June 27, 2021 - DEMOCRACY NOW! - Democratizing Our School Communities & Union - Educators of NYC

 

Get ready for our online community event later today.

DEMOCRACY NOW! - Democratizing Our School Communities & UnionI’ve signed up to attend a community meeting with The Educators of NYC on Sunday, Jun 27, 2021. Are you free to join me? Use this link to sign up: https://www.mobilize.us/theeducatorsofnyc/event/389714/?referring_vol=1065650&rname=Norm&timeslot=2786883&share_medium=email_link&share_context=email_3

 

Tomorrow, Sunday, 6/27, 2021, at 7 PM, Educators of NYC will ask if more can be done to DEMOCRATIZE NYC public school governance and, even, structures within our cherished educator union.

We hope to have a panel represented by some of our union’s caucuses and leaders, and audience interactions about the topic.

We will also share a special segment about Wednesday’s rally to fight the privatization of city worker’s healthcare, on June 30th at 12 PM. See the details regarding the rally here.

RSVP now. http://forum.educators.nyc

 

 

Norms Morn: Sat, June 26 - Retiree Rally June 30 - come on down, Randi on Scotus - takes both sides, DSA mixed results in city, WTF- Rhode Island Dems charterize - With AFT Support?, Class size video

 

Multi-municipal union retirees to rally and walk - not run- to visit union HQ - joined by some young working teachers to hold us up and pick us up.

Join us in June 30 at 12 noon at the plaza in front of the Indian Museum across from Battery Park for a rolling rally where we will make some strategic stops - maybe even visit 52 Broadway. 

 

June 26 - Good morning and happy first day of vacation - 

Bipartisanship sucks - Infrastrucure is a gift to corporate Dems and Rep

Benjamin Studebaker: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Agreement is Embarrassing -  

 The Left and POC -

When we were in MORE and people would lament the lack of people of color we would say they are in Unity if you want to find them. So then the response to that was that those people were bought off -- the left can't understand that there may be more than bribery involved. Many black people especially reject the left -- but these are the older crowd and polls show younger blacks leaned to Wiley over Adams.

For those of us who lived through years of white progressives in MORE Caucus rending their garments over the failure to attract people of color, this one's for you:

Progressives’ Urgent Question: How to Win Over Voters of Color

A yearslong challenge for the left was starkly illustrated this week as its hopes faded in the New York mayor’s race. .. Adams' appeal adds evidence to an emerging trend in Democratic politics: a disconnect between progressive activists and the rank-and-file Black and Latino voters who they say have the most to gain from their agenda. As liberal activists orient their policies to combat white supremacy and call for racial justice, progressives are finding that many voters of color seem to think about the issues quite a bit differently.

https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/on-politics

There were some gains for the socialist left (vs the liberal left). The new mayor of Buffalo is a DSA and DSA was in contention in City Council races where they put their energy. Yesterday I posted Erik Mears' piece on the left and DSA. Erik is a leftist but also a West Point grad who served in Iraq. Mayhe he was the one Gen Wiley was talking about as he schoold Matt Goetz.  If you missed it:

The left’s tepid support for Maya Wiley bodes ill for its future in city-wide elections

DSA - as a member I often cheer and cringe at the same time -- but here's a mixed story

Gotham: Some Gains For DSA

The Democratic Socialists of America made modest gains in electing their endorsed candidates to the Council. Of the six candidates they backed, two are leading in their respective races. They include Tiffany Caban for the 22nd Council District in Queens (she is also claiming victory), and Alexa Aviles for the 38th Council District in Brooklyn.

Read More: How Far Left Will These Two Centrist City Council Seats Go?

The rest—including Adolfo Abreu for the 14th Council District in the Bronx, Jaslin Kaur in the 23rd Council District in Queens, Michael Hollingsworth in Brooklyn's 35th Council District, and Brandon West in the 39th Council District, also in Brooklyn—trail so far. With only two members of the DSA making some inroads, their influence doesn't appear to completely shift the Council's political ground to the left.

https://gothamist.com/news/six-takeaways-city-council-results-2021 

From DSA Queens update:

Electoral Working Group 

The EWG just wants to say THANK YOU to everyone for an amazing election season! Whether you did a shift a week or talked to your friends about our candidates, this was a group effort and we are so proud of Queens DSA. It seems we won't have a final result until July, so stay tuned for that news!

 

However, the results as of now:

In Jaslin’s race, 91.92% of in-person votes have been recorded (including early and Election Day voting, but not absentee ballots). The total of first-place rankings in the first round shows Jaslin in close second place, fewer than 600 votes behind Linda Lee. There's still a lot of race to go and everyone should be proud!

In Tiffany’s race, she declared victory that night with 49.32% of first choice votes! While her race has not been “officially” decided, her lead is steep. Congrats Tiffany!

 

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The future of a unionless, privatized school system - backed by the AFT state union --- Can that possibly be true? O yes it can -- remember how the AFT  backed NCLB, Race to the top --- The neo-libs hand the union the knife and they stick it into themselves.

Rhode Island goes rogue by automatically enroll every child in lottery

From Ravitch:  

Rhode Island: Legislature Proposes that Every Child in State Be Placed in Charter Lottery

When Gina Raimondo, now Secretary of Commerce, was governor of Rhode Island, she was an enthusiastic supporter of privately-run charter schools. Her successor as governor was director of a charter school (Blackstone Valley Prep) before he ran for office.

Now, the Rhode Island House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would “automaticallly enter all public school students into charter school lotteries...” with parents having to actively opt their child out if they prefer the traditional public school in their community instead. …. 

The bill was sponsored by Democrat Rep. Edith Ajello of Providence and Democrat Rep. Joseph McNamara of Cranston and Warwick says it has the support of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.

https://www.wpri.com/news/education/opting-out-instead-of-opting-in-ri-house-wants-to-change-charter-school-system/

Remember who Raimondo it -- BIDEN'S Commerce Secty who was floated as Ed Secty until progressive nixed her. Sometimes I actually get some joy watching Republicans savage Dems.

See also https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/local/2021/05/28/infante-green-removed-teacher-contract-negotiation-providence/7487933002/

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new video: why class size matters!

Check out and share our new video!

NYC educators, parents, students, elected officials explain how class size has a profound impact on learning and the quality of education, especially for disadvantaged and high needs students, and that for the sake of true equity, class sizes should be reduced in NYC and nationwide. 

If you agree, sign our petition to the Mayor .

Shorter version of the video here on vimeo here.

Thanks, Leonie Haimson

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SCOTUS decision on student free speech: Randi takes both sides - in the same article

Doesn’t this sound like the Randi and AFT switched positions? https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/23/supreme-court-snapchat-school-free-speech-495655

The nation’s second largest teachers union and education groups representing school boards, principals and superintendents, in an amicus brief, had urged the high court to side with the school district. The groups wanted justices to “reaffirm that the nation’s public schools retain the authority to discipline students, as warranted, for off campus student speech that threatens to interfere improperly with school operations.”...

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten also lauded the opinion, saying “the court made a wise decision in favor of the student.”

“While off-campus speech by students can be the subject of discipline when threats or bullying are involved, there must be a higher standard when the speech occurs outside of school,” she said.

 

Norms Morn Report - June 26, 2021 - Last School Day, DSA - Wiley not left enough, Adams Big Theat to left and UFT, Go Felicia Singh, CC32

A new Ed Notes wrinkle 

I've had problems deciding what to write on this blog due to so much interesting

info coming in all day, to the extent that I often just don't bother blogging. So now I'm going to try to do bits and pieces of info with links, morning and maybe even evening and even midday when I can. Look for Norms Morn and Norms Eve. And maybe Norms Noon.

School's over

For 35 years this was the happiest day of the year. Then I'd wake up the next morning and think - damn, only 65 days before I have to go back. And then I'd end up going in the last week of July to set up my room. But since I retired 19 years ago, I only notice school is over when there are no school buses coming down my block and loads of parking spaces. Anyway, congrats to all in-service members. Next year may be a normal one - or maybe not if Delta variant goes wild.

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UFT member Erik Mears at Provocations blog delves into DSA and future mayoral campaigns

There is a popular narrative on the left that although left-leaning candidates are not faring well in this year’s NYC mayoral election, a DSA-backed leftist could win city-wide in 2025 or 2029. Here is why I view that as an almost-worthless prediction:

The left’s tepid support for Maya Wiley bodes ill for its future in city-wide elections

I met Erik through MORE. While he doesn't mention MORE in his blog, I was thinking that he describes MORE which is so connected to DSA. MORE pushed the UFT to overthrow Stringer (due process be damned) and give the faux leftist Morales a holler and ignored Wiley, just as Mulgrew did. Well, at least Unity and MORE came to agreement -- bipartisanship -- and we end up with Adams.

Erik's blog is on my blogroll -- He hasn't done much blogging and his is a reasonable progressive voice that should be heard. I left this comment:

Good analysis. The hard left always celebrates even modest gains and ignores any negatives. Buffalo was a success of course but the Cuomo attack is not totally false - low turnout and terrible campaign by incumbent. DSA is now on the radar of billionaires and a major assault on anything to do with socialism is coming. I'm a DSA member and like a lot of their organizing ability but they have to go reach into communities of color. I often see the hostility towards left ideas from that community coming out of that community at Delegate Assemblies. But that is Unity Caucus which is in a category of its own. UFT will never endorse a DSA person unless they are an incumbent.

I'm very wrapped up in DSA analysis - I'm a member but with questions -- because they present the first serious challenge to the Dem Party machine at the grassroots level. They are viewed as an enemy of center Dems, including the UFT, and Republicans and billionaires. Their success has made them a target.

Also see Gotham: How Far Left Will These Two Centrist City Council Seats Go?

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Eric Adams a threat to the left and to UFT

The big threat to the UFT will be lifting the charter cap and Mulgrew by not having Wiley as second choice will pay a price - unless the Dem Socialists ironically have enough influence to kill the charter cap lift --- don't expect UFT usual allies in the Dem Party to save them. I bet the next Chancellor will be super charter friendly - maybe even Eva gets to choose. Ross Barkan has two article worth reading.

Eric Adams and the Weapon of Identity:  The Left doesn't quite know what could hit them

Eric Adams, Unleashed

Adams will weaponize identity politics while allying with billionaires and real estate interests to make left criticism toothless as he accuses the mostly white groups of racism. Just watch a group like MORE, so wrapped up in identity politics, try to dance around this one. One thing I used to notice when I was in MORE, my pleas to really go after charters met with some interesting lack of interest. I guessed fears of the pro-charter elements of the black community -- how dare these white leftists tell us where to send our kids? 

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Felicia Singh with slight lead over UFT endorsed Scala in CC 32 race

Singh is not a Dem Socialist but pretty progressive and had local DSA members active in her campaign. She was a charter school teacher and by some accounts did not have a clear message on education.

Scala was endorsed by the UFT but they don't seem to care about ed records as long as the candidate is not too left. I didn't list Scala at all.

Severino who was backed by Leonie and others in KidsPac dropped out. So Singh would need other candidates' #2 choice. I had asked some of her campaign workers about #2 strategy and they didn't seem to have one. But if they had made a few deals with say Alamarie or Sheikh - she'd probably win. I'm thinking that their 1400 voters might just pick Singh based on her name alone.

Member of the City Council 32nd Council District - Democratic (Unofficial Results from Round 1+)
Name Party Votes Percentage   1   Felicia Singh  Democratic   3206  36.23% 2   Bella A. Matias  Democratic   702  7.93% 3   Michael G. Scala  Democratic   3094  34.96% 4   Shaeleigh Severino  Democratic   221  2.50% 5   Kaled A. Alamarie  Democratic   601  6.79% 6   Helal A. Sheikh  Democratic   880  9.94% 7   WRITE-IN     145  1.64%   8849     Percentage of Scanners Reported: 98.41 %

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John Lawhead (ICEUFT and Solidarity Caucus) has been running a series on UFT history that has been fabulous. We focused on Dave Seldin's book  - he was Shanker's mentor. Really great stuff. Most Fridays at 6 PM -- if interested email me.

This week we are returning to David Selden's fascinating story of the power struggles within the AFT in 1968-69.  I'm hoping we can cover chapters 13-18 of The Teacher Rebellion.  Whatever we don't get to, we can take up on July 9, which will be our next chance to meet.

At that time I would also like to discuss the final chapter of Blackboard Unions, "Professionalism and Unionism in the 70s and 80s" by Marjorie Murphy.

 

See you later - maybe.

Norm

The Ugly Facts - UFT Helped Adams and charters by ignoring Wiley, AOC Votes Stringer #2 questioning METOO auto cancellation

Mulgrew told people not to vote for Adams. But in essence he may have helped Adams get elected. Mulgrew and the UFT could have taken advantage of RCV (see Politico below) --- but the UFT is center/right Democratic Party and Wiley was too far out -- they won't say it but would rather have Adams than Wiley - better to have more charters? Was it an error in judgment or a calculated political decision? No one outside the black box of narrow UFT decision making knows.

How dangerous is Adams? Ross Barkan let's us know.

Eric Adams and the Weapon of Identity

The Left doesn't quite know what could hit them

Eric Adams, Unleashed

https://rossbarkan.substack.com/p/eric-adams-unleashed

And City and State reports: 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez revealed that she ranked Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer as her Nos. 1 and 2 picks for New York City mayor while making no mention of the sexual harassment accusations swirling around Stringer, the Daily News reports. 

Given that METOO was weaponized against Stringer, I see the AOC vote as a significant form of vindication - and condemnation of aspects of meetoo and automatic cancellation. And to some extent a point for Mulgrew and the UFT for sticking with Stringer. 

But I keep asking how Mulgrew and his three men and one woman in the room make their decisions. But when you examine the history of real UFT politics - not what they say but what they do -- you can see that what I said to open this conversation is accurate. Better right wing than left wing.

Mulgrew has helped elect Adams by ignoring Wiley

My problem with the UFT is that they didn't offer alt choices, totally ignoring the new RCV system. In other words, locking us into a loser, once again. Many of us, and some inside the UFT itself, pushed for at the very least Wiley as a #2. With her in 2nd place and with a chance to overtake Adams, in essence Mulgew has helped Adams despite calling for him and Yang to be left off the ballot.

So if Wiley could have beaten Adams if the UFT had backed her, watch what happens when charters invade in force and Mulgrew will run away from this mistake.

I think the Stringer collapse and the questions raised as progressives blew a chance to win will have repercussions. Every male candidate better search his past back to elementary school. I just remembered, I looked up a girl's dress when I was 5. 

Here are some of my reports on the UFT, Stringer and the questionable charges.

• Mayoral Election Update: UFT/AFT Defiantly Doubles...
• What Should Next School Year Look Like? - An Educa...
• Krystal Ball on Stringer Charges: Are Progressives...
• UFT Sticks with Stringer Despite MORE Calls to Dro...

Here's an example explaining how Mulgrew and the UFT could have taken advantage of RCV -- but the UFT is center/right Democratic Party and Wiley was too far out -- they won't say it but would rather have Adams - just as they'd prefer Trump to a Bernie.

Politico: RANKED CHOICE VOTING: IT’S AUSTRALIAN FOR ELECTIONS — Ranked choice voting isn’t complicated — but you’d never know it from New York City’s mayoral race.

When Nightly contacted each of the top candidates, not one of them had a plan for telling their voters how to rank the rest of the candidates on their ballots. Sure, Andrew Yang has been saying for months that he would rank Kathryn Garcia second, and he urged his supporters to do so at a weekend rally — but he failed to even update his website with the instruction. A list of ranked-choice recommendations is not posted on any candidate’s site, or printed on their mailers. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave a more detailed RCV guide for downballot races than any of the mayoral candidates did for their own race.

That’s Election 101 stuff in Australia, my home country and the global capital of ranked choice voting , where the system is used in all elections from college campuses to federal elections. In New York, where I live now, voting may be about to end at 9 p.m. ET, but the crapshoot among five leading candidates is only just starting.

Ever since New Yorkers voted by a 74-26 margin to introduce ranked choice voting in 2019 — joining the state of Maine and cities including San Francisco and Minneapolis — the system has been under attack, including from Eric Adams, the leading candidate in today’s mayoral race . In a decision that may fuel suspicions, the city’s notorious election board won’t commit to timely publication of ongoing vote totals.

But the real problem has been the failure of the candidates to adapt their campaign strategies to the new system. In a ranked choice system, self-interest dictates that a candidate should make deals with rivals and communicate those deals with voters. But admitting you need voters who think you’re only second-best is the antithesis of New York toughness.

The lowest-ranked candidates could have formed a coalition to take on the big shots, while the more left-wing candidates such as Maya Wiley, Scott Stringer and Dianne Morales could have worked together to blunt the moderates at the top of opinion polls.

Instead it was moderate Kathryn Garcia who did most to explore preference deals, and even that was half-hearted. She failed to return the favor when Yang recommended her as his second choice.

Australia’s experience with ranked choice voting shows that deals among candidates can affect the results. Australian candidates have won ranked choice elections with as little as 0.2 percent of first choice votes . Senator Ricky Muir won a Senate seat in 2013 after starting with 0.5 percent of the vote: He vacuumed up another half million or so votes from voters who ranked him second or lower, closing a 400,000 vote gap. (Muir is an exception, though. The main outcome the system has led to in the Australian Senate, where eight parties are represented, is diversity without gridlock.)

More common are “Anyone But X” campaigns. In San Francisco, mayoral candidates Jane Kim and Mark Leno formed a tactical alliance against Mayor London Breed, getting within 2,500 votes of unseating her in 2018.

In New York, Adams — a former Republican — is a vulnerable frontrunner sitting at the top of opinion polls with just 24 percent support. An “Anyone by Adams” campaign could have worked, but his rivals missed that tactical opportunity, leaving it up to individual anti-Adams voters to coordinate to defeat him.

Polls alone should have told the leading candidates the usual tactics wouldn’t cut it. Five candidates have regularly polled in double digits — Adams, Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer — but none is polling above 25 percent. That means each of them needs to double or triple their vote totals to win by collecting second, third, fourth and fifth preference votes as their lower-ranked rivals are eliminated and their votes are redistributed.

In the absence of coordinated rivals, Adams used his frontrunner status to slam ranked choice voting as a form of voter suppression: “Everyone knows that every layer you put in place in the process, you lose Black and brown voters and participation,” he told POLITICO. He railed Monday against Yang and Garcia for finally daring to campaign together.

By Adams’ logic, the same people who voted for ranked choice voting are going to be disenfranchised by it. But voters say they’re happy with the system, and Adams is in pole position. In 96 percent of American ranked choice elections since 2004, the candidate with the most first-preference votes ended up winning.

It’s not even New York’s first time at this rodeo: A version of ranked choice voting was in place from 1936 to 1947, allowing the first women and black candidates to be elected to the City Council. The local Democratic machine disliked the reduced control that ranked choice voting forced on them, and worked for years to abolish the system.

As the leading candidate, Adams cannot coast to victory under ranked choice. Instead, he must listen to and appeal to voters well beyond his base. If he fails in that task, one of the lower ranked candidates will sweep up second preference votes and overtake him when the final results are tabulated sometime in the week of July 12.

If Adams ends up winning, he may work to kill New York’s new voting system. His rivals would have only themselves to blame.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at rheath@politico.com, or on Twitter at @politicoryan.

Another interesting article on RCV

https://www.wired.com/story/ranked-choice-voting-reveals-the-weird-math-of-elections

UPDATE W OFFICIAL RESULTS - UFT Retiree Chapter Election impacted by proposed Medicare changes - High turnout, RA vote up by ten points, reaching 30% - highest ever - Unity still gets all 300 delegates

UPDATE: June 23, 2021 

At the Retired Teacher meeting June 22, they released the official results:

RTC Election Results

Slate results:

Total votes cast: 23,024

Retiree Advocate/UFT: 6755 (29.3%)

Unity slate: 16,269 (70.7%)

Chapter Leader Results:

Total votes cast: 23,546

Gloria Brandman, RA: 6900 (29.3%)

Tom Murphy, Unity: 16,646 (70.7%)

I and Eterno (UNITY WINS RETIRED TEACHERS CHAPTER ELECTION BUT SUPPORT FINALLY SLIPS) were out earlier because we felt they were purposely withholding the official counts so they could announce it themselves almost a week after the vote count, which was incredibly slow. That seems to be a trend in recent years. I remember having the results of elections the same day in the past - until a few years ago when I detected what seemed to be intentional slowdowns. We sat there all day in 2019, often with nothing happening as machines broke down. Unity just wore us out. In 2016 we learned we won the high schools at around 5PM. In 2004 we learned we won the high schools before noon. Also there seems to be some holding back on all the data - not in this election but in general elections. The UFT has the means to order boro, school and district voting patterns. In 2016 we got some data but they claimed they didn't pay for school patters. I think that would be pretty useful info -- to see where there is a total lack of interest. For all we know they do pay for that but don't share.

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Here is the original post:

All vote totals are not official but Tentative:

Number of votes cast: 24,000 (approximately). 

 

Slate votes

Unity: 16,646 (70%)

Retiree Advocate: 6755 (30%), all of whom are pay union dues-  taxation without representation in the delegate assembly.

Non-slate votes (varies by candidate)
Unity: 350-400

RA: 140-150

Voided ballots  - 350+ (like people who voted for both slates or scribbled nasty comments instead of voting.

Yes Virginia, the significantly higher vote totals for RA are clearly connected to the UFT leadership attempt to privatize our medicare and would have been even higher if more people were aware. If the Unity retiree totals in next year's general election were to drop into the 60s%. there will be some panic at UFT HQ - which means your attendance on June 30 can make a difference.

Monday, June 21, 2021

Before I go on my rant, join us in June 30 at 12 noon at the plaze in front of the Indian Museum for a rolling (moving) rally where we will make some strategic stops. We expect people from many unions and there might even be some music -- I can hum.

 

How does this connect to the outcome of this election? What I said above. 

 

Note how Mulgrew keeps harping on our role in pushing back against privatizing that we are "politicizing" the issue. After all, who really cares about taking away our medicare? We just want to hassle Mulgrew.

With the whole world having moved away from privatized health care, Mulgrew acts like a Republican and moves us away from public health care. Sure it's politics -- the UFT's weak center Dem politics.

Imagine if the word had really gotten out to retirees. We wouldn't have won but I bet we might have dug deeper into the 30's and once you start looking at 40% - wowser. But I do know this is a one issue situation for retirees. They are pretty much the happiest UFT members. Almost 7000 unhappy retirees may make Mulgrew look for a deal to keep them happy but screw future retirees. 

Some background info

The vote count for the Retiree Chapter election took place last Wednesday, June 16, I and other representatives from the contending Unity and Retiree Advocate (RA) caucuses were present all day awaiting the results. Shortly before 7 PM we were given what was termed preliminary results for those who voted for one of the two slates. Approximately 500 non-slate votes where voters checked off individuals from a list of 12 officers, 25 executive board and 300 delegates to the delegate assembly. RA ran about 130 while Unity ran a full slate. 

Imagine that almost 7000 people voted for RA and we get not one delegate to the DA while Unity winner take all gets all 300. Let's do the math -- 30% would give us 90 delegates -- we actually asked for a measly 5 as a show of good faith with Unity and they said NO. As I said, 7000 taxed without representation.

24 thousand out of a potential 70 thousand votes - 1/3 were returned which is considered a fairly high turnout for this election, held every three years.

Retiree vote has generally run over 85% for Unity in general elections: In 2019, only 11% due to divisions in opposition

It's always been clear that the key to Unity Caucus maintaining dominant control of the UFT is based on the retiree vote, which in general elections runs about 85% in favor of Unity. In 2019 it was even worse - only 11% of retirees voted opposition - there were three caucuses running.

With 70 thousand retirees, votes in general elections are limited to 23,000 which are pro-rated. But in reality no more than 24,000 vote in those elections. Given these numbers, even before an election begins, any opposition begins with a handicap, behind 20,000- 3,500. That's a lot of in-service member votes to make up. The only areas opposition can win anything is in the three major divisions where retirees don't vote: elementary, middle school and high school. Elections are every three years, with the next general election coming next year in the spring of 2022. RA as a caucus is never on the general election ballot but has worked with various caucuses in those elections as support troops, especially during working hours. RA expects to play a bigger role in next year's election. 

[All- Star Cast Joins Retiree Advocate/UFT Slate to...]

Retiree vote in past chapter elections has run roughly 20%

The retiree chapter election, also every three years, has no voting restrictions and RA has done slightly better head to head with Unity in chapter elections, affirming my argument that Unity opponents due best with one united front - head to head.

Over the past two decades Unity has been opposed by Retiree Advocate/UFT, a retiree caucus originally based out of New Action Caucus which has run in general elections for the past 25 years. I'm not sure but I don't think RA ever got much more than 20% and certainly never got anywhere near 7000 votes.

RA broadened its outreach about 6 years ago by officially separating from New Action and has attracted retirees from other caucuses in the UFT. In essence RA caucus is a conglomeration of activists who were in ICE, NA, Solidarity, MORE - a true united front.  

[The United Front: Retiree Advocate/UFT brings frie...]

That effort paid off as we were organizationally prepared to address the privatization issue when it hit in April, having met regularly all year, organized a webinar with 400 people registered, Press Conf at City Hall and the upcoming roving rally on June 30. 

The jump in voting for RA reflects this work. Now I don't necessarily expect the same outcome in retiree votes in the general election but if that did happen, there will be dark smoke coming out of 52 Broadway.

Some recent ed notes articles.

• Don't be gaslit - Medicare Advantage Horror St
• Retiree Advocate/UFT Calls for MLC Moratorium on h... 
• Municipal Healthcare Retirees kept in dark by UFT ... 
• VOTE NOW FOR RETIREE ADVOCATE/UFT SLATE IN RETIREE...

Charters will be the big winner unless Wiley wins (Stringer and Morales too, but unlikely)

Finally the NYT addresses the elephant in the room- the role of charter schools in this campaign. .... Leonie Haimson

Unless Wiley or Stringer or Morales win, the charter industrial complex will be the big winners. The article doesn't mention Garcia's out and out backing for lifting the charter cap. What will happen is a massive influx of charters, co-locations and the resumption of closing down public schools to make way for charters. 

The only way they will be stopped, given the way the odds are looking, will be by the state legislature and a massive outpouring of opposition from parents and teachers. The new progressives in the state legislature and plus the possible election of DSA to city council seats will be a bulwark -- but watch how much money will be spent to sell phony "choice" with their so-called waiting lists - which I challenge them to make public - which they never will.

Who Are the Billionaires’ Picks for New York Mayor? Follow the Money.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/21/nyregion/mayor-super-pacs-money.html?referringSource=articleShare
  

half of the billionaires’ spending has benefited just three of the field’s more moderate contenders: Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president who is considered the front-runner; Andrew Yang, the 2020 presidential candidate and a top rival; and Raymond J. McGuire, a former Citigroup executive who trails in the polls.

Daniel S. Loeb, another hedge fund billionaire and an outspoken supporter of charter schools and former chairman of Success Academy Charter Schools. He donated $500,000 to Mr. Adams’s super PAC and $500,000 to Mr. Yang’s super PAC in mid-May. Three weeks later, as Mr. Adams was cementing his front-runner status, Mr. Loeb gave Mr. Adams’s super PAC another $500,000.

the president of Mr. Adams’s super PAC is Jenny Sedlis, who is on leave from a charter school advocacy group, Students First NY, and co-founded Success Academy, which has received direct financial support from Mr. Griffin.

Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, has been critical of some charter school practices, which helped earn him the endorsement of the United Federation of Teachers. NY4Kids, a teachers’ union-backed super PAC supporting Mr. Stringer, reported raising nearly $6 million, with about $4.2 million raised and spent for the mayor’s race, a spokesman said.

The billionaire with arguably the longest-standing interest in the mayor’s race, the Hudson Yards developer Stephen M. Ross, is also funding a super PAC, but is not backing a particular candidate. Rather, the Related Companies chairman is trying to sway the election toward the center by sending mailers to New Yorkers who only recently registered as Democrats — a tactic that dovetailed with another super PAC, sponsored by a Related executive’s wife, created to persuade Republicans to switch parties.

 

City to Retirees: Private health care ─ Take it or leave it - Thursday, June 17 - 7:00 PM

 

*** Please forward widely ***

City to Retirees: Private health care
─ Take it or leave it

NYC government retirees to be forced to switch from public Medicare to a
private Medicare Advantage Plan

Thursday, June 17 - 7:00 PM EST

You can join this Zoom event by phone or computer.
Closed captions will be available.
Event will be recorded, with video link sent to all registrants.

Speakers:

Peter Arno, PhD, Director of Health Policy Research, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Naomi Zewde, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Policy and Management, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York (CUNY)

Betsy Rosenthal, MD, retired dermatologist and Board member, NY Metro Chapter, PNHP

Alec Pruchnicki, MD, geriatrician and Board member, NY Metro Chapter, PNHP

Bill Friedheim, Chair, Retiree Chapter, Professional Staff Congress-CUNY and Professor of History, Borough of Manhattan Community College/CUNY

Moderator:

Leonard Rodberg, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies, Queens College/CUNY & Research Director, NY Metro Chapter, PNHP

New York City, in an effort to save money on its employee benefits, is negotiating with the City labor unions to move its retirees and their family members from public Medicare to a private Medicare Advantage plan. They did not consult, or even inform, the 250,000 retirees and their families before adopting this policy change, which will require them to accept a private Medicare Advantage Plan with its limited choice of doctors and hospitals, as well as its co-pays and requirements for prior insurer approval of many treatments. Medicare Advantage plans are a good deal for healthy seniors, but they can become expensive and restrictive with limited options when serious illness strikes.

Both the Mayor and the City Council have previously declared their support for the NY Health Act, which would create a publicly-funded health care system and save the City billions of dollars. This progressive legislation which, for the first time, has majority support in both NY State Senate and Assembly, would provide all New Yorkers, and those who work full-time in New York, with more comprehensive and affordable health care than any now enjoy. It would expand far beyond what Medicare now covers including hearing, vision, dental, and long-term care. By eliminating the expensive private insurance middleman, it would save New York State (including NYC) billions and contain future costs as well.

This forum will examine the City’s plan for its retirees and contrast it with what will be possible with the New York Health Act.

Stay safe and keep acting for life-saving change,

Oliver Fein, MD
Board Chair, Physicians for a National Health Program – New York Metro
 

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook or the hashtags #PassNYHealth #NYHealthAct #MedicareForAll!

UFT News Today- Retiree Election Vote Count at 52 Bway, Delegate Assembly votes on hybrid meetings -with restrictions

Liz Perez--Motivates--Was a lot of discussion and compromise. Want all members to be engaged and this addresses that. Members have a choice to come in person with ability to vote, speak, present and amend motions. Members from home will be able to speak, vote and ask questions. Want to make sure all members are engaged. 

Barr--People participating via telephone will not be able to make motions, Will have option to appear in person. 

Camille Eady--Rises in support. Members have been supportive. Flexibility unparalleled. Will give opportunity for those uncomfortable with appearing in person.

Mike Schirtzer

--Favor of option, thinks participation has been great, opposes motion, disenfranchises members. Want everyone at 52 but not all will fit. Some can't make it, hybrid should have all with full privileges.

Patty Crispino--Calls question.

Arthur reports from the UFT Executive Board June 14, 2021--Hybrid DA Proposal

"Perhaps DOENUTS has it right comparing the UFT to the Republicans."

James at ICEUFT Blog

UFT SETS DEMOCRACY BACK AGAIN BY CREATING SECOND-CLASS STATUS FOR REMOTE DELEGATES FOR NEXT YEAR -  

At the UFT Executive Board this evening, the Board voted 94-6 to create a two-tiered hybrid system for Delegate Assemblies for the next school year. Those who can make it to 52 Broadway in Manhattan will get full rights to vote on motions, to ask questions, to make motions, to second motions, to move motions, to speak in a debate, to raise points of order, to raise parliamentary inquiries, to ask for points of information, to propose amendments, and more. On the other hand, those who are remote will get the right to listen to President Mulgrew filibuster, to speak in a debate, and then vote secretly. If you are a Delegate who is a parent who can't get to lower Manhattan by 4:15 P.M., or a Delegate who is incapacitated and or may have an emergency at school or home, Mulgrew, and the Unity Caucus are denying these Delegates some basic rights. 

It is 2021; the technology exists to put a system in place so that those attending remotely for whatever reason have the same basic rights as those attending a meeting in person.

Women make up the vast majority of the UFT membership and parents with child care responsibilities are probably a big share of Delegates but if they have to be remote for the Delegate Assembly, they get second-class status.

94-6 is a massive victory for democracy at an EB meeting where 100% ran on Unity slate. Mike led the charge.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021
I'm about to leave for 52 Broadway for the retiree chapter election vote count where Retiree Advocate is challenging Unity Caucus. 70 thousand are eligible to vote but expect at most 20-25,000, it even that. RA usually gets 20% - and since this edition is mostly about the DA, we theoretically should get a portion of the 300 Unity people elected to the DA - and I would be a delegate again. But winner take all by Unity disenfranchises the people who vote for us -- dues taxation without

representation. 

If we get an uptick in votes it will be due to the attempt by the union to knock us out of Medicare and into a privatized program. Leadership will notice.
I'm going to be in the city for a few days, with a visit tomorrow to the Mus of Nat History so I won't be reporting directly but will inform James with results at the ICEUFT blog.

DA goes hybrid but with different rules for remote

A controversy erupted in the past few days over the proposal to have hybrid meetings next year at the DA (beginning in October) but limits on those who are remote. And of course it is always important to track Unity hacks who call the question to kill debate. Leroy Barr actually kept debate open because what does it cost to allow people to blow off steam when you know you have the room? The final vote was 94-6, which is actually pretty good at an EB meeting where at most we expect Mike Schirtzer to be the only independent voice that might challenge the union line -- I wonder if Unity will allow him to run with him again in next year's election? An irony would be for him to run with a united opposition slate and knock off the Unity high school EB people as we did in 2016.

The basic message: if you have something to say or a reso to offer, get your ass down to 52 Broadway. I have mixed feelings as someone who had gotten his ass down to 52 at almost every DA since 1994. But then again, I'm nuts, did not have kids nor did I come in from the Bronx or who knows where?

Mike Schirtzer, who was originally elected to the EB along with Arthur on the MORE slate in 2016 and after the MORE purges ran on Unity in 2019, opposed the motion while Arthur supported it. I agree with both of them.

[By the way, with UFT chapter elections ending this week, the 2021 general UFT election season opens -- I have loads of ideas on that in future posts.]

The technology exists to allow non attendees to play an active role. A key is that live DAs generally were attended by 5-600 people out of a potential 3500. And don't forget those 300 Unity retirees who vote as a block. Not all attend but enough to influence any vote. If RA had delegates they would team up with other voices of dissent. And RA people have decades - even a half century of UFT activism behind them.

That attendance is pretty weak. Allowing people to take an active part remotely would make the DA a more viable body. Mike raised the point that if you emphasize being there, at least hold meetings in a space that can accommodate more than 20% of potential attendees - before the union moved to 52 DAs were held in schools that could accomate a lot more and even in giant hotel ball rooms for contract votes.

But big attendance is a threat to the leadership which knows full well that it can get Unity people there, along with a small opposition and sees more participation as a danger. There were a few instances where they lost some important votes and had to maneuver the body.

In person still important for activists
The small number of activists in the UFT do get there and for them I believe in person, even if they had full rights remotely, is still important for organizing purposes.

My goal of course was to be there to hand out something since I could not participate once I retired in 2002 and was no longer a delegate. I saw the DA as a space to meet and greet people and try to influence their views. Where else do union people from schools gather monthly? Of course it is mostly Unity Caucus people but there were always enough independents - in fact Ed Notes morphed into ICEUFT Caucus as an outcome of my meeting people at the DA where I handed out the paper every meeting starting in 1998.

So I get the idea that being there is a key if you want to participate. This is especially true for the relatively tiny activist opposition to Unity. 

One of my biggest gripes with MORE over the years was the sporadic interest in using the DA as an effective organizing tool. My repeated attempts to formulate a newsletter that would attract readers with some real news and analysis vs caucus propaganda were rejected and I had to revert to Ed Notes or other vehicles. I knew people wanted to read stuff I was putting out over the decades because many who recognized me would come over to ask for a copy.

I am still floating an idea of forming an independent delegate group as an uncaucus thingy where participants from all caucuses plus independents would work together at the DA -- an idea I floated in MORE for years until I have up. I have had some interest from a few people -- the idea would be to put out a newsletter along the lines of ed notes -- I would volunteer to edit it.
 

 The more I think of how the UFT operates -- at best center-right Democratic Party, the more I see them as almost acting like Republicans. They oppose universal health care and support private health insurance and their massive profits.

DOENUTS is thinking the same way: UFT suppresses voting rights -- sound familiar?

Mitch McConnell, confident in his chinless repose, shocked the world tonight as he strode to the podium of UFT headquarters' Shanker Hall during their weekly Executive Board meeting.  After several uncomfortable moments of deafening silence from the 100 member UFT governing body,  McConnell proceeded to give a fiery speech which included a ringing endorsement of the UFT's new rules for remote Delegate Assembly next year.

"Should I register as a Republican now?", wondered another confused member after casting her vote. A colleague nearby just shrugged her shoulders in response and offered, "I guess, just wait for the email?". 

"This is incredible" said another upset member, "I have to watch them take away voting rights for people on TV and now my own union wants to make sure that duly elected delegates are second class representatives in their own Delegate Assembly. I can't believe these two people are working together"

Mitch McConnell Walks Into a Union Hall ... and approves

Eric Adams and class size - Update

Adams said at a Citizens Budget Commission forum in February. “You could have one great teacher that’s in one of our specialized high schools to teach three to 400 students who are struggling in math, with the skillful way that they’re able to teach.”

“I cannot believe that Maya’s opponent, Mr. Eric Adams, actually thinks that you can teach three or 400 students in a class virtually,’” Dromm said. “Has he ever been in a New York City public school classroom? That is impossible.”

--- Politico NY

Leonie take on Eric Adams’ proposals on class size, remote learning & year-round schooling; his attempt to take them back after controversy erupted & video of Maya Wiley and Danny Dromm responses to the controversy.

https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2021/06/adams-comments-on-class-size-and-year.html

 I did a satire: Eric Adams' 400 Blows on class size - why stop at 400? let's make it a massive zoom party and sell off schools for condos

  

And the full Politico article below: