Friday, December 30, 2016

Classism and the Installation of WiFi in NYC MTA Stations & Dangers in MTA Hacks of Your Phone

DNA Info ran a story today claiming that the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority will have WiFi in all subway stations by New Years' Eve, so that means by tomorrow.

This is another big case of I'll believe it when I see it. WiFi has been a big marker of how "respectable" the neighborhood is. So, Chelsea was one of the first to get WiFi. A few express and local stations in Forest Hills were among the first to get WiFi as well. But I realized this was the race and class privilege as usual with the MTA when I noticed that there was hardly any WiFi in the Bronx, Harlem or the A and C train sections in Brooklyn.

And notice how subway frequency on the L and the F are so much better than the C and the E trains. (Maybe toss in the A train above 168th Street, as many trains end there.) The schedules are misleading.

Maybe they mean New Year's Eve, the night before 2018 ushers in.

And be sure to avoid charging your phone or other devices in public places. So that means do not plug your devices into the new USB plugs on the MTA buses.
Read these articles "Travelers, beware! Hacking lurks in plugs and ports"
and "Beware public mobile charging points - your phone can be hacked in minutes."

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Does De Blasio Care More About Sustaining Ed Deform Attack on Teachers Than in Sustaining His Mayoralty?

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio is seriously on the ropes. Every day, seemingly, there are scandal stories published in the city's daily tabloids. (The New York Times largely ignored his mounting scandals until this fall, when the troubles grew too large to ignore.) Just Google <de Blasio donations scandals>, and you will see innumerable stories on what looks like pay to play, with real estate developers.

So, de Blasio is in trouble. He is highly vulnerable to a challenge. You would think that he would value having support from the city's unions. Yet, de Blasio has done little to part from Mike Bloomberg's war on teachers. He did slow down Bloomberg's closing of schools, but in terms of the working conditions for teachers, the Department of Education is continuing its attack on teachers posture.

In fact, the New York Times, once reticent to acknowledge his financial impropriety (or appearance thereof) issues, suggested that city unions might consider a challenger. From "For Unions and New York City Hall, an Open-Door Relationship Turns Complex":

In the case of 1199, which represents 220,000 workers in New York City, the union figures prominently in two health care deals under investigation as well: a federal inquiry into the sale of Long Island College Hospital to developers in 2014, and the lifting of a city-imposed deed restriction on the Lower East Side nursing home, known as Rivington House, which was subsequently sold to a developer planning to build luxury condominiums.
Now, with Mr. de Blasio’s approval numbers sagging below 50 percent and the possibility of a re-election fight next year, the city’s powerful public and private unions — which apart from 1199 did not rally around him in the fractious Democratic primary last time — are beginning to consider whether to stick with an embattled mayor or risk abandoning their champion to back a challenger.


Teachers see from many examples that they know of first hand in their schools, and now on the ICE blog. The latter carries a report, "Randi Holding Fundraiser for Mayor de Blasio While AFT Members in NYC Including My Wife Suffer under Mayor," (referring to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten's sponsorship of a de Blasio fundraiser) of administrator harassment of a teacher at the Campus Magnet complex in Cambria Heights, Queens. The harassment is suspect because the teacher is a seasoned veteran. The blog says that the UFT is helping, but the DOE and its administrators get away with this; teachers see that the admins get away with this scot-free, and this all sends a chilling message to the teachers witnessing the attacks-- that there are no standards of admin decency, and further that they can get away with attacks on activists. Clearly, the admin attacks on Ms. Eterno are also an attack on teachers' workplace advocacy, as she has been a chapter leader at the school. The UFT needs to make a more serious effort against the abusive administrators. Ironically, under Weingarten the union ran a column in its paper on Administrators in Need of Improvement. The UFT under successor Mulgrew needs to end its concern for making nice with its supposed "sister" union, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators (CSA); it needs to put the welfare of its own members before its relationship with the CSA admin union.

De Blasio first ought to recognize that these attacks make for an unhealthy environment. (The Campus Magnet situation, with its principals Ateyiwa and Cruz in need of improvement, is not alone. Note these other cases in the Queens high schools alone.) But for his self-survival he ought to be concerned, very concerned. The teachers see very clearly that he has hardly been an improvement over the previous mayor. De Blasio secondly needs to be concerned that he is living in a new environment. Not only do teachers read in the blogs of the harassment that his admins get away with; but now he needs to realize that in this era of social media every Facebook user is virtually a micro-blogger --that the story of administrator venality tolerated by the mayor will snowball through "Likes" and "Shares" into wider negative publicity and will hurt his popularity.

Bill de Blasio is seriously suffering. His poll numbers are sinking. Potentially challengers are appearing. The scandal stories are so serious that even the Times is paying attention.
The imbecilic UFT leadership will support him no matter how bad things get. But other municipal union leaders see through his insincerity.
“There is a self-righteous hypocrisy about de Blasio,” said John Samuelsen, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, which represents city subway and bus workers. Mr. Samuelsen criticized the mayor for, among other things, his support for bringing a Wegman’s grocery store to Brooklyn Navy Yard, even though the chain does not use union workers. (He also clashed with the mayor over the plan to restrict horse carriages to Central Park and ban pedicabs in the process.)

He needs all the friends he can get. Bill, keep tolerating Farina and her minions' attacks on teachers and you will be a one term mayor. Your affinity for sustaining the Bloomberg era attack on activist teachers and teachers approaching full pension years suggests that you are just another pro- neoliberal education reform Democrat. You need to make a decision: will you side with the reformers or do you seriously want to get reelected.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Support the Chicago Teachers in their Upcoming Strike! -- Statements by NYC's MORE Caucus and the Chicago Teachers Union

MORE Caucus of the UFT's solidarity statement for Chicago teachers.
Read and follow through by showing your support for the Chicago Teachers. There are so many parallels between the Chicago teachers' conditions and the New York City teachers' conditions. Show your solidarity on October 14! Read details below, on the statement by NYC's MORE Caucus.

MORE Statement of Solidarity and Call to Action for the Chicago Teachers Union


On September 28th, 95.6% of Chicago teachers voted to go on strike. They have been negotiating since 2014 for a just contract on top of non-negotiable items for the public schools and students they serve.

There are some striking similarities to NYC public schools, in the kind of attacks they have faced: disastrous budget cuts that have had effects on the equitable allocation of resources and professionals for mandated services in special education, libraries and other programs, such as arts and physical education.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under the advisory of Bruce Rauner, a venture capitalist who is leading the way for the charterization of Chicago’s schools, has withheld and cut funding to the public schools.

The Chicago Teachers’ Union want something very simple- the assurance that public school educators and students have what they need in order to have thriving public schools in Chicago. If an agreement cannot be made, teachers could go out on strike as soon as October 11. In 2012, Chicago teachers led the national educational justice movement when they went on a successful strike that gathered the help of communities and parents to fight for the schools that Chicago students deserve.

Now they need support from everywhere across the country!
Here are some of the core issues for CTU:
– No more budget cuts
– Restore the jobs lost (1,000 teachers laid off without recall rights)
– Keep salary steps and lanes

To learn more details, go to the Chicago Teachers Union site


ACTIONS WE CAN TAKE:
  • In addition to the above, to show our solidarity, organize folks to wear CTU red, make a banner in support of Chicago’s Teachers and Students, and take a photo to post on their social media pages.
  • MORE is planning continued days of action every Friday, starting October 14th until the contract is settled! Make sure your school joins in.
  • Come to the UFT Executive Board on Monday, October 17th, to pressure our union leadership to pass the resolution below for direct support for the CTU.
Taking these actions of solidarity is also an important opportunity to draw parallels to the $3.9 billion dollars owed to New York public schools, exposed by the Campaign for Fiscal Equity. NYC is under similar influences that are set on weakening our union and underfunding our schools. This is all done through top down decision making under mayoral control, Fair Student Funding and allowing for charter co-locations. We too must fight with the same principled positions and actions as the Chicago Teachers Union.

Draft Solidarity Resolution with the Chicago Teachers Union in their Struggle for the Schools that Chicago Students Deserve

MORE is suggesting the following draft resolution for the October 17th meeting of the UFT Executive Board – we hope that entire UFT will join in supporting it
WHEREAS the Chicago Teachers Union has been negotiating since 2014 for a just contract, and
WHEREAS Chicago students, teachers and parents have faced strikingly similar attacks as we have experienced in New York, including disastrous budget cuts, sweeping closings of schools that have dislocated teachers and students, and growing charter colocations, and
WHEREAS the multimillionaire Mayor Rahm Emanuel has threatened to eliminate city pension contributions for CTU members, which would effectively cut their pay by 7 percent, and the near-billionaire venture capitalist Governor Bruce Rauner has pushed through budget cuts that hamstring Chicago’s education system, and
WHEREAS in 2012, Chicago teachers led the national educational justice movement when they went on a successful strike and mobilized communities and parents to aid their fight for the schools that Chicago students deserve, and
WHEREAS by articulating the simple demand that educators and students get what they need in order to have thriving public schools in Chicago, CTU has also provided an example of how to fight for equitable funding for all, such as the two billion dollars owed New York City school students under the CFE settlement, and
WHEREAS on September 28th, 95.6% of Chicago teachers voted to authorize a strike, in response to Emanuel’s and Rauner’s refusal to provide additional funding to the schools, and
WHEREAS, CTU has released a report, titled “A Just Chicago: Fighting for the City Our Students Deserve”, which, as the union puts it “demonstrates that challenges in housing, employment, justice and health care relate directly to education; solutions require a narrowing of the opportunity gap brought on by poverty, racism and segregation,” making CTU’s fight for a contract a touchstone for a wider struggle against austerity and for economic and racial justice, therefore be it
RESOLVED that the UFT will encourage its members to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Chicago by all available means, including social media and by making donations to the CTU strike fund, and be it further
RESOLVED that the UFT initiate a “Red Friday” action in our chapters where members wear CTU red in solidarity with Chicago teachers every Friday until the strike is over, and be it further
RESOLVED that the UFT hold solidarity meetings in New York to organize supporters of the strike and mobilize further actions, and be it further
RESOLVED that the UFT call upon and mobilize its retirees, who have always demonstrated great passion and energy in political campaigns in the past and present, to support CTU picket lines, and provide transportation costs for those retirees who answer the call, and be it further
RESOLVED that the UFT will work with AFT leaders to ensure interest free loans to CTU members to alleviate financial hardship during the strike, and be it further
RESOLVED that, if needed, the UFT will provide significant financial assistance to ensure the successful operations of our sister union.

          *        *      *

Latest CTU blog update, yesterday :


LATEST FROM THE CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION BLOG

Check your email first, then our website and social media, and listen to the news Monday evening. Unless you hear otherwise, the strike begins Tuesday, Oct. 11.
Tuesday morning, you should report to your school for picketing at 6 a.m.
After Tuesday, your school’s Strike Captain (usually the delegate) will sign up several members to set up picket lines at 6 a.m. before any employees arrive. Other members will picket from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Strikers should picket in front of their schools (unless otherwise instructed) from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. every morning.

Every member needs to picket every day in order to demonstrate our collective unity and determination. Sign in with your Strike Captain when you arrive and when you leave. Larger rallies with other supporters will happen later each day either downtown or elsewhere.

Citywide paraprofessionals: Report to picket lines at either Zenos Colman (4655 S. Dearborn) or Garfield Park (2651 W. Washington) network offices from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Sign in at picket lines at these offices each day. Assignments may change during the week as needed.

Clinicians: Report to Chicago Public Schools, 42 W. Madison, and sign in at the picket line. There will be two shifts each day. Psychologists, speech and occupational therapists report to CPS from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.; social workers, nurses, physical therapists and itinerants report to CPS from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Assignments may change during the week as needed. (Exception: Clinicians who work at Garfield Park should picket there from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.)

All CTU members and supporters are urged to visit the CTU website daily to receive updates on contract negotiations and strike solidarity.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Democrats Will Remain in Charter Schools' Camp if Clinton is Their Party's Nominee

From Common Dreams "How Long Can Big Money Keep Democrats In The Charter School Camp?"
This change won't happen if Hillary Clinton is the Democrats' Choice.
The record in the past generation has been that the Clintons and the Demoocrats have been steadfastly in favor of the charter schools.

It will stay this way as long as Democratic politicians think along with the Clintons that anything is necessary to keep their funders happy.
It’s obvious 2016 is an election year when Democratic candidates need to draw a bright line to differentiate themselves from Republican opponents.

With Donald Trump leading the GOP ticket, and most leaders of his party getting in line behind him, it’s doubtful Democrats will find urgent need to “meet in the middle” on issues such as civil rights, women’s reproductive health and equal pay, immigration, minimum wage, gender equity, and climate change.

There may be some issues that still tempt Democrats to collude with conservatives in order to woo mythological “swing voters.” But the number one fear among top Republican strategists is that Democrats will run “a base campaign, directed toward liberals, maximizing that vote, and electing a devastating ticket.”

How then, do you explain the results of the recent California primary?

A Toxic Mix

As Harold Meyerson recently wrote in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, while the Democratic Party’s presidential candidates, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ran on populist platforms denouncing “the corrosive role of money in politics” and “condemning the plutocratic consequences of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision,” many Democratic Party candidates down ticket funded their campaigns with big money from two corporate interests.

One interest flooding the election with campaign donations is hardly new to the scene. For decades, the petroleum industry has stuffed the coffers of candidates in both parties to ensure legislation continues to favor oil consumption, stall alternative energy sources, and ensure lax environmental regulations.

The other source of corporate cash in Democratic politics is much newer: charter schools.

As Meyerson explains, in the California Democratic Party’s primary race – where only the top two candidates, from either party, move on to the general election in the fall – many Democratic Party candidates relied on money from the petroleum industry and “education reform” advocates backing charter schools to win their contests over “more progressive” candidates.

According to Meyerson, the combo of big oil and education reform mustered at least $24 million in donations to back candidates who opposed “Gov. Jerry Brown’s effort to halve motorists’ use of fossil fuels by 2030” and who supported “expanding charter schools.”

Meyerson spotlights a number of races around the state where candidates who benefitted from the big oil-education reform combo defeated more progressive Democrats.

Across the Golden State, reports LA School Report, “Education reformers spent big ahead of California’s primary … The millions paid off with all of the candidates they supported advancing to November’s general election.”

That article cites a source stating, “State campaign finance records show that about one-third of a record $27.9 million spent … by independent expenditure committees in legislative races statewide came from three groups supporting education reform.”

How did the charter school industry get mixed up with big oil to gets its way in Democratic Party contests?

Big Money Behind Charters

As education historian Diane Ravitch explains on her personal blog, “Public education in California is under siege by people and organizations who want to privatize the schools, remove them from democratic control, and hand them over to the charter industry.”

Ravitch points to Eli Broad, who made his money in the home building and insurance industries, Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix, and Michael Milken, of junk bond industry fame, as members in a group of “billionaires” who push legislation to expand charter schools and limit regulation of the industry.

The big money, top down campaign to expand charter schools in California is well documented in a recent series of articles by Capital & Main. One article in the series adds the Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropy related to the family that owns the Walmart retail chain, to the list of charter “power brokers” who invest billions in creating and expanding these schools.

Big money from these foundations and philanthropists, according to the report, pours into the charter industry to direct fund charter schools, pay for “academic studies” that promote charters, and create “grassroots” organizations that make charter school advocacy look like a parent-led movement.

To influence policy, these same organizations finance “powerful political lobbies such as the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) and “contribute millions of dollars to school board elections in order to replace those perceived to be anti-charter with pro-charter board members, as seen in recent elections in Los Angeles and Oakland, two cities where charter-expansion partisans have been particularly aggressive.”

Democrats Vs. Democrats

In California and beyond, charter school advocates also team up with big finance to influence Democratic Party candidates in state and local elections.

According to a report from the Center for Media and Democracy, an organization calling itself Democrats for Education Reform has been effective in a number of states at getting Democratic candidates to team up with traditionally Republican-leaning financial interests to defeat any attempts to question rapid expansions of unregulated charter schools.

According to the CMD study, DEFR is a PAC “co-founded by hedge fund managers” to funnel “dark money” into “expenditures, like mass mailings or ads supporting particular politicians, that were ‘independent’ and not to be coordinated with the candidates’ campaigns.” The organization and its parent entity also have ties to FOX’s Rupert Murdoch and Charles and David Koch

Colorado is another states where local elections often pit “Democrat versus Democrat” in campaigns where the interests of big money oppose progressive candidates who question the need to expand charter schools and exempt them from transparency laws.

In Tennessee also, the interests of right-wing organizations such as Americans for Prosperity often overlap with Democratic government officials intent on expanding charter schools.

Even in traditionally liberal states such as Massachusetts, progressive Democrats assailing the state’s conservative Republican governor for his push to “privatize” education with more charter schools are opposed by DEFR and other big money interests who declare support for charters, because these schools have had the backing of the Obama administration and, well, it’s about “kids.”

NYS Legislature Hands Giant Gift to Charter Schools, Escalating the Unfair Bias Against with Public Schools

Last week the New York State legislature handed a great gift to charter schools. It implemented a separate system of rules for charter schools, institutionalizing a practice already in place in many municipalities.

From Diane Ravitch's blog post, "New York Legislature Frees Charter Schools of Regulations and Oversight"
In late night negotiations, rushing to finish the legislative session, the New York Legislature reached a package deal to extend mayoral control by only one year. Part of the package creates a parallel system for charter schools, which can switch authorizers and choose one (either the State University of New York or the Board of Regents) that will give them freedom from any regulations and standards that apply to public schools. In other words, there will be one set of rules for public schools, and no rules for charter schools. This will be the first time in New York state’s history that the Legislature has officially established a publicly-funded dual school system: One sector is subject to democratic control, the other is not. One must accept (or take responsibility for) all students, the other is free to accept and reject whichever students it wants.

A one-year extension, with few or no caveats, had seemed all but cemented when lawmakers went to bed on Thursday evening. But the morning found Mr. Flanagan [Senator-R] pushing for the funding transparency requirement, followed by the charter-school provision in the afternoon. It would effectively create a parallel system of charter schools within the city, allowing “high-performing charter schools in good standing” to switch to join the State University of New York umbrella or the Board of Regents of the State Educational Department.

Not since the era preceding the Brown decision of 1954 has a state legislature so brazenly established a two-tier system of K-12 schools.

Friday, June 3, 2016

NYC DOE Continues the Target the Teacher Madness, Carrying Over from Bloomberg/Walcott Days

The New York City Department of Education's prime credo is to harass and intimidate teachers. This way, teachers will not assert themselves.  This has worsened in recent years, as the old style administrators have left the city school system, and Leadership Academy administrators have taken the positions. We see with the case of Todd Friedman of Brooklyn.
The New York Chief, a teacher-friendly newspaper, a rarity in this city, reported last week on his troubles with the DOE. He was following a tradition in his school, a tradition that had been followed for decades with no problems. Then, a Leadership Academy administrator with the philosophy of hatcheting the teachers makes a federal case out of it, putting the teacher's career in jeopardy.
In Midwood High School the tradition was that Advanced Placement (AP) English students were encouraged to buy their books for class. This way, they could mark them up, in preparation for college, when students often mark up books. And there was no problem if the student could not afford the book the teachers would provide the book, free of charge. The prices were very modest. The charge in question was only for $2 per book, a very low price. In fact, even with the students paying this price the teacher took a loss in his buying the books from the publisher.
What happened was a student remarked about this practice to the relatively new administrator. And this administrator is pursuing this all the way to the 3020-a hearing.

Friedman's status? He has had mixed help from the union. And his fate looks dire. The city is taking this case to the highest punishment. It is pursuing the hearing to take his license away. This is rather rash. If the new administrator wanted to be a stickler for the city regulations ishe could have written a counseling memo or she could have just had a warning conference with him. But this is the vindictive DOE. Punish quickly, with no discussion. In Friedman's case we see that there has been no post-Bloomberg/Walcott housecleaning. The most nasty positions of the DOE have been continued. Farina may have sought more years of actual teaching from principals, but she is allowing principals to continue the harsh Bloomberg era rules.
Friedman suggested that the ulterior motive in all this was to punish him for dissenting from a particular curriculum. If this was the case, this would show that the city is attacking academic freedom and freedom of speech. (For more details on the curriculum and other particulars of the case, get yourself a hard copy of "The Chief." The newspaper is probably the fairest to workers, of all the different newspapers of the city. Make sure to support the newspaper with your dollars.)

Friday, May 27, 2016

MORE/New Action Win HS Seats on UFT Executive Board; Jia Far Ahead of Francesco

BREAKING NEWS: The ICEUFT blog reported that the seven MORE/New Action candidates for the executive board exceeded the votes for all if the Unity Caucus candidates.
For the presidential race, these figures are available: Michael Mulgrew (Unity), 39,176; Jia Lee (MORE/New Action), 10,743; Francesco Portelos (Solidarity), 1,456. This was the first time that an opposition caucus presidential candidate had broken 10,000 since 2001. And Lee's vote was 7.4 times the vote for Portelos. This is testimony to the growth of a caucus that is building at the school level, district by district, and a group that mainly organizes via online projects.
The high school vote was certainly a vindication for MORE-New Action over Solidarity. Coming into the vote, Solidarity looked ready to play the spoiler. It didn't field candidates for the at large executive board seats, but it did field many candidates at the high school level, creating the potential for a three-way split, helping Unity. Yet, MORE beat Unity and Solidarity across the board at the high school level.
In terms of turnout, perennially a problem for the UFT, which occurs by mail, instead of in the school (as happens in the Chicago Teachers Union), turnout improved for all the school division levels, including the functional sections. And compared to the last election, this time the number of active teachers voting exceeded the number of retirees voting, in contrast to what happened in 2013.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

How You Should Cast Your Ballot and Why You Should Vote for the MORE and New Action slate

Here are images of how you should cast your ballot. First, here's the one page view, presenting how you should cast your ballot.
Here's how the process in a few practical steps. Find the envelope indicating that it contains the official UFT ballot. Check off the ballot box that is marked for the MORE/New Action slate. Put the ballot in the envelope, and then put that envelope into the final envelope.
Still needing guidance? Here are some FAQs from the MORE Caucus UFT website.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR THE MORE/New Action SLATE
When you vote for Michael Mulgrew and the Unity slate you are voting for the evaluations based on high stakes and Value Added Modeling, or VAM (rebuked by a judge last week in the Shari Lederman case). Furthermore, remember that Mulgrew has consistently supported Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his ill-minded policies. (Mulgrew took his support so far that in 2014 he threatened to defund the Working Families Party if it endorsed Zephyr Teachout for governor over Cuomo).
A major negative development under Mulgrew's tenure has been the change to the new evaluation system used at the city level. The evaluations have increased in number and have followed the absurd Danielson model. Mulgrew endorsed every worsening step of the evaluation Advance Evaluation system. He even asked for the DOE to evaluate teachers along more areas than even the DOE first sought in the negotiations.

And remember that Cuomo has supported the regressive education reform forces that led New York State education: John King and Merryl Tisch. And remember that Cuomo failed to listen to parents and educators that Common Core was an inherently flawed set of standards. (See this analysis of how Mulgrew endorsed Cuomo's New York State-level evaluation dictates.) Yet, Mulgrew has aggressively supported the standards, at one union function, threatening violence to anyone who dared to take them away. Mulgrew perpetuated the fiction that teachers had a role in writing the standards, when the truth is that no K through 12 educator wrote them.

Locally, Mulgrew has continued the Unity tradition of liking for a friendly mayoral candidate, and then failing to criticize the mistakes of that politician's policies once they are in office. Witness his continued support for mayor Bill DeBlasio whose chancellor Carmen Farina has proven to be no better than Bloomberg's chancellors. He has not challenged the DOE administration to part from the Bloomberg ways, and he has ignored the continuing problem of charter school encroachment on community schools and other district schools. By contrast, Jia Lee and the MORE caucus have challenged the administration on this enduring problem.


Thursday, April 21, 2016

NYC Eye Endorses Jia Lee and the MORE slate for UFT's election in May

Vote for MORE & New Action. Elect a new leadership for the UFT. Leadership that's actually working in the classroom.
https://morecaucusnyc.org/uft-elections-2016/
https://morecaucusnyc.org/2016/01/02/our-2016-platform/
Hear WBAI interview Jia Lee (Presidential candidate), Camille Eterni (Secretary) and Jonathan Halabi (High School seat on the Executive Board) on the issues facing New York City teacher. Tune in to the "Building Bridges" show, Monday, April 25, 7:00-8:00 pm at 99.5 FM. If you're out of the broadcast area, catch the live stream at www.wbai.org.


Thursday, February 18, 2016

Another Big Storm Hitting Northeast Next Week: NYC Teachers, Put a Snow Day Out of Your Thoughts

Another big storm is hitting the northeast next week.

You know the drill: the governor will solemnly intone: STAY OFF THE STREETS AT ALL COSTS.

And New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina will say that it is business as usual and all New York City Schools staff must show up to work.

Never mind that Public Advocate Letitia James and an ever growing chorus of critics are questioning the No School Snow Closure policy.

Never mind that roads and sidewalks are often treacherous.
We have this eerie and tragic story from Mahwah, New Jersey of a woman caught dead in the snow:

YOUNG CHILDREN DISCOVER WOMAN'S BODY IN SNOW IN NEW JERSEY
How will it sit in de Blasio or Farina's conscience if such a perished person is a student on their way to school?

De Blasio will read this from Accuweather and say, "Great. Just rain next week. I'll keep schools open."


Sunday, February 7, 2016

UFT Chapter Leaders Had to Go to Members For Dues? It Happened More Recently Than You Think

There is much nervous chatter that the United Federation of Teachers eventually will have to go to its members for dues.

Here is a link to a news report from three decades ago, on how the UFT had to do just that, albeit as a residual penalty for a five day strike seven years earlier.

By Damon Stetson, in the New York Times,May 23, 1982:

U.F.T. STARTS DRIVE TO GATHER ITS DUES


Myra Entenberg, a slim and energetic teacher at Public School 116 on East 33d Street, is playing an important role in keeping the United Federation of Teachers afloat financially. She is one of the union's 1,000 chapter chairmen working to assure the payment of dues following the union's loss of the right to deduct them automatically from paychecks.
''I've been talking to my group before class, during my prep period, at lunch and after school,'' she said. ''If support of the union is not solid, I've been telling them, they'll have no bargaining agent, no contract, no working conditions or benefits and no machinery for handling grievances. But most of the teachers and paraprofessionals here in P.S. 116 want to keep paying their dues because they've been getting service. And so far about 80 percent have agreed to make individual payments.''
The union's $15 million-a-year dues collection problem stems from a penalty imposed by the New York State Public Employment Relations Board for the illegal, five-day strike of the city's teachers in 1975. The penalty called for the suspension of the right to have dues automatically deducted from paychecks for up to two years.
The union went to court immediately to challenge the ruling. But the issue dragged through the courts for nearly seven years until last month, when the State Court of Appeals upheld the suspension order, forcing the union to begin direct collection of dues from its 70,000 members this month. 'Pretty Devastating' Loss
Albert Shanker, president of the union, said that implementation of the penalty could not have come at a worse time and that the loss of dues checkoff was ''pretty devastating'' financially. He said the union is now fighting budget cuts by the Reagan Administration that could mean the loss of $180 million for schools here and with it the jobs of thousands of teachers and paraprofessionals. The state-aid picture, he said, is unclear. And now, he added, the union has to devote a lot of time, energy and money to collect dues. Will the union be able to survive?
''That depends on the response of our members,'' Mr. Shanker said. ''If everybody pays, the union will survive and function on all cylinders. Even better, we will have shown those who'd like to destroy us that they can't.
''On the other hand, if any substantial numbers of our members don't pay their dues, we could go under - and very quickly.'' The union, he pointed out, does not have cash reserves. He said all dues money was spent on services to members: on negotiations, grievances and arbitration, on legal services and on lobbying at City Hall, in the Legislature and in Congress. Other money is spent, he said, on pension workshops, publications, curriculum guides, special courses for licensure, for help in the classroom, and for public relations. Union Makes Cutbacks
As a result of the loss of dues checkoff, the federation has let some staff members go, canceled plans for new hiring and stopped contributions to such causes as the American Cancer Society, museums, Boy Scouts and various foundations.
To counter the impact, the union has mounted an aggressive and sophisticated drive to collect dues and maintain services. By this week, the first in which dues have not been deducted from paychecks by the Board of Education, the union said it had received commitments from 28,573 members for payment of dues during the extended penalty period. At 40 schools, teachers and paraprofessionals are 100 percent pledged to continue their dues payments, according to the union.
For the full New York Times article, click here.