#ifyoucanrunclassroomsyoucanruntheUFT - Unity Caucus "professionals" attack on UFC Mocks Classroom Teachers who are never treated as professionals

Unity people fear UFC might beat longs odds and win, forcing them back to the classroom. Then they will find out they are NOT treated like professionals.

Unity calls UFT a union of professionals while allowing people to never be treated like professionals.

I read an astounding Unity hack attack on UFC that made me LOL. 

They actually brag about PD which teachers hate. Like I'm teaching a dozen years and I need more PD from people who often don't have a clue.

Professionals actually make decisions affecting their workplace. Teachers are totally ignored in the process. The UFT/Unity never make demands to give decision-making rights to teachers. UFT members are rarely treated like professionals partly due to union not fighting for them. Faux branding of something that can never be. Like failing to challenge abusive principals.

The same with the bullshit #Wedothework theme - mocking classroom teachers who really do the work while union bureaucrats leach off them.

And how about those attacks on UFC classroom teachers as not ready to run union? Like working at the UFT is not a dream gig for those wishing to get out of the real hard work of teaching. 

#ifyoucanrunclassroomsyoucanruntheUFT

Chicago classroom teachers came right out of the classroom to run the union much better than the Unity like machine that had been in power in the big upset 2010 election.

Do you see how desperate some Unity people are over the fear UFC might beat longs odds and win, forcing them back to the classroom.

Electioneering on Union Time: Unity HSVP Janella Hinds Visits Camille Eterno's School but doesn't stop by to say hello

This seems like a rather obvious electioneering event, especially with all of this literature with her image on it just sent out to members there.... CL Comment

UFT Team High School's facebook page - this is one of only three posts they've had since 2020. It's the only school visit they've posted since at least 2019 if not longer....https://www.facebook.com/UFTTeamHighSchool

Here is clear proof of the misuse of UFT personnel for electioneering. So we are tracking UFT employees, paid for with our salaries, engaging in electioneering on union time. I don't even think they should be engaging in breaking trust with people who pay their salaries on non-union time somewhat iffy.

Naturally, the visit of HSVP Janella Hinds and Queens HS District Rep James Vasquez to Camille Eterno's school was all about union business. I wonder if Unity leaflets were included in the visit as a gift to the staff.

Camille would welcome a visit from Mulgrew for a debate.

Nick Brings the Bacon - Filibusters and Fabrications - UFT Delegate Assembly Notes, With Context March 2022

Mulgrew's "report" yesterday took up 3/4 of the meeting and then he claimed the 1 minute of point of order was the reason they didn't get to any of the 11 resos on the agenda. 

• Today I'm speaking to three lunch hours at an elementary school in Unity territory and should get some read on how the election is playing out. There is a strong Solidarity person in the school. Yesterday a UFC person handing out leaflets to people going into the DA said an elementary teacher wanted leaflets for her school because "everyone is talking about UFC." But I'd bet in some schools there is no clue about the election.

I used to say Putin uses the Unity caucus model of control but hasn’t yet achieved where Mulgrew is at. I guess a little sensitive issue now. But if you look at party in power I can only think of China as a longer running autocracy than Unity and they even had some term limits and more internal accountability than Unity - the longest running autocracy where each of 4 leaders over 60 years hand chose the successor. And yesterday all 700 nysut delegates were told how to vote at the upcoming NYSUT RA convention. Mulgrew used their 6:30 meeting as an excuse to not extend the DA  by claiming they had a meeting at 6 - Nick who is still a Unity Caucus delegate challenged him saying he has the paper that says 6:30 - some think that was the funniest moment of the DA. There is no democracy inside Unity Caucus. Plenty of people are not happy with Mulgrew, which is why they are trying to Hide Mulgrew in Plain Sight. But there is no way to even challenge him without losing their jobs. Maybe one of the reasons Nick Bacon left Unity.

  

When we get honest DA reports we see through the cracks. If Nick Bacon continues his DA reports, they will be a gold mine. And if he gets elected to HS Ex Bd, expect more great reports.

I've always maintained that dry DA minutes without context is like diving without a steering wheel. I don't believe any DA reports are devoid of political influence, so we might as well get a point of view. Are people fine with Mulgrew taking up 3/4 of the time with his practiced report and then claiming they are running out of time because some took 30 seconds to make a point of order? These Unity hacks remind me of the Republican idiots questioning Ketanji Brown Jackson. Unity is fundamentally the Republican Party. If UFC were to win Unity's role would be the same -- to stop anything from being done. A hack is a hack is a hack is a hack.

Finally we are seeing DAs getting covered with context and political analysis as UFC HS candidate Nick Bacon posts notes on the New Action blog. 

The DA outside game: Retiree Advocate was there and will be there in the future

I was outside the DA with over 3000 copies of the hot off the press United for Change leaflet which I shlepped in my famous suitcase and left an hour an a half later with one leaflet. I still have 17,000 in my garage. Reps from MORE and Solidarity and ICE are coming over after school today to pick up for their groups and I'm offering a pizza party to celebrate the UFC alliance. RA was there in force to back the OT/PT rally for the pay they have not gotten, which Mulgrew passed off when asked a question. 

The Inside game  - Nick Brings the Bacon

Filibusters and Fabrications- Thoughts on the March, 2022 Delegate Assembly

Published March 23, 2022 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

The March DA was December all over again, as Mulgrew avoided giving any space to members of United for Change by using every tactic under the sun to silence us, and really all non-Unity members of the Delegate Assembly.

1. Abnormally Long President’s Report: Mulgrew’s report dragged on for over an hour and left virtually no time for official business. He even invited some speakers to make the report particularly long, a tactic he uses when he really wants to filibuster. That presentation, full of glitches, was about an online system for chapter leaders that could have just as easily been an email. (Keep in mind, most delegates at the DA are not even Chapter Leaders…they’re delegates). It’s worth mentioning that one of the presenters was Unity Caucus’s Maggie Joyce, who Mulgrew suspiciously called on in the last DA too, even as he couldn’t manage to allow a single UFC delegate to speak in either of the last two DAs. Watching the talk, one couldn’t help being reminded of the December DA, when Mulgrew called on a staffer to give a time-share like presentation about how good Mulgrewcare was. Mulgrewcare, of course, was later scrapped after UFC’s own Retiree Advocate (working with some other groups) exposed it for the fraud that it was and won in court. And, despite a pretty interesting question period, with speakers making critical points about things like abusive administration, undelivered vacation days, and delayed payment to OT/PT, Mulgrew’s answers left much to be desired, though he spent tons of time answering them (to avoid taking other questions).
   
2. Making up rules: When Camille Eterno tried to make a minor parliamentary inquiry about a mistake on last month’s minutes regarding what she had said then, she was ruled out of order and not allowed to speak. The reason? Mulgrew claimed that parliamentary inquiries can’t be made during the President’s Report. Of course, the Delegate Assembly is deliberative–and as such uses Robert’s Rules. Searching as we have, we’ve found no place in Robert’s Rules specifying Mulgrew’s rules. That leads me to think he may have, you know, made it up, so that he could silence Camille. It’s worth noting that Mulgrew erroneously accused Camille of electioneering, even though she mentioned nothing about the election or about caucuses. Ibeth Mejia, who I’m running with for High School Executive Board, tried to use a point of order to advocate for them to take Camille’s point, stating that it was absurd for Mulgrew to interrupt her with a simple request about the minutes, but was also shouted down.
3. Not Calling on UFC Members (Redux): We at United for Change are used to not being called on by Mulgrew at this point. Indeed, we haven’t been called on for a new motion since November, and to this day I think I was only called on to read our resolution on healthcare back then because Mulgrew still thought I was with Unity Caucus. This time, when many UFC delegates were amongst the first to shoot their hands up, Mulgrew waited and palpably searched the audience for Thomas Conavoy, so that he could read the inherently uncontroversial resolution on recognizing Diwali. Another non-UFC person was called on after, and this was the last person recognized by Mulgrew. Earlier in the DA, Daniel Alicea asked a point of parliamentary inquiry about needing to rotate between those for and against given motions, and Mulgrew answered that when there is a debate they do have such a procedure, which of course begs the question: why was that procedure so conspicuously not followed in February, when a debate followed Camille Eterno’s motion to appeal the chair. Of course, that ‘debate’ consisted of Mulgrew recognizing the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, and another Executive Board member, all of whom of course agreed with Mulgrew. Indeed, in that debate, not a single person was called on who disagreed. Not a single person was called on from United for Change.
4. Not allowing the meeting to be extended: Mulgrew talked for so long during this DA that there was no way we were going to get to any resolution on this month’s agenda. He also prevented UFC from raising an important resolution on mayoral control, as well as another resolution on Tier 6 (which, ironically Unity was also prepared to present a similar motion on…if only Mulgrew hadn’t run out the clock). Peter Lamphere tried to make a motion to extend the time, but was ruled out of order for technical reasons. Mulgrew claimed there was too much important business to conduct right after the meeting, because the UFT members of the RA were meeting right at 6:00. I made a point of order, because I hold the invite, and it clearly says 6:30. He claimed that 30 minutes was needed to prepare the room. So I stuck around after the automatic adjournment at 6:00. When I left at 6:20, the chairs were exactly where they left them. There was no need to end at 6:00 PM, but I think we all knew that. (And by the way, Mulgrew, if you know in advance that you ‘need’ to adjourn at 6:00 PM, why not make your President’s report a little shorter in the first place so there’s no need to make a motion to extend)?

 Also see Eterno abridged report:

ICEUFT Blog

LIVE BLOGGING FROM MARCH DA -

 

DA Today: Hiding Mulgrew in Plain Sight - Scripting, Rehearsals. Shutting down critics: Internal polling on Mulgrew not good

Autocracy is autocracy, whether in Russia or 52 Broadway.

Unity has a new campaign strategy.... 60, or 130 or 200 thousand glossy flyers to United Federation of Teachers members. And you know who’s mug was missing? Mulgrew’s. His name’s not on there, at least on the teacher ones. I mean, it’s not a surprise they won’t let him debate. If he had a huge lead a debate costs nothing, makes you look open, confident. But this election they are shaky, and not confident in his performance when he doesn’t control the chair. But leaving his grin off tens of thousands of leaflets? ... people are so angry at him, some of that anger gets turned into anger at the UFT, which is bad for all of us......... 

Jon Halabi, Campaign Strategy: hide Mulgrew

I was going to blog about how Unity leaflets and shills are hiding Mulgrew by not mentioning him but damn, Jonathan beat me to it with his incisive post.

They may have even done some internal polling. They would have discovered what every teacher knows: Michael Mulgrew is not very popular. 

I had some confirmation through various sources that they have done internal polling and it ain't good for Mulgrew. I'd be shocked if you saw him run again in 2025.

One place they can't hide Mulgrew is at the monthly UFT Delegate Assembly, which insiders tell us is the most stressful thing for Mulgrew - and was for Randi too. After all, despite almost total Unity dominance of the DA, even a few critical voices scare the hell out of the Unity hierarchy in even a semi-open forum. And Mulgrew is particularly bad at spontaneous. In the past he used to make numerous visits to schools. I haven't heard of any at all, even to Unity friendly schools.

After his bad performances in October and November, Unity has tightened things up to totally shut out non-Unity voices, which prompted his opponent Camille Eterno to call a point of order as a form of protest for shutting down ABU - All But Unity. And by the way -- it is not even much rank and file Unity but almost all people in salary who get to speak.

Scripting, Unity speakers bureau, practice, practice, practice

We hear from inside the fortress that they actually run DA practice sessions with live bodies in the actual hall - twice. In fact at this very moment Mulgrew may be practicing where to look - maybe with a seating chart - to review the questions he will be asked to eat up those ten minutes. Unity will toss on some motion to eat up the ten minute motion period. 

 

And of course Mulgrew will filibuster for an hour -- practice that report Mike, including the tepid attempts at humor.

 

And this time they will be ready for interruptions with a finger on the remote mics to shut them down. 

 

If a motion manages to slip through, there is always a "call the question" Unity hack ready when given a signal -- like Leroy Barr taking off his glasses. 

You see autocracy is autocracy, whether in Russia or 52 Broadway.

 

More from Jonathan:

He’s taking the blame for Unity mishandling the pandemic, sending teachers into unsafe conditions, not backing us enough, or soon enough, inventing “instructional lunch.” He’s taking the blame for sucking up to Andrew Cuomo, looking like a dishrag instead of a union leader. He’s taking the blame for the UFT getting pummeled in the Spring 21 primaries – and Adams – one of the two guys we wanted to stop, becoming Mayor. And he’s taking the blame, despite Unity trying to keep it out of the news, for Unity and the MLC trying to privatize retirees’ Medicare.

In any case, they are hiding him.

They will try to hide Mulgrew at today's DA. There will be many people taking notes on the DA to assure an unbiased report so look for them over the next few days.

 I will be outside with RA people supporting OT/PT protests,

Retiree Advocate Outside March 23 UFT DA 

Stop by and say hello. I will be the guy wearing a Mulgrew mask.

 

Meet UFC Officer, Middle School Candidates, Retiree Advocate Outside March 23 UFT DA

 

Join us outside DA Wednesday!

Retiree Advocate will be outside the DA, Wednesday March 23 supporting  OT/PTs For A Fair Contract as well as flyering  for Untied For Change.

(And see info below for Meet the Candidates Sat. night Zoom)

DEMO AT THE DA: Support the group OT/PTs for a Fair Contract as they bring their demands to this month's UFT Delegate Assembly. Visit otptsforafaircontract.com to learn more about the issues occupational/physical therapists in the UFT face!

 

 

Meet the officer candidates this Saturday at 7pm: register here. And see the United for Change events page for more in-person events!

 

Calling all Middle School educators!

UFT elections are coming up. Meet the candidates ready to bring a stronger union forth on Day 1. We are hosting an informational session on Sunday at 4pm.

Sunday's registration link is here https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkdeyvqD0uHNeqT3yrQv2icRkEcC_Sw55c

Handicapping the 2022 UFT Election: Can United for Change Win? Part 1 - UFC Unique Coalition, Unity on the Attack, Will UFC Hold Together?

Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot?  
How is this UFT Election different from all other UFT Elections? 

Tentative Ans: The UFC Unique Coalition, Unity on the Attack 

UFT Unity is in a lose lose situation. If the percentage of their vote dips below 65 percent there will be a bloodletting in Unity and if not we will have a hobbled union when contract negotiations start in earnest. ....South Bronx School, running with UFC

This year they're (Opposition) making nice, but next year they'll devolve into the same incomprehensible ideological battles on which they thrive."... NYC Educator, running with Unity.

It was perhaps the best lock in all of sports — until it wasn’t. A No. 16 seed had never defeated a No. 1 seed in March Madness until UMBC shocked the world by toppling Virginia in 2018. ... Oddsmakers

Unity Caucus is the longest running continuous autocracy in the world over the past 60 years - except maybe the Chinese Communist Party -- but I'd maintain that even they have had more internal party democracy than Unity. There are no Las Vegas odds on the UFT election - yet.

Monday, March 21, 2022

This is my 6th UFT election cycle since the 2004 election and I think I've learned a few things - or not. In the past I never expected us to win.  There was always hope we would make heavy gains as a way to build a serious opposition to Unity but have always been disappointed.

Results have been remarkably similar (I'll do a year by year breakdown as part of this series) with the 2019 three caucus oppo to Unity disaster being an exception which we mostly toss out in our analysis except for a few lessons - lessons that have driven those three caucuses to come together along with others into the United for Change COALITION -- NOT CAUCUS. This is an important point to keep in mind over my next few blogs about the UFT election.

Whither United for Change Coalition
We cannot emphasize enough: UFC is a temporary arrangement for the elections with no post-election plans at this time, though there has been some back door chatter. Of course the future of UFC to some extent depends on the election outcomes:

• Partial win: some ex bd with big gains with retirees, divisionals and functionals: 
• Partial win similar to the past: Winning HS seats.
• Total loss with no change from previous elections.
• Winning it all - In past years I'd always say Zero chances. This time I wouldn't even consider it a #16 vs 1 seed but I'd actually give some odds of possibilities if everything broke right -- a subject for a future post in this series- what would it take to win. Crucial point- UFC would be a sort of parliament with lots of points of views and no one is shy so a win would be very vibrant and in fact UFC would actually make changes that would decrease the power of a victor by reducing the winner take all policy -- and if they didn't do that much I would join the new opposition- which would be Unity - YIKES!  But there also might be food fights at Ex Bd meetings.

Every one of these options is on the table in this election.

 

What is different? UFC - a remarkable coming together of almost every voice opposing Unity (and some backroom voices allied with Unity) over the past 50 years plus a plethora of newcomers - and young newcomers, including some key people who either ran with or voted for Unity in 2019. 

• New Action
• Solidarity
• MORE
• ICE
• Retiree Advocate
• Educators of NYC
• Independents - The Uncaucus including ex-Unity supporters
  

Danger signs for Unity

Nick Bacon, elected on 2019 Unity slate, is running for UFC Ex Bd HS-- is now co-director of New Action and has been doing great work on their blog and has brought a young perspective to New Action. Some blog pieces:

• Unpacking Mulgrew’s Concession of ‘Mulgrewcare’

• Open Market is Not the Solution to Abusive Administration

• Unpacking the February DA

Daniel Alicea - who voted for Unity in 2019 and has become a glue of sort to bring all the oppo groups together. He is now co-host of the WBAI Talk Out of School with Leonie Haimson. His program Saturday had two fab interviews: A Conversation with Noah Teachey and Arlene Laverde.

While we have seen defections from the oppo to Unity, these two represent a reverse defection and have brought creds to the oppo and function as a uniting force since they don't carry old baggage.

A New MORE -- One story-- In the past month I have been working closely with a youngish MORE member who joined after I left and brings well-needed diversity to the oppo and became very active in the election around the end of petition time, one of the most remarkable people I've met. She's organized and relentless in getting even old farts like me to do stuff. If she and others like her remain active, that represents the biggest long-term threat to Unity. One day I will tell the entire story. 

 

Bonding -- Yes, there may still be some old resentments from the past but every day I see bonds being formed between people from different caucuses. If that lasts and grows ----- 

There is a delicate balance between caucuses that compete with each other for members and influence - always fragile -- and the affiliation of what I call the Uncaucused - people who do not want to be affiliated with a particular group's ideological - they find the boundaries too limitiing - but are opposed to the Unity leadership. 

 

This forces an even more delicate balance but the input of this unaffiliated group has actually kept things relatively peaceful once the stresses of choosing candidates in a balanced manner where every group felt represented  - was out of the way.... An  excruciating process where consensus was the rule turned out to give UFC the best field of candidates I've every seen plus the largest group running in decades -- around 400. And we could have had more but as the chief of petitions I begged people to stop recruiting as I had only 2 suitcases.

 

Unity Caucus leaders full well know the long-term stakes which explains their high level of push back compared to previous years. Peter at South Bronx Schools thinks their response is due to fear of losing: UFT Unity The Smell of Fear. "In the past, the opposition had won high school seats and in my opinion UFT Unity just dealt with it." 

 

This time they really want to bury the opposition and shut them out of winning anything. Imagine if they are successful and the oppo gets a significant portion of the vote and gets no ex bd or AFT/NYSUT positions. I can see going to court over dues taxastion without representation.

More control to Unity than even Putin has in Russia. Unity may invade the pockets of resistance to their rule -- oh, I forgot -- they already do that by using their district reps to get their lit on teacher boxes.

 

I believe Unity is too arrogant after 60 years of power to think it can really lose. Unity is putting up an extraordinary effort in hope of ending the UFC coalition threat and relegate the other caucuses back into the competition with each other. 2019 was a dream year for Unity and they kept the opposition completely out of the Executive Board for the first time since the 1993 election.

 

I will go deeper into the founding, the evolution of UFC and its potential in future analysis, most likely after May 10. 

I see the long-term possibilities of UFC, win or lose as more important than the election outcomes itself. Winning some seats on the Ex Bd is important but the oppo has been doing that for decades with similar outcomes. Winning a significantly larger share of support from UFT members, even it UFC loses the election, is a key to the future health of UFC and the union as a whole. Getting larger turnout would be a major move. Getting in the high thirties approaching 40% would be win.

 

Some people connected to Unity don't think there is much of a chance of UFC surviving the election:  Arthur Goldstein, who is once again running with Unity for HS Ex Bd says, "I tried working with opposition for years and it's a dead end.  This year they're making nice, but next year they'll devolve into the same incomprehensible ideological battles on which they thrive." Arthur, who I still consider an over 15 year friend despite some recent rancor, has some legit gripes against MORE from past years -- I had similar gripes but would never have been driven to run with Unity. Well, maybe I will when Unity is the opposition caucus.

I would have agreed with Arthur a year ago about future infighting. Unity has always known that the more oppo caucuses there are competing with each other, the better for their control. Having had negative experiences (I'm too libertarian in oppo groups over the years I have some to see consensus coalitions, where individual caucuses cooperate but are free to operate on their own, as a potential model for an effective opposition in the UFT.

Some people who are skeptical of the opposition and also of Unity control have told me they want a vibrant opposition that won't win in order to present a credible threat to Unity that would wake them up and make them better. I can see that point of view. If you think UFC can't win, that is one reason to vote UFC - for the health of the union. Even Unity people who hate Mulgrew are thinking that way -- close the gap and get rid of Mulgrew.

The biggest disaster the UFT would face would be a massive victory for Unity with an 80% vote and a breakup of UFC where an arrogant autocracy will continue to make bad decisions and take the membership for granted. And most of all, consolidate the power of Michael Mulgrew. To see just how bad that would be for everyone -- 

• A Halabi MUST READ: An unheeded plea to Unity to Do the right thing? and dump Mulgrew.

Jon Halabi, who was with New Action, is now independent and also works with Daniel and Nick as glue to keep the UFC coalition working together, hopefully post election.

More Halabi reads:

Saving Medicare: Why is Unity anti-Optout today?, March 20, 2022

Mulgrew on Medicare?, March 19, 2022

Yes, UFT members can defeat Unity / Mulgrew

I was wrong - UFT/Unity HAS NOT YET Endorsed Jackson/Vasquez Contest, UFT Staff Director Memo on Senate Race

....while no one is expected to make any financial contribution to Angel's campaign, we recognize that there are those of you who will choose to show him your support.  If you voluntarily elect to contribute to Angel’s campaign you must make the contribution by check, mailed from your home (or other non-UFT mailbox) directly to Angel’s campaign headquarters. You may not hand Angel a check on UFT premises or during UFT work hours. --- Leroy Barr, Anthony Harmon, Staff memo, March 10, 2022

Isn't the very presence of Angel Vasquez deep in the halls of UFT power an ad for his campaign? When trolling for funding, the very fact he is so close to Mulgrew increases his fundraising and dampens Jackson's.

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Reading the above, oh the horrors. I don't love most politicians but with Robert Jackson, what's there not to love? Three years ago I went up to Albany with Leonie Haimson and a crew for some hearing and after we had some time to kill waiting for the train and Jackson graciously invited us to his office to hang out. You can't find a more pro-teacher/education anti-ed deformer than Jackson. Which may explain the actions of the UFT/Unity leadership. As James Eterno says - Jackson is too pro-teacher. I'll get into how the leadership of the largest teacher union is fundamentally anti-teacher another time.

But I jumped the gun. I was wrong in assuming the UFT has endorsed Angel Vasquez instead of Robert Jackson. But if you read the memo below which should have expressed horror at UFT employees supporting Jackson's opponent you can guess why I had that assumption. But I still feel like the UFT/Unity leadership is playing the role of Norman Bates toward Robert Jackson.

Robert Jackson

I got a call from someone in the UFT media department

Fred Klonsky on MulgrewCare- Moving retirees to Medicare Advantage programs instead of existing retiree health plans and traditional Medicare coverage is privatization.

Another public system - Medicare - becomes privatized and handed over to the for-profit sector. In traditional Medicare, the government pays doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers directly for patient care. But Medicare Advantage is different. The government pays the insurance companies that sell Medicare Advantage policies a fixed amount every month for each member they sign up. Services unused or denied is profit for the insurance companies.... Fred Klonsky, https://fredklonsky.substack.com/p/moving-retirees-to-medicare-advantage

We still need your signature on Demand Progress' petition. We need to protect Medicare now more than ever. Sign you agree: President Biden and HHS Secretary Becerra need to end Donald Trump's Medicare privatization scheme now!
SIGN THE PETITION

Fred Klonsky is a Chicago area retired teacher and former union leader. His analysis of MulgrewCare is worth a read - and a subscription. He makes the important point above in one of the clearest ways I've read that a profit comes out of the fixed money coming from Medicare not spent. His daughter is a NYC public school teacher and running on the UFC slate.

Mayoral Control Under Attack, Assembly Dems Push Back - Call for Tweaks, Where Does UFT/Unity Stand?, Will UFT Snub Robert Jackson Again?

IDC, Unity - Is there a difference?

Angel Vasquez's work for an IDC member. He also works on the 14th floor at the UFT, where he advises Mulgrew on political policy along with Cassie Prugh (former Cuomo policy staffer and energy industry lobbyist) and others.

The UFT has endorsed Jackson’s opponent every time he’s run for the Senate: Marisol Alcantara, even though she was IDC and pro-charter. The first time she won and the second time she lost.  His opponent this time is Angel was her chief of staff.

You can link mayoral control in any city to resistance to class size reduction. They prefer to blame the teachers. So note this comment from Leonie Haimson on her blog re State Sentator Robert Jackson and follow the UFT bouncing ball.  

Sen. Jackson repeatedly threatened that he would hold back state funding if the DOE refuses to lower class size, as outlined in the his bill S6296A, and the same as Assembly bill, A7447A, sponsored by AM Simon. Jackson also implied that his support for continuing mayoral control was at risk due to DOE negligence on the issue-- and that in any case, he would not support an extension of more than two years.

THERE ARE RUMORS THE UFT WILL SUPPORT Angel’s Vasquez, PRIMARY OPPONENT OF LONG TIME FRIEND OF TEACHERS ROBERT JACKSON? Don't be shocked. 

Angel’s Vasquez'  LinkedIn profile shows that his only teaching experience was at a CO charter school.  Meanwhile, RJ has always been resolutely anti-charter – as well as the #1 proponent of class size reduction in the Legislature, and the sponsor of S.6296A  which would phase in class sizes caps at much lower levels starting next year.

WOULD UFT OPPOSE A STRONG SUPPORTER OF CLASS SIZE REDUCTIONS AND MAYORAL CONTROL OPPONENT -- DOING THE WORK FOR ED DEFORMERS.

James Eterno commented: Jackson is too pro-teacher.
Yes Virginia -- the leadership of the biggest teacher union is fundamentally, time and again, Anti-teacher.

Leonie reported this revealing point about Jackson at the recent
State Assembly and Senate Joint Hearings.

The topic of class size was first introduced  by Sen. Robert Jackson, the original plaintiff in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, which after many years of advocacy, is finally bringing more than $1.3 billion in additional state funds to NYC schools. Yet the administration plans to invest none of these funds in lowering class size, though the city's excessive class sizes were a central issue in the lawsuit and the court's decision that our students were deprived of their right to a sound, basic education.  

... Leonie Haimson continues:

I’ve testified at countless mayoral control hearings since it was instituted nearly 20 years ago. Yesterday’s joint Senate and Assembly hearings far surpassed any of them.  You can watch the video here. Sorry to say there were very few news stories about it, because most of the education reporters were covering the Mayor's announcement about lifting the mask mandate in schools.  It was their loss, since the questioning by legislators was sharp and had a new seriousness about it, and the testimony from parent leaders was passionate and incisive.  - on her blog.

Attempts to raise the issue of mayoral control of the schools with the UFT/Unity leadership have been rebuffed since last year. The fact is the UFT has always been in favor of having the least amount of voices involved in decision making as long as the leadership (not the membership) had a seat at the table. The UFT/Unity mantra - the least amount of democratic voices possible. And don't forget their continued opposiiton to putting class size front and center in contract negotiations - plus the severe Mulgrew defeat on his city council class size initiative -- which I supported but of course was executed ineptly.

There have been some soundings coming out of fortress Unity calling for tweaks - like shifting some PEP choices to borough Presidents and maybe a seat or two for the city council - still a system where political operatives, not regular people have a voice. Maybe there should be a Unity Caucus rep on the PEP.

But after 20 years of mayoral control, more and more people have grown tired of one person dictating control of 1700 schools, one million kids and their parents, and 125,000 pedagogues. 

Here's Mayoral control stalwart opponent Leonie Haimson's full blog postm followed by a Politico and NY Post article.

Why Friday's hearings on Mayoral control were the best in twenty years

 and what was said about the need for smaller classes & more fiscal oversight

https://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2022/03/why-fridays-hearings-on-mayoral-control.html

Norm goes deep into #MulgrewCare: appears on Podcast, Lander Says NO to MulgrewCare, Ravages of our profit-making medical system

I went to one of my doctors yesterday and he's trying to pressure me into taking an expensive test I clearly don't need. The naked profit motive. Medicare will pay but I'm conscious of how that undermines Medicare in the long run. I'd be acting like Mulgrew. I won't do it. In the podcast I delve into the ideology of the UFT/Unity caucus that leads to decisions like pushing MulgrewCare and also 20 years ago, privatized education like charters. 

the advertising, the television commercials, the hamburger sliders, the endless catered lunches, the agency money, the plane tickets to Europe — are all, directly or not, contributing to this enormous cost.” --- This is what Mulgew supports.

 Norm - in his usual fog.

UnitedForChange - UFT

@ufcuft

·

Mar 9

Worth the listen! Norm Scott unpacks the failed attempt by@UFTUnity to privatize retiree Medicare with Mulgrewcare

@NormScott1has been a tireless union activist & once again proving his mettle in helping to lead organize our petition campaign.

Nice words from my UFC colleagues.

What a pleasure to Zoom meet Noah who interviewed me for his Professional Development: The New York City Teacher Podcast Monday night. He certainly does his research and the hour spent talking to a young NYC teacher was a pleasure - and I just signed up as a patron to get all his podcasts. He has been doing it since July and I am addicted, catching up on back issues. I first heard his of him with his Nick Bacon interview on the Feb. DA which was excellent: Ep 29- What REALLY Happened at the February DA.mp3

Hey Norm,

The show is up and ready to be heard! It can be found at the following locations (among others):

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-31-mulgrewcare-feat-norm-scott/id1579180451?i=1000553491155

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2RKZJotWTV6Eo81n05R9kt?si=K6-3B2WoRgSUSrd-ajqkAg

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/63597160

Ep 31- Mulgrewcare, feat. Norm Scott.mp3

This week Norm Scott, a retired NYC DOE teacher, long-time unionist, and blogger, stops by to tell us all about Mulgrewcare, a foiled (or is it?) attempt by the UFT leadership to deprive retirees of their proper, hard-earned benefits OR balance the books after a poorly-executed contract negotiation by collecting their hard-earned money in the form of new, illegal premiums for the same coverage they have always had. We discuss the parallels between Unity's willingness to privatize healthcare and the neoliberal drive to privatize schools, most notably via the charter movement, and much more!

This week Norm Scott, a retired NYC DOE teacher, long-time unionist, and blogger, stops by to tell us all about Mulgrewcare, a foiled (or is it?) attempt by the UFT leadership to deprive retirees of their proper, hard-earned benefits OR balance the books after a poorly-executed contract negotiation by collecting their hard-earned money in the form of new, illegal premiums for the same coverage they have always had. We discuss the parallels between Unity's willingness to privatize healthcare and the neoliberal drive to privatize schools, most notably via the charter movement, and much more! Read more of Norm's work at ednotesonline.com

More on MulgrewCare

Lander calls on Adams to ditch new NYC retiree Medicare plan after court order - New York Daily News

An Essayist Navigates the Labyrinth of American Health Care. Barely.

Emphasizing the cruelty of Mulgrew in opposing true cost-saving solutions to costs of medical services by favoring profit making private insurance and degrading the public options.

"survived the ongoing catastrophe of for-profit medical care.... a ready solution to the problem — which, Maloney implies, is inseparable from the very structures of capitalism."

And one thing we know- in the 60 years of Unity Caucus leadership of the UFT, unmitigated support for the unfettered outrages of capitalism

 

NYT Book Review By Sarah Manguso

COST OF LIVING

Essays

By Emily Maloney

The illness narrative, ending in financial ruin and decreased quality of life, has become one of the classic 21st-century American stories. In her debut essay collection, Emily Maloney documents the complex intersections of money, illness and medicine. For Maloney, the primary experience of receiving health care is not merely a bodily or spiritual event but always, also, a financial one. She understands on a granular level the relationship of money to being ill, to developing a drug, to housing and caring for patients and, of course, to managing an unfathomable amount of debt. Her broad perspective is hard won; at different times she has been a multiply diagnosed chronically ill patient, an E.M.T., an emergency room medical technician, a drug rep, a data analyst, a medical writer, a medical debtor and an American citizen who has — so far — survived the ongoing catastrophe of for-profit medical care.

The precipitating event in “Cost of Living” is the author’s psychiatric hospitalization at 19: “It wasn’t that I had wanted to die, exactly. It was more that I just couldn’t keep living.” Maloney’s choice of a nearby, independent hospital’s emergency room over the bigger university hospital “where the state might pick up your bill if you were declared indigent” leads to the crushing debt at the heart of the book. “Sitting on a cot in the emergency room, I filled out paperwork certifying myself as the responsible party for my own medical care — signed it without looking, anchoring myself to this debt, a stone dropped in the middle of a stream. This debt was the cost of living.”

As Maloney pries deeper into the machine of American health care, she finds no central mechanism other than that of the eternal money-go-round. By the time she gets to the conference at which doctors are painstakingly comped for their attendance at brunches with “soggy pastries” amid “transfer of value” concerns, I had lost all hope for a ready solution to the problem — which, Maloney implies, is inseparable from the very structures of capitalism.

Each essay documents a different kind of structural failure, caused or complicated by capital and inevitably ending in harm to patients. In one, Maloney is prescribed 26 psychiatric medications for what turns out to be a vitamin D deficiency, hypothyroidism and a neurologically based developmental disorder. In another, as an E.R. tech she is trained to “bill up” — increasing charges if at all possible — but she secretly perfects the occult art of minimizing patient cost without tripping any corporate alarms.

Embedding herself into various corners of the bureaucratic medical machine, Maloney describes everyone she encounters with the same perspicacity. “There’s a fine line between a pain patient and a drug addict,” she writes, “and sometimes patients go back and forth across it.” “Elizabeth … was what we called a frequent flier, someone who was unable to make sense of the world she lived in and so she came to us instead, a kind of tent revival in our suburban hospital, for healing.” A medical student, meanwhile, is “a strange mix of sweaty and cavalier.”

Thanks to her experiences, Maloney is able to see the cracks in what a less informed patient might experience, simply, as care: “At my doctor’s office for a masked annual physical, my internist depression screens me. I know it’s because Epic, the online medical record system he uses, prompts him to do so. Northwestern Medicine is part of a program that uses an installation of Epic that depression screens everyone.”

While working as a medical publications manager at a pharmaceutical company, where she becomes a part of the conference circuit for the first time, she is struck by the sheer scale of the apparatus. “Yes, the research everyone does is important. Yes, the work to take a drug from preclinical stages to the market is huge and hugely expensive. But the rest — the advertising, the television commercials, the hamburger sliders, the endless catered lunches, the agency money, the plane tickets to Europe — are all, directly or not, contributing to this enormous cost.”

Maloney’s essays read as if they were begun in low light, with little sense of where they were going or how far. They start with a question and work things out on the page. They don’t seem concerned about arriving at a grand unified theory of anything. They notice everything and have nothing to prove. They don’t prematurely grasp at an ending. These qualities combine to elevate this collection far above the usual first-person essayistic fare. The challenges of Maloney’s background — familial trauma, poor medical care, occasional indigence — form part of the back story, but they are ultimately beside the point of this book. Her broad authority and the quality of the prose — astute, compassionate and lethally funny — are what make these essays remarkable. Maloney is an exceptionally alert writer on whom nothing is lost, who sees everything with excruciating clarity, including the unassailable fact that in this country, there is currently no tidy passage through the interconnected quagmires of illness, money and care.

Sarah Manguso is the author of eight books, most recently the novel “Very Cold People.”

 

Mulgrew in his own words - Brags about MedAdv Program HE Helped Design - Before he abandoned it

Listen to Mulgrew brag about the plan he designed and promoted and attacked those of us who were critical. Hear Mulgrew talk about how proud he was about the MedAdv - until he abandoned it after the judge ruled in our favor.

And don't forget -- if you support medicare for all/single payer, backing Mulgrew and Unity Caucus is a total contradiction.

https://youtu.be/8DxZrE5WGmM

 From United for Change blog:

Mulgrewcare Has Failed. Now, We Must Vote Mulgrew Out – #VoteMulgrewOUT

Mulgrewcare has failed because of Michael Mulgrew’s hubris.

Mulgrewcare was hatched in backroom secrecy after Mulgrew’s 2014 retro pay contract fiasco with the city that raided over a billion dollars from the Healthcare Stabilization Fund to pay for raises.

Mulgrew and De Blasio dipped into a fund solely designed to offset the healthcare inflation costs. And then Mike convinced the MLC to follow his lead.

Then, in 2021, when Mulgrew and the UFT-led MLC were backed into a corner by the mayor to replenish this now depleted fund, they designed and tried to sell us all, a privatized Medicare Advantage plan, that penalizes city retirees for their healthcare choices and burdens them with scores of pre-authorizations, to pay for his mediocre labor agreements of the past.

Mulgrewcare would have forced all of our city’s retirees into an ill-conceived managed plan, or retirees who opted out would have to pay well over $2000 to $4000 a year to keep their existing coverage promised to them by the City.

Thousands of retirees stood up and said: NO! They organized, protested, raised their own funds, and sued – AND WON!

On March 3rd, 2022, a Manhattan judge ruled in favor of the retirees who were opting out of this failed, coerced plan. The law says the city cannot charge retirees or active city employees for healthcare unless it is above the cost of the HIP plan. This is the language the judge used in citing the city’s administrative code: “

This section states unequivocally that “[t]he City will pay the entire cost of health insurance coverage for city employees, city retirees, and their dependents, not to exceed one hundred percent of the full cost of H.I.P.-H.M.O. on a category basis.”

The city and unions (the Municipal Labor Committee) were violating the law by agreeing to charge all of our city’s retirees who wanted to keep their current Senior Care supplemental Medicare insurance $191 per month if they opted out of the new privatized Mulgrewcare.

Now, that Mulgrewcare is dead, for now, we must make sure Mulgrew never again places our most seasoned civil servants, retirees, and our current in-service UFT members in harm’s way. He also has designs on our next UFT contract, too, with his penchant for healthcare givebacks and weak negotiating posture.

In April of 2022, UFT members must vote him and his Unity caucus OUT!

Vote United For Change, a coalition slate that stood with our city’s retirees in organizing against Mulgrewcare. 

 

• Healthcare Updates: Retiree Advocate Sunday Night ...
• A Cynical Mulgrew Abandons MulgrewCare - If he can...
• Birthday Present for me -- NYC Municipal Retirees ...

Minneapolis educators to strike Tuesday for safe and stable schools - Note Randi Comment of support----

--- While silent as NYC DOE with assistance from the UFT opens schools wide to variants by unmasking. Other unions won't sit by.

MEDIA NOTE: NEA President Becky Pringle will be on the ground in Minnesota on Tuesday (March 8) in solidarity with the educators of Minneapolis who are calling for safe and stable schools. The National Education Association is the national affiliate of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Education Support Professionals and represents 3 million educators nationwide. President Pringle can provide the national perspective and is available for media interviews. Please contact Richard Allen Smith of NEA Communications at 202-716-6461 or rasmith@nea.org.

 

CONTACT: 

Natasha Dockter

Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and

Education Support Professionals

natasha.dockter@gmail.com

 

Minneapolis educators to strike Tuesday for safe and stable schools

 

MINNEAPOLIS, March 7, 2022 – The educators of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Education Support Professionals will go on strike Tuesday for the safe and stable schools students deserve. Despite days in public bargaining and mediations, including more than 65 hours in the last week, the district continues to refuse to work with MFT to create systemic change and remains entrenched in the unacceptable status quo. 

 

President Greta Callahan of the MFT teachers chapter, President Shaun Laden of the MFT ESP chapter and the presidents of Education Minnesota, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association will attend a news conference at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday outside Justice Page Middle School, 1W. 49th S., Minneapolis.

 

The members of the MFT will begin picketing outside their schools and other worksites at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The membership will come together for a large rally at 12:15 p.m. at the Minneapolis Public Schools Nutrition Center, 812 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis, before marching approximately 1 mile to the MPS Davis Center, 1250 W Broadway Ave, Minneapolis.

 

Logistics:

• Picketing begins at schools and other worksites at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday
• News conference with MFT presidents and state and national presidents 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at Justice Page Middle School, 1W. 49th S., Minneapolis
• Rally starting at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday at Minneapolis Public Schools Nutrition Center, 812 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis

Laden said:  “This bargaining campaign started with the very simple idea that for the education support professionals who are told every day that our schools can’t run without us, one job should be enough. We’re the most racially diverse group of educators in a district with administrators who say they care about racial equity. We have been demanding that the administrators at the bargaining table put their money where their mouth is and they have refused. Now is the time for the school board to intervene and settle a deal that pays ESP a starting wage of $35,000 a year.”

 

Callahan said: “For almost two years, we’ve been trying to reach agreements around safe and stable schools for students and those closest to them, but the administration has stubbornly defended an unacceptable status quo. We are the defenders of public education and we’re not going to slow down, or give up, until we make real progress addressing the mental health crisis in our schools, reducing class sizes and caseloads so students are receiving the individualized attention they need, and increasing educator compensation so that we don’t continue to lose staff, especially educators of color, to surrounding districts and other professions.”

 

Denise Specht, president of Education Minnesota, said: “Nearly 90,000 educators across Minnesota are standing with our union family in Minneapolis because what they’re fighting for is what we’re all fighting for: Schools that will give every student the chance to pursue their dreams. The same issues are being negotiated all over the state, from living wages for ESPs, to more mental health supports for students, to managing the crushing caseload for SpEd teachers, to recruiting and retaining more teachers of color,  to creating time for educators to give their students enough individual attention. We’re in a rich state with a $9.25 billion surplus. No educator should have to fight this hard for the schools our students deserve, but if that’s what it takes, we’re with you.”

 

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, said: “With over $250 million in pandemic relief funds, the time is now to invest in the safe and stable schools that Minneapolis students need now more than ever. The three million members of the National Education Association are proud to stand with our siblings in Minneapolis. The last two years have demonstrated that the status quo is not good enough. Minneapolis students and their families have weathered a pandemic, continued police violence, and an economic system that has left students, their families, and educators behind. These students deserve class sizes small enough for one-to-one attention as well as investments in mental health services and social-emotional learning.  MPS must also invest in systematic changes that improve the recruitment and retention of educators of color as well as a living wage for education support professionals. Education support professionals represent a critical workforce in our schools providing essential supports students depend on. MPS has the resources to make these investments. The question is whether they value Minneapolis students as much as their educators do.”

 

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said: “The federal government has provided an unprecedented amount of recovery funding to school districts to address problems related to the pandemic, including student recovery, staff shortages and school safety. There is no excuse for districts to make cuts in light of this historic infusion of funds. And the economy is showing real signs of growth. Indeed, Minnesota just announced a $9.25 billion surplus.

 

“Our kids, their families and educators have been through tremendous challenges in the last two years; they have done their share to navigate the rough seas together. Educators and students should be the priorities, and districts should provide the conditions and environment they need to succeed. School districts should respect their educators and ensure that students have the programs and services they need to thrive,” Weingarten said.

 

The union’s safe and stable schools agenda includes:

• Paying a living wage for education support professionals to stabilize this critical workforce, because students need the stability of working with one paraprofessional throughout the school year. For ESPs, this means raising the starting salary from about $24,000 a year to $35,000 through increases in hours and rate of pay.
• Making systemic changes to improve the recruitment and retention of educators of color, which benefits all of MPS.
• Improving student-to-mental health professional ratios because students shouldn’t have to wait weeks for an appointment with a counselor or social worker.
• Lowering class sizes because students learn best when their classrooms aren’t overcrowded and underfunded.
• Paying competitive salaries for licensed staff to stop the exodus of teachers from MPS. State data show the average salary of Minneapolis teachers is ranked 28 out of 46 districts in the seven-county metro area.