Social Justice/Movement vs Economic Unionism - Where Does the UFT Stand?

"I don't have time to give a shit about Cuomo -- I'm in a life and death struggle with my principal and the union people I deal with seem to be on his side" .... overheard at the Feb. UFT Delegate Assembly.

I raise this point as an introduction to this piece because I don't care how a union or caucus brands itself - SJ, SM, business/economic unionism  - the battle comes down to the school level and if that doesn't get addressed it all become irrelevant. I maintain that the UFT's unwillingness or inability to address this issue - and in fact often defend some principals and brand the members complaining as malcontents - goes beyond labels. Many - not all -- Social Justice oriented people often seem to be working in schools they like - if you are in a career death spiral due to an oppressive administration it is hard to keep your head above water to think beyond survival.

On the other hand, with the attacks on unions, without a social justice/movement component, unions stand alone, so there is a yin-yang going on.

Let me get into this pretty interesting piece on Social Justice unionism posted at Substance.

With the recent decision by the Washington Post, not generally a friend of labor unions, to feature a lengthy essay by Milwaukee's Bob Peterson, and the attempts by some in the Chicago Teachers Union to brand CORE as a "social justice caucus," it's time for a full debate over not only terminology but underlying concepts. The following essay by Substance staff member and contributor Kim Scipes helps frame some of the issues that are, once again, coming to the forefront as the leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union ends its campaigns in the Chicago municipal elections and heads into a fierce fight over the new contract, the first since the Chicago Teachers Strike of 2012...... George N. Schmidt, editor, Substance

I posted Milwaukee union president Bob Peterson's piece on Ed Notes recently with some commentary -- Undemocratic Teacher Unions Are the Problem, Not the Solution.  I also posted a summary of SJ caucus actions around the nation from UCORE -- Ve R Not Alone -- UCORE - United Caucuses of Rank ....

Bob, one of the founders of progressive Rethinking Schools, is one of the most interesting educators I've met - a lifetime classroom teacher catapulted into union leadership - yes, he is NOT a lawyer pretending to be a teacher. Interesting point -- he is NEA not AFT but Wisconsin may see a merger and that would add Bob to the other progressive union leaders, hopefully in time for the 2016 AFT convention in Minneapolis.

George  Schmidt posted a very interesting scholarly piece on the roots of social justice/movement unionism by Kim Scipes. 'Social Movement Unionism', 'Social Justice Unionism,' or some other understanding... Disentangling Theoretical Confusion within the Global Labor Movement

 ....those promoting the concept of social movement unionism in North America argue for a democratic, rank and file-led unionism that mobilizes their members to address not only issues of the union’s (institutionalized) self-interest, but also issues within unions themselves, as well as the interests of all poor and working people in general, but without challenging the existence of the current social order.

George used this photo I took at the past summer AFT convention in LA - George was in the audience but I had this camera angle.

By July 2014, leaders of the three largest pre-K - 12 locals in the American Federation of Teachers were brought together to discuss "social movement unionism" during the convention of the American Federation of Teachers in Los Angeles. Above, Michael Mulgrew (President of the United Federation of Teachers, New York City), Karen Lewis (President of the Chicago Teachers Union) and Alex Caputo Pearl (President of the United Teachers of Los Angeles) were on the panel on "social movement unionism" during the 2014 AFT convention in Los Angeles. Substance photo by Norm Scott.

George and I often have discussions on SJ unionism and SJ caucuses - as both CORE in Chicago and MORE in NYC have branded themselves - and we do at times roll our eyes at some of the rhetoric we hear. I ran into a whole crew at the convention this summer that were under attack in LA that are not supporters of Alex or SJ unionism.

I can't tell you how often someone in MORE says we have to do or take a position on a, b or c because we are a social justice -- no -- THE social justice caucus -- in the UFT. I often respond that Unity Caucus, though branded by the left as a "business" union has a few aspects of SJ unionism - at least on the surface.

Both George and I are not comfortable with the branding and at times I would like to either ink out "The Social Justice Caucus of the UFT" phrase on the MORE teeshirts or add a bunch of other phrases to go with it - like we are "THE defense of public education and teacher rights" caucus, which I think is SJ but a more inclusive term. Fact is, different people in MORE have their own definitions of Social justice/movement unionism and that is what at times makes the branding an internal burden. My feeling is it often comes down to what you do at the school level.

Here are just a few excerpts from Kim Scipes' long piece which may not be for everyone but certainly worth taking a look at: 
http://www.substancenews.net/articles.php?page=5446&section=Article

I'm also including the 20 questions to ask about your own union - come up with a score for the UFT, which the opposition often brands as an economic or business union.

.....it was argued that there were three types of trade unionism in the world: economic, political, and social movement unionism.

Economic trade unionism was defined as:
... unionism that accommodates itself to, and is absorbed by, the industrial relations system of its particular country; which engages in political activities within the dominant political system for the well-being of its members and its institutional self but generally limits itself to immediate interests... (Scipes, 1992a:126).

Political unionism was defined as:
... unionism that is dominated by or subordinated to a political party or state, to which the leaders give primary loyalty—and this includes both the Leninist and “radical nationalist” versions. This results in generally but not totally neglecting workplace issues for "larger" political issues (Scipes, 1992a: 127).

And then, after detailing the debate over “social movement unionism” (Scipes, 1992a:127-133), this version of social movement unionism was defined as:
… a model of trade unionism that differs from the traditional forms of both economic and political unionism. This model sees workers’ struggles as merely one of many efforts to qualitatively change society, and not either the only site for political struggle and social change or even the primary site. Therefore, it seeks alliances with other social movements on an equal basis, and tries to join them in practice when possible, both within the country and internationally.

Social movement unionism is trade unionism democratically controlled by the membership and not by any external organization, which recognizes that the struggles for control over workers’ daily work life, pay and conditions is intimately connected with and cannot be separated from the national sociopolitical- economic situation. This requires that struggles to improve the situation of workers confront the national situation—combining struggles against exploitation and oppression in the workplace with those confronting domination both external from and internal to the larger society—as well as any dominating relations within the unions themselves. Therefore, it is autonomous from capital, the state and political parties, setting its own agenda from its own particular perspective, yet willing to consider modifying its perspective on the basis of negotiations with the social movements [and political parties] with which it is allied with and which it has equal relations (Scipes, 1992a: 133).29

One of the constant debates in the opposition in the UFT over the  45 years I've been involved has been over whether a caucus should focus solely on the economic model, a debate that has led to internal conflicts and splits. Note these points by Kim Scipes relevant to a group like MORE, which focuses on building a core of activists (as I saw yesterday at a MORE meeting with 11 people who gave up half their vacation day.)

I think there is a big difference between CORE in Chicago which has control of the union and MORE in NYC which is a tiny sliver of people mostly unknown to the vast majority of UFT members, most of whom have little interest in SJ unionism. But the yang of this is that if you are trying to build a core of activists who are willing to give up chunks of their lives to organize people in the union, they are more likely to do so if they are SJ oriented - and no caucus can go very far without people to do the work.

The adoption of a particular conceptualization of unionism by any union at best is a product of a three-way interaction between members, activists (informal leaders) and formal leaders, although obviously, once established, formal union leadership in some cases can encourage or hinder membership and/or activist involvement in such choice. In other words, the form of trade unionism chosen is more than just a product of the presence or absence of activists
and their particular politics: activists are important, but how they are facilitated or constrained by formal leaders is a factor, as is how the membership responds or does not respond to their ideas/activities/proposals, etc.

At the same time, this is a process critically affected by how collective decisions are made, whether inclusively from the bottom-upwards, or exclusively from the top-downwards:  unions whose positions are based on inclusive rank-and-file participation and collective decisionmaking are more likely to have greater membership participation and maintain vibrant internal democracy than are unions that exclude rank-and-file members from decision-making processes (see Ross, 2008: 148-153). Further, support for any form of unionism based on inclusion and collective decision-making is much more likely to survive difficult times than those with exclusive decision-making.

The comment in bold is a key -- the UFT is screaming for members to jump in on the Cuomo battle but as all too many people have said -- I don't have time to give a shit about Cuomo -- I'm in a life and death struggle with my principal. I don't care how a union or caucus brands itself - SJ, SM - the battle comes down to the school level and if that doesn't get addressed it all become irrelevant.

Is the UFT an economic or social justice union: 20 questions to rate the UFT. Kim raises an interesting point. "The sets of questions have been divided into two categories—institutional and programmatic concerns—so as to indicate differences between how things are formally organized and how they work in practice."

Unity trolls claim the UFT institutional is democratically organized. I don't agree, but especially in the practice it is not democratic.

Measuring Different Forms of Trade Unionism
A 20-question scale has been developed by which to measure different forms of [economic] trade unionism. 

Marjorie Stamberg Analyzes UFT Special Strategy Delegate Assembly

*Common Core and the UFT Unity Waffling*
To understand the subtext here, you have to understand that the UFT is in favor of Common Core national testing obsession. They were the enablers (in the sense that word is used in addiction psychology) of pushing through the Common Core in New York City. Over heavy opposition, the UFT pushed through the contract the agreement linking teacher evaluations to student test scores.
Now all this looks like it’s going down, and they are slipping around this, while upholding the Common Core and the punitive teacher evals. In typical UFT fashion (for which they are notorious), they buy into bad stuff, then try to ameliorate the disaster.  ... Marjorie Stamberg

I don't always agree with the message Marjorie puts out but her analysis of what goes on in the UFT is often right on -- of course she must get in her political messages - which I have put in bold so you can find them easily. I realized after reading her report that the 2 key Unity speakers against the MORE reso were retired UFT staffer Mark Korashan and current UFT staffer Sterling Roberson -- do they not trust even the Unity people working in the schools who actually have to work under the crap they helped create to make a cogent case against the MORE/NYSAPE reso on testing?

By the way -- as I write this I am watching a powerful anti-testing commercial on TV by the NEW JERSEY Teacher union -- NOT NYSUT OR THE UFT.

See other reports from the Feb. 11 DA:

• Two UFT DA Reports From MORE
• Testing Reso Voted Down at Delegate Assembly, New ...

Marjorie comments on the MORE reso which she voted for:

...if there had been discussion, I would have noted that the MORE resolution did not call on the UFT to refuse to support standardized testing, or to support and defend teachers who won’t give the test.

She is correct but out of context - MORE and Change the Stakes had a lot of internal discussion on this and decided to join the rest of the state in putting forth the exact NYSAPE resolution as written for the purpose of being in tune with everyone else as there will be plenty of opportunities to follow up this spring as the opt-out movement heats up. Thus the rejection by the Unity/UFT leadership was not a rejection of the MORE reso but of the influential - and at times allied with the UFT/NYSUT - NYSAPE which has Leonie Haimson and Carol Burris on their steering committee - along with Nancy Cauthen from Change the Stakes.

Marjorie also point correctly to the weakness of the opt-out movement as being mostly white and middle class -- CTS has been making an effort to reach into non-middle class communities and schools to point out how ALL kids are harmed by high stakes tests. And let's not forget the middle class black community which may be more amenable to the message.

Report-back from UFT Delegate Assembly, February 11, 2015 *
by Marjorie Stamberg.

Two weeks ago the DA had a “special strategy session” to outline a lobbying campaign against Gov. Cuomo’s vicious anti-teacher agenda. This D.A. was really a follow-up.

*President’s Report*
Mulgrew’s strategy is to paint Cuomo as an “outlier”, whose teacher bashing and test obsessing is out of step with both the federal government and local pols.
The UFT, he said, should continue to pressure and isolate Cuomo by lobbying Albany, holding educational forums, and a March 9th week of action. The goal is to get the state budget passed. If the budget doesn’t pass by April 1st, then Cuomo gets to enact a budget by “executive order”. This is how Cuomo wants to ram through his agenda including teacher evals based 50% on student test scores, new teacher probation extended from 3 to 5 years, merit pay, raising the charter cap, and putting low performing schools in receiver ship.

If Cuomo uses its executive order, than the UFT is back in “full scale combat” and the “nasty ugliness” of the Bloomberg years.
High stakes testing, the “opt out” campaign, and Common Core were the subtext of all the remarks, and sometimes the elephant in the room. What wasn’t said is that the UFT continues to support Common Core, over all opposition.
So Mulgrew developed the argument that testing is good, if it is used for diagnostic purposes, but bad if it is used for high-stakes decisions on teachers *(like huh? UFT voted to keep this in the contract*). 

And the Unity Caucus delegates (the majority of the D.A.) *voted down* a proposal to put a discussion of the “opt out” resistance movement on the agenda for the next Delegates Assembly. 

Thus, all the key issues were avoided.
*March 9th Week of Action*
There will be “grassroots actions” that will range from leafleting outside schools, surrounding the schools with people who holding hands around the building, and “surrounding the state building (I’m not sure if he meant in Manhattan or Albany). This will be not just educators and parents, but telling Cuomo that “our government is not for sale to the billionaires.”
As a UFT chapter, I think it’s important for us to meet and figure out what it can do. But I think it will take a lot more than holding hands – we need to talk about workers’ power. 

*“Opt Out—I Refuse “Movement”*
*“Unity Caucus” Response – Straw Horses and Red Herrings*
Mike Shirtzer from the MORE Caucus put this resolution up. There was a lot of support, but the majority Unity Caucus delegates refused to let it on the floor. Mike said the union should not support high stakes testing, and that the union should support parents’ right to opt out of standardized tests. He said we should be teaching critical thinking, not how to fill in bubbles.
Retired former D79 district rep Mark Korashan spoke against it, saying the MORE resolution called on NYSUT to take a position and we can’t tell NYSUT what to do. This argument was a red herring in that the MORE resolution did not order NYSUT to do anything, only to bring the UFT position to NYSUT’s attention..
Sterling Robeson was the main speaker against it. He repeated the Unity Caucus straw-horse line that the union doesn’t oppose all tests (nobody said we do) and that many parents and activists in civil rights groups want testing, so that their children are given the opportunities to succeed.
My view: I voted to the MORE resolution. Still, if there had been discussion, I would have noted that the MORE resolution did not call on the UFT to refuse to support standardized testing, or to support and defend teachers who won’t give the test. This is how the standardized tests were stopped in Oaxaca and Guerrero, Mexico –through the strength of the teachers’ movement.
The weakness of the Opt Out movement is that it is essentially middle class. That is parents who have “options” can have their kids opt out (Many Ivy League schools are abandoning the SAT tests anyway—family income is enough of a predictor of student success (!). Others cannot take the risk to “opt out”, unless there is a powerful campaign of education and support to defend the teachers and the students who do.
*Common Core and the UFT Unity Waffling*
To understand the subtext here, you have to understand that the UFT is in favor of Common Core national testing obsession. They were the enablers (in the sense that word is used in addiction psychology) of pushing through the Common Core in New York City. Over heavy opposition, the UFT pushed through the contract the agreement linking teacher evaluations to student test scores.
Now all this looks like it’s going down, and they are slipping around this, while upholding the Common Core and the punitive teacher evals. In typical UFT fashion (for which they are notorious), they buy into bad stuff, then try to ameliorate the disaster. Why? Long story—it’s about capitalism and the “labor lieutenants of capital” as Daniel De Leon called the labor bureaucracy.
So back to Common Core national syllabus and teacher evals. There is a concurrence of right-wing and leftwing opposition to this coming out of Washington. The Republicans don’t want the federal government involved in curriculum or testing, claiming states’ rights. They don’t want to teach evolution, climate change or the fact the North won the Civil War.
Actually, we don’t want the feds involved either, because the capitalist state should stay out of education (Marx said that). Also we want to teach the history of the Black Panther Party, Che Guevara, the Cuban Revolution, immigrant rights, anti-racism, and all the other issues of the day.
That’s it for now.

Ed News you can use: Cuomo Adopts Bloomberg Ed Model, Astroturf groups rally to support him, UFT Rally Today at City Hall

United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew, Assembly education chairwoman Cathy Nolan and others will hold a press conference on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity this morning at City Hall a 11AM.
COMING UP: The U.F.T. is planning a citywide rally, in partnership with Class Size Matters and the Alliance for Quality Education, to protest Cuomo’s education proposals on Thursday, March 12. 

The Northeast Charter Schools Network is launching a charter school “myth-busting” campaign in an attempt to dispel common criticisms of charters. The group is starting with the claim that charters are not public schools. The Network joined both Families for Excellent Schools and StudentsFirstNY yesterday in pushing for Cuomo’s education agenda. See the campaign here: http://bit.ly/1E6Jcfs .. Capital Education

Sure - they're public schools to get the money but not public schools when it comes to teacher qualifications or accountability equal to public school teachers or on issues such as discipline codes. See Raging Horse blog for more on AstroTurf: When is a “Grassroots” Organization a Front?

Here are selections from today's report from Capital Education, which you ought to subscribe to: jbakeman@capitalnewyork.com

CUOMO’S JOEL KLEIN EDUCATION AGENDA—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: “Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ambitious, yet controversial education reform agenda picks up many of the loose threads left by former mayor Michael Bloomberg and former chancellor Joel Klein, two of the governor’s most direct ideological predecessors on education policy. Merit pay for teachers who help raise their students’ test scores, stricter teacher evaluations with more weight on exams, support for charter schools and little patience for struggling schools are national reform initiatives ushered into New York City during the decade Klein served as chancellor. Now, Cuomo is elevating those proposals to the state level, and assuming the mantle of education reform for New York as Bloomberg and Klein have disappeared and teachers' union-friendly de Blasio administration directs policy out of City Hall.”
—Their policies overlap in several key areas: on merit pay, Cuomo is proposed a $20 million “teacher excellence fund” to furnish $20,000 bonuses for “highly effective teachers.” Klein’s deal on merit pay with the union ultimately fell through. Bloomberg recommended linking teacher tenure with student test results in 2009; Cuomo has doubled down on that idea by recommending tenure be linked with teacher evaluations and that those evaluations be 50 percent comprised of student exam results.
—Klein and Bloomberg ensured the creation of New York City’s charter school sector, which has grown so quickly that the cap was extended by 114 schools in 2010. Cuomo has proposed to raise the cap, again, by 100 schools this year. Both Klein and Cuomo have embraced a no-excuses stance on failing schools and struggling teachers. Klein and Cuomo have also used almost identical language about the obstacles to removing teachers accused of ineffectiveness or misconduct. http://bit.ly/19ydwUy

PRO-CHARTER GROUPS MOBILIZE PARENTS ON CUOMO’S REFORMS—Capital’s Eliza Shapiro: “StudentsFirstNY held a rally in support of Governor Andrew Cuomo's education reform agenda today, as the well-organized, well-funded pro-charter sector attempts to answer the teachers' unions' criticisms of Cuomo. Several hundred parents, largely from district schools around the city and almost exclusively black, attended the rally at Medgar Evers College in Crown Heights on Wednesday evening, where Assemblyman and future Cuomo official Karim Camara and City Council member Robert Cornegy Jr. spoke. Cornegy, one of the few council members to show public support for Cuomo or the charter movement, got an energetic standing ovation from the audience on Wednesday.
After Cuomo outlined his education proposals in his State of the State address last month, much of the reaction has been provided by the teachers' unions and from the United Federation of Teachers in particular. Now, the pro-charter sector, which has been increasingly focused on failing schools and accountability over the last six months, is debuting a series of its own advocacy efforts, all of which are intended to mobilize parents, rather than teachers, in support of Cuomo's ‘opportunity agenda.’”
http://bit.ly/1vYKKqH

And here's another little gem pointing to how easy it is to bait Randi and put her on the defensive due to her constant waffling on the fence of ed deform.

CUOMO V. WEINGARTEN ON RECEIVERSHIP—Capital’s Jessica Bakeman: “Cuomo on Wednesday challenged American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten's position on state takeovers of failing schools, questioning why she would support a receivership model that has been implemented in Massachusetts but oppose a similar program in New York. … ‘The union, national union, supported the model in Massachusetts, because they said enough was enough and if Randi Weingarten can support it in Massachusetts, Randi Weingarten should support it in New York,’ Cuomo said.
“In a statement Wednesday, Weingarten said the receivership in Lawrence, Mass., a small city northwest of Boston, works well because the implementation has promoted collaboration. ‘I'm for parents, educators and communities having real voice in their children's public schools—the opposite of what the governor has called for,’ Weingarten, former president of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers, said.” [PRO] http://bit.ly/1yYW7t3
 

Is It Possible the "New" PEP under de Blasio is even less transparent than under Bloomberg?

Letter from Public Advocate, CM Dromm and Class Size Matters about need for transparency with $1.25B contract

February 18, 2015

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

Vanessa Leung, Chair

Department of Education Panel for Educational Policy

52 Chambers Street

New York, NY 10007

Robert Powell, Chair

Department of Education Committee on Contracts

65 Court Street, 12^th Floor

Brooklyn, New York 11201

Dear Ms. Leung and Mr. Powell:

We are writing to express our concern about the lack of transparency around spending and contracts at the Department of Education (DOE). It has come to our attention that on February 25^th, 2015, the DOE Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) will vote on a five year contract for IT services totaling almost $1.25 billion, and almost no information has been provided about the contract.

It is not secret that the DOE has a deplorable record when it comes to issuing technology contracts. Millions of dollars have been sacrificed due to mismanagement, waste, and corruption. It is shocking that the DOE thinks it is acceptable to vote on another contract without full disclosure and vetting available to the community, elected officials, and the public at large.

The contract in question is for Custom Computer Specialists to provide IT networking hardware and installation services at $224.8 million per year. This little amount of information was posted on the DOE website. However, no information has been provided about the particulars of the contract, whether it was competitively bid, or what investigations the DOE may have done concerning the record and/or background of this company.

DOE officials have stated that PEP members receive more documentation for its contracts five to six days before the vote, but this information is only posted to the public one business day before the vote. Even this promise of limited transparency is false. For the most recent vote on January 29^th, information on the contracts was not posted until several days after. We are calling on the DOE to post the full documentation for all contracts at least ten days before the vote – at the same time as the list of contracts is made public.

Simply put: transparency and accountability must be the bedrock of any contracts issued using public money.

We are also calling on the DOE to make public the full documentation and information for the Custom Computer Specialists contract as soon as possible. If the DOE refuses, we urge you – as appointees whose role is to represent the interests of the public – to make this information available as soon as you receive it. 

Sincerely,

Letitia James

Public Advocate for the City of New York

Danny Dromm

Councilmember, Chair of the NYC Council Education Committee

Leonie Haimson

Executive Director, Class Size Matters

Cc:          DOE Chancellor Carmen Fariña

Charter press conference rescheduled so Cuomo could make appearance on behalf of big $ contributors

Leonie Haimson reports:

See below; charter school presser hurriedly rescheduled today in the Bronx so the Governor could make an appearance and call for expansion of charters.  When has Cuomo ever appeared at a public school to call attention to the need for more funding, to alleviate overcrowding or fix "crumbling schools"?  Never.

Could his  appearance on behalf of Girls Prep Charter in the Bronx be related to the fact that the head of the charter school's board, Boykin Curry,  gave him more than $98,000 between 2009-2012 according to http://data.influenceexplorer.com

Or the fact that in the last election cycle, Curry gave Cuomo an additional $60,800 (the limit) according the spreadsheet compiled by Capital NY here: http://bit.ly/1vC7ZnR 

Not to mention his wife Cecilia Kemble (sometimes known as Celerie) who gave Cuomo $56,200, in the last election, according to the same spreadsheet?   Or Bruce Kovner, on the advisory board and a supporter of Girls Prep Charter,  who  gave him $45,000? 

Nah.

Leonie

From: Ruben Diaz <diaz@nysenate.gov>
Date: Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 8:57 PM
Subject: ***Wednesday Morning Press Bronx Conference Rescheduled to 12:00 noon***
To: Ruben Diaz <diaz@nysenate.gov>


 ***Wednesday Morning Press Bronx Conference Rescheduled to 12:00 noon***

Press conference demonstrating support for bold action to fix failing schools crisis
 
Since Governor Andrew Cuomo will be in the Bronx in the morning of February 18, 2015, this Bronx Press Conference has been rescheduled to 12:00 noon at the Girls Prep Bronx Elementary 681 Kelly Street, Bronx, NY 10455.

Senator Ruben Diaz Sr., Assemblymen Marcos Crespo and Mark Gjonaj, and Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner Stand with Prominent Clergy and Parents to Call for Bold Change to Fix Failing Schools Crisis.

Fred Smith, King of Exposing Field Test Scam(s), Warns About State Ed Perfidy

Since parents have become wiser to refusing these field tests, SED decided to be coercive. Failing that, for the moment, they are now offering to seek money that would allow embedded field testing to take place on a proper scale and are making transparency sounds. Don't buy it.... Fred Smith

.... the New York State Board of Regents has, for now at least, abandoned its plan to take up changes to state regulations that would have mandated stand-alone field tests that have historically been voluntary.  ...Regents Blink On Mandatory Field Testing - For Now - RBE at Perdido

Fred Smith, as a member of Change the Stakes,  has been the leading light in pointing out the field test scam where we pay for their experiments on kids and has written extensively on the subject (Fred Smith: Saying No to This Week’s Field Tests).

Years ago we delivered a $30 million bill to the doors of Pearson during a large demo and march (Pearson Rally Pics).

And here are some ed notes pieces from May, 2012 when the opt-out movement was just getting started here in NYC.

Standardized Test Field Testing This Upcoming Tues...
Parent-led Protest Against High Stakes Testing Thu...

And recent comments on the CTS listserve

Hi Fred and group, 

Just wanted to touch base and let you know Lo Hud has written about the Regents plan to table field testing. Lisa and I were interviewed and both mentioned that our concerns about SEDs proposal persist and have been compounded as a result of the Regents lack of transparency. Here is the piece:

http://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2015/02/17/regents-table-vote-outcry-field-tests/23579365/

Anna Shah, NYSAPE

Fred Smith expands on this:

There's a back story here that puts the current SED/Regents posturing in perspective:

When SED signed a 5-year agreement with Pearson to be its consultant/contractor in early 2011 it was clear that only four field test forms (per grade) were budgeted for developing multiple-choice items. This had been specified in the RFP that vendors responded to when they formulated contract proposals.

Each form would allow a reading passage and six related items to be embedded and tried out, yielding a maximum of four passages and 24 items to be auditioned per grade for ELA and math. Note: Even if all material passed muster (an impossibility), there would not be enough new items for a subsequent round of tests.  Limited printing capacity was not immediately given as the reason so few forms could be produced.

Pearson, an experienced testing vendor knew this design would leave the state short.  It had contracts with states where many more forms were produced and collectively contained a large pool of embedded field test items from which to select in order to build new tests. In some states the number of forms ranged between 15 and 20.

In its role as a consultant Pearson should have pointed out that four forms would not work. As a vendor eager to win another state contract, however, Pearson wanted to suit its client--the SED.  So it did what was called for to win the bid.  But shortly afterward, I imagine Pearson feigned shock at learning that four forms wouldn't work and so the idea of using stand-alone field tests in June no less--to generate items took hold. 

Kind of an expedient and rescue mission at the same time, with Pearson ready to do what was necessary to keep the testing ball rolling, even though the stand-alone approach had been discredited after 2009's testing and, in general, was a dubious way to develop items.

The contract between SED and Pearson never called for stand-alone field testing of multiple-choice items. This arrangement was outside of its requirements, terms and conditions. In fact, I checked the State Comptroller's Open Book web site and, to date, I have not seen an amendment to or modification of the contract that reflects this extra work, nor any indication of how much this foreseeable overrun has cost and where the additional money has come from. But SED and Pearson pulled it off.

SED should have made the case for more money and more forms years ago, when Chancellor Tisch was trumpeting her forward looking reform agenda, which involved more rigorous testing and which spun into the transition to the common core.  With testing looming so large in all the high stakes decisions that were being tied to it--there was and is no excuse for trying to do it on the cheap.

Over the last two years, having botched the testing and the roll-out of the Core, Tisch and King have not acknowledged any of this history.  Instead, we've been given a story that SED's hands were tied by the legislature, which didn't provide funding to support adequate printing capacity--which they are now trying to obtain in order to do embedded field testing correctly--which will allow them to disclose more material--which they hope we believe will be taken to mean that SED has suddenly become transparent.

BUT... the crude attempt to mandate stand-alone field testing by passing a resolution, reveals that their basic impulse has been to continue to do ill-advised field testing. Since parents have become wiser to refusing these field tests, SED decided to be coercive.  Failing that, for the moment, they are now offering to seek money that would allow embedded field testing to take place on a proper scale and are making transparency sounds.  Don't buy it.

Fred

Live Streamed - Students Occupy Newark Supt Cami Anderson's Office

From NEW Caucus: Newark Students Union Occupies Cami's Office on the 8th Floor of 2 Cedar

Live Stream Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPws_9OfEDo&list=LLhrmfG34i8emrv50TUNnBmQ&index=1

Arbitrator Takes Control of UFT Contract - Expect Unity Slugs to Claim We Overreact

What is amazing is that at a time when the city has a huge surplus, we have to make the retirees whole, at a cost that extends out into the future.... Comment on MORE listserve in response to Arbitrator extending latest UFT contract in order to pay retirees, as reported by James Eterno, ARBITRATOR RULES ACTIVE PEOPLE HAVE TO PAY FOR RETIREE LUMP SUM PAYMENTS.

 Look for a comment soon along the lines of, "It's only a month extension, what are you guys complaining about?"

Peter Lamphere pointed to the real underlying issue:

This is very interesting. Although the modifications are relatively minor, they do involve a financial loss to active members. Most importantly, the power of this arbitrator over contract provisions has been decisively demonstrated, which will come into play in a major way if the magical 3.4 billion in health care savings promised fail to emerge.

Ahhh, that magical 3.4 billion, which doesn't have to be settled until AFTER Mugrew has to run for re-election - with the support of New Action, of course -- for which they will get their piece of the Ex Bd.

Eterno today added to the point today at ICE:

ARBITRATOR MIGHT NOT YET BE DONE REWRITING UFT CONTRACT

The arbitrator who decided last week to lengthen our contract by a month and delay one of the raises may have another crack at rewriting the agreement.  If the city and the union can't agree on the UFT's share of $3.4 billion in heath care savings, then guess who gets to decide on the savings?  You are right if you guessed it is the same arbitrator who just extended the contract.  With our union's track record, most are expecting to experience some kind of healthcare giveback in the not too distant future. 

Pissed Off teacher also commented from the perspective of making sure retirees are kept happy and voting for Mulgrew:

Courting Votes

Mulgrew loves his retired teachers.  They sing his praises at meetings and, since they are not working  they ask nothing in return.  He doesn't have to waste time defending them or answering their questions.
Mulgrew might be in for a rude awakening.  The new bunch of retired teachers don't remember or care about the union Shanker created.  They and their colleagues have long been neglected and abused by the union of today.

Ms. Tsouris on POT blog ...

It's been the usual dog-and-pony show. The orginal $180 million was suddenly "not enough" as if the UFT and the DOE didn't know all those teachers were going to retire, given the "retire by June 30th" incentive. That of course is total baloney. Of course they all knew that many teachers were going to retire. The decision to extend the contract by a month and restructure the raises was imposed by the arbitrator. Retirees really shouldn't be voting at all, but that's how the corrupt, mean spirited and bloated Unity caucus maintains its stranglehold on what once was a great union.

And Chaz:

Breaking News - Our Union Sells Out Their Active Members Yet Again!

Undemocratic Teacher Unions Are the Problem, Not the Solution in the Battle Against Ed Deform

If we don’t transform teacher unions now, our schools, our profession, and our democracy—what’s left of it—will likely be destroyed. I know. I am from Wisconsin, the home of Scott Walker and Paul Ryan.... Social justice unionism is an organizing model that calls for a radical boost in internal union democracy and increased member participation. This contrasts to a business model that is so dependent on staff providing services that it disempowers members and concentrates power in the hands of a small group of elected leaders and/or paid staff. An organizing model, while still providing services to members, focuses on building union power at the school level in alliance with parents, community groups, and other social movements....

Bob Peterson, President of Wilwaukee Teachers Association and founding member of Rethinking Schools

The long piece below by Bob Peterson is worth reading. For people who attack the social justice unionism concept, I find it funny how many SJ people are getting elected in Chicago, LA, Milwaukee, Detroit and coming close in Seattle.

Just attend any Delegate Assembly and you can see the business unionism model in action. Almost everyone who speaks is either staff or a Unity Caucus school-based person with perks.

All the Unity Caucus apologists and trolls who leave their comments on blogs -- and their supporters can issue call after call for a united fight but until they stand up and demand a democratic, member-driven union they are just apologists for bad policy leading us down the road to ruin --- and ----- as long as they support the parceling out of Executive Board seats to a group like New Action in exchange for their endorsing Mulgrew for president.

The same goes for so-called critics of Unity that bend over backwards to build alliances with New Action which is one of the obstacles to building a democratic union --- an alliance with New Action = support for Mulgrew no matter the bombast.

A Revitalized Teacher Union Movement
 
Reflections from the field
 
By Bob Peterson 
 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/img/archive/29_02/peterson-1.jpg

 

Ve R Not Alone -- UCORE - United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators

Here is the latest newsletter of UCORE (United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators), the national network of social justice teacher union caucuses that MORE is a part of.

UCORE Newsletter February 2015

Massachusetts
The reform agenda within MTA, led by Barbara Madeloni, continues to develop strength. On Feb. 7, a super-charged Collective Bargaining Summit (the first in memory) drew hundreds of members and local officers, in teams from 40-50 locals. St. Paul Federation of Teachers, Portland Association of Teachers, and Chicago Teachers Union sent speakers who made highly focused presentations with a focus on internal, site-based organizing (including caucus-building from Jen Johnson of CORE) and engagement with parents and students.

The goal is to build pro-social justice agendas for bargaining and organizing, and teach the elements of activist contract campaigns. A progressive legislative agenda was adopted—starting to turn the tide on union complicity with education reform policy.

EDU, the statewide caucus, is planning two regional meetings and a statewide meeting to build towards the MTA Annual Meeting in May. The focus is on crafting New Business Items to keep the progressive push for issue organizing, and on recruiting delegates to the Annual Meeting.

New Mexico

Currently, New Mexico is in a 60 day legislative session under a Republican, Koch funded Governor and House with a new Republican majority.  Two pieces of legislation that have easily passed committee are the Right to Work bill and the 3rd Grade retention bill.  The 3rd Grade retention bill is the 3rd and final reform bill that the Governor is insistent on passing---the first two were giving schools letter grades based on high stakes test scores and a VAM based teacher evaluation based on 50% high stakes test scores.  Grim news.

On the good news front is the growing Opt Out/Refuse the test movement in New Mexico.  There have been many community meetings about the PARCC assessment, parental rights on opting out, and the outsourcing of our education to Pearson.  

This movement is a healthy combination of teachers, parents, and students.  Elaine Romero and Francesca Blueher, members of UCORE, are working with other Union members, teachers, and parents in an Education Powerhouse Conference on February 28.  The Conference will be during the legislative session, will be for all interested taking action to have democratic, socially just schools, and will feature Anthony Cody, Michelle Gunderson, and Kris Nielsen.  They are looking forward to an action-filled, spirited event!

St. Paul
St. Paul teachers, in addition to presenting at the Massachusetts Teachers Association bargaining summit on engaging with parents and teachers and open bargaining, are focused on school board races in their district.

With four open seats on a board that was willing to go to the brink of a strike before getting serious in negotiations, the union is pushing for a school board that is more responsive to parents and teachers—encouraging eight challengers for the four seats. The goal is to generate a lot of interest in the open spots, before the union engages in the endorsement process.

Since their contract settlement, the union has focused on enforcing contract language on class size and standardized testing. In the fall, committees convened at several schools, often involving parents, when teachers reported their class size over the set limit. They were able to resolve almost every violation they raised with either another class added or relief, in the form of a teachers aid for the class. In a few cases the class size was reduced because students left the school.

Recently the school district reported their own evaluation their efforts to reduce test time and test preparation time, as laid out in the contract. In the first school year since their contract was settled, the district announced tests and test prep was in fact reduced by 26 percent.

Milwaukee
Along with teachers across Wisconsin, Milwaukee teachers are in a fight over another attack on public schools. Four hundred parents, teachers, and community members came to the MTEA’s organized community meeting to strategize against Governor Walker’s draconian budget cuts—and also against legislation that would rapidly convert public schools deemed failing into charters.

In November, Milwaukee teachers also recertified their union, which state law requires them to do every year before they’re recognized to bargain with the district—even though they can only bargain over wages capped to inflation. More than half the school districts in the state won their recertification votes, which require yes votes from 51 percent of the unit (not just voters). There’s a Labor Notes article on this, which will be shared as soon as it’s online.

Chicago
Chicago teachers are focused on the mayoral election, which takes place February 24. The Chicago Teachers Union and its allies are making a bid to channel the spirit and unity of the teachers’ 2012 strike into unseating “Mayor 1%” and his city council allies.

The new, independent political organization United Working Families—formed by CTU and SEIU Healthcare Illinois, along with community groups such as Action Now—isn’t just out to oust the mayor. It’s trying to create a progressive, pro-labor political infrastructure to challenge the mayor’s pro-business agenda.

Hopes were high last fall as CTU President Karen Lewis explored a challenge to the mayor; Lewis polled well, and excited both rank-and-file teachers and the progressive voter base. A Lewis/Emanuel contest would have clearly posed the question: Which way forward for Chicago? When Lewis bowed out of the race for health reasons, a challenge to Emanuel and his agenda seemed further out of reach.

Cook County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia stepped into the space Lewis left open. He’s running on a pro-union platform and has the support of CTU, SEIU Healthcare Illinois, and ATU Local 308, the city’s largest transportation union.

Part of United Working Families’ plan to beat the mayor is simultaneously running rank-and-filers and community activists for city council seats, coordinating those campaigns with get-out-the-vote efforts. It has endorsed seven incumbent members of the city council, five CTU members, and 11 other grassroots challengers. Read more here.

CTU is hosting parent teacher meetings on over-testing, particularly focused on the PARCC tests that are coming up. The union issued a research report: A Just Chicago: Fighting for the City Our Students Deserve, about how education funding is connected to health, housing, jobs, and segregation.

Newark
NEW Caucus is starting the new year focused on putting together a slate of candidates for upcoming Newark Teachers Union elections. After the gains they made in 2013, they hope they can win control of the union this time.

In an effort to engage with teachers, NEW Caucus is currently conducting a survey pertaining to the new evaluation system. They have a membership meeting this month to discuss the survey results and next steps.

NEW Caucus members are preparing to speak at the next Newark Public School Board meeting regarding the PARCC assessments being in March, and may also speak about the current evaluations and EWP members. They are putting together a newsletter to distribute to their members and other NTU employees.

New York
MORE caucus members are organizing on the school level to oppose New York Governor Cuomo’s attacks on public schools and teachers. This year already he has called for raising the cap on charter schools, extending teachers’ probationary period from three to five years, putting struggling schools into “receivership,” and basing half a teacher’s evaluation on student test scores.

The UFT, NYC’s teachers union, is promoting district meetings to speak out against the governor’s agenda. MORE teachers are turning people out to attend the meetings—but pushing for a much more aggressive fight-back than the official union. They are also encouraging teachers to do actions at their schools.

The caucus is also holding chapter-building sessions for MORE activists, and gearing up for union chapter elections this spring.

MORE caucus member and union chapter chair Jia Lee made headlines when she testified at a senate hearing on No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Lee is a special education teacher at the Earth School in Manhattan. She spoke alongside two other teachers on testing’s negative impact on students, and shared the story of how she refused to administer high-stakes standardized tests—and, as a member of the organization Change the Stakes, worked with teachers and parents to opt out of testing. Watch here. (Lee begins to speak at the 1:03 mark.)

Port Jefferson Station, Long Island
Teachers in Port Jefferson Station, Long Island, have been taking on the governor’s imposed testing agenda. They are holding emergency building meetings to discuss Cuomo's proposed education reform agenda, its impact on members, and how to fight back.

The union has been collecting $20 per member, and using that money to help fund mobile opt-out billboards that will run up and down Long Island and through local communities starting this Friday and running up until the state tests begin. Teachers wrote a letter to the community, stating that they strongly support parents’ right to refuse to allow their children to take the NYS tests this spring. Additionally, the union’s position is that all those students should have the opportunity to go to school those days and receive the high-quality education that they would on the rest of the school days.

PJSTA president Beth Dimino is refusing to administer state tests this year. Many other members are at least having the discussion with each other about what steps they are willing to take. The union also co-wrote the “I Refuse Resolution” with other public education advocacy groups. So far over 50 NYSUT locals have adopted the resolution.

A number of PJSTA members are working with an organization called Students Not Scores, made up of parents, teachers, administrators, and school board members on Long Island, to help push forward the opt-out movement in local communities. Through this organization they are planning a community forum for Saturday, March 7, likely at Stony Brook University, that will feature MORE's Jia Lee as a keynote speaker and will have a panel discussion and Q&A with Jia, a local school board member, a local administrator, and a parent opt-out leader.

New York, Stronger Together Caucus (ST Caucus)
Port Jefferson Station union leaders have also been central to forming the statewide caucus, Stronger Together, to engage with New York State teachers locals. They are working on ways to overcome the geographical challenges of organizing an entire state.

So far they have a steering committee in place, but have not yet collected any money for memberships. That will begin at the NYSUT Representative Assembly in April.

The group’s immediate goals are to build coalitions with parent groups and opt-out groups, and to work with a coalition of groups to plan a major rally in Albany, likely in late March. They have also written a resolution attempting to change NYSUT election guidelines to make it possible for delegates to vote locally, so that small locals who can't afford to send their delegates to Manhattan for a weekend can still have their voices represented.

Philadelphia
Philadelphia teachers are facing another threat from their school district. State courts offered the union a reprieve by ruling that the school reform commission (their appointed board) had no right to cancel their contract. But at the next school board meeting, the board will vote on 39 new charter school applications. WE caucus is turning out teachers to hearings to make public comments on the issue.

Teachers in the WE caucus at Feltonville Elementary school led an opt-out campaign where 20 percent of parents opted out of the upcoming test. Initially teachers suspected of participating were notified they were to report to investigatory meetings. After weeks of outreach, the WE caucus got support from their union and several city council members to back the teachers, along with dozens of mentions in regional press and social media. The district has since indefinitely postponed the investigatory meetings. The attention gained from the school action has raised the profile of WE caucus both at the school level and city-wide, and the opt-out movement is gaining momentum. The caucus held a citywide opt-out organizing workshop last week for parents and teachers at other Philadelphia schools.

Los Angeles
With contract negotiations intensifying, teachers, counselors, and Health and Human Services members of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) are escalating their actions against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). More than 850 schools throughout the LAUSD will be picketing outside their schools on Thursday, February 12. As part of the Schools LA Students Deserve campaign, parents and community members will join UTLA members by walking the picket lines and signing an open letter directed at the LAUSD School Board.

Two weeks later UTLA is mobilizing its members, parents, and community members to rally at Grand Park in Downtown LA in support of the Schools LA Students Deserve campaign demands. This is happening while UTLA is involved in three out of four contentious school board elections.

UTLA and the LAUSD have been in contract negotiations since the summer. Twelve demands related to salary, working conditions, and learning conditions are on the table. Under pressure from UTLA, the district has raised its salary offer to 5 percent while UTLA is demanding 8.5 percent. So far, the district has refused to talk about class size or fully staffed schools, among other demands.

While bargaining sessions happen weekly, UTLA has committed to visiting school sites throughout the district to gather commitment from members for upcoming actions, up to and including going on strike if necessary.

Meanwhile, the Union Power (UP) caucus, created by rank and filers, board of directors members, and UTLA officers after last year’s overwhelming UP slate victory in the UTLA elections, holds regular general membership meetings. Members from the eight UTLA areas have gathered to discuss issues facing members, particularly emphasizing the top contract demands. Members of the caucus are also working on connecting and engaging newer teachers. Caucus members are hoping to hold a meeting focused on bringing newer teachers closer to the union and unionism.

North Carolina
Organize 2020 is working a new layer of leaders of color into the center of the organization through a four-month anti-racism workshop series. The goal was to deepen an anti-racist analysis/skill set among the founding leadership (almost all white), and create a context where a new multi-racial leadership crew (still majority white, but with a quickly developing group of women of color stepping up to lead) develops an analysis and skill set together.

The group is planning to focus more energy on locals. People in some key districts worked themselves to the bone on elections in the fall, so that has taken up a lot of members’ energy.

In Durham, where there wasn’t as much electoral activity, Organize 2020 began a base-building project that’s putting them in buildings, meeting with parents and teachers weekly. They are canvassing two times a month and engaging a number of community allies, in addition to students, parents, and teachers, in door-knocking over the course of the next year (for this first wave).

The goal is to develop a political program, run school board and county commission candidates in 2016 elections, and begin some really bold experimentation. They have either the blessing of the school board and new superintendent, a result of a more progressive board that they have won over the years. 

Organize 2020 is applying for a grant to the NEA to have one member leave the classroom and work full-time on the Durham work. They’re awaiting the results of the upcoming election (end of March) to see if Organizing 2020 candidate Bryan Proffitt wins the Durham local president position, and then to see if they get the grant.

The group continues to build relationships with other progressive forces in the state. Last year, they staged a teach-in during a Moral Monday at the Senate Pro Tem’s office and forced him to meet. They are developing a positive relationship with the NAACP and are leading the efforts to mobilize educators towards the annual march HK on J (Historic Thousands on Jay Street) on behalf of the whole statewide union and are marching with the fast food workers, where a leading member has been working hard to develop relationships. The Black Lives Matter movement has been a really positive kick in the pants; Organize 2020 has been working hard to stay engaged in the streets and classrooms around it.

They are also writing a new grant to run another summer program in locals around the state. This got them a lot of space to do leadership development and skills training last summer, with people knocking on doors and getting out into the community.

Starting in December, they’ve begun having statewide meetings, with members coming from the mountains to the coast. The group is growing, and has its third monthly meeting after the HK on J march this weekend.