Will Mulgrew Flip Flop on Mayoral Control Like Randi did in 2009?

Randi and Bloomberg do the flip in mayoral control renewal 2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deja vu all over again?

Mulgrew at the Feb. 2024 DA on Mayoral control – 

-----when it sunsets, know what our position is. Want to be a little bit more. Position mayoral control, went through Cleveland’s, Boston’s, New Haven’s – they have mayoral control, the mayor chooses the final decision making panel (i.e. PEP), but the Mayor may only choose from people selected by nominating committee, of which they often have little control. Once put on these boards, they’re on a fixed term, mayor can’t do anything about it. Not saying what want, but have to dispel myth that changing mayoral control from way it is here—with mayor picking majority of PEP—is only version of mayoral control. People here fired for not doing what they’re told – that’s crap. Goal of last week was to tie different things together. Has the mayor supplanted school funding (yes), was there a financial reason (no)... How do you give the mayor any sort of control, who supplants funding, who removes money from funding despite being bound to lower class sizes by NYS law. One thing in that law that allows process to be stopped. Happens in a year in a half. Had all the money we needed and since then 2.5 billion dollars have been taken out of the capital plan, because trying to use financial review period to stop the law. ... Nick Bacon Notes at NAC

 Let me take you back to the 2009 battle over renewal of mayoral control:

Chalkbeat/Gotham Schools: The frustration began with a May 21, 2009 New York Post column, in which Weingarten indicated that she is open to allowing the mayor to continue appointing a majority of members to the citywide school board. A union task force recommended in February that the state legislature reverse that majority as a way to strengthen the board, known as the Panel for Education Policy or PEP.

Weingarten’s Post op/ed dismayed some members of her own union. “I was quite disappointed and angry, actually,” said Lisa North, a teacher who sat on the union’s task force to consider revisions to mayoral control.

North said the task force never seriously considered recommending that the mayor keep his majority of appointments, and so when union delegates ratified the committee’s final recommendations, she expected Weingarten to promote them. “The delegate assembly is supposed to be the highest authority of the union, and it voted for it,” she said.

I wrote this in June, 2009 - Weingarten Didn't Flip on Mayoral Control-- UFT positioning is akin to planes spreading tin foil to try to fool radar.

We opposed the very idea of a phony UFT task force dominated by Unity Caucus that would give cover to Randi's doing what she intended to do anyway over the past 7 years. (I have been a lone voice in ICE urging boycotting these farce task forces.) I spoke to Philissa (Kramer of Gotham) and made the point that Randi's flipping on the constitution of the PEP panel is just flack covering Randi's consistent support for mayoral control. More egregious, I told her, is her modifying the report of the UFT task force that spent a year addressing the issue that was voted upon at a delegate assembly. One of the few good things the report recommended was taking away the mayor's ability to appoint a majority of the PEP. That is where Randi has flipped. The task force was c0-headed by UFT VP Carmen Alvarez, who has been racing around the city representing the UFT on panel discussions and trying to give the impression the UFT supports checks and balances. Tsk, tsk, Carmen.

“I do feel betrayed,” said Michael Fiorillo, another chapter leader who sat on the union’s task force. “I just wish I could say I felt surprised.” He said Weingarten has veered away from members’ consensus on other topics in the past, and so he had early doubts that she would hold firm on the task force’s recommendations. (Fiorillo ultimately voted against the recommendations, saying they weren’t aggressive enough curbs on mayoral control.) “My guess would be the sense of betrayal would be stronger among people outside the union,” Fiorillo said, noting that union members were accustomed to watching Weingarten change her mind.

Weingarten doesn't exactly change her mind. What she does is throw up lots of tin foil like those planes trying to foil radar detection do in manipulating public perception of where the UFT stands. It is necessary to see through the flack and keep one's eye on where the real plane with the bomb is.

Why does the UFT leadership love mayoral control? Because it allows them to negotiate in back rooms with one person instead of opening up the process to democratic scrutiny. Totalitarians behave that way. When Obama was talking in Cairo today about bringing the light of democracy to places of darkness he might has well been talking about mayoral control and the UFT.

As I said then I do support the UFT current position of opposing the mayor choosing a majority of members on the PEP but will they stick to that position? Mulgrew still claims to be for mayoral control. If the mayor can't appoint a majority is it really mayoral control? Yes in the world of UFT machinations.

 

Viewing and Funeral Service for James Eterno: Feb. 19, Feb. 20

The family and the many friends and fans of James Eterno have been through a ten-month wrenching experience. James' political family in ICE has had a meeting scheduled for Feb. 21 before we learned of James' passing. That will be a very appropriate way to remember him just a day after the funeral. There will be sadness but there will also be laughter.

Viewing and Funeral Service for James Eterno

On Monday, February 19, 2024, we gather to honor the memory of James Eterno, a remarkable individual who left an indelible mark on the educational landscape and the hearts of those who knew him. James, a retired educator and passionate union activist, dedicated his life to advocating for the rights of teachers and students.

Viewing and Prayer Service

Date: Monday, February 19, 2024

• Viewing: 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
• Prayer Service: 7:00 PM
• Location: Martin A. Gleason Funeral Home, 149-20 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11354

Funeral Service and Interment

On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, we come together once more to bid farewell to James and lay him to rest.

• Funeral Service: 12:00 PM
• Location: St. John’s Cemetery, 80-01 Metropolitan Ave, Middle Village, NY 11379

James Eterno’s impact extended far beyond the classroom. His dedication, resilience, and love for his community will forever resonate. As we gather to honor him, let us reflect on the lessons he taught us and the passion he instilled in our hearts.

May his memory be a blessing and may his legacy live on.

 

Chronicling Democratic Party Immolation - Special Election NY3 - How A Dem Win is really a Loss when they adopt the republican view of immigration

We're fucked ... many Democrats

Sometimes I feel like rooting for Dems to lose due to their ineptness. Note the hysteria over the Republican special counsel appointed by Merrick Garland so he can look like's he's playing fair with Republicans. James Carville even said - what law says all special counsels have to be Republicans? 

UPDATE: At 10PM  Suozzi is looking good and the Dems will take that as a way to move to the right. The long-time implications are not going to be good in terms of solving our problems when one party is nuts and the other fundamentally acts like the way the other party did.

And their defense of Biden - who is desperate to get money to Ukraine or Israel but not so desperate to get money for oh say, childcare or children in poverty.

And let me remind you that our own lovable UFT center right leadership is part and parcel of the very same fabric of the Dem party and their policy stances reflect that. And Dem party in NYS under Jacobs is one of the most inept --

If Suozzi wins even by a hair, watch the celebration. But they have to do it all over again in November. Suozzi is on the right of the Dem party and ran to the right of Hochul in the gov race. Jacobs gotta go no matter what.

If you want to see an example of an analysis of the fundamental failures of the Democratic Party and their never taking responsibility for their actions and placing blame on the left or the media of the failure of the public to get their message watch the Sam Seder interview with Luke Goldstein on today's crucial election where I can't really root for Suozzi. Some say if he loses or its close that will send a message to the Dems to shift course from their right wing tack ala the Clintons of the 90s which led down the path to Trump.

The fact that right wing Democrat Suozzi is barely ahead against Mazi Pilip after the Republican George Santos disaster is a sign of the Dem disaster. Part of me wants them to lose so bad they go away and something new and vigorous can grow. Someone compared the Dems to the waffling Whigs of the 1840s from which arose a potent Republican Party in the 1850s.

Immigration is a biggie in this election and the Dems have become the right wing Republicans on the issue of immigration with no alternative narrative. So watch the outcome tonight -- it will be close and to me that's a Dem loss even if they win. The Dems have put $7 million into this campaign while letting APAC savage the Progressive wing of the party -- all people of color, bty. So if you wonder about slippage with people of color ....

They interview Luke Goldstein, writing fellow at The American Prospect

https://www.youtube.com/live/mmHF2jmUjvI?si=Kdmb5HBejFCW73P1

and here is Luke Goldstein's article reporting on the special election being held today in New York's 3rd Congressional District.

NY-03 Special Election Tests Jacobs’s ‘Long Island Strategy’

Tuesday’s primary to fill George Santos’s seat is a toss-up, despite an experienced former Democratic congressmember facing a largely unknown Republican.

by Luke Goldstein

February 12, 2024

While George Santos is busy building a post-politics career as an online influencer, voters in his former district in New York are preparing to wash the stain from the seat in a special election on Tuesday that is being treated as a bellwether for the 2024 campaign

Democratic candidate and former congressman Tom Suozzi has returned to try to reclaim his old seat in the Third Congressional District. Suozzi faces a local Republican county official with little national recognition: Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian immigrant who served in the Israel Defense Forces before coming to the U.S.

Immigration and abortion are listed as top concerns by voters and have dominated the sparring between candidates, including at the first and only debate of the race last Thursday night. The election will test whether the now dead-on-arrival border package legislation in Washington will backfire against Republicans, as national Democrats hope, and how much staying power abortion still has for voters in a blue state.

Even in a tough swing district, you’d expect the Democratic candidate to trounce the opponent after the scorched rubble left by Santos’s disastrous ten months in office. Yet despite vastly outspending his opponent nearly 3-to-1, Suozzi’s margins in recent polling are razor-thin, with some pollsters designating the race a toss-up. The most recent public poll from Emerson College has Suozzi up 50-47.

More from Luke Goldstein

The special election will put the New York Democratic Party under scrutiny after underperforming the rest of the country with a series of defeats in the 2022 midterms. State party chair Jay Jacobs is a close ally of Suozzi and a longtime chair of the Nassau County Democratic Party, the home of the NY-03 district. Jacobs has fashioned a “Long Island strategy” that’s shifted the party in a more conservative direction to win contested seats across the state. So far, that strategy hasn’t borne out, and Jacobs has received criticism for not tapping into the party’s more grassroots base.

“This race should be the ultimate shoo-in,” said one progressive strategist in New York. “If Suozzi loses or really if it’s even a close race, that raises serious questions about the Democratic establishment in New York, especially for a race in Jay Jacobs’s backyard.”

THE NATIONAL STAKES FOR THE SPECIAL ELECTION are mixed.

For one, the winner will only hold office for roughly eight months before the contest is redecided this November in a redrawn district. The New York Supreme Court ruled last December that the New York independent redistricting commission will have to redraw the congressional map. The decision is expected to shift the seat in a direction more favorable for Democrats in November.

But until then, there could potentially be near-term implications, given the slim majority that Republicans currently hold in the House and constant tumult over the Speakership. Just this past week, Republicans failed to impeach the Biden administration’s secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, by the thinnest of margins, prompting Rep. Matt Gaetz to remark that he’d “never missed George Santos more.”

But primarily, the race is receiving national attention for a check of the national mood heading into the 2024 presidential year. To underscore just how dramatized this storyline has become, a recent Politico Magazine story put as its headline “Nassau County Is Replacing George Santos—and Maybe Picking the Next President.”

Some surrogates close to Suozzi’s campaign have downplayed this Beltway narrative somewhat, at least as a presidential indicator.

“It’s called a special election for a reason and the dynamics are different; we’re not picking the next president, but that’s not to say this isn’t highly important,” said Zak Malamed, who was one of the many Democratic candidates running in the primary to challenge Santos before the congressman’s expulsion.

In an unconventional procedure, national leadership in consultation with the state party got to select the candidate for the special election and cleared the way for Suozzi. Malamed endorsed Suozzi and has been supporting him in the race ever since.

The special election will put the New York Democratic Party under scrutiny after underperforming the rest of the country with a series of defeats in the 2022 midterms.

But the coronation of Suozzi was somewhat more contentious in other quarters. The bad blood is because Suozzi left the seat to make a failed run for governor against Kathy Hochul in 2022. Many believe that Suozzi’s exit opened the seat up for the Santos drama that New York and the country have endured for the past year. Despite that criticism, Suozzi was rewarded by the party that saw him as the safest bet to flip the district.

Suozzi, a conservative Democrat who helped found the Problems Solvers Caucus, also has a mixed record on abortion, a major factor in sinking his bid for governor. Suozzi initially supported the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds for abortion procedures, but has since reversed himself. Still, some of his opponents questioned whether his track record on the issue might make him a poor fit for the seat, given how mobilizing the issue has been against Republicans since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

One lesson New York Democrats took away from the 2022 midterm races is that they didn’t adequately turn abortion into a central issue, which carried Democrats elsewhere. Suozzi seems to agree. He’s shored up support from reproductive rights groups such as Planned Parenthood and gone on the attack against his Republican opponent over her party’s extreme position. He’s repeatedly pressed Pilip on what exactly her stance is on supporting Roe v. Wade or the proposed national abortion ban legislation. Pilip has only offered vague responses about respecting a woman’s “decision,” both bucking the conservative flank of her party without fully committing to supporting Roe either.

Pilip has other issues as well. She hid from the public for a stretch of the campaign, only appearing on the trail occasionally. In her absence, a major controversy broke that echoed her Republican predecessor’s corruption. A New York Times investigation revealed that Pilip’s financial disclosures included a number of inconsistencies and omissions compared to her previous filings for Nassau County, where she served as a legislator. Her campaign immediately corrected some of the errors, claiming they were mistakes, but there are still outstanding questions about her and her husband’s financial holdings.

Despite the national tenor of the race, both candidates have distanced themselves from the presumptive nominees of their respective parties and exhibited nothing but angst about the possibility of them visiting the district. Pilip won’t even say whether she voted for President Trump in 2020 despite being pressed on this question constantly by Suozzi’s campaign. In swing districts like NY-03, with scores of independent and moderate voters, it’s a reflection of the extreme unpopularity of both presidential candidates and even the toxicity of the national brands of both parties. In fact, both candidates also opted not to publicize when House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries each visited the candidates for rallies in the district.

Yet, the adage “all politics is local” doesn’t seem to be holding true so far in the race, where hot-button national issues predominate. While Santos won on relatively parochial issues like crime and migrant busing, this contest is centered heavily on the southern border situation, along with abortion.

Both candidates have exchanged barbs on immigration. Up until the past few weeks, Pilip, an immigrant herself, was accusing Democrats of allowing an invasion at the southern border. The tenor has changed somewhat since the collapse of the border deal brokered in Washington to pair restrictive immigration enforcement with military aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Republicans killing the deal, to avoid delivering Biden another legislative victory, has given Suozzi a talking point in the race to fend off the open-borders charge from Republicans. He’s pushed Pilip to respond to the collapse of the border deal, accusing Republicans of not being serious about solutions. Whether that will change the minds of voters is yet to be tested.

The border package also raises the question of support for Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. Suozzi is a loyal supporter of Israel and even visited the country in December. For that, he received the endorsement and financial support of Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, even though his opponent actually fought in the IDF. Suozzi has used his backing by the Israel lobby to try to defang his opponent’s charge that his party welcomes “terrorist sympathizers.”

THE MAIN QUESTION HANGING OVER THE RACE is whether the state party can revamp itself after suffering four humiliating congressional losses in 2022, two of which were in Long Island, which also saw wipeout down-ballot at the local level.

Those four races arguably cost Democrats control of the House, which Republicans won back by just four seats. National Democratic leadership has made it clear they believe their path back to the majority in 2024 runs through Long Island and retaking those lost seats from the midterms. They’re already dedicating an incredible amount of resources to those races up and down the state, upwards of $45 million from the national party’s coffers. That vast amount of money earmarked for what would usually be state party responsibilities indicates national Democrats might not fully trust the abilities of the Albany bosses to get the job done.

Democrats are also spending big in the special election. Just over a week before the election, the GOP’s Congressional Leadership Fund was forced to pump $2.6 million into TV ads to try to make up the yawning gap Democrats had put between them and Republicans on spending. Prior to that infusion of funds, Suozzi led almost threefold on spending for television and digital ads, at $8 million to $3 million.

House Majority PAC, the main vehicle for Democratic leadership spending, dumped $7 million on the race for Suozzi.

That amount of spending is obscenely high for a special-election race that will just be redecided in November, likely under more favorable conditions for Democrats after redistricting. While leadership PACs expend resources on Suozzi, they have all but refused to lift a finger to protect the incumbent house progressives facing well-financed primary challenges, funded largely by right-wing donors.

Some progressives in New York also question the tactics that the state party has decided to run with under the leadership of party chair Jay Jacobs to win back Long Island.

As Gov. Hochul has consolidated power, the state party for the most part has supported the more moderate candidates in state and local races across the state against progressives.

In contested Long Island races, the party believes tacking right to win over middle-of-the-road Republican and independent voters is the necessary path to victory. In 2022, that more conservative strategy led not just to the losses of congressional candidates but also the unseating of the Democratic Nassau County executive, Laura Curran, and several district attorney candidates who tried to distance themselves from criminal justice reform positions.

The alternative approach would be to try to mobilize more energy among the party’s core base of voters.

Tuesday’s election has been made out to be a referendum on President Biden. In reality, it may be more a reflection of the state party in New York, and whether it’s up for the task in 2024.

And here's another Sam analysis on Dem road to nowhere with their Republican talking points position on immigration:

Biden’s Immigration Deal Fiasco Is Way Worse Than You Thought

https://youtu.be/v36KEI86WzI?si=G-BAjwCXqmAOulb7&t=39

 Immigration lawyer going under the monicker Ronald Reagan points to the failures of current immigration policy and how the proposed "solution" is not a solution.

Discussion of how the US for business interests helped destabilize central American nations and sparked immigration. 

No energy, no will to get the alternative view of immigration out there. When you cede the argument to Republicans - not address the funfamental flaws in the Republican view -- a double disaster for Dems -- policy ans electoral politics.

James Eterno: Mentor, Friend, Inspiration By Mike Schirtzer, UFT Executive Board

Mike Schirtzer gives James Eterno major credit for helping him become an activist in the UFT.

February 11, 2024

James Eterno: Mentor, Friend, Inspiration

By Mike Schirtzer

UFT Executive Board 

It is the day of a UFT Delegate Assembly sometime in 2013. James Eterno looks over at me and says “you’re motivating the resolution..” He wrote it. I helped a bit, but it was his idea. It is my first time speaking at the DA. I’m excited and nervous at the same time. A lot of old timers who had been in the union for over twenty years, our union leadership, and all my comrades in opposition are looking on. Mulgrew points to me. Oh no! But James has prepped me and I am ready. One of the earliest memories of my relationship with James Eterno. 

I started with “Good morning everyone.” President Mulgrew laughed and said “you meant good afternoon.” I replied “for those of us in school all day, it feels like one long morning.” The room broke up laughing. I looked at James next to me, who was hysterical. Later Norm Scott would say “You’re a natural you know how to win people over,” but my confidence was built on the preparation with James. 

The resolution called for the UFT to reject any evaluation system based on test scores, a major plank of the education deform movement, which the UFT leadership, ironically, supported, and our MORE Caucus rejected. Our side of the room was cheering while the front-center, dominated by Unity Caucus members and UFT staff, was hissing and mocking. 

When the first UFT staffer rose to speak against me, James immediately called a point of order. He carried a pocket size Robert's Rules of Order with him. I had no clue what a parliamentarian was, nor Robert's rules, and absolutely no clue what a point of order was. James was the master and he asked, in his cunning, working class New York City accent: “Can we at least have a classroom teacher, someone actually working in a school, speak against this?”  Our crew cracked up. It was classic James, always ready with an answer. Quick, smart, with knowledge of the contract and Robert's Rules, like a rabbi knows the Torah. The contract was James’ Torah.

When he was done arguing with the parliamentarian, James came right over to me and said, “Great job Mike, you were amazing today”. No compliment made me feel better than one from James. We may have won a few people over that day and it was the first of many resolutions we would write together.

Thanks to James’s mentoring and support, what could have been an embarrassing experience that might have made me gun-shy in the future, instead, built my confidence as an activist. Needless to say neither James nor I made many friends in the Unity Caucus that day. But James helped me discover a relaxed way of addressing even hostile forces in a manner that has worked for me over the past ten years.

James was a thorn in the side not only of union leadership, but even our comrades as well. It was fine to disagree with him and Norm. Boy did we disagree. We’re New Yorkers and trade unionists. Our disagreements may be a bit loud for others, but it was how we communicated. We never got mad, never hurt each other, and always laughed about it the next day. 

He had the unique ability to get under your skin but still make you love him at the same time. I think everyone knew he was coming from a good place, a love for our public schools and union. Over the years our debates made me a better union organizer and human being. He taught me you can disagree but be civil. On any union or contract question in my school he was my go-to. He was a lot of people’s go-to for his encyclopedic knowledge and the process of collective bargaining. 

Having a mentor like James Eterno had a major impact on so many people. Read the many comments on the ICE blog. After all, he was the chapter leader of one of the largest high schools in Queens, Jamaica High School. He served for a dozen years on the UFT Executive Board with New Action Caucus and then the Independent Caucus of Educators (ICE), which had merged with TJC and others to form MORE in 2012. That was when I first got involved in union politics. Outside of Randi Weingarten or Michael Mulgrew, James was one of the only UFT people recognized citywide. 

Needless to say, ICEers are devastated by the news of James' illness and death. ICE, whose open meetings always revolved around some kind of food - people don’t fight as much when they are not hungry -  continued to meet as an informal dinner group over the years. I was invited and made to feel very comfortable in what seemed to be a group with a sense of family that still resonates. Camille and James would often attend, sometimes with their kids. Norm would dominate with his rice pudding and long drawn out sermons that James and Camille would laugh at days after the meeting ended. Camille always joked that anything Norm says starts with a comma and ends with the ‘68 strike. One hilarious meeting was when James, Camille and I argued against Norm as to whether we should run in an upcoming union election. We were livid with Norm. We won the debate and Norm, as always, ended up leading the cause he had spoken against. 

We worked to win back Executive Board seats and celebrated when we finally brought one of James’ first UFT loves, New Action Caucus, which he had left in 2003, back into the opposition fold due to his willingness to reach out, forgive old grudges, and work together to win these seats. One of the best phone calls I ever received was from James telling me “Congratulations we won the Executive Board seats”, he was as excited as I was.

We were always planning, plotting, one strategy session after another. Often on daily chats and phone calls until he was felled by a stroke in May. We tried to keep MORE as a place for regular rank and file where everyone would feel welcome. We challenged the union leadership at DA’s, Executive Boards, district meetings, borough meetings, wherever and whenever there was a public platform. We challenged Unity on the state level at the 2014 NYSUT convention where James was a driving force, along with a local Long Island President Beth Dimino. James and my other UFT hero, Julie Cavanagh, decided I should be one of the two speakers along with Lauren Cohen representing MORE. Julie and James revised and edited the speeches (Video here.) 

When we got pushed out of MORE, James was half “I told you so,” always a naysayer to the far left influences within the group, but also upset that so much of his work had been lost. He mended fences with key players in MORE along the way. Despite being very anti-Unity, he gave me his blessing to run with them  when I had the opportunity. With James it was never personal, only political.

In the last few years James was a driving force in bringing the various UFT opposition groups together and forming the United for Change coalition of seven or so different union groups (not an easy feat) to run against Mulgrew and Unity. He willed it, even though these groups had different ideologies and personalities. His crowning moment came when his wife Camille, a fierce and outspoken unionist, was the 2022 UFT presidential candidate, echoing James’ 2010 presidential run against Mulgrew.

Although we ran on different slates, Camille, James and I had a hearty laugh on the night of the election results. Camille didn’t win, but we still enjoyed talking the night away. Our love for the UFT may have taken us down different paths, but it didn’t divide us. 

Being part of a chat group that touched base regularly often made my day. When my mom died James and Camille joined the rest of the group in a Shiva call. Not hearing his voice almost daily over the past nine months has left a major gap. One good friend told me upon hearing of Jame’s death, “some of the people who work at UFT don’t love the union as much as James did”. No truer words have been spoken. 

He was not only my good friend, but my mentor, my teacher, a fellow New Yorker, traveler, dad, husband, social studies teacher and dedicated unionist.

It’s been hard the last few months, since he got sick, to feel passionate about union work. Now that he has passed I wonder if that passion will ever return but just thinking of him and the work he did will inspire me.

I will miss James so much. I miss him more than these words can express. I loved him as a brother in arms.

 

JAMES ETERNO - We've lost a Giant - Tributes role in

Along with all the other things James was about, he was the best human being one can be... many comments

Even within the UFT leadership and Unity Caucus, James always received the utmost respect. There will be a moment of silence for James at today's Delegate Assembly. 

I’m still trying to find the words to express the impact of James Eterno's passing yesterday when his giant heart gave out after being hospitalized due to a devastating stroke last May, from which he never recovered. Since then and the stilling of his work on the ICE blog I have lost some of my enthusiasm for the work we were doing. James was part of a small chat group for years where we shared comments and phone calls almost every day. Not having his influence and advice has left a big hole.

 

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

When I saw a call to the group coming in from James on April 29, I was in a diner having breakfast with Arthur Goldstein. "That's James calling, probably to push me to call an ICE meeting." 

It was Camille to let us know James had had a stroke the day before. 

When I saw Camille calling yesterday at 3PM, I dreaded picking it up, thinking the worst. James died a few hours before and Camille was being driven to pick up their daughter at school. Camille always maintained hope James would regain enough faculties to be able to come home where the environment would speed his recovery. She reported that at times he tried to speak. He had been moved from the hospital to the nursing home on Monday and died Tuesday afternoon. Beyond the family, the entire educational community has been devastated. Texts have been coming in all morning from admirers.

Michael Fiorillo and I went to see him in the hospital a few weeks ago and despite the respirator and all the wires hooked up his color was good and his face looked like it always had. He looked at us a few times but we couldn't be sure if he heard us. There was always hope he would come out of it at some point. Camille had hoped he would get well enough to go home. Hospitals and nursing homes can be dangerous due to infections and that seems to have done him in.

When Mike Schirtzer and I visited during the summer, James' pulse jumped when we talked union politics, especially about the healthcare issue. Six of us went to see him as a group at one point and we told him all about the struggles in the UFT. Camille felt he was hearing us.

While we know how devastating this news is to the family, it is equally devastating to the union movement and the UFT, especially the opposition. James was especially important in the 2022 United For Change UFT election campaign. In fact, I'm not sure the opposition would have come together if not for him and Camille, who was our presidential candidate. Remember, James was the ICE/TJC presidential candidate in 2010, Mulgrew's first election. The only husband/wife team to run for UFT president. They were a team - the golden couple of the UFT for many of us. James also was the HS VP candidate in the 2016 election and received the most high school votes. Before they changed the constitution in 1994, James would have been on the AdCom - and what a difference that would have made.

James had been bugging me in the month before his stroke to have an in person ICE meeting and I was intending to call one in May. I was so thrown for a loop (notice how little blogging I've done since), it took me until December 27 to have an ICE meeting because I couldn't imagine one without James. Camille and James often schlepped into the city on Fridays after school, sometimes with the kids, to attend ICE meetings, which James at times termed "Norm Seminars" since I talked so much.

I'm calling another ICE meeting during the Feb. break where those who show up can reminisce about the impact James had. 

After ICE joined with TJC in 2012 to form MORE in 2012, James insisted on keeping ICE alive though meetings and the influential ICE blog which he took over from Jeff Kaufman around 2008. James never felt quite at home in MORE and liked the family type atmosphere in ICE. When a segment of MORE asked the ICE people to leave, James often said "I told you so."

To let ICE die after James put so much effort into it would besmirch his memory and all the hard work he did. But without the daily blogging James did, finding a role for ICE in the context of the current opposition and without James' counsel will not be easy.

While I knew James when he was with New Action from 1995-2003, we became closer when ICE was founded in 2003 and James, who was a UFT Exed Bd member since 1995, ran on the ICE-PAC/TJC* slate in 2004 and was elected, along with Jeff Kaufman and Barbara Kaplan-Halpert (who died not long ago). Thus James served for a dozen years on the UFT Exec Bd, a consistent voice for those opposing Unity policy. He and Jeff were a dynamic duo. 

*TJC and ICE ran completely separate slates except for the high schools where each group cross-endorsed 3 HS candidates and won.

With the retiree chapter election coming, Retiree Advocate had expected James to play a major role during the election and especially if we win, as a member of the RTC Exec Bd. We thought of running him as a delegate to honor him and leave a blank seat but decided it would not be appropriate. But if we do win, it will be so sad him not being there with us after so many decades of struggle with him.

There's no way for me to describe my 25-year relationship with James, which was at times contentious, including some yelling. But no disagreement ever stuck beyond a few minutes. In the past few years we had a running joke about how we were both lunatics for putting so much time into union activities after we retired. We were addicted to the union action, though he didn't always have as much fun as I did. When things for the opposition were at their bleakest and we thought of an alternative to our addiction, we would just say, "Time to go play some gold." Sometimes after a particular trying time he would call and just say "Golf?" By the way, neither of us could play golf. If I ever do get over my UFT drug habit, without James this may be sooner than later,  and go play golf, I will think of not having James there with me.

------

One of many memories: Our NYSUT adventure - https://youtu.be/AbkqXmDz62Y?si=UDe0V_FJMvkf_wMY. 

Powerful speeches in the glory days of MORE. (One day I will tell the entire story in my memoirs.

 --------

Jeff Kaufman posted on the ICE blog:

In Loving Memory of James Eterno

It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, James Eterno, on February 6, 2024. James was a cherished member of our community, and his absence will be deeply felt.

James’ life was marked by his unwavering dedication to education and his tireless advocacy for teachers and students alike. His contributions to the ICE-UFT blog have been invaluable, and his insights and wisdom will be sorely missed.

In honor of James’ memory, we would like to invite all who knew him to share their anecdotes and memories of James. Whether it’s a story that makes you smile, a lesson he taught you, or simply a sentiment about what James meant to you, we welcome your contributions.

Please submit your anecdotes and memories to Jeff Kaufman at JeffBKaufman@gmail.com. Jeff will be compiling these tributes and sharing them on the ICE-UFT blog, as a testament to the remarkable impact James had on all of us.

In these difficult times, let us come together to remember James, to celebrate his life, and to carry forward the values and principles he held dear.

Thank you for your contributions. Your words will help keep James’ spirit alive in our hearts and in our community.

With deepest sympathy,

Jeff Kaufman

Lydia Howrilka, who has been like a rock to the family, already has posted: My memories of James Eterno

What Is 'Settler Colonialism'? NYT

I'm very interested in this discussion as I have not been in the loop on the details of the concept of settler colonialism. Many on the left view it from a racial lens, which has often been true but as the article points out Japan engaged in it. And I remember that Stalin used Ukraine as a form of it -- and today's war is partially an outcome of his policies in the 30s and current eastern Ukraine is very Russian and used as a reason for the invasion. I need to do a lot more reading on the subject and there are some sources in this article.

Of course the major issue today is the question of Israel.  There are lots of links in this article to check out. Of course I expect to be called a self-hating Jew for just posting it.

What Is 'Settler Colonialism'?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/arts/what-is-settler-colonialism.html

A look at the academic roots of the idea, which has stirred fierce debate when applied to Israel.

 

By Jennifer Schuessler

Jan. 22, 2024

 

In the intense war of words over the Israel-Gaza war, a particular phrase has popped up repeatedly. At protests, on fliers and in some mainstream publications, it is common to see Israel described — or more likely, assailed — as a “settler-colonial” state.

The concept of settler colonialism originates in academia, where its use has surged over the past two decades, whether in case studies of particular places or sweeping master narratives that purport to explain everything since Columbus. It has also been widely taken up on the activist left, invoked in discussions of gentrification, environmental degradation, financial capitalism and other subjects.

Norm Reads: Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson

I've been a science fiction fan since I was a kid reading Jules Verne. I don't read a lot of it but lately I've been focusing on getting away from politics and into the future. Kim Stanley Robinson is on of my favorites. It took me a year to read the Mars Trilogy. What's interesting about Robinson is he deals with the realm of possibilities. 

Ministry of the Future, while overlong and tedious at times, dealt with the horrors of climate change, echo-terrorism, which actually had a major impact, and almost every solution for global warming being tried, and often succeeding.

Many also called its portrayal of the climate crisis—and of human society on the verge of collapse—prescient. Three years after its release, and mere weeks after scientists declared June of 2023 the hottest June on record, the accuracy with which Robinson’s predictions are coming true utterly terrifies....despite the horrors its protagonists face, the novel is quite optimistic: humans come to value collaboration, mitigation, and adaptation over greed and selfishness. But to get to that point, we first must go through hell. 

There's always hope in his stories. In New York 2140, the seas have risen and Manhattan looks like Venice and high tides bring the ocean up to mid-Brooklyn. And Rockaway no longer exists. I could imagine the remnants of my house under water. But the city functions - sort of. 

In today's NYT there are articles on all the nations sending stuff to the moon. The article mentions that only China has a good success rate. I just finished reading Red Moon written in 2015. And here he posits China as by far the most advanced nation on the moon, with a massive base on the South Pole. The United States is far behind but with its focus on the North Pole. Everything is real in the sense of it all looks possible. Robotic bulldozers have created space for very livable communities. And getting back and forth uses rocket sleds. 

There are 3 key characters, 30 somethings American tech nerd named Fred, Qi, a Chinese princelingess as privileged daughter of a Politburo member, and a much older Ta Shu, a famous Chinese media/philosopher/poet who brokers much of the action. Qi is the major force, leading an underground movement in China to overthrow the Party. Ta Shu, while critical of the Party, also fears its demise. His view is that the so-called two party system in the US is not much different in actuality from the one party system in China - the book is from 2015 when that had more elements of truth than today.

Spoiler alert - in the end there are simultaneous revolutions from beneath in the US and China with the hope that there will be some unity between the masses in both countries. A dream for sure.

Here are some links and segments from reviews, many of which were critical of the wordiness of the book.

UFT/Unity leadership has been the Major Obstacle to Ending Mayoral Control so direct fire at THEM, Plus Ronnie Almonte on reasons not to renew

"We cannot take a stand against mayoral control as long as the UFT won't openly oppose it."  

Politicians have said this openly to me. 

With the current sturm and drang over mayoral control, we must keep in mind that it will never end as long as the UFT/Unity leadership keeps supporting it.

And those who speak at meeting after meeting making the case against it must keep this in mind. They should be speaking at every UFT forum to challenge the bullshit that the UFT wants real change instead of virtue signalling.

Ask people in the schools and I bet they want mayoral control to end. Their major complaint would be the level of micromanagement and control and their total inability to fight against it. 

One example of how committed to mayoral control the UFT has been was when Daniel Alicea, at that time not opposed to Unity, felt that they were open to discussing the issue and willing to make major reforms. So he put up a resolution for the DA to open the issue for discussion and saw month after month delaying tactics lasting a year before it faded. That opened his eyes to the deceptive games UFT/Unity play.

Renewal of mayoral control of the school system is on our radar. The governor is pushing for a 4-year extension, and the UFT gives false signals of wanting some changes but not out-rightly opposing, as I reported in my last post:

• In 2002 I Warned the UFT About Evils of Mayoral Control and they still only want Tweaks as Hochul calls for 4-year extension.

The very concept of mayoral control, no matter the city or the individual in charge, is inherently doomed to fail. And is undemocratic and a form of racism, given the racial makeup of the populations of most cities that have implemented it. Most school systems (mostly white suburbs) elect school boards. 

Mayoral control was a plot to remove regular oversight of massive school systems with massive budgets and remove fundamental oversight, thus opening the doors to extensive corruption where lobbyists get to operate. In the old days of community control with 32 school districts for k-8, of course there was corruption but it was hard work for the vested interests to deal with so many elected school boards. What was needed was more oversight, not the elimination of local involvement. The charter school industrial complex were major players in pushing for mayoral control, as was the testing industrial complex and other corporate entities with the power and influence to get in the door of the mayor.

The "let schools compete" corporate business model cannot work for schools and that has been proven time and again since it was first implemented in Chicago in 1995 (now shifting to an elected school board) and NY in 2002. Teachers rated by test scores, schools rated the same way, enormous oversight and pressure on teachers that I in my 35 year from late 60s never faced, thought there was some pressure, especially from an ambitious principal who took over in 1979 and fundamentally gave me a taste of what became mayoral control to the point that I no longer wanted to teach a regular class and became a computer cluster. 

Thus, my experience prepared me to oppose mayoral control because I had seen what it would bring. And as I pointed out I shared all this with UFT leadership time and again. And 20 years later they still want only tweaks. In no way do they want a democratic election for school boards. But then again why would we expect UFT/Unity leadership to be interested in democratic institutions?

Of course the rub in all this is what are the alternatives to mayoral control? A topic for another day. 

So I will state this once again for all those forces opposing mayoral control: 

WE WILL NOT GET ANYWHERE UNTIL THE UFT STOPS BACKING MAYORAL CONTROL AND FOCUS ATTENTION ON THEM.

I'm posting UFT Exec Bd (non-Unity) rep Ronnie Almonte's testimony at a hearing on Thursday. Ronnie didn't get a lot of time to present the entire case against mayoral control and focused on the incompetence of Mayor Adams and the fundamental injustices inherent in a school system controlled by one politician no matter what political party.

Testimony Against Mayoral Control: No single person should control NYC public schools

 https://ronniealmonte.substack.com/p/testimony-against-mayoral-control

Ronnie Almonte

Jan 19, 2024

NYC public schools are governed by a system of mayoral control. This means that the mayor, currently Eric Adams, effectively makes unliteral decisions about how the Department of Education runs. Mayoral control was successfully implemented by Mayor Mike Bloomberg in 2002; however, every few years it must be renewed by Albany. Current Mayor Eric Adams was granted an extension of mayoral control in 2022, which is up for renewal this year. Last night I attended the public hearing on mayoral control in Manhattan, alongside families and fellow educators who overwhelmingly spoke against it. You can view recordings of this hearing (forthcoming) and past hearings here. In the meantime, I’ve posted the testimony I (mostly) gave below.

In 2002 I Warned the UFT About Evils of Mayoral Control and they still only want Tweaks as Hochul calls for 4-year extension

Ed Notes, Sept. 2002: When UFT leader Randi Weingarten floated a proposal to give the mayor control of the school system in May 2001, Education Notes took strong exception, arguing that giving politicians control would only result in a system of education by the numbers in a corporate style system. Did Weingarten sell out our educational interests for a pot of gold? The next few years will allow people to judge for themselves.

I did some satire on UFT capitulation:

Late breaking news: Bloomberg says he needs to take over UFT (some say he already has) to make school system work and will ask the state assembly (a UFT subsidiary) for control.

Well, in essence it was not satire as for most of his tenure the UFT put up a faux resistance, while fundamentally agreeing with most of the Bloomberg ed deforms: high stakes testing, closing "failing" schools, charters, etc. Their support for the horrendous 2005 contract enabled the Bloomberg assault.

You judge given the past 22 years of mayoral control. I love to say I told them so. And I will continue to do so. Ed Notes was warning them about the consequences in the first tabloid edition which had a print run of 10 thousand after I retired in 2002.

 

But they never learn. Or rather they don't really care about the impact on members and students. What they care about is power and their allegiance to center/right Democratic Party allegiances. And big cities with mayoral control are often run by Democratic mayors who want the power of control over the schools - and the patronage it brings. What does the UFT get out of mayoral control? They only have to lobby and deal with one person instead of messy alternatives, like elected school boards. Plus who knows what else? Well actually we do know but I leave you to guess.

Knowing the membership is not happy with the job done by any of the mayors who controlled the NYC schools so far - Bloomberg, de Blasio and Adams -- UFT leadership maintains a fiction they want change, when all they want is minor tweaks.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 2023 - Fred Smith Does it Again

December 25, 2023 --

Another year, 

another poem from Fred.

Not a lot of cheer

in a dismal year. 

But do not fear,

We have Fred's Photo with NY Jets Dancers

For us to share

--- Norm's feeble attempt at rhyme

Fred Smith has been posting his xmas messages here and elsewhere for many years. This year's message is a bit gloomy but have no fear, Fred ends with a cheer.

I first met Fred, a testing expert who used to work as a statistician for the old NYCBOE, when he contacted me about getting ICE members to assist in gathering data for his exposures of the evils of testing I think sometime around 2008. He then got involved with groups like GEM and Change the Stakes and was a co-winner with me and Danny Dromm of Leonie Haimson's Skinny Award in 2018 - (June 19 - I'm a Skinny: Honored to be honored by )

Fred Smith has done it again for 2023 with his yearly Xmas special. 

 

If it's Christmas, it must be Ed Notes.

Here it is.  Happy holidays and good health in 24.     

Peace.

Fred

The Nightmare Before Christmas 2023

The news flash and photos showed that Santa was dead

When the elves came upon him face down by his sled,

His red cheeks turned white as the new fallen snow.

A voice cried inside me “Please, say it ain’t so.”

The reindeer stood silent—eyes brimming with tears.

Mrs. Claus draped in black.  No more jolly years.

I refused to believe Saint Nick really had died,

But the cables broadcast his sad fate far and wide.

Could it be so surprising to find he was gone

In a year that had been one grim tragi-thon?

Guess his big heart could not endure all the stress,

The suff’ring he saw; an imploding-world mess.

The ongoing bombardment inside of Ukraine;

Now Middle East slaughter again and again;

Children murdered in classrooms with their schoolmates;

The armed killings by sickos in psychotic states.

 

And he knew from the annual missions he flew

Our planet ‘twas rampantly spinning askew.

Disasters both natural and wrought by man,

A list of plagues exceeding the biblical ten:

 

Heat waves and wild fires; floods, drought and tornadoes;

Icebergs floating freely, earth quakes and volcanoes;

Starvation, diseases, poisoned water and air;

Species disappearing, migration despair.

 

Folks sleeping on cold streets and families without homes;

No chimneys for them, nor sweet Christmas Eve poems.

'23 would bring us no large cornucopia.

Was Santa the victim of raging dystopia?

 

And literally, had he done his last laps,

Leaving kids to sit blankly tapping their apps?

So, as I conjectured on his deep pain and grief,

I became more distraught and sought instant relief.

 

A sleeping pill, two shots of rye, thence off to bed,

Fell asleep with the covers fast over my head;

But I couldn’t hide from the ensuing bad dreams,

Flowing through my unconscious in noxious streams.

 

Demon visions came rushing into my brain

Aboard a veritable Walpurgis Night train,

A juggernaut of sleighs from the bowels of hell,

Bearing legions who’d succumbed to a vicious spell;

 

A crazed reindeer named Rudolph with the mug of a hog

Was steering this mad squadron straight into the fog.

First came the invaders, rabid-eyed and on fire,

Destined to become the Proud Boys prison choir.

                                     

Their leader was a flamer with a fat orange face,

Surrounded by trumpeters known as his base,

Spewing satanic curses, purely laden with hate

That howled once again to make Amerika great.

 

There was a blonde screamer blazing down laser beams

Near a scruffy podblaster preaching righteous extremes;

And in the back of the pack, trying to hide,

Were two black-robed impostors stealing a ride;

Then white-collared George Santos popped up to exclaim

He was coming to town—Santa was his real name.

 

Now I threw off my blanket in a cold sweat;

Our country divided. The Master had no regret.

But soon I awoke to a joyous surprise;

Nick’s demise was a cruel crock of big fake news lies.

 

Some are already dubbing it, “Tucker’s Last Stand!”

But whatever you call it, Christmas remains grand.

And we’ll hear jingling bells chime from on high.

Goodness rings eternal.  The truth shall not die.

Here are his previous years, each with a different theme. 2019 seems to be absent.

 

• Fred Smith with his annual XMAS Poem - 2022 version

• Fred Smith 2021 edition of his Annual ‘Twas the night before Christmas

• Fred Smith with his annual The Night Before Xmas—2020

• Fred Smith - The Day After Christmas - 2018 Version

• 2017: Fred Smith: Dispirit of the Season
•  
• 2016: Fred Smith's Annual "Night Before Christmas"

• 2015: Fred Smith, Poet Laureate of Opt Out - 'Twas the night before...

• And then there’s Mulgrew who must choose who is winning 

  To claim he was backing them from the beginning. 

• In (2014) Fred Smith gave us this gem.
  Fred Smith: The Day Before Xmas (With Arne Duncan ...
  

Fred is also a statistician for the NY Jets - don't blame him for their absence from the Super Bowl for over 50 years.

Fred Smith convincing Jets dancers to boycott field tests - he's the one in the middle