Aunty Em! Aunty Em!” , Fred Klonsky

Will Red State Teacher Revolts influence the Supreme Court in the Janus case? The argument made by unions in the Janus case that they are part of the structure that keeps labor peace may just resonate.

What does that mean for militancy here in NYC where we have the largest and most entrenched union leadership where Unity Caucus can reach out to every single UFT member? We will be the last to strike unless Janus weakens Unity Caucus. How? If 30% leave the UFT that is a massive reduction in incoming dues. The patronage machine and possibly the high salaries that keeps them coming to Unity take a hit and Unity begins to lose some control - and if people in the schools get pissed off enough, who knows? But I'm a realist. There are so many teachers not from here - they can always go home - and so many are younger and without families - the major gripers are the old timers it seems - and they are making over 100 grand. So do I expect militancy from the membership? Not much. Some of my pals in MORE actually think they can help spark militancy. Good luck to that.

But my guess is that the politicians in NYS know better - to make sure Unity is as strong as they can keep it so red state teacher revolts don't happen here.

One more point I will make again and again. Look at the photos of the striking teachers -- very white. And I bet there are a whole batch of militant people branded by the left as "deplorables."  The kind of people my left friends in MORE keep telling me are not activists.

Fred nails important points as an explanation for the red state teacher revolts - they are somewhat freed to engage in wildcat strikes that are illegal because their union leaders have less control. There is not a strong enough union structure to control the members in red states where the teacher unions are weakened.

Posted by

Fred Klonsky on March 31, 2018

“Aunty Em! Aunty Em!”

What do West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky all have in common?

Well, yes. Teachers have all walked off the job in those states, or threatened to, in the last few weeks over lousy pay.
They are all part of what I call the rolling national teacher revolt.
Also, they are all in right-to-work states.

That means teachers have limited bargaining rights and the teachers unions there are not able to require membership in exchange for representation.

Yesterday teachers in Kentucky called in sick and Kentucky schools had to close one day early in advance of Spring break.
In Arizona teachers held what Education Week called an “electrifying rally.”

In the shadows of the State Capitol, thousands of Arizona teachers decked in red demanded Wednesday that their state government pump $1 billion back into the public school system and provide school workers with a 20 percent pay increase. If their demands aren’t met, their leaders said, they’ll stage a statewide strike.

This is not the end of the rolling national teacher revolt. Twenty seven states have right-to-work laws.

And the U.S. Supreme Court is considering the case of Janus. If the Court rules in favor of the plaintiff then all America becomes a collection of 50 right-to-work states.

Fifty states where unions are limited in what they can bargain and cannot require agency fees or membership.

You don’t need a crystal ball to know what’s coming if that happens.

Collective bargaining and union membership result in higher wages and benefits for teachers, better working conditions and teacher voice. That’s good for students and their families too.

Unions and collective bargaining are also a means of control and provide labor peace.

The opposite is what you now see in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona and Kentucky.

Many of the teachers slapped on top of their bright red shirts stickers that reminded the many local TV cameras that a strike is possible. 
For a movement that’s largely taken place on Facebook and Twitter, Wednesday also served as a sort of family reunion where teachers working in far-flung districts met each other in person for the first time. 

The movement is taking place on Facebook and Twitter.
Not in NEA or AFT offices and union meetings.
That makes things difficult to control.

The Koch Brothers, Governor Rauner and others who are backing Janus may be sorry they ever brought this whole thing up.

Commentary on: It’s Oklahoma’s Turn to Strike - Jacobin

Kentucky teachers

.... bad conditions and attacks on working people never lead automatically to mass movements. Political resignation is usually more common than resistance since workers, particularly where labor organizations are weak, tend to search for individual solutions to collective problems. “Until very recently,” says Miller, “Oklahoma teachers have been going without any hope, feeling like nothing could be done to change things. People would say, ‘It is what it is; it’s out of our power.’” In recent years, union-led efforts to reverse the attacks on public services and education have yielded few results in Oklahoma.... Oklahoma unions deserve credit for helping keep the issue of teacher pay and school funding squarely in the public eye over recent years. Yet, as in West Virginia, the initiative for the current movement has mostly come from below...... The fact that Oklahoma, like West Virginia, is a so-called “red state” has obscured the existence of majority support for progressive working-class policies. In the 2016 primaries, Bernie Sanders received more votes than any candidate of either party.

....... Jacobin 

These excerpts offer a lot of food for thought.
One of the major lessons of the teacher revolt in red states is that much of the militarism may be coming from the center/right, not from the left. Not only that, from the photos, the protestors are overwhelmingly white.

I have a theory - and that is based on a lot of guessing - so as more info comes in I may toss this theory away:

That many people who voted for Trump are expressing a form of frustrated outraged militarism. Labor movement people's militancy has been dampened from a weak-kneed union leadership that is often more liberal than they are and these sparks are beginning to fly in these states because their Republican leaderships have just gone too far in cutting education.

Diane Ravitch posted a link to the article from Jacobin (a strong left wing journal) which gives us excellent background on events  in Oklahoma and how things may differ from West Virginia. You might want to see how the Jacobin piece dovetails with the view from Mike Antonucci on the right - How Oklahoma Will Be Different From West Virginia. 

The Jacobin article mentions Oklahoma teacher Larry Cagle and others but never seems to delve into their politics. Are they avoiding dealing with those politics because if the emerging leadership is coming from the non-activist center/right, it may undermine some of the premises so many on the left operate under:

That a left enlightened "vanguard" will lead the workers out of their darkness.

I see a lot of that mentality in MORE, while my sense (from a distance) is that there is a lot of latent militancy in the non-active UFT members, many of whom may leave post-Janus. That the MOREs may find themselves outflanked from the right if the shit every hits the fan here in NYC, which compared to the red states, has a long way to go. You also hear a lot of talk about race in MORE. But when the red state teacher story is told, the race of the teachers is not talked about.

So, where do these militant teachers from Red Trump states come from politically? I imagine they might be more liberal on the whole than others in their state since they are teachers but probably compared to here in NYC there would be Trump supporters, red dog Democrats and probably some liberals.

How about leftists - socialists? Did radical activists play much of a role in WV or currently Oklahoma? Larry Cagle is one of the independent leaders in Oklahoma and very strong in pushing back against the union leaders, who I bet are more liberal than he is. Larry, in his phone call to the Jacobin/DSA/ISO/MORE March 10 event said "Here it's Trump against Trump?"

Would Larry Cagle, who is being lauded as one of the heroes by the left, otherwise be branded a "deplorable?" Would the liberal/left anti-Trumpers even want to talk to him if he was a teacher in NYC?

Now what does this say for the opposition in the UFT to Unity Caucus, the leaders of whom maintain they are more liberal than the mainstream NYC teacher while the main opposition maintains it wants to focus on reaching the activist/left oriented teacher?

Here are excerpts from the Jacobin article - a must read - though always with a critical eye. Read it all at: https://jacobinmag.com/2018/03/oklahoma-teachers-strike-west-virginia

It’s Oklahoma’s Turn to Strike