Today's This & That - July 4, 2007

Happy Post July 4th

Rush on over to NYC Educator - DO NOT PASS GO - to read this week's Carnival of Education round-up of the blogs, where he features a few choice items from this abode. http://nyceducator.com/

There is an item from blogger and NYC teacher jd2718 "Do we really want Black and White kids to be educated not only separately, but differently?" that makes so many good points I wish I had written it myself as he analyzes some crucial issues related to the small school movement and how it has been implemented. As I pointed out in my post about how the DOE has a dog in the hunt, when it comes to this issue and will use every PR move to make sure their dog wins.

While I have had issues with jd2718 over his support for the role the former opposition caucus New Action has played with its total support for Weingarten and Unity, it was nice to see him at least raise the the possibility that the UFT should be taking more of a role on this issue besides passing resolutions and issuing reports - both PR moves from my point of view. I repeat uncle Normie's mantra: watch what the UFT leadership does, not what it says. jd2718's point below pretty much nails it:

"The United Federation of Teachers issued a report saying that we support a mix of large and small schools. But there is no mix. Some groups of neighborhoods have large schools. Some have good mini-schools. And some have ‘redesign’ and Gates mini-schools. Which groups of neighborhoods have a mix? The UFT’s resolution has never been acted on. We have never challenged in a serious way the Department of Ed’s willy-nilly opening of lousy mini-schools, or their disruption of larger schools. And today? Today the UFT is partnering with Green Dot to bring a small charter high school to…. the Bronx. We already set one up in Brooklyn. And Green Dot doesn’t have a pretend report about supporting a mix of types of schools."

I just hope New Action leader Mike Shulman doesn't get too much agita that one of his members might have gone too far to make Randi mad. Bet he gets a call from Leo Casey.

Jolanta Rohloff in today's Daily News:
"We're very pleased and relieved," said Lise Hirschberg, who heads East Harlem's Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics school's chapter of the teachers union. "Klein objects to moving bad teachers around the system, but that is apparently what they're doing in this particular case."

In her new $130,000-a-year job, Rohloff will be developing a new high school that she will run when it opens in 2008 - a job specially created for her, said schools spokeswoman Melody Meyer.

We're sure teachers will just be dying to work there. They'll probably have to hire them off the dead scroll list. Jolanta has already given U-ratings to 20% of the prospective staff before hiring anyone. Gary Babad of GBN News at the NYC Public School Parent Blog reports the real story behind the scenes and reveals who the other candidate for principal at Manhattan Center really is.


Check Samuel Freedman's article in Wed. ed section of the NY Times which I posted on the Norms Notes blog. Of note are the assinine comments of Andres Alonso regarding the overwhelming paperwork ESL teachers labor under. His blabber just reaffirms my post on my own brief experience with Alonso. I would love to hear from any teachers who actually worked with Alonso. I bet he had real disdain for his colleagues. As I said, "Good luck Baltimore."


In response to this post on ICE mail,
"I heard a rumor in the Unity grapevine that Randi is trying to set her table up for a possible nomination for Secretary of Labor should Hillary Clinton be elected President. Randi wants to appear more conservative and tougher on labor in order to have an easier nomination process before conservative Republican Senators. This could explain Randi's collaboration with BloomKlein."

Michael Fiorillo responded:
Well, if Randi wants to appear tough on labor, she's done a pretty good job by going out of her way to undermine the AFT local in Los Angeles. Her embrace of Green Dot, despite their maintaining a company union in LA, is a disgrace.

I had assumed that the green Dot ploy was her entrance onto the national stage vis-a-vis her expected assumption of the national AFT throne. Either way, duplicity and betrayal, in the guise of "new realities" and "cooperation" with management, is the order of the day.

EdNotes comment:
I totally disagree that Weingarten is interested in the Dept. of Labor position, since once out of that office she would not gain entrance back into the labor movement. Leading the AFL-CIO eventually is the perfect arc. But it all starts with the AFT presidency in July '08.


I was at a meeting last night with a bunch of people of various ages and experience in the schools who represent a wide constituency of interests in education. One of the article I read in prep was on Neo-liberalism as it relates to education by Lois Weiner. It nailed and tied together so many points related to privatization of schools, Eli Broad, the World Bank, standards, testing, etc. and the role the unions, in particular the AFT contrasted with the NEA, play in this scenario. We're working on a series of events addressing many of these issues for next year. We'll keep you posted.


I was at the annual July 4th party in Rockaway today - this is about the 30th edition we've been to - where we get to see people only this once a year. Naturally there were a bunch or retired or soon to be retired teachers. One of them works a few days a week doing PD in a small school - one of 4 or 5 occupying a large school that was closed years ago. She said that with each year things in these small schools get worse and in a few years the building will be as bad as the one that closed. She feels so bad for the newer, younger teachers and said their first year, one of the main things she does is pass out tissues. A lifetime high school teacher with an impeccable rep, she gave more insight into how the DOE has been able manipulate the grad rates through lots of subtle and not so subtle pressures to pass kids so they graduate on time. She points to the importance to the DOE of keeping students in their cohort - one of the major words we hear bandied about - and all sort of little tricks are used. Like a few days or even hours of summer school instead of a full course to pass kids for courses they have failed. And of course, teachers marking their own students' regent exams. She said she actually gets physically ill at some of the things she sees going on. There was more but it's midnight and time to go.

Randi/Mulgrew Pal Steve Barr to Head Anti-Union DFER California

Hmm.. Steve Barr of Green Dot charters and then the pretentiously named “Future is Now” charters was always a favorite of Michael Mulgrew and the UFT. Several of his charters were started in NYC w/ their enthusiastic agreement. Wonder if they’ll still love him so much.... Leonie Haimson

Of course they still love Steve Barr, who never changed his true anti-union stripes, but allowed MulGarten to straddle the ed deform fence.

Barr is one of those edu-industrial complex deformers who can't get a real job.

 Steve Barr to head DFER CA

PS 15 Teacher Calls on "Moaning" Mona Davids, Self-Proclaimed President of the NY Charter Parents Association, to Apologize for Race Baiting Remarks

I'm posting a letter from a teacher at the Patrick Daly School (PS 15) in Red Hook, Brooklyn to "Moaning" Mona Davids, self-proclaimed president of the NY Charter Parents Association over the outrageous comments she made at Gotham Schools blog where she tried to pull the divisive race card. (These "Parent Associations" are often funded by the same philanthropists backing the privatization movement. See the work of the Perimeter Primate cited at the end of this posting.)

It is worth checking out all the comments on the Sept. 18 posting at Gotham.

Davids apparently created an organization, got an office on Water St. in Brooklyn, and made herself president. Nice work if you can get it.

On Sept. 17, Davids came down from her perch in Co-op City in the Bronx to make an appearance at the Dist. CEC 15 meeting in Red Hook Brooklyn to castigate the teachers for coming into Red Hook from outside the neighborhood. You can't make this stuff up, but I have the video of Moaning Mona's speech on you tube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1R_b4VOnI4.


Long-time PS 15 teacher calls for Davids to apologize for her remarks:

Ms. Davids:

I am a teacher at The Patrick F. Daly School in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I am writing in response to the comments Ms.Davids made at the CEC meeting which was held at PS 15 on September 17th, and also to the comments she wrote on the blog at Gotham Schools (Here is an excerpt from that blog entry):

“Every teacher that spoke last night was white, did not live in the community and at the end of the night got into their cars and left… The PS15 teachers who all got into their cars last night and drove out of the community are the ones who need to get out of PS15.”


Ms. Davids…How dare you say that I am not a part of the Red Hook Community. I have supported the children of the Red Hook Community for over 15 years.

I have worked with the Red Hook Community to teach its children both academically and morally. I have joyfully given my time and energy to guide my students to reach their personal potential and goals. I have collaborated with parents to help each child perform to their best and mature in an ethical manner. I have made myself available to my students and their families in order to work together to this end. My students have grown and I have delighted in their progress.

I have grieved with the Red Hook Community when a student in my class was killed in a snowplow incident over a weekend. I have counseled my students and helped them cope with the death of a classmate. I have taught my students to focus on the positive aspects of a person when their life is ended and to celebrate their life, while also experiencing the sadness of their death.

I have celebrated with the Red Hook Community at many functions. I have shared food with them at our annual Thanksgiving dinner. I have laughed with them at the after school's annual Halloween festival. I have been entertained with them at the multitude of performances both by our band and chorus, and by our after school program. I have attended softball games of my students in the Red Hook ball fields. I have used the facilities of the Red Hook library and I frequent various Red Hook establishments. And…..I travel by the Red Hook Buses … not by a car.

I have been on network television on The Oprah Winfrey Show with the Red Hook Community. Due to the efforts of my class, every student in our school received a generous gift certificate and hundreds of students and family members were treated to a Knicks game. I attended that game also, with other members of the Red Hook Community and…I took the subway…not a car.

You focused on “color” in your remarks, Ms.Davids. What color am I? I am a multitude of colors Ms.Davids. My life has been touched by every person I have encountered in this lifetime Ms. Davids. I am a kaleidoscope of colors and mirrors, reflecting the connections I have created by my ability to see people AS people….NOT as a statistic….and most definitely, Ms.Davids….MOST DEFINITELY…..NOT as a “color”.

By the way, Ms.Davids…I am the person who approached you after the CEC meeting and told you how your comments affected me. You did not offer an apology then Ms. Davids. I am requesting one now. I am requesting an apology from you for ALL of the teachers and staff who give so much to the Red Hook Community on a daily basis. You chastised us for defending our school We must be praised for defending our school, for in defending our school, we are standing up for our students. What better tribute to their students can teachers give?

Ms. L.Pantuliano Teacher-The Patrick F. Daly School, PS15 Brooklyn


Related
Michael Fiorillo commented at Gotham Schools about Davids:

...a quick bit of research shows that she is the head of Azania Holdings, which is describes itself as involved in "business development," "strategic investment," "marketing" and "branding." Which is exactly what the push for charters is all about. Azania Holding focuses on South Africa, which has endured the widespread privatization of public resources that is one of the hallmarks of neo-liberalism. Some people recognize a great business opportunity when they it, I
guess, and are investing accordingly.

CAPE also commented on Davids' business connections to the Bloomberg administration:

This Bronx parent advocate has way deeper ties to the Bloomberg Administration and the business world than her role as President of Charter School Parents Association, or she, reveals. We love how this article states that she just decided to start this group up, and mentions nothing about the money and support behind her, let alone her business dealings. It reminds us of the new trend in politics; astroturf movements as opposed to true grassroots movements. Here is a woman, who came from the Bronx into Red Hook to scream at a crowd of concerned educators and parents and tried to divide them with racial undertones and vicious attacks on teachers. This same woman runs a company that is the only bridge to new development in South Africa and NYC, which the Bloomberg Administration is seeking investment with. Let us be clear, the goals of business investment and commerce between the United States, specifically NYC, and African nations is a good one; what is questionable is the ties and connections and the 'back-scratching' nature of it all; not to mention the fact that Mona presents herself as a neighborhood parent advocate, which apparently according to her, white people and teachers can't be, when really she is a very savvy, very organized, very funded, and very connected business woman. This is certainly does not negate her role as an active parent, we just ask for truth and transparency. When one hides or misrepresents who they are or what their interests are, it makes you wonder... http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/charter_ex_foe_convert_YZQHtDqzj6elkmTclMxefM

Sharon Higgins at the Perimeter Primate wrote about the "creation" of charter school parent organizations. Here is an excerpt:

Maria Guadalupe Mena of Garfield High School "Community members stated they were offered monetary compensation [by Green Dot] in exchange for their signature on a petition."


The Parent Revolution group Ms. Mena refers to is also known as the Los Angeles Parents Union, and is a descendant of a Green Dot “project” called the Small Schools Alliance.

The 2007 Form 990 for the Broad Foundation shows that it gave $75,000 to
the Small Schools Alliance, “To match SEIU funds to support the launch of the Los Angeles Parents Union.” Broad also gave $75,000 directly to the Los Angeles Parents Union (aka The Parent Revolution”) to support its business plan. It’s almost certain that more Broad contributions will show up for 2008; when I get access to those records I’ll let you know. Incidentally, Broad directly gave $1,210,040 to Green Dot Public Schools in 2007. Green Dot is Steve Barr's charter management organization which took over LA's Locke High School and brought an armed security force to campus.


I believe the money supplied by Broad is what would be paying for the propaganda (leaflets, on-air spots, websites, etc), to make it seem like the movement is being generated by "the people," when in fact it is a carefully planned, targeted marketing campaign.

So this is how it works.

Green Dot invents an organization called Small Schools Alliance (“SSA”). Then Eli Broad gives that organization some money to give birth to another organization they will call the Los Angeles Parents Union (aka The Parent Revolution). Then Broad delivers another chunk of money directly to support the business plan of that secondary organization (LAPU/Parent Revolution). This is probably not the only money the organizations have received; there's a strong likelihood other pro-charter "philanthropists" are making huge contributions, too.


Sharon's full piece is at:
http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2009/10/whats-going-on-in-la-elis-cake.html

ICE Strikes Back at the Evil Empire

Based on some input, the post below this on Diane Ravitch has been slightly revised. Check it out.

Over at the ICE blog check out James Eterno's excellent response to the Unity attack leaflet over Jeff Kaufman's comments about the UFT and Green Dot charter schools. Also my post on the June DA where Unity bragged about their overwhelming support and how they got ICE out of the Executive Board. As James points out, the vote actually made the point that to almost 80% of the teachers, the UFT is irrelevant. And now that New Action has replaced the ICE-TJC members on the Executive Board, it will be a complete rubber stamp Executive Board and even more irrelevant, if that is possible. For some time, I have felt that the ICE people were wasting their time and energies at Exec. Bd. meetings where the entire board is on the union payroll. But we did get to eat and schmooze, for all that was worth. And after so many years of Delegate Assemblies, I am getting the feel the same about them. Under Weingarten, whatever shards of institutional democracy there were have been shredded. Hmmm! Shredded shards - a new theme for the UFT.

The WeinKlein combo has turned the UFT into something that reminds me of the Roman ruins I recently visited, with more life in the 2000 year old Roman Forum than in the UFT Delegate Assembly and Executive Board. Attila the Klein and Rhondalia the First have made a devastating team in the sack of the UFT.

Attila and Rhondalia celebrate victory

A few choice excepts from James:
Yesterday's Unity leaflet quotes ICE's Jeff Kaufman in the Sun article saying, "This is the end of the Union." Unity neglected to mention Jeff's next line where he says referring to Randi: "She's going to leave in her wake now a real change in terms of what teachers unions are."

[the] Unity piece reverts to boasts about Randi's election victory saying how Unity's election victory was a "tremendous vote of support from all our UFT members." All of them? What about the almost 78% of teachers who didn't bother to vote? In Chicago recently, close to 2/3 of their teachers voted in their union election. I brought this fact up at the last Executive Board meeting. The UFT is a weak irrelevancy in numerous schools in NYC .

Michael Fiorillo posted this on ICE-mail:

Many good points made in your your blog posting, James.

I'd just like to add that at Wednesday's DA I had hoped to ask Randi about the Green Dot issue, but of course that was not possible, since she filibustered for well over an hour, to the point where questions and other business were an afterthought.

Had I been able to ask her, my question would have been,

"Randi, you've spoken about how "aggressively pro-union" the founder of Green Dot schools is, and that the teachers there are represented by a union. However, in the next breath you said that they are speaking with UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles, the AFT local) about signing a contract. If there's a union at a Los Angeles public/charter school that is not represented by UTLA, then isn't that a COMPANY UNION, illegal under the NLRA, and thought to have been eliminated back in the 1930's? What are you doing meeting with the boss of a charter school that has a company union - inevitably dominated by management - when the practical result is the undermining of a fellow AFT local?

Just thought I'd try to ask, but silly me.

Location for future UFT Delegate Assemblies and Executive Board meetings. The Emperor's box will be renovated but no new seats will be added.

Ravitch on Goldstein and More on UFT Elections

"Arthur, Thank you for a brilliant review of my book! It means a lot to me that a teacher in the trenches likes it and thought I hit a bulls eye." -Diane Ravitch

The comment from Diane Ravitch posted last Sunday at Gotham Schools in a thread following Arthur Goldstein's review of her new book is worth highlighting for the multiple bases it touches.

Now I must point out once again that Arthur is running with ICE-TJC for High School Executive Board in the current UFT elections. These 6 positions look to be winnable since ICE-TJC took 36% of the vote against the Unity/New Action combo in 2007. If we win those seats it would put Lawhead, Fiorillo, Kit Wainer, Marian Swerdlow and Peter Lamphere in addition to Arthur on the board. Compare any Unity/New Action people you can think of to these 6 and you come up empty.

Only high school teachers will see their names on the ballot, so it is especially imperative to get out the vote in the high schools. Since only around 4,000 out of 20,000 high school teachers voted in the last election, it will take constant reminders to get people to return their ballots with the ICE-TJC box checked off. If you want these voices on the UFT Exec Bd start reminding people Monday and do so for the next two weeks.

The rough numbers in 2007 were Unity: 2250, New Action: 550, ICE-TJC: 1550. (New Action ended up with 3 HS EB seats with a thousand less votes than ICE-TJC.) Thus if ICE-TJC and double the vote they would win handily. So go get em.

In this comment, Diane covers a lot of ground that touch on UFT policies.

Unions in charters
"You have read my book so you know my overall conclusion is that they range from excellent to awful but on average, they do not produce better results than regular public schools. Second, the charter movement is dominated by anti-union ideologues; charter schools succeed by hiring young, single teachers and having them work 50-60 or more hours a week. Of the 5,000 or so charter schools in the nation currently, I would guess that 95% of them are non-union. That is no accident."

This blows up the AFT/UFT strategy of organizing charters as a "solution". Where have they been up to now? They will continue to blow up every little victory while 95 charters open for every 5 they organize. The charters have incredible turnover and teachers often jump from charter to charter, so organizing is a moving target.

Even if they do organize charters - let's say every one in NYC, you end up with individual contracts for each school and the power of the UFT as an organization capable of shutting down a school system is dissipated. But the top level of the UFT would continue to flourish as dues keeps flowing in. They know this and will try to keep the lid on the cap not to protect public schools but to keep the dues rolling in.

On Green Dot charters, which the UFT has made a big deal of
"Green Dot took over Locke High School in Los Angeles to much fanfare. They cleaned up the school, established order, provided good maintenance. But after a year of publicity about the Locke miracle, the scores came out and they had not changed by even 1 percent. Of course, scores are not all that matter, and they are not always a good indicator of school quality. But the fanfare got a little quieter when it became a matter of record that the students had not turned overnight into college-ready scholars simply because private managers took over."

Leo Casey claimed at last week's forum that the UFT/Green Dot contract was better than ours.

Unity/UFT less than subtle attempts to stifle discussion
"I am shocked that anyone would suggest you might be disciplined by the NYC Department of Education for your free expression of opinion, including criticism of your bosses."

This was a response to UFT/Unity Caucus ideologue Peter Goodman's comments, with lots of others jumping in. I suggest you read through the thread to get the full gist.

Here is Goldstein's message to the staff of Francis Lewis HS:

Dear colleagues,

I’m running with ICE/TJC for the UFT High School Executive Board, and I’m asking for your vote. Given events of the last few years, like the disastrous 2005 contract, the union’s support of mayoral control, the erosion of seniority rights, the advent of perpetual lunch duty and hall patrol, and the inability to grieve letters in a file simply for their being incorrect, I’ve determined there’s a need for a new voice in the UFT.

I’d like to be that voice.

Unity is an invitation-only caucus that’s controlled the UFT since its inception. When people join, they agree not to vary from Unity positions in public. Whatever Unity tells them to say, they say. Essentially, it’s a loyalty oath. In recent times, many of Unity’s decisions, like those listed above, have not benefitted working teachers.

There is another caucus called New Action. It supports the top of the Unity ticket, pretty much guaranteeing more of the same. It was once an opposition party, but in 2003 Randi Weingarten bought them off with patronage jobs and a few seats on the UFT Executive Board. With your help ICE/ TJC can claim those seats and bring real independent voices and thoughts to our union leadership.

If elected, I will be your voice not only here, but also on the UFT. I will not support measures that hurt working teachers, or any UFT members. I will vigorously oppose measures that appease Bloomberg and Klein with vague promises of benefits to come. Such measures have not served us well.

I will fight for a fair contract, for professional treatment, the retention of tenure, and the concept that a raise means more pay for doing the same job—not for extra time, extra duties, and fewer benefits and privileges.

Please check ICE/TJC on your ballot. Vote for a change in the UFT.

After 50 years, it’s time.

Best regards,

Arthur Goldstein, UFT Chapter Leader

Robotics
Well, it's off for a weekend of robotics at the Javits center, where Klein is supposed to make an appearance at 9AM this morning. I'll be doing my hair, but will get there later. I will be there all day Sunday handling registration for the 80 NYC teams taking part in the FIRST LEGO League tournament. Come on down. And you can also check out the over 60 high school teams from around the nation doing the big robots - they are there today too.

Bloomberg Lets the Cat Out of the Bag: We Need the UFT to Help Manage the Members- oops - the Schools

I missed the radio program starring the two Michaels the other day but I hear Bloomberg said he was not anti-union - and in fact needs the union. And so he does. What if the membership starts going wilding - like taking mass sickouts or other wildcat actions? The UFT  leadership will be right there to help reign them in.

With tonight's buzz of the UFT giving up on --- you name it ----- here are some email leads coming in:

Mulgrew has been quietly lobbying for the turnaround plan behind the scenes.

WNYC WNYC News Blog
RecommendSharePrintEmail Bill to End Last In, First Out Narrowly Clears Senate
Tuesday, March 01, 2011 - 12:43 PM
By Beth Fertig

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said before Cuomo's bill was released that the teachers union and state education department are already working on a policy to replace LIFO as part of the requirements for receiving federal Race to the Top funding in time for the 2012-2013 school year

It seems that the UFT has agreed to a turnaround plan that not only involves charter conversion to Green Dot (whose teachers, while unionized have less job security that public school teachers), but also would mean at least half of the school's teachers would lose their position and become ATRs, outside of any seniority order. 

A major concession, if true.  Given that the UFT appears to be the major source for this article and then DOE remains noncommittal, it appears that the union is committed to this. I hope it raises major questions at tomorrow's Delegate Assembly.

New Strategy Weighed for Failing Schools: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/nyregion/09greendot.html?src=me&ref=nyregion

From The New York Times:

City Eyes New Tactic for Failing Schools: The Turnaround

Rather than closing two Bronx schools, the Bloomberg administration may try to overhaul them with help from a charter school network.

http://nyti.ms/einOwx

(And lots of talk about the UFT's fave charterites: Steve Barr and Green Dot. Too much info to put up here but here are some links at Norms Notes: Green Dot and Steve Barr Updates.)

Here's the best:

From: UFT Political Action Department <noreply@uft.org>
Subject: Take action: Thank the governor

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011, 7:50 PM

Take action: Thank the governor
Dear colleagues,
When our elected officials do the right thing by our schools and our students, we want them to know.
Please take a moment to call Governor Cuomo to tell him that we appreciate his leadership on workers’ rights and our schools.
Call him at 518-474-8390.
Here’s what you can say:
Governor Cuomo, because of your efforts, everyone knows that New York is not Wisconsin.
I want to thank you for standing up for both the city’s children and the rights of union members by insisting that the state budget should not require local layoffs, despite Mayor Bloomberg's threat to lay off thousands of teachers and send class sizes skyrocketing.
In addition, while the system you are developing can lead to more objective teacher evaluations, the mayor's proposals would return our system to the days of cronyism and discrimination on the basis of race, age and gender.
Your leadership stands as an example to other states where workers' rights and critical services for children are under assault.
Sincerely,
UFT Political Action Department

 "Shameless!" was one comment. I just gagged.

Well, you know the drill. The Delegate Assembly Weds afternoon should be a bowl of laughs. I better get there early to get the banana. Join a bunch of us to drown your sorrows post-DA:

From Teachers Unite - POST-D.A. DRINKS! 3/9 Happy Hour: Send Support to Wisconsin workers!

Join fellow teachers and allies following the UFT Delegate Assembly in writing solidarity/thank you cards to Wisconsin workers standing up for collective bargaining.

Wed., 3/9, 6pm
Killarney Rose Bar (Upstairs Lounge)
127 Pearl St.
$4 drafts and bottles

Directions from UFT Headquarters:
Broad St. to Pearl St. and make a right

Link to Killarney Rose Bar with map: http://bit.ly/htUzAn

(A monthly affair after every DA)

THIS JUST IN:
READ A GREAT PIECE AT GOTHAM COMMUNITY BY GEMer Liza Campbell, a third year teacher who I've been working with on a bunch of projects. Democracy And Reform: A View From A PEP Newbie

I was at an ad hoc meeting organizing for Fight Back Friday (March 25 - get your school to join) on Monday with Liza, Julie Cavanagh and about 15 other mostly young teachers, all of whose ages don't add up to mine. What an amazing crew. I'm starting to feel sorry for the ed deformers. And for ME$ME. They don' need no stinkn' full time organizers paid for by Bill Gates and DFER.

See where all this is going: Social Justice Unionism

Check out Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/. And make sure to check out the side panel on right for news bits.

UFT Delegate Assembly Report June '07

Paranoia will Destroya

June 13

The June DA's are always poorly attended anyway, so I decided to take a break. No leaflet. Just show up and enjoy the festivities. But why sit and listen to all the Weingarten bullshit for her hour report? The important stuff is going to the pub afterwards. It was almost 5 when I left my house and arrived around 5:40. I felt naked without a leaflet as people were coming up asking me for it. Hey! Over 10 years at just about every DA with something to hand out. I've become a habit.

I picked up an agenda - 7 resolutions to discuss in addition to the usual reports, question and new motion period. Oh! I remember. They didn't get to them at the May 9th DA (remember- the cancelled demo against BloomKlein) because Deputy Mayor David Doctoroff and all the LSOs and SCHMOs from Tweed were given time to speak.

So I go into the visitor section and they're just coming to the end of the 10 minute question period, which is like, the very top of the agenda. Did Weingarten talk all this time? She asks if anyone wants to extend. Marcie Licari, CL of Clara Barton is standing up saying she wants to extend but Weingarten acts like she doesn't hear her. Marcie calls out that Randi said she would call on people from each section so she waited patiently but her section was never called on. "Now Marcie, this is a democratic body and the question was called," the Great Democrat says. Marcie responds that she has been standing for 10 months waiting to be called on.

Now the wheels begin to turn in the head of the GD. "Well this is out of order but I don't want to read about this on the blogs so let's take a vote on whether to let Marcie ask her question." She does and it loses. Sorry Marcie. And sorry GD. I guess you have to read abut it on the blogs, but if you want my advice I would spend less time reading the rantings of us lunatics, as your Unity Caucus leaflet referred to us. Lunacy is catching. But then again if you catch our lunacy you might actually become a union leader who stands up for the members.

I've been here for 5 minutes - jeez.

I'm in the back with TJC's Kit Wainer and Peter Lamphere. Peter has buddies out in LA and will get more info on what is going on out there, particularly in relation to class size.

Peter shows me the Unity leaflet on Green Dot. I howl with laughter at the latest Jeff Zahler work of art which attacked Jeff Kaufman (without naming him) for his quote that charters will be the end of the union (the leaflet rephrases it as the end of the UFT but we know that will never happen -- the Unity machine will always be there to glom off members' dues.) But it is a sign of how sensitive an issue Green Dot is, particularly when a nationally known blogger like NYC Educator has been hammering on Green Dot Randi as she tries to make her national rep in prep for becoming AFT President in July '08. (Strong rumor yesterday that AFT Pres. McElroy will retire, paving the way for Randi.)

ICE lunatic Jeff Kaufman proclaiming charter schools will prove to be the end of the union.

Now Zahler is the new staff director replacing Michael Mendel because to Randi, Michael was not tough enough. He would never write a leaflet like this. But Randi's paranoia (increasing by leaps and bounds as snitches at the palace have been telling us) requires attack dogs while she is traipsing around the country. Zahler, who has been so proud of his red-baiting leaflets, addressed the members and made a less than thrilling impression. He said something about only delegates should be seated - that's it Jeff, show how tough you are by eliminating the 12 seats in the visitor section - maybe a response to the wonderful video I took last time. I heard someone mutter "we want Michael." Can't wait to see Zahler run a DA.

Finally, we get to the 7 motions - gee, they couldn't dig up another Deputy Mayor or more DOE officials? The heavy one comes first - the resolution on military recruitment in the schools. I'm not going to go into this in depth here because I am not up to speed on the nitty gritty details.
I should point out that Leo Casey spoke. He is NOT a delegate. DID you hear that Zahler? But that should be rectified when Casey becomes HS VP when Volpicella retires soon. Now there's a popular choice as even Unity people consider Casey, who will justify any flip-flop by Randi with lengthy historical analysis and name calling of any one opposed, one of the most intellectually dishonest people in the history of humanity. Well, maybe just the UFT.

That no one from the opposition called a point of order galls me. Sometimes I wonder how people expect to organize against Unity if they won't stand up to the heat of Unity attacks at the DA. Kaufman did it consistently (Bruce Markens used to do it, as I did - pat on the back) until Jeff got disgusted with the DA and frankly, there's no one left with the balls to do it.

There is some interesting irony in this debate. UFT'ers Against the War has been the force behind this reso and people have been going out to the schools to oppose the military presence in the schools. Lisa North and Gloria Brandman from ICE have been major players in this organization, with the support of by Megan Behrent and Peter Lamphere from TJC. There have been others involved too.

Jerry Frohnhoefer, CL of Aviation HS gets up to oppose the motion and defend the role of military recruiters. You can hear the oohs! and aahs! from the audience which is clearly for the resolution, as is the leadership. I see some people on the left (politically) looking at Jerry in disgust. The problem on the left is a lack of respect for the point of views of people like Jerry. You may not agree but when principled people have something to say, they should be heard. Of course, not knowing Jerry, they assume automatically he is a hack. I've made that mistake myself about others.

Fortunately I know Jerry. When I think about remaining active in union politics so many years after retiring, I think of the wonderful people I meet. Jerry is at the top of my list.

I first met him only a few months ago when he left Unity Caucus to run with ICE as our VP for vocational schools. Now Unity is a black hole -- you go in but never get out, so Jerry is unique. His son is a captain serving in Afghanistan. Many teachers at Aviation HS are vets. Aviation has a large ROTC program for kids. I was there on Saturday for a robotics tournament and was called "Sir" more times than I can count -- not like when kids used to say "Yo! Scotty Boy!"

Jerry made an excellent presentation which I will do justice to and also include points from both points of view in another post. (I just talked to Jerry and he is heading out to Spokane WA for his daughter's graduation with an MA in Fine Arts. Her thesis is based on her 6 years of military service.) One of the people opposing Jerry was Jonathan Lessuck from Progressive Labor Party and ICE who also ran with us in the election.

That ICE had Jerry and Jonathan on the slate may be a sign the Unity leaflet is right - we must be lunatics. Unity doesn't get it. Lunacy is the wave of the future.

Now it is the end of the meeting and the Great Democrat calls for a vote on 6 resolutions all at once. Meeting adjourned. And it's off to the pub - my main man from New Action, Ed Beller, the only one in the responsible opposition that I have a shred of respect for, and that wonderful couple Bob McCue and Alice O'Neal. Bob, one of the best English teachers in the history of the world, has been an ATR for the past year. That he was an active CL at ParkWest HS before it closed won't help him get a job, especially with his max salary. Thanks Joel and Randi.

They are already a few drinks ahead. I should have skipped the DA and gone straight there to get a head start. Maybe next time. But what would the Great Democrat do for blog reading?

The Next Line of Attack on Teacher Unions: TFA Slates Run in Union Elections?

The Detroit News is urging support for a group of pro charter school teachers who are running a slate in the Detroit Teacher Union elections. Under the title of "Reform-minded Detroit teachers deserve help" - you know the drill: "Reform Minded" is code for "the union and teachers are the problem" – the article goes on to say

[Teachers] Crowley and Turner have organized the Detroit Children First slate. Made up of 19 diverse classroom teachers, it faces the current union President Virginia Cantrell and a host of other candidates.

The Children First slate's goal is two-fold: First, to begin a reform conversation among teachers who too often are ignored by the district's dysfunctional, bloated bureaucracy. Second, to create its own charter school. Its model: the Green Dot Schools, a Los Angeles nonprofit network of unionized charter high schools that is proving poor, urban and minority students can reach the same academic heights as their white and suburban peers do.

Children First? Sound familiar to Joel Klein's "Children Last" initiatives? Think there's a chance there is some connection to Teach for America?

You can read all about Green Dot's contracts with teachers in Michael Fiorillo's excellent post on ICE-mail: "The UFT and Green Dot Schools : Pragmatic Unionism or Trojan Horse?"

Is this the next level of attack – run in union elections. If we see this popping up in other cities, what organization is capable of mounting such an effort? It starts with a "T" and ends with an "A." Of course it would be surreptitious, but don't be surprised to find some high end political consultants giving such slates advice.

Will we see a pro-Rhee slate in union elections in DC? We saw lots of blog chatter this summer from some of these teachers ("Oh, my car is packed in July so I can run into school early to get ready.") One of the most vociferous pro Rhee ("I love her outside the box thinking. She has thought of a new way around the stubborn WTU - just eliminate the need to work with them altogether!") anti-union bloggers recently announced she had had it and was quitting, never to go back to teaching again.

My guess is they are wasting their time because even newer teachers who last beyond 2 or 3 years see the anti-teacher handwriting on the wall. We are beginning to see that happening in NYC was some of the TFA and Teaching Fellows are emerging from their years of learning and intense studying for their Masters to begin to want to learn more about the union.

As a matter of fact, I'm giving a presentation to a group of these teachers tomorrow at the Justice Not Just Tests group.

Of course in NYC we won't see such a slate run in the UFT elections since the UFT is in proper alignment with so much of the Joel Klein/Michael Bloomberg program. Mayor Mike is showing his appreciation by introducing Randi Weingarten at a big shindig in DC.

Randi watchers are sitting back to see how Randi, with her speak-out-of-5-sides-of-her-mouth tendencies," handles the Rhee situation. A recent NY Times article on Rhee by Sam Dillon, talked about a confrontation between Randi and Rhee.

In May, hundreds of people at a convention of educational entrepreneurs here watched spellbound as Ms. Weingarten, a commanding presence onstage, and Ms. Rhee, challenging her from the floor, clashed over what should happen to tenured teachers whom no schools hire.

Randi? A commanding presence on stage? And Rhee challenging her from the floor? Reminds me of my old days at the Delegate Assembly.

I'll bet Randi's response to Rhee wasn' t much, though she can throw the words around to make it appear so. Appearance over reality. One thing we can expect: there will be some militant rhetoric from the AFT, but not much action.

I posted the complete Detroit article on Norms Notes.

Coming Soon: national school-turnaround partnership between Green Dot and the AFT

UPDATED

This month, Barr expects to meet again with Weingarten and her staff and outline plans for Green Dot America, a national school-turnaround partnership between Green Dot and the AFT. Their first city would most likely be Washington, D. C. "If we're successful there, we'll get the attention of a lot of lawmakers," Barr said.

Get all the gory details over at Susan Ohanian.
http://susanohanian.org/outrage_fetch.php?id=545


Perimeter Primate has a little more information to add.
http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2009/05/linda-darling-hammond-didnt-play.html

Green Dot’s Empty Promise

Read it here. I'm thinking that parent choice to the ed reform free marketeers only means they have a choice to leave if they no like. Otherwise they have no say in a dictatorial system. Contrast that to the suburbs where parents have no school choice but do elect school boards and vote on school budgets, in addition to a whole lot more input that the urban "free choice" dicatorships.

And then there's the UFT partnership with Green Dot.

I'll connect more (green) dots later.

Hey, SEIU Goons: Break a Egg

Mike Antonucci reported over at Intercepts on Tuesday:

SEIU Threatens to Organize Charter School Teachers?

Can’t find confirmation anywhere other than in this story about the infighting between SEIU and the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). Reporter Randy Shaw says SEIU is upset with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) for supporting NUHW. UTLA reportedly sponsored a fundraiser for NUHW in San Francisco, which was protested by SEIU activists.

According to Shaw, SEIU made a statement to UTLA that “it would seek to organize charter school teachers in retaliation for UTLA’s pro-NUHW stance.” If true, it’s an empty threat. What makes SEIU think it would be any more successful organizing charter school teachers than UTLA has been? And how much damage would it really do if it were successful?

Charter school teachers might ask what all this has to do with their needs, and the answer is nothing. Something to remember when the union guy shows up at school.

If you followed our reports of the AFT/Randi takeover of Local 5017, a health services union in Portland Or. not long ago, goonism is not partial to SEIU. Ironically, the AFT takeover, which necessitated a trip to Portland by Randi, was related to Local 5017's flirtation with the very same NUHW- see end of this piece for links.

I agree with Mike that the AFT/UFT/Whatever will have a hell of a touch time organizing charters - they will probably have to "buy" charter operators off with some cozy contracts. See one Steve Barr and Green Dot.

Yesterday at the DA Angel Gonzalez and I had a short discussion with what seemed to be union official over charter schools and their support. They seem clearly in a box because they will not take a position opposing charters and will watch the union be winnowed away bit by bit. While they hemorage members to charters, they will be trying to organize what they lost. Sort of like trying to hold sand.

Anyway, I digress.

Here is Mike's follow-up report today:

SEIU Protest Lays an Egg

It isn’t all cakes and ale within the Los Angeles labor movement. SEIU added eggs and whipped gently.

On Tuesday, I relayed the tale of a dispute between SEIU and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) over the latter’s support of a rival union – the National Union of Healtcare Workers (NUHW), which was once part of SEIU. (Don’t worry if you don’t have a scorecard. You’ll get the idea.)

Well, UTLA hosted a labor forum about NUHW, and SEIU bused in a few hundred protesters. Labor Notes reports:

The SEIUers chanted, beat on drums, and threw eggs and water bottles in an unsuccessful effort to intimidate people from attending…. The forum was held at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Teachers union (UTLA). Josh Pechthalt, UTLA vice president, said he was glad the teachers union had hosted NUHW, despite threats by SEIU that there would be “war” if UTLA hosted the event. SEIU threatened to come after charter school teachers UTLA is trying to organize, according to Pechthalt. UTLA refused to buckle, and the room burst into applause.

Michael Fiorillo commented on ICE-mail:
SEIU reps are on the board of Green Dot in LA. NUHW was formed in response to a too-cozy-with-management SEIU leadership in Northern California putting more militant locals under receivership. Kudos to UTLA for standing up to SEIU thugs and sellouts. Best, Michael Fiorillo

This is not the first time SEIU has used goon tactics. Megan Behrent from ISO and TJC told us some interesting stories. I hope they have fun trying to organize charter school teachers. Try throwing fried eggs next time.


Ed Notes on AFT version of goonism without the eggs.

Randi In Portland (OR) and a Weird Subway ...

Jul 20, 2009

If you followed our reports on the goings in Portland (AFT Hack Attack) where the leadership of AFT Local 5017 (sue me AFT) was removed and the union put in receivership for considering the very idea of disaffiliating from the AFT and ...

AFT Hack Attack on Portland Local 5017

Jul 13, 2009

Some of you may not be paying attention to this "small" story in Portland, Or. But the role being played by the AFT against a local daring to discuss leaving the AFT is indicative of the kinds of desperate attempts to keep people in ...

Randi Goes to Portland As AFT Threatens ...

Jul 11, 2009

Portland OR--At 9am Tuesday July 7, approximately 20 representatives from American Federation of Teachers Healthcare national offices arrived at Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Local 5017 and put the health care ...

AFT Takeover Sanctioned By US Labor Department

Oct 21, 2009

The Lund Report, an Oregonian Health Blog run by Diane Lund (who I accidentally ran into on a subway in NYC this summer), has an excellent report on the AFT takeover of a Portland health care local which had been discussing leaving the ...

Baltimore Teachers: STAND UP AND TAKE A BOW!

Is rejection of contract a sign of emerging teacher rebellion?

{NOTE: If you are a teacher or connected with education in the Baltimore area leave a comment or email me off line with info: normsco@gmail.com}

Back in 1995, when Randi Weingarten was years away from taking over the UFT presidency, she negotiated a five year contract with double zero raises and other onerous provisions. You see, Mayor Giuliani was claiming the city didn't have any money and Randi and crew went right along with it. Thus, no raises. And some other provisions that would eat the young teachers and extend to 25 years before you could reach maximum, which many women who had lost years for childcare said was a form of discrimination.

They were so sure of ratification that Unity didn't bother sending out the hordes to the schools to sell it. It went down in defeat (credit to New Action at the time and to independents like Bruce Markens), sending shock waves through the UFT (they learned their lesson in the 2005 contract). So they made some minor changes - and then sent out the Unity hordes to spread fear and loathing and the contract passed on the second round. Within a year, Giuliani was bragging how rich the city was.

So yesterday's news about the Baltimore teachers voting down a contract Randi helped negotiate was so deja vu.

Baltimore City teachers rejected a contract Thursday that would have provided six-figure salaries for an elite corps of teachers but would have tied the pay of all educators to how they performed in the classroom, a vague provision that caused discomfort for many union members. More than 2,000 educators represented by the Baltimore Teachers Union voted on the tentative agreement, which had been hailed as the most innovative in the nation since its details emerged two weeks ago. However, it proved to be one of the most contentious ever in Baltimore, with its overhaul of how teachers are compensated, promoted and evaluated. The new contract would have eliminated the traditional system of "step increases," under which teachers are paid based on seniority and education degrees. It would have instead paid teachers based, in large part, on how effective they are in the classroom and their pursuit of professional development. On Wednesday and Thursday,1,540 union members voted against the tentative agreement and 1,107 in favor. The union represents about 6,500 educators.

Oh, they were so sure. Randi and friends. That they could shove another Washington DC/Harford/Detroit/etc. contract down the throats of teachers in Baltimore. So sure that Harold Myerson wrote in the Washington Post a short time ago:

Baltimore teachers union is the hero, not a villain

....the narrative that education reformers and teachers unions are eternal and implacable enemies is a hardy one, and one that Washingtonians in particular may well believe after four years of pitched battle between Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the D.C. teachers union. The intensity of the local battle might blind them to the experience of cities where the school district and the union have jointly embraced a reform agenda, even including a version of merit pay. And yet, such an agreement -- an impossibility, if we are to believe the conventional narrative -- was reached just two weeks ago in the faraway city of Baltimore.

Yes, they are heroes. But not of the Myerson and Weingarten kind.

Even Valerie Strauss wrote (I can't locate it now) that there would be a more benign atmosphere in Baltimore due to the milder form of Klein/Rhee in the face of Superintendent Andres Alonso, who used to carry Klein's water bottle. We knew Alonso a bit and no matter what cloth they where, an ed deformer is an ed deformer. Besides, I think Alonso couldn't be Rhee if he wanted too since there is some kind of school board instead of mayoral control.

There were warning signs. Mike Antonucci (one of the earliest anti-union sirens of ed deform) sent this out on his blog yesterday:

Last Tuesday, I noted there was some opposition brewing to the new Baltimore teachers’ contract, but I wrote:

“Since the much more controversial DC teachers contract passed, it’s hard to imagine this one being defeated.”

Oops.
City teachers voted it down – 1,540 to 1,107. Union president Marietta English blamed the defeat on the rumor that “some charter school operators have encouraged their teachers not to vote for this agreement.”
So it’s back to the drawing board for the negotiators. I’ll avoid predicting the outcome of ratification votes in the future, and I hope Harold Meyerson will think twice before he writes another column like this one.

Randi on front page in Times
Today's NY Times has a front page article on Randi which reveals so much.

Both friends and foes describe Ms. Weingarten, 52, who became president of the 1.5-million member American Federation of Teachers in 2008 after a decade leading the New York City local, as a superb tactician who cares deeply about being seen as a reformer.
“We have spent a lot of time in the last two years looking at ourselves in a mirror, trying to figure out what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong, and we’re trying to reform,” Ms. Weingarten said in an interview.
Early this year, she delivered a major policy speech that embraced tying teachers’ evaluations in part to students’ scores on standardized tests, a formula that teachers — and Ms. Weingarten herself — once resisted. 

----
Yet one scene that the director filmed, but left on the cutting-room floor, showed Ms. Weingarten signing a contract on behalf of teachers at Green Dot, which has had impressive results since it opened in 2008.
Steve Barr, who founded the Green Dot charter school network, lamented that the film ignored examples of charters and unions working together. “It doesn’t help to take the one true open-minded union leader and bash her,” he said.

Yes, we've been claiming all along that Randi wants to be an ed deformer, not a Real reformer. Lest you think Randi came up with this all on her own, we have been pointing out for years that Albert Shanker started leading the UFT/AFT in this direction in 1982 with his support for the now tainted "Nation at Risk" report. (I won't go into details her but you can follow some of it by reading the review of the Kahlenberg Shanker bio Vera Pavone and I wrote a few years ago - read it online here.)

NYC teacher Reality-Based Educator was overjoyed at Perdido Street School over the situation in Baltimore:

Next thing to do is vote out the sell-out leadership who tried to sell Baltimore teachers on the "Salary Commensurate With Test Scores and PD" jive.

Then take aim at Randi Weingarten and the rest of the sell-outs in the AFT leadership who touted this piece of shit contract as a model for contracts all across the country.
Hey, Randi, hope you can read lips!!!!
You too, Arne!!!

 Well, not maybe overjoyed. But RBE's post and the vote in Baltimore, along with the Chicago election, turmoil in Detroit and Washington DC, expresses the increasing revolt of the rank and file teacher, something Weingarten and MulGarten will try their best to manage.

They have the best shot at control in our own hometown here in NYC where Unity Caucus machine reigns supreme. There are stirrings for sure and I will use Ed Notes to support any movement that makes sense.

Today, Teachers Unite is sponsoring the first of a series of monthly forums focused on teacher unionism. I can't make it because we are working on our film response to WfS. But if you are around head on down.

A new union movement starts Saturday, Oct. 16

Saturday, October 16
Rank and File Leadership Program
11am-1pm
Community Resource Exchange, 42 Broadway, 20th Floor

Facilitator: Dr. Lois Weiner, Professor of Education, New Jersey City University
Pushing back on testing, merit pay, charter schools, and de-professionalization of teaching: How can we use teacher unions?

We will share strategies with participants for leading reading groups with colleagues about these issues. Participants will be provided with reading materials to distribute and action steps for organizing teachers in their school building.

Yes, boys and girls. All you people who decry the Unity machine - there will be no change in the UFT - or the AFT which is controlled by the UFT -  until you get actively involved in the struggle. And organizing in your own building is where it starts because Unity actively controls most schools and those they don't control they do so by default due to lack of interest.

There are enough active groups out there for you to jump in: ICE(which met last night), TJC, Teachers Unite, GEM. Or go start your own group at the school level like CAPE did and link in with the other groups.

AFTER BURN
More Teachers Unite: Go see Leonie Haimson speak on mayoral control on Tuesday:

Tuesday, October 19
Right to the City Schools Leadership Program
5:00-7:00PM
Urban Justice Center, 123 William St.

Guest speaker: Leonie Haimson

How has mayoral control impacted your classroom? What does school governance model have to do with the overemphasis on testing and lack of attention to class size?

LA's charter school giveaway

http://socialistworker.org/2009/08/31/la-charter-school-giveaway

Analysis: Sarah Knopp

Sarah Knopp, a member of United Teachers Los Angeles, looks at the looming threat of privatization--and the potential for resistance among teachers, parents and students.

August 31, 2009

IN A progressive city, with a progressive mayor and one of the most progressive teachers' unions in the country, the floodgates were opened August 25 to private control over education.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board voted 6-1 to authorize opening up over 250 schools to bids by charter schools and other outside entities.

Many of these schools have been "program improvement" schools for three or more years--that is, schools that are failing under the test score criteria set by the federal No Child Left Behind law. Fifty others, though, are brand-new, shiny, multimillion-dollar complexes, built with public bond money in the largest public works program any city has undertaken since the 1970s.

These new schools have state-of-the-art facilities--all the best science labs, art rooms, cafeterias and common space. They stand in stark contrast to the crumbling and often-poisoned schools that most LAUSD students attend.

Now, these newly constructed, publicly funded buildings could be turned over to private operators--though the original bond offering that voters approved said nothing of the sort.

The schools haven't been turned over yet--under the terms of the school board's resolution, the board and the superintendent will consider competing proposals for each of the schools and make a decision in the future.

But the direction is obvious. As Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, the sole dissenting vote on the board, pointed out incredulously, "This motion means that Los Angeles Unified School District has to bid for control of our own schools!"

The board member who raised the motion, Yolie Flores Aguilar, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's ally on the board, painted the proposal as matter of "choice" and "competition." Ironically, though, students, parents and teachers won't get to vote for the "choices" that will be presented for the schools starting this winter.

Some progressive organizations and individual teachers have argued that we can make our own proposals for running the schools that have been opened up to bidding. But there is no mechanism for communities or teachers to ensure that their opinions will get taken into account. And the charter school operators have big advantages--including pockets full of private-sector cash--to push their ready-made plans.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

WHY WOULD a school board vote to give up control of its own schools, including 50 brand-new buildings? The process of passing the resolution revealed another motive: breaking the power of teachers' and other employees' unions.

School board member Steve Zimmer raised an amendment to the resolution that existing employees' unions would have to be the sole representatives of employees in the new schools. But this amendment was watered down to say that existing unions would only represent workers in schools that remained under the control of LAUSD.

So the amendment did nothing to counter the clear threat to unions at the schools opened up to bidding. As has happened in other cities where charter schools got a foothold, the union could be forced out altogether, employees could be fired en masse or required to reapply for their jobs, and collective bargaining agreements might have to be renegotiated with a hostile employer.

Zimmer, who just began his term on the board this year after being elected with the overwhelming support of the teachers' union, voted for the proposal. Despite his claim to oppose privatization, his strategy for dealing with the motion was to support it and try to amend it.

That strategy failed, as the amendment on workers' representation illustrated. Another amendment proposed by Zimmer--that parents, teachers and high school students should have to vote for a reform proposal at individual schools--was also watered down to the point of meaninglessness, by making the vote by parents, teachers and students "advisory."

The worst part of this story is that it didn't have to go down this way. I was part of the effort to organize opposition to the giveaway proposal. In the two weeks before the motion was raised in the board, LAUSD held "town hall" meetings all over the city to hear community input about improving existing schools and visions for the 50 new schools.

Activists from our Progressive Educators for Action (PEAC) caucus in the LA teachers union attended the town hall meetings to talk to parents about the motion, the issues at stake, and the possibilities for building coalitions for progressive school reform. In one of the town halls in the predominantly Latino suburb Maywood, 37 of the 40 speakers spoke against privatization of the schools.

Opposition in this particular neighborhood can be attributed to well-organized parent and community groups, such as Maywood Unidos, which have fought not only to make Maywood a sanctuary city for immigrants, but also for community access to schools. At a brand-new school built in the neighborhood, Maywood Academy, only 40 percent of the students last year were actually from Maywood. Students who lived right across the street couldn't get access.

Similarly, a self-organized group of parents at Garfield High School has been fighting against a takeover of their school by the charter schools operator Green Dot. And the community organization ACORN organized opposition to the privatization resolution.

In contrast to these groups, other organizations claiming to represent "the community" supported the motion. For example, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inner City Struggle and Community Coalition all took positions in favor of the proposal, probably hoping that they will be able to gain full or partial control over some of the new schools.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OUTSIDE THE school board meeting, both supporters and opponents of the motion held rallies.

Green Dot, which has been funded with millions of dollars from the Eli Broad Foundation, supports a "parent organization" called Parent Revolution that held a demonstration, complete with Mayor Villaraigosa speaking. Over 1,000 people attended, wearing pre-printed blue shirts.

Some of the attendees reported that they had been offered $10 or community service hours to attend the rally. But among attendees, there were certainly parents who sincerely want to fight for school reform and believe this proposal will help them to do it.

Our union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), wrote an open letter to these parents explaining our opposition to key aspects of the motion, and many of us spent time talking to parents. Among those whose genuine concern is for social justice for their children, there is huge potential for building alliances when we point out that the only way to get real reform is for parents, teachers and students to unite and fight for more resources and democracy.

With this goal in mind, PEAC activists have set out to formulate a vision for reform that we can build with parents and students. This vision includes the basic principles of access, equity, excellence, public management, local control, sustainability and commitment to collective bargaining rights.

UTLA has also formed a "reform committee." Inside this committee, debates exist about some of the pilot school and innovation division projects already existing in LAUSD. At some schools, special agreements with the mayor, extra resources, more local control over budgets and curriculum, and special partnerships with community organizations have been traded for thinned-down union contracts. The jury is still out on whether these schools are really providing more "innovation" and local control.

Though the union as a whole did not commit fully to the kind of alliances with parents that we should have in the first round of this fight, the potential to organize around the issue of equal access to excellent education is very strong.

If we attempt to include parents and students in the fight for access for all to quality public schools, we could stop the mayor and his charter school allies from privatizing our schools, and fight to shape those schools according to the visions of parents, teachers and students. We now have to counter their agenda with ours, school by school.

The WAVE: The Joys of Aging

March 3, 2010, for publication in The WAVE, Mar. 5 edition

by Norm Scott

This column will be a shortie – Susan Locke (WAVE Publisher) is doing cartwheels. The 9am Wave deadline approaches on the day I begin Medicare and social security – and the most fun of all, the day I start to use my half fare Metro card – take that Jay Walder. My wife is waiting to take me shopping for my birthday gift, which she thinks should be an exercise ball instead of that 200 inch flat panel TV I really need. "But honey, shouldn't we also get that TV to go with the ball so I can see the video that comes with it really well?"

That's all I have to say about the aging process. I am hoping some extra aging is going on over at Tweed over the Daily News' Juan Gonzalez's exposure of the emails between Joel Klein and Harlem Success charter school queen Eva (Evil) Moskowitz (Mockowitz, Moskowitch - take your pick). The ed literati are howling with glee over the 70 pages of emails that reveal uncle Joel's predilection for charter schools over schools he is supposed to be running. Gotham Schools' Elizabeth Green had this tidbit:

April 16, 2009, was a hectic e-mailing day for the odd couple. First, Klein offers his frank thoughts on his new buddy Al Sharpton, after Moskowitz asks whether she should invite Sharpton to visit her school. He’s good on charters, but not on mayoral control, Klein says. But he is “working” on Sharpton. The same day, Klein lets Moskowitz know that Bill Clinton called him to say he’s upset about the teachers union attack on charter schools — “keep confi,” Klein instructs. Clinton apparently “wants to do an op ed.” Pretty sure this never materialized, though Moskowitz offered some talking points.

Always being focused on the UFT, I picked up this piece from Green's report:

WHAT RANDI SAID: In an Oct. 8, 2008, e-mail, Moskowitz claims that former city teachers union president Randi Weingarten, and her personal enemy, suggested that the duo write a thin contract together. Presumably that would mean that Harlem Success schools would become unionized, and the resulting work contract would have very few restrictions. Moskowitz said she would but only if Weingarten also agreed to a thin contract at half of all city schools. The union’s first thin contract, with the Green Dot charter school in the Bronx, landed in June 2009.

Could you just imagine the Randi/Mulgrew qvelling and distorting if they actually got Evil to go along with this? We've been predicting that the UFT moves to organize charters will be all about thin contracts with "very few restrictions" on the charter operators. Which will screw the teachers, of course. In ICE and GEM (the organizing groups I work with) we ask ourselves what to tell charter school teachers who might be interested in having the UFT organize them. My instinct is to say, "Try the exterminators union." But seriously, do you urge them to become part of an undemocratic, narrow, sell-out union?

Last week I got a call from a former student in my 6th grade class – from 1979. I haven't seen her since she was in high school. We're getting together for lunch. She's in her 40's. Now THAT makes me feel OLD. But I will feel much better after my yearly dose of Beef Wellington tonight at One if By Land, Two if By Sea.

Weingarten May Soon Hold N.Y., National Union Jobs

Elizabeth Green wrote in the NY Sun.

Ms. Weingarten has enjoyed broad popularity inside the UFT, consistently winning elections by a landslide. A group of teachers that organizes against her, the Independent Community of Educators, has repeatedly condemned some of Ms. Weingarten's more unconventional positions, such as her support for performance-based pay for teachers, her support for charter schools, and her new partnership with a charter school operator that bans traditional teacher tenure, Green Dot. The group greeted her announcement, delivered to the union's executive board and legislative body last week, with disgust. "The UFT deserves a full-time president," a UFT chapter leader at Jamaica High School who is a member of ICE, James Eterno, said.

Are you sure about that, James? We've had one, supposedly, for the past 10 years. Where has that gotten us? Let's try for 10 years with Randi as a part-time President. Think it's impossible for Weingarten to attempt to break Shanker's 11 year record? Green writes [emphasis mine]:

Ms. Weingarten said holding both jobs would be the only fair way to ensure the smoothness of her departure from the UFT. An AFT president starts her term the day after being elected, she pointed out, arguing that such abruptness would prevent any smooth transition out of the UFT. "If this happens, I would do both for an uncertain time period," she said [how about a decade?]. The period would probably end when Ms. Weingarten felt a qualified successor [the search is on for another lawyer] had emerged to take her place at the UFT. Three have emerged as top contenders: two UFT vice presidents, Michael Mulgrew and Michelle Bodden, and the New York State United Teachers vice president, Maria Neira.

What Abruptness? Everyone knew for the past 3 or 4 years Randi was becoming AFT president this July. So if there was any intent to pass on power to anyone, a clear cut successor would have been chosen and groomed, as Shanker did with Feldman and Feldman did with Weingarten (who was designated at least 5 years before she actually took over.)

If you read our 2 part series on Weingarten's succession (see link on the sidebar), you will see the candidates mentioned (there were 6 at that time and expect more names to surface) include a white, a black and a Hispanic to keep all constituencies in Unity Caucus (the membership is irrelevant in all this). None of them are viewed as serious candidates capable of filling Weingarten's shoes, not as much due to their inabilities, but because Weingarten has assured the existence of a divide and conquer strategy by not putting a clear successor in place. Imagine as people begin to line up as near to the potential throne as they can, with supporters of each jockeying for positions within Unity and even going beyond into the rank and file, and heavens forbid, some people in the opposition, playing the "I'll be a different type of leader" card.

Expect Weingarten to play them off against each other. When Feldman handed her the reigns of power, she moved to edge out those Feldman supporters who did not kiss the ring. She cannot risk the same happening to her.

Remember, the entire power in the AFT resides in the UFT, and ultimately, Unity Caucus – control the caucus and control the world.

Mulgrew, who came out of nowhere from a high school chapter leader to near the top of the heap in a very short time, is mentioned as the person with the power game to run the union. But people see him as a bit rough at the edges, in more of a role to control the faithful while Weingarten races around, functioning like Tom Pappas did for Feldman and Weingarten (don't think the Randi/Tom relationship was always smooth either.) The threat to Weingarten is that Mulgrew moves behind the scenes to build an internal support system that would make him the obvious choice. Then Weingarten would face pressure to make it official.

If Bodden were truly a potential successor, she would have been given responsibilities to prepare her for the role. Neira has played little of a public leadership role to date.

So my guess is this is all about setting Randi up to run in 2010 because if she didn't groom someone by now when she knew she was leaving, why would she at this time when she won't be around to ease the transition?

A perfect example would be the coalition of groups the union worked with to put together the rally. Much is based on the personal relationships with Randi. If they don't deal directly with Weingarten, the people they do deal with in the UFT are basically gofers and are not enabled to make any real decisions. Thus, the entire political house of cards Weingarten has built, will come down without her hand being on the till. And don't think people aren't worried. If she had put in a strong successor, that person would have been picking up the relationships and assuring a smooth succession.

Soon we will be hearing how the fiscal crisis requires an experienced hand at the helm and that hand must be Weingarten's, even if it has to reach from Washington.

Of course, all of the above it total speculation on my part from a distant galaxy, so take it all with a grain of salt.