Good luck to all On the first day of school, It's as much about testing as vaccines -

Brace yourself, everyone. The city has decided, with almost everyone in attendance, that it only needs a fraction of the testing it did when it only had a fraction of the students. If you can't see what that spells, you may just be hard of reading.  ... NYC Educator. 

Scary story: Last night we hear about a healthy late-30, early 40-ish vaxed teacher who had some mild symptoms and got tested and came up pos for covid. Important point-- he went and got tested on his own, NOT BY DOE. If he went in today he would have subjected 60 colleagues. His wife, also DOE, is getting tested but still must go into work today. They are keeping their middle school kid home and actually intended to keep the kid home all along. Both of them have been very careful with masking etc.

Today I am going into the city for the first time in 6 weeks, taking the ferry. Why am I as nervous as I was a year ago before I was even vaxed? Tell me how it is not likely I'd get real sick. That's not enough for me. I don't want to get anywhere near this virus due to possibly long-term effects. You don't end up with reduced kidney function with a cold.

Another Hidden Covid Risk: Lingering Kidney Problems

https://www.nytimes.com › health › covid-kidney-damage

Sep 1, 2021 — Doctors are unsure why Covid can cause kidney damage. Kidneys might be especially sensitive to surges of inflammation or immune system ...

I'm 76 and in one month it will be 8 months since last vaxed and I will be first in line to get the booster.

It's now about testing, especially since there will be loads of unvaxed working in the same space.

Thursday, September 9, 2021

Good morning everyone on back to school day, the most nervous day of the year for me for 35 years, but joyful for the past 19. After two months of total freedom, I was bummed but also ready to see colleagues and students and parents. Butterflies but excited butterflies.

Every single year began with some chaos in my various schools. But today I feel butterflies for all the people who have to go back in the midst of as much fear and chaos as I've every seen. Teachers in LA and Chicago, due to strong progressive unions, may feel safer than NYC school employees - due to the political ambitions of de Blasio, whose political ambitions will crash even further than they have when things fall apart.

And de Blasio will be aided by the UFT's Michael Mulgrew who, other than Unity loyalists, may be the most unpopular UFT leader in history. [Unsafe Schools at any speed --call on UFT and DOE to issue 10 foot poles to vaxed school employees].

 

Mulgrew and Randi actually met with the leader of the unvaxed group while ignoring the calls of the majority of UFT members calling for some remote options, not for them but for parents, whose fears that lead to them not sending their kids to school may be met by DOE investigations instead of support. Mulgrew is silent.

 

As Arthur points out, the reduced testing is a head scratcher.

[Sign a petition for more testing. (see below break for text.)]

If you don't follow Dr. Michael Osterholm's weekly podcasts, they are a must listen.

The Osterholm Update: COVID-19

• Episode 67: You Can't Run Out the Game Clock (September 2, 2021)

He mocks the 3 foot distance rule and even the learning loss argument for forcing kids back to school. It's being driven by the it's the economy, stupid. Osterholm should be on TV more than Fauci -- and actually is appearing as the absolute realists. He also feels we are not doing enough testing.

Here is another must listen -- Michael Mina on Brian Lehrer advocates rapid testing as being as important as vaccines -- he even says we won't vax ourselves out of this pandemic but we can test our way out.

Brian Lehrer - Sept. 1

Summary Transcript

Michael Mina, MD, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, talks about how schools are preparing to test students, the science on boosters and who gets them, and more of the latest COVID-19 news.

https://www.wnyc.org/story/defense-home-rapid-test

Dr. Mina: Absolutely. COVID and quarantining is really an information problem. We quarantine a child and we say, "You can't go to school for 10 days because you've been exposed," because we don't know whether or not they've been infected, so we say, "Go home and quarantine." We actually have the tools now to know if they are infected and infectious and [unintelligible 00:03:35] a simple rapid test that a lot of people have now been finally hearing about.

Instead of quarantining the child or a whole classroom of children because somebody else turns up positive in the class, we can do what I call test to [unintelligible 00:03:53]. That's instead of having everyone quarantine, you just have them use a simple rapid test at home before school and you do that each day that they would otherwise be quarantining. You say, "You've been exposed potentially. We don't know if you're infected," so on Monday, use a rapid test in the morning, and if negative, go to school. Tuesday, use rapid test in the morning, and do that for the week. Most people don't actually turn positive who ended up being quarantine.

This is in a critical tool that we haven't really utilized very well at all in this pandemic to keep society running. This works for businesses, for schools. It's an information problem and we know how to solve that problem.

Brian: We always hear that the rapid tests aren't as accurate as the so-called PCR tests, the full nose swab. Are the rapid tests accurate enough for use like that and still protect the other kids in the class?

Dr. Mina: Absolutely. The rapid tests that have been authorized thus far in the United States are very accurate to answer the question, am I infectious? This is a very different question than have I been infected in the last few weeks? The question is, and why we quarantine people is we are worried about whether or not they are spreading the virus today. These rapid tests do exactly that, they detect infectiousness. I actually like to call them-- These are public health tools that I think should actually be called contagiousness indicators or something along those lines, because that's really what they excel at. They are very, very good to answer that question.

Brian: I see you have this Twitter thread going that's partly aimed at the Los Angeles public schools in particular. Is LA and outlier for some reason or typical of this issue?

Dr. Mina: This is happening all over the place. That was just one of the first big news reports to break. That was that day one, day two of school there were a huge number of quarantines and now we're seeing people and the teachers unions and such pushing for more extreme quarantines, that when one child becomes positive in a class, to quarantine the whole classroom. This is not the way to go. It wasn't last year and it still is not.

Kids have been out of school enough. The last thing we want to do in a pandemic is to have the societal ramifications be worse than the virus itself. We need to figure out and utilize the tools that we have available to us to ensure that children remain in school, to ensure that businesses keep running and we don't just keep using these brute force methods of closing things down and make major quarantines to solve a public health problem. Those solutions should be considered public health failures, and we have ways not to have to utilize those.

Petition text:

Petition for More COVID Testing in Schools

Dear Mayor de Blasio and Chancellor Porter,

Everyone who works for NYCDOE must protect students’ safety. To keep our communities safer, we demand more COVID testing in New York City’s public schools.

Children aged thirteen to seventeen have the highest positivity rates in New York City. For children aged five to twelve, the positivity rate increased tenfold over the summer. In the second half of August, about one in twenty school-aged children has been testing positive. That rate translates to at least one COVID-positive student in every K-12 class in New York City.

Just when schools need more COVID testing, NYCDOE plans less. Last year, once every week, NYCDOE tested 20% of the students. This year, every OTHER week, NYCDOE will test 10%. Testing half as many kids, half as often, reduces safety. Breakthrough cases are common, but NYCDOE will not test vaccinated staff or students. NYCDOE now allows families to refuse in-school testing. We still do not have testing for 3K, pre-K, or kindergarten; citywide, that leaves about 14% of our students in classes that never get tested.

The following measures will keep our city safer:


Test 40% or more every week. Larger sample sizes detect spreading cases. More frequent testing detects cases while there’s still time to act.

Test the vaccinated. When the Delta variant breaks through, vaccinated people spread COVID. Everyone stays safer if vaccinated students participate.

Require participation. This year should be like last year: families should acknowledge that their children will be tested, but testing should not be optional.

Test early childhood. Random testing cannot monitor untested classrooms. Include 3K, 4K, and kindergarten.

Restore staff testing. Every day, principals and assistant principals enter nearly every classroom. Educational administrators travel school to school. None of us wants to pass COVID to the students we love. If administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, school aides, custodial staff and kitchen workers all test alongside our students, we know our kids are safer.


You charged us with opening schools and keeping them open. More testing leads to more early quarantining, but less testing eventually results in more cases than our city can ignore. Another systemwide shutdown would undo everyone's goals for mental health, physical wellbeing, and academic learning.

We need early detection to maintain student health and public trust. Give us more testing, more often, for much more safety.

 

Unsafe Schools at any speed --call on UFT and DOE to issue 10 foot poles to vaxed school employees

There's the old joke: 

Guy1: What are those round marks on your forehead?  Guy1: From the ten foot poles. 

The origin of the phrase not to touch people with a ten foot pole comes from previous plagues. 

If I were still working, my unvaxed colleagues would have round marks on their foreheads. Imagine you are in the staff room and one of these characters walks in to eat lunch.

I call on the UFT and de Blasio to issue ten foot poles to all vaccinated school employees. There certainly should be one in every staff room. Or just use that window opening pole.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew is working to get religious and medical exemptions from the city's COVID vaccine mandate. He should be working on getting at least as many safety precautions in the schools as there were last year when COVID was at a lower rate in NYC than it is now but instead, Mulgrew is doing his best to placate an intractable loud minority of anti-vax mandate UFTers, many of whom are anti-union. Mulgrew is part of the bipartisan consensus among Democrats and Republicans to open full in-person learning no matter what is happening with the Delta variant. How many UFT members are we talking about who aren't vaccinated?.... James Eterno, ICEUFT blog

My religion is the cult of the cat. If I were still working that's my excuse. If I were working and I knew colleagues who refused to get vaxed I'd stay so far away from them I'd need binoculars to see them. Or just walk around with a 10 foot pole.

We just might have beaten the coming Delta school-based deluge IF all teachers and eligible students had been vaccinated. But they haven't been, so here goes more lock downs. 

James has been covering the UFT capitulation to the anti-vaxers at the ICE blog. You've got to read some of the comments to see why covid test cases are rising.

HAPPY LABOR DAY FROM EDUWONKETTE TO ALL BUT UFT LEADERSHIP

We love Eduwonkette who we helped get started with her blog over 15 years ago which became one of the hottest education blogs in the nation.

My tweet in response has gotten some play:

 

In Rockaway, Breezy Point (11697), which is supposedly over 90% vaxed, despite being 80% Trump territory, has a 15% testing rate, possibly the highest in the city. How is that possible? A friend from Breezy told me that there is a massive amount of children with Covid. I get that about children under 12. Far Rock Zip 11691 has one of the lowest vax rates in the city -- 39% --- and also has high infection rates -- that has been throughout the epidemic -- with loads who have died. 

 

James followed up with a slam at the so-called "choice" people -- do they refuse to show their drivers license when they fly?

ANTI-VAX MANDATE LEADER GETS UFT ATTENTION BY PROMOTING LEAVING THE UNION; WHAT DOES PRO-VAX MAJORITY HAVE TO DO TO GET UFT TO PUSH FOR SAFE IN-PERSON SCHOOLS AND A REAL REMOTE OPTION?

http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2021/09/anti-vax-mandate-leader-gets-uft.html

Everything you wanted to know about UFT Elections (Part 3): How Unity Stacks the Deck - What can be done to break the stanglehold? - Norms Magnus Opus

Hi Norm - I'm a former chapter leader and recently elected UFT
delegate. I want to be a part of a movement to defeat the Unity Caucus in 2022. As a former member of Unity I see it is clearly a cult and it is so important to defeat them....  from a contact from UFT Delegate Assemblies.

In UFT elections, if the overwhelming majority of  70,000 classroom teachers were to vote against Unity Caucus, they would only win 23 out of 100 Executive Board and zero officer positions. And therein lies the essence of "democracy" in the UFT.

At-Large block voting—also known as the “plurality-At-Large voting method”[1]—has been called the oldest trick in the book.... the web

Oy! Another election - at my age? After being deeply involved in the 04, 07, 10, 13, 16 elections? I missed the 19 election (thankfully) after the MORE Caucus purged me (double thanks, I didn't need the drama.)

This guy is right about the Unity cult but actually defeat Unity?  While there are some intriguing new possibilities for the 2022 UFT election, the first step is to understand how the process works and the enormous obstacles the anti-Unity forces face. So let's do a deep dive on the process for today's post and explore elections possibilities in follow-up posts. First -- the appetizer, which explains a lot:

Sept. 1, 2021

Good afternoon. Welcome to the September 1 jitters - and joy for retirees.

The UFT is a democratic organization --- isn't it?  

There are elections every three years (it used to be every year in the early 60s, then every two years through 2001) and the majority winner has been Unity Caucus since 1962. That is democracy. But there's democracy and there's "democracy." Let me 'splain. 

First, some basic facts:

UFT membership breakdown (all numbers approximate):

In-Service Total: 115-120,000

Classroom teachers: 70,000  

    Elementary (includes k-8): 37,000

    Middle (6-8 grades): 12,000

    HS (9-12 and 6-12): 20,000

Functional chapters - Support - Paras, secretaries, guidance, soc workers, OT/PT, attendance, home bound, speech etc. --- include non-school based teachers. etc): 45,000

Retirees are also considered functional: So add 70,000 to the 45,000- In elections, 24,000 votes are allowed and fractionalized if there more vote but in recent elections 23-24000 have voted. 

Total UFT membership: Over 185,000

If Unity wins 80% of the vote how can the UFT be undemocratic?

 

The Don't Give a Crap Caucus

Less than 30% vote, with retirees having the highest returns, over 40%. Over 70%of working UFT members are in the DGAC - Don't Give a Crap Caucus. A key to seriously challenging Unity is to make them give a crap.

 

But let's face facts: Unity gets almost 80% of those who do vote, with only high schools breaking around 50-50. How can we be critical of the leadership on democratic grounds? Maybe it's the failure of the groups opposed to Unity? They never take blame and only point fingers, which should be pointed at themselves.

But let's examine the ways the UFT is not democratic and in future posts lay out what the opposition could do to create more democracy since actually winning an entire elections is almost not possible.

Read parts1 and 2 of this series that will go on through infinity - or at least through the final outcome of the UFT/2022 election ending in May.

• 
  

  UFT Elections (Part 2): ICE/UFT meeting calls for United Slate for UFT elections, addresses back to school safety and abusive principals

  We ... call on all caucuses and UFT members opposed to one party ruling Unity Caucus to come together now when there is common cause at UFT ...
• 
  

  UFT Elections (Part 1) - Historical Analysis - Comparing the 2016 success and the 2019 disaster

   

  Also listen to my appearances on WBAI for historical context to UFT undemocracy:

  • 
    

    Listen: Norm and Bruce joined Daniel on WBAI - History of the UFT - the 80s and 90s

    Listen to Inside UFT Politics and History (Part 2), broadcast live on Sat : How The Nation’s Most Powerful Teachers Union Impacted NYC Publ...
  • 
    

    Norm Scott and Shanker Inst Head Leo Casey - Inside the History and Politics of the UFT - First Decades - Talk Out of School -

    How did the UFT get so old so fast? --- NYC Board of Ed official c. 1970 There were no fisticuffs or even enormous disagreements when Leo a...

At-Large Elections - A key to Unity Caucus control -

The Bias of At-Large Elections: How it Works

“The Oldest Trick in the Book”

If you want to rig a local election, there’s an easier way than stuffing a ballot box, gerrymandering a district, or amassing a campaign war chest to scare off challengers. Have your city or county adopt winner-take-all “At-Large” voting, where, instead of using districts, all or most council or school committee candidates must run “at large, city or countywide.

At-Large block voting—also known as the “plurality-At-Large voting method”[1]—has been called the oldest trick in the book.[2] Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg cited this method, along racial gerrymandering, as a preeminent second-generation way to deny equal opportunity for minority voters and candidates.

Congress has banned At-Large voting for all federal elections. It’s been discarded by most states. No voting method has been subject to more litigation for its discriminatory impact on local elections. Yet, while the covers are off the discriminatory impact and intent of At-Large voting, it persists in hundreds of local jurisdictions....
 Read more about at large voting

I will leave the "What can be done to break the Unity stanglehold, if anything?" to Parts 4 or 5- First let's understand how the UFT election game works.

 

How UFT elections work

General elections every 3 years. Next, spring 2022

Officers (12) - President, Secretary, Treasurer, and including VPs for elementary, middle and high schools. All voted for at-large - which includes retirees.*

 

* Until 1994, the 3 divisional VPs - elem, ms, hs - were elected by classroom teacher votes only from their division, not at-large (all union members). When Unity lost the HSVP in 1985, they changed the rules to at-large in 1994 to prevent that from happening again. 

 

Why is this important? Because retirees don't vote in elem, ms and hs and until 1995 they also didn't vote for the VP of each division, now, not only retirees, but every UFT member decides on the HS. MS, El Veep who are part of the 12 officers. This assures Unity total control of the Adcom, which runs the entire union. 

 

*** - only teachers in the schools vote for the three division VPs -- non-teachers in schools vote as functional.

 

Exec Bd (100 members, including the 12 officers):

The Ex Bd is a rubber stamp - it meets every 2 weeks, usually on Monday's at  PM and is open to all UFT members. It doesn't have to be a complete rubber stamp if opposition win enough seats to push back.

Just think - even with Unity dominance they still make 12% of the Ex Bd the officers. 

 

What about the other 88 members? How are they apportioned?

Remember this point that --- if the 70k classroom teachers were to vote against Unity, even if overwhelmingly - say 70% - they would  not even have a quarter of the Ex Bd seats, which are apportioned this way:

 

At large Ex Bd - 45 - add the 12 officers and Unity is guaranteed 57 EB seats, a clear majority.

 

Non- At-Large Ex Bd seats -- 43

 

Elementary: 11   Middle School: 5   High Schools: 7 - total 23

These are the most winnable positions because they are not at-large and retirees don't vote.

 

Functional chapters: 20  - Support personnel - a bastion of Unity support (until recently).  Retirees are part of the functional chapter and can run for these ex bd seats.

 In essence, the functional chapter functions as at-large by lumoing all the chapters together instead of each chapter getting a seat on the board. Thus, add these 20 to the 57 and you get 77, leaving only 23 winnable EB seats. In a future post I will lay out how to win these seats and posit how doing so would be a major cataclysm for Unity even it they are a minority -- it would demonstate the leadership has lost the classroom teachers.

 

 

Retiree vote

The general election is riddled with at-large voting to assure Unity Caucus of control. And a key is that retirees vote for most positions: all officers and the majority of Ex Bd seats.

There are 70,000 retirees, though the current limit is 24 thousand that count - that limit has been raised over the years and often accounts for well over 40% of the total vote.

 

AFT/NYSUT Delegates: 750-800

I didn't mention this category in UFT elections but it is a key to controling the state and national unions, as winner take all gives Unity all of them and is a major perk of joining Unity. If the opposition were to get 49% of the vote it would get no delegates. 

 

The Delegate Assembly (about 4000 members) and Chapter elections - every 3 years -- last one just ended - next 2024.

 

In some ways these elections are more important than the general elections as a way to challenge Unity control. The general UFT elections have no direct impact on what is termed the chief democratic body of the UFT -- the DA, which consists of all chapter leaders from the schools and functional chapters -- there are supposedly around 1800 - and school and functional based delegates in a 60-1 ratio -- Unity pushed its members to run for these positions as a way to control the DA. The retiree chapter alone gets 300 delegates winner take all Unity delegates and they play an important role. In the recent election Retiree Advocate received 30% of the vote and no delegates. Imagine how retired UFT opposition activists could bring their experience to delegate assemblies. 

Generally, no more than 700 show up, mostly Unity Caucus, with a handful of opposition people.

 

These elections are important because if the opposition ever could elect a few hundred and they acted together, they could begin to take some control over the Delegate Assembly -- though if they ever got close, Unity would change the rules. 

 

MORE claims to have elected 100 and other groups also elected people -- if they all work together --- rather than each caucus use the DA to focus on its own caucus building -- there could be an impact to counter Unity dominance of the DA. Caucus hegemony has been one of the major obstacles to mounting an effective opposition.

 

We will know where things stand at the first DA of this new 3 year cycle in October. Meeting in person is a threat to Unity so don't be shocked to see the leadership use the pandemic as an excuse to move that meeting to Zoom, while at the same time advocating for teacher to go into classrooms.

More to come on where things stand in forming a united front, the only way to challenge Unity. Here are a few previous posts:

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

Retiree Advocate/UFT Caucus joins call for United ...

UFT Elections  ICE/UFT meeting calls for united front...

Retiree Advocate/UFT Caucus joins call for United Slate for UFT elections in 2022 and joint cooperation on common issues

Retiree Advocate/UFT posted this notice calling for a united opposition in the 2022 UFT elections.  

August 30, 2021

Retiree Advocate, a caucus in the UFT, calls on all opposition caucuses and non-affiliated individuals within the UFT to come together and form a full and united slate to run against the Unity Caucus in the 2022 United Federation of Teachers union-wide elections. 

 
Our goal is to transform the Retired Teachers’ Chapter (RTC) into one that is democratic, powerful and responsive to the members and not simply a calling card for the UNITY leadership.
The Unity caucus leadership, in power for 60 years, has felt free to engage in actions that are detrimental to the interests of the membership.

 

Retiree Advocate urges further cooperation during the upcoming school year on points of common interest such as, lowering class size, fighting against changes to in-service and retiree member health care, rights of members to a healthy and safe teaching and working environment and advocating for a more democratic UFT.  

 

Only a credible threat from a broad based opposition that threatens Unity's hold on the union can force the UFT leadership to be more accountable to the membership. 

 

What is Retiree Advocate/UFT?

We are a caucus in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). Our goal is to transform the Retired Teachers’ Chapter (RTC) into one that is democratic, powerful and responsive to the members and not simply a calling card for the UNITY leadership. To do this, our chapter must critically evaluating leadership’s policies & programs and create real alternatives that protect retirees, support working members and fight for social and economic justice for NYC’s public education school communities. We believe that the Unity caucus leadership, in power for 60 years, has felt free to engage in actions that are detrimental to the interests of the membership. Witness the recent undemocratic decision to convert our traditional Medicare coverage to a privately managed Medicare Advantage Plan. We were able to alert the membership about this deceptive action. Only a credible threat from a broad based opposition that threatens their hold on the union can force the UFT leadership including our chapter (RTC) to be more accountable to the membership moving forward. We have been running slates in UFT elections for 20 years. Our program can be viewed here-

RA-UFT Platform. This past April we received practically 30 percent of the vote, our highest ever!

We need you to join us so that we can continue to grow, achieve our goals and take control of OUR union.

 

Calls for remote, sickouts in Chicago and maybe NYC: What does a safe, equitable & responsive NYC school reopening look like? WBAI Talk

An excellent discussion of safe schools yesterday with Daniel hosting Kaliris and Tajh. If you missed it: https://talk-out-of-school.simplecast.com/

There are increasing demands for a remote option, which the de Blasio admin with the help of the NYT pro-school opening and damn the torpedoes ed reporter Eliza Shapiro doing the cheerleading. For two years in a row the DOE, with the silent complicity of the UFT, has bunged remote options as they go on a wing and a prayer schools will be normal. They won't and watch how they have to scurry to make up ground -- compare to LA and Chicago where strong unions  have an impact. I even heat talk about sickouts in NYC --- not clear if this is from parents who will keep kids hone or teachers who will come down with the ed flu.

 

 

 

While the UFT namby pamies, other unions are out there: 

At a news conference outside the CUNY Office of Graduate Studies in midtown Manhattan, James Davis, president of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC), which represents 30,000 CUNY employees, called the the city's plan to monitor and reduce the spread of the virus on CUNY campuses "inadequate" and "contradictory." https://www.gothamgazette.com/city/10732-union-leaders-call-for-better-covid-protocols-transparency-at-cuny-ahead-of-first-day-of-school

Before listening to this I checked out Michael Osterholm's must listen weekly podcast which echoed similar themes of safety - he took the CDC to task for putting social issues like kids having to be in school over their safety. Osterholm seems to have moved from opposing a booster shot to being more willing  - especially for elderly like me -- I'm ready to line up the minute they say I can. After all, I'm a proven sheeple.

Osterholm Update: COVID-19

Episode 66: Thank You Dr. Jena

August 26, 2021

In this episode, Dr. Osterholm and host Chris Dall discuss the news of FDA granting full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, updates on booster doses and the rationale being considered, and the need for updated guidance as schools reopen.

Email your questions: OsterholmUpdate@umn.edu (link sends e-mail)

View photos of Carl's beautiful place.

References:

• Corsi Box
• ASTM Standards for Face Coverings

Browse the podcast and CIDRAP merchandise store!

This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts. Subscribe on YouTube!

Also worth reading is Arthur on deB: NYC Educator

Mayor de Blasio Does Own Research, Errs on Side of Convenience Rather than Caution  

It's pretty clear that commercial real estate and business interests dominate the school decision making.

There are calls for sickouts in Chicago starting tomorrow let by the union in response to the mayor. You might want to compare the CTU, the UTLA with the uft - small letters intentional.

 

Here is Daniel's post for the Talk Out of Schools program:

Hello, New York City public school family!

What does a safe, equitable & responsive NYC school reopening look like?

Daniel Alicea, NYC educator, will discuss it on 'Talk Out of School' with Tajh Sutton and Dr. Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, two extraordinary parent activists and advocates, in a special broadcast about the fall reopening of New York City public schools.

Catch the show today, Saturday, Aug. 28th, at 1 PM, on WBAI 99.5. FM or also listen live online at http://wbai.org

Dr. Kaliris Salas Ramirez is an NYC public school parent who is a neuroscientist and professor for CUNY School of Medicine. She is also the president for Community Education Council 4, in Manhattan, and a steering committee member for Parents for Responsive, Equitable, and Safe Schools (PRESS).

Tajh Sutton is an NYC public school parent who is an arts educator and the program director for Teens Take Charge. She is also the president for Community Education Council 14, in Brooklyn, and a steering committee member for Parents for Responsive, Equitable and Safe Schools (PRESS).

To learn more about PRESS visit their site: https://www.pressnyc.org/

It's a can't miss event.

If you can't make it, listen to the podcast here later: https://talk-out-of-school.simplecast.com/

Love wins.

#protectNYC #protectNYCkids #remoteoption now #shutdownforsafety

 

Missing InACTION: Is Michael Mulgrew in Witness Protection? - Last UPDATED Aug 28 3:30 PM

UPDATE: Saturday August 28 - There are rumors Mulgrew surfaced in a video somewhere -- I think it is a hologram - or a robot.

With all the swirl about school openings, Mulgrew has been invisible.  Oh, the UFT has put out some statements in his name,

This decision is not up to the union. However, while the mayor is asserting his legal authority to mandate the vaccine for city employees, by law the details of this mandate must be negotiated with the UFT and other unions, and if necessary resolved by arbitration.

Has anyone actually seen Mulgrew anywhere? Maybe he is being held against his will by anti-vaxers in Staten Island.

Peter at South Bronx - Mike Mulgrew Has Abrogated His Duty To Keep Members Safe-"Perhaps Uncle Mike is deep within the bowels of 52 Broadway formulating a plan of safety in the "UFT War room."

 

James at the ICE blog has been yeoman work keeping us informed on the updates on back to school/virus/mandates:

MULGREW'S EMAIL ON MANDATED VACCINES

Leave it to Michael Mulgrew to at least figure out when he made a completely unforced error. In yesterday's statement, the UFT President claimed: "Our first priority is keeping our kids safe and the schools opened." He neglected to mention UFT members who pay dues and his salary. Well in the latest email, (see below), he has added the UFT members. It took him a while but at least he figured out who he is supposed to represent and included the members. That's progress, everyone.

Is Mulgrew in or out? His fears of the right wing anti-vax, anti-mask UFT members pulling their dues is palpable. Chicago and LA, the two next largest cities with strong left wing unions leading the way, have much stronger push back for safe school openings while we have Mr. Wishy Washy.

Recently Mulgrew's lack of presence at a seemingly important event was noticed:

Randi, Ed Secty Cardona and UFT second in command Leroy Barr at Bronx DOE Event -

It says something that Mulgrew wasn’t there. This is the US secretary of education and Randi .. but LeRoy was there .... Vacation? “Sorry Mr. Secretary of Ed. I’m on vaca …” no no no. Sick. Death in the family or on the outs. Those are the only reasons that make sense to me for why a Union president would not be present for a visit from a federal official.....  UFT member comment

Secretary Cardona to Join New York City Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, AFT President Randi Weingarten & Students to Highlight Importance of Social and Emotional Learning, Vaccinations.....
U.S. Department of Education

An event in a NYC school with the chancellor and the US secretary of education takes place in a NYC public school and there's Randi, the national president - which is not out of the ordinary but the absence of UFT President Mulgrew was noticed, especially when Leroy Barr, the most probable successor if Mulgrew were to leave, posted about his presence. 

 

Hmmm, has Mulgrew grown su unpopular with UFT members (and even with some in Unity Caucus) he is in hiding? I expect we will see him soon. Is there even a chance that he doesn't run for UFT president next year? I doubt it because if he was moving on they would have handed it over to his successor by now.

 

For the inside baseball UFT crowd that have been privately speculating for the past year and a half over the rising unpopularity of Mulgrew with working UFT members over safe schools and with retirees over the Medicare sellout, Mulgrew's absence was a cause for speculation over his future, especially with the pending UFT election coming this school year and the nascent prospect of a united opposition making a dent in Unity control. 

The UFT has only changed presidents 3 times in the past 31 years and each time the new president was installed a year in advance of an election. That time frame for Unity Caucus replacing Mulgrew has past, so this speculation may be meaningless. Maybe there is a rift of sorts between Randi and Mulgrew and this is a sign. 

But they need each other since control of the AFT is based on Unity Caucus. Leroy Barr is the head of Unity ---- but from all reports Leroy and Mulgrew are two of the three men and one woman (maybe two women from the latest scuttlebutt) in the room making decisions for the UFT -- how did that Stringer endorsement work out?

Chicago an LA have required teacher vaxes while NYC has not and Mulgew has not called for it. Word is that he is bombarded by UFT right wingers and anti-vax and anti-mask people and the hierarchy fears these people more than the progressive wing.
 

The different responses and open bargaining of the UFT and CTU and UTLA and the outcomes are stark:

https://www.ctulocal1.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Fall-CPS-2021-Bargaining-Demand-Status-2021-08-25.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2QQQQ_v_h7k3P2s2T3CYmHxEiqW4X1BTeywCkp_Cgx-yp9j_CJgIO59ek

UFT Leaders Support Insurance Scams -- Hospitals and Insurers Didn’t Want You to See These Prices - NYT

One way to look at the costs is to compare them with rates paid by Medicare, the government program that covers older people. In general, Medicare covers 87 percent of the cost of care, according to hospital association estimates. At multiple hospitals, major health plans pay more than four times the Medicare rate for a routine colonoscopy. And for an M.R.I. scan, some are paying more than 10 times what the federal government is willing to pay. Health economists think of insurers as essentially buying in bulk, using their large membership to get better deals. Some were startled to see numerous instances in which insurers pay more than the cash rate.  .... NYT - Hospitals and Insurers Didn’t Want You to See These Prices. Here’s Why.

US ranks dead LAST in healthcare among richest nations (Video w/ Wendell Potter) https://youtu.be/WQAH9W2vcMw

Healthcare news --

Medicare for all will be cheaper and better

Medicare for all will be cheaper and better 

Medicare for all will be cheaper and better

Medicare for all will be cheaper and better

Medicare for all will not be good for the private, profit making health care scammers.

 

... repeat 10 times to our union leaders who join most of the Democratic Party in opposing all forms of socialized medicine. 

As Ed Notes readers know, 250,000 NYC municipal retirees are being moved out of Medicare into a privatized insurance plan starting Jan. 1. The union and the city have been crying about health care costs and claim this will save the city 600 million. After reading the article below on how there is a conspiracy too hide prices, tell me where the savings are coming from. 

Coming next will be the contract for non-retirees next year and watch the fur fly.

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Good morning -- another day of outrage at the state of the health care system and the blood suckers at all levels. I include much of the mainstream media, which has not has a whisper of this important NYT article on the scam. Wanna bet the private insurers and hospitals have heavy advertising running?

One of the puzzling things about our union, the UFT - and other unions - is the leadership support for the current corrupt health care system which is the reason we have such high healthcare costs that our union leaders are using as an excuse to cut costs by weakening public options and strengthening the private insurance grip (along with the corrupt profit making hospitals) on our health care. 

The NYT posted a Monday mind blowing report on how hospitals and insurance companies hide prices despite a bi-partisan law passed calling for transparency:

The five largest insurers — Aetna, Cigna, Humana, United and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association — all declined requests for on-the-record interviews. Cigna, Humana and Blue Cross provided statements that said they support price transparency.  The requirement to publish prices is a rare bipartisan effort: a Trump-era initiative that the Biden administration supports. But the data has been difficult to draw meaning from, especially for consumers..... The insurers’ trade association had called the rule unconstitutional and said it would “undermine competitive negotiations.” Four hospital associations jointly sued the government to block it, and appealed when they lost. They lost again, and seven months later, many hospitals are simply ignoring the requirement and posting nothing. But data from the hospitals that have complied hints at why the powerful industries wanted this information to remain hidden. It shows hospitals are charging patients wildly different amounts for the same basic services: procedures as simple as an X-ray or a pregnancy test.

Here is one example of crazy costs at the same hospital:

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, a colonoscopy costs ...

$1,463

with a Cigna plan.

$2,144

with an Aetna plan.

$782

with no insurance at all.

How is it possible that it is cheaper with no insurance at all?

People carefully weighing two plans — choosing a higher monthly cost or a larger deductible — have no idea that they may also be picking a much worse price when they later need care. Even for simple procedures, the difference can be thousands of dollars, enough to erase any potential savings. It’s not as if employers can share that information at open enrollment: They generally don’t know either. “It’s not just individual patients who are in the dark,” said Martin Gaynor, a Carnegie Mellon economist who studies health pricing. “Employers are in the dark. Governments are in the dark. It’s just astonishing how deeply ignorant we are about these prices.”

Right, we are going to save money by pulling us out of Medicare?

 

Do you ever wonder what out unions are getting from these insurance companies for selling us out?

I think I'm due for a colonoscopy but one thing I know - I want to get it before Jan. 1. My doc is connected to NYU.

I recently had an MRI and didn't think twice about it. After Jan. 1, who knows?

At Aurora St. Luke’s in Milwaukee, an M.R.I. costs United enrollees ...

$1,093

if they have United’s HMO plan.

$4,029

if they have United’s PPO plan.

At Memorial Regional Hospital, in Florida, an M.R.I. costs ...

$1,827

with a Cigna plan.

$2,148

with a Humana plan.

$2,455

with a Blue Cross plan.

$262

with a Medicare plan.

At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a pregnancy test costs ...

$18

for Blue Cross patients in Pennsylvania.

$58

for Blue Cross HMO patients
in New Jersey.

$93

for Blue Cross PPO patients
in New Jersey.

$10

with no insurance at all.

Well, I don't plan on getting pregnant - because the baby would come after Jan. 1.

The NYT piece makes the point that employers are also getting screwed. Our employer is the city of New York -- they are getting screwed but don't seem to care. We know that politicians who run the city get campaign contributions from guess who?

I gave you the flavor but the entire article is a must read ---

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/22/upshot/hospital-prices.html 

For those stymied by the pay wall, here it is in full below the break:

Food Stamps (SNAP): Biden Expands Plan but for Republicans, Isn't it better for capitalism for people to be hungry?

Laura Ingraham: "What if we just cut off the unemployment? Hunger is a pretty powerful thing." 

Bar Rescue guy: "They only feed a military dog at night, because a hungry dog is an obedient dog. Well, if we are not causing people to be hungry to work..."  Bar Rescue Host and Laura Ingraham Discuss Cutting Unemployment Aid to Make Workers “Hungry” Like an “Obedient Dog”....
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/08/bar-rescue-host-and-laura-ingraham-discuss-cutting-unemployment-aid-to-make-workers-hungry-like-an-obedient-dog/

The above segment is amazing to watch. Ingraham brags about her mother being forced to work when she was 12. Pro child labor Laura. This right wing crew hungers for this:

So contrast this NYT piece where Biden aims to destroy capitalism by trying to increase food for hungry families.

Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps.....The jump in benefits, the biggest in the program’s history, comes after a revision of the initiative’s nutrition standards that supporters say will reduce hunger and better reflect how Americans eat.... https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/15/us/politics/biden-food-stamps.html

Let's see what Republicans are saying:

Critics say that the costs are unsustainable and that the aid erodes Americans’ willingness to work. 

...as hints of the benefit increase spread last week, Republicans pushed back. Former Representative Mike Conaway, a Republican and chief author of the 2018 law, said it was written “assuming the precedent of cost-neutrality would be followed” and warned the administration against “unilateral overreach.” Before the plan was even released, two Republican legislators called for a watchdog to review it.

Opponents of a benefit increase say the program is meant to supply only part, not all, of a household’s diet, as suggested by its formal name: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. They also say the aid would last longer if the needy spent it better, citing research showing nearly 10 percent goes to sweetened drinks.

“The data on the inadequacy of the Thrifty Food Plan is pretty weak,” said Angela Rachidi of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

...others note that nothing guarantees the needy will buy healthy food. Ms. Rachidi of the American Enterprise Institute said “to the extent that SNAP contributes to poor diet,” an increase could even harm poor people’s health.

Anticipating the benefit increase last week, Republicans on Capitol Hill warned of a power grab. During the pandemic, Congress approved extraordinary, if temporary, SNAP increases, with average benefits doubling. Since those increases are now starting to expire, some Republicans see the updated plan as a backdoor effort to sustain a major welfare expansion.

The full NYT article below does a deep dive into the nitty gritty of SNAP. 

The debate over benefit adequacy turns on colliding assumptions: SNAP bills itself as supplemental, but more than a third of households receive the maximum benefit. Caseworkers have found that those households have no cash for food, so for them, aid is not supplemental.

Just take the beans story for example:

Critics [of the old plan] say multiple features of the department’s model drove such unrealistic results. The model ignored preparation time — assuming that SNAP users would buy dried beans and soak them before cooking them, which takes hours but is cheaper than buying them in cans. (Few did.)....

The update:

They also factored in time: The plan assumes that SNAP families will get 99 percent of their beans from a can. Among the other convenience foods it includes are hard-boiled eggs, prepared salsa, baby carrots, boxed macaroni and cheese and bagged salad greens.“It was a scientific, analytical process,” said Stacy Dean, a senior Agriculture Department official who oversees the program. “It wasn’t about approving a benefit increase.”

 Full article online and below:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/15/us/politics/biden-food-stamps.html

It's about the economy, stupid: How Much Learning Loss is Legend? Reports of students feeling LESS Social pressure from NOT being in school

UPDATED August 17, 12 noon

I'm guessing that the media focus on learning loss is more about making sure schools are open so people can go to work and boost the economy rather than interest in the children ... no one talks about the learning loss of test prep - and the anxiety high stakes tests creates. Or the anxiety just getting ready for school and the often ordinariness of schools. 

When I taught there was loads of "learning loss" when I tried to make school fun for them, especially for trips. My principal tried to limit our trips yet my kids had learning gain. The kids put up with me when I tried to teach the normal stuff. I tried to lighten the anxiety levels when I could but the tests were always looming. Boy, if I had to do it all over again today, I would totally focus on making school so much fun, they would have anxiety if they missed coming. But let's face it -- as kids get older, the social net of friends and so on becomes a serious operating issue ---- and one of my biggest failures I had as a teacher when I recognized that issue and tried to interfere in not a good way and made a few what I viewed as mean girls as enemies. I learned better ways for the future - find activities to incorporate kids on the outs.

For some students - maybe more than we know -- not being in school has actually been beneficial socially. This may be true especially for wealthier students who can more easily do the work at home with some support. But we hear from poorer students that being home avoided some of the more racist issues of school for some of them. Don't forget that school to prison pipeline.

Not a lot of media have reported on the tensions of school, especially with high stakes tests creating anxiety -- and no one talks about the learning loss of test prep. 

And don't forget the anxiety. In my final years of teaching the admin expected us to create anxiety and fear of failure as "motivation" for test practice. Do you think kids at Eva's schools don't feel anxiety over batting their eyes? Listen to Leonie Haimson's WBAI show from this past Saturday on some insane rules in no excuses charters --- https://wbai.org/archive/program/episode/?id=24568

A Sunday Morning CBS report indicated what they termed "surprising" reports of less anxiety.  

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/helping-students-cope-with-the-pressure-to-succeed/

The Battle of Pro-vs anti-Mandates Petitions comes to the UFT - Vax Resistance not just from the right crosses racial lines - Only 27 Percent of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated -

Just one kid dying from covid that is traceable to a school where contagion might have come from an unvaxed teacher will cause a firestorm that makes Greece look like an iceberg.

PETITION FOR SAFE SCHOOLS OR SAFETY WALKOUTS

Daniel Alicea from Educators of NYC and others including me wrote some clear demands that the NYC Department of Education should meet before anyone returns to NYC schools. Schools need to be safe. This evening Daniel turned it into a change.org petition. --- ICE/UFT Blog.

Countered by:

petition against vaccine mandates: NY Teachers Against Vaccine Mandates for Educators (over 17,000 signatures and rising!)

Dueling petitions inside the UFT. Check the wild west comment section on the ICE blog. The EONYC petition is hitting 700 in less than 24 hours - so if you want to see mandates head on over. a change.org petition.

Arthur Goldstein, NYC Educator and UFT Ex Bd member, makes the case for mandated in an appearance at Bloomberg News - 

"It's our duty to keep our students safe.. and to keep ourselves safe ...I do not understand some of my colleagues [who are opposed]. My kids come in from other countries and when they are not vaccinated the nurse comes in and tells them they can't attend school until they are...."

The waffling UFT leadership is leaning toward mandates but fears the much more vocal anti mandate crowd. Full disclosure -- I'm working with the ICE crew and lean toward mandates but my libertarian tendencies keep popping up. But I get that Mulgrew fears taking the lead -- Randi came out for mandates but personally with the AFT most likely to take a position, especially since the NEA just did so. From what I hear, the leadership has been inundated by the organized anti-mandate crowd while the disorganized pro-mandate crowd has had little impact - so far - but seems to be rearing up.

I mean there's this:

Four Broward County Educators Lose Battle With COVID-19 In Less Than 24 Hours...

I bet they weren't vaxed. People are scared, in some ways worse then last year when there were lots of options. Now the option is a crowded classroom. 

As I said I'm torn but also pissed at the possibility of non-vaxed spreading sickness. I can afford to stay in hiding. But what about the children in school factor? The unvaxed under 12 and the over 12 students who have not chosen to get vaxed. The report of resistance in the Black community is a real problem for progressives - I have more on this further down.

Just think of a school where most teachers are vaxed but some aren't, as are many parents and almost all students are not vaxed. The vaxed teachers are fairly safe -- maybe not the older ones but still pretty safe. But what kind of environment? Do unvaxed teachers work as freely as vaxed? What about the testing for unvaxed - even if every week, what about between tests and the mingling that goes on?

Just one kid dying from covid that is traceable to a school where contagion might have come from an unvaxed teacher will cause a firestorm that makes Greece look like an iceberg.

Resistance to the vax resisters grows --back to the petition that calls for mandated vax for teachers - a list of demands - sign it here- a change.org petition

We DEMAND:

1.  Mandated vaccinations - Anyone 12 years of age or older entering a DOE facility, including but not limited to school buildings, should possess proof of being fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The unvaccinated must not be allowed entrance in instructional spaces (unless there is a documented medical exemption).
2. Mandated masking - Everyone within the premises of a DOE facility must have a mask on at all times, except for eating at proper times. Failure to do so will result in their immediate removal.
3. Heightened COVID Testing and Tracing Protocols - Weekly random testing of at least 33% of the entire school communities. There must be baseline testing for all students and staff in September. We expect clear, strict and concise procedures in place for quarantine and closing down schools when there is a COVID outbreak. This includes a return to a school-wide 14 day quarantine based on a total threshold of 3 or more positive cases within the school community.  Baseline testing for all those returning from quarantine.
4. Strict adherence to social distancing - There must be strict adherence to at least 3 feet of social distancing at all times. Distance is subject to increase if authorities deem so.
5. Proper, Science-Based Ventilation in all DOE facilities- We demand for scientifically proven methods to control and monitor the spread of airborne diseases, including COVID, that include enhanced ventilation with outdoor air, and high efficiency filtration. Sites must be inspected and certified by a board certified industrial hygienist before anyone is allowed in the facility.
6. A Remote Option - A remote learning option for all parents/guardians that want to opt for one.
7. No Learning Loss Screenings/Diagnostics and Focus on SEL, trauma-informed supports - There will be no academic screening/diagnostic assessments for so-called deficit of learning/learning loss. Rather, we must focus resources on the social-emotional well-being of our students by funding after school programs, PSAL, counseling, social service and weekend programs.  We desire a pause in required high stakes state standardized testing until performance based alternatives are explored.
8.  Increased transparency, tracking capability and reliability in COVID-19 data reporting - We demand an updated COVID-19 city wide dashboard that is more transparent, meaningful and reliable in its data reporting of COVID-19 incident cases, hospitalizations and deaths that tracks over 90 day intervals and shows vaccination rates.
Failure to implement these demands will result in a coalition of educators and parents urging UFT members, families and students to stay out of buildings deemed unfit until they are safe for teaching and learning.

Sign the petition, please!

There is a racial component to the anti-vaxers, which has given some progressives pause:

 "as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting Covid-19..." Politico

This is an eye-opening report from Politico, but not surprising. Over the past week a few of us were engaged in a debate on ICEUFT listserve with a black retiree who was an adamant resister. I really get where that resistance is coming from - there is massive mistrust of the medical community by Black people, often well-deserved. 

“Why Only 27 Percent of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated,” by The New York Times’ Joseph Goldstein and Matthew Sedacca: “A construction site safety manager in Queens said that as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting Covid-19. A graduate student in the Bronx who had not gotten vaccinated said her worst fears seemed confirmed when a vaccine that the government was directing to Black and poorer neighborhoods was briefly suspended over a small number of dangerous blood clots. And a civil rights activist in the Bronx said he grew suspicious when he heard last year that politicians were prioritizing minority neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccinations. ‘Since when does America give anything good to Black people first?’ said the activist, Hawk Newsome, a 44-year-old Black Lives Matter leader who is unvaccinated.

“All three situations reflect a trend that has become a major concern to public health experts: Young Black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the Delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks. City data shows that only 27 percent of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 years are fully vaccinated, compared with 48 percent of Latino residents and 52 percent of white residents in that age group

I had a conversation with a white over 80 retired unvaxed teacher, a Trump supporter, who told me she was not getting vaxed because she didn't trust Fauci, having heard he was financially involved with the vax companies. She already had a fairly mild case of covid this past March. She doesn't seem worried. Am I over-reacting?

With my libertarian tendencies, I don't like mandates and I hate wearing a mask. I also hated to be circumcised without my permission. And it hurt like hell. Still hurts. I balance that with fear of getting sick. And those who don't get vaxed are threats to me and others. I can support their position -- but do I have a right to know? If it was Ebola and not Covid would they claim a right to privacy? I'd like to see a blinking patch in foreheads.

But in fairness, let's look at: NY Teachers For Choice

our petition against vaccine mandates: NY Teachers Against Vaccine Mandates for Educators (over 17,000 signatures and rising!)

They seem to be against forced testing. Will they now protest rules for other vax requirements or are they basing their resistance to this vax because it is so new? I can see that point but so far 150 million people make for a pretty good test. Unless in a year or so I might find unexpected outcomes from the vax -- maybe my circumcised foreskin will grow back.

Word is this group has bombarded the UFT leadership and that is a factor in the UFT leadership's waffling over mandating a vaccine. They foresee a massive dues sucking machine.

Their steering committee has a bunch of NYC teachers: