A Clean Campaign and an Honorable Election

 That's what NYSUT Unity is promising this year. This begs the question, why would anyone expect anything otherwise? If they weren't, there'd be no call to say any such thing.

The wording is curious too. The campaign will be clean, they say, but they don't promise it will be honorable. The election with be honorable, but there's no indication it will be clean. I'm curious why they didn't assign both adjectives to one, or better yet both of these things. If I needed to assert that, I certainly would have clarified. I'd also offer examples rather than just my word. But that's me.

Here's the promise:

A promise for a clean campaign & honorable election - https://t.co/EwaxXUUFSe #unionpride @nysutra2017 @AndyPallotta #RepresentationCounts pic.twitter.com/0Bu6JHYS9r

— NYSUT Unity Caucus (@Unity_Today) February 28, 2017

Yet my sources tell me that NYSUT has yet to agree to debate Stronger Together. Is that honorable? I hear that the implication, for reasons they haven't bothered to enumerate, is that ST Caucus is not honorable. I have my own issues with Stronger Together, but they mostly amount to an honest disagreement. I have very vivid recollections, though, of traveling all over the state to forums with Unity/ Revive, and I recall very well how they were arranged.

The first one was in Long Island, and was pretty much open. We had no idea what the questions would be and each side got a few minutes to answer. I'm pretty sure that anyone in attendance would tell you we kicked their butts all over the place. Alas, of those that followed, all but one was much more tightly controlled. Some entailed everyone reading statements with no interaction. One like that was somewhere in Westchester and run by a Revive supporter.

There was another, in fact, in Saratoga Springs, where they spoke, we responded, and then they got to speak again. Two to one. That's clean and honorable, isn't it? I remember that pretty vividly because I slept in some crappy hotel that night, woke up at maybe 4 AM, and then drove like hell to make it to work the next day. There was one in Newburgh, NY where they said they couldn't show because of work commitments. I felt very little sympathy because I went, drove home in a blinding rainstorm, and made it into work the following day.

March 16th in Mount Kisco there will be a forum, and NYSUT Unity has not yet committed to it, Why? Likely as not because it will follow the same format as the one in Long Island did. I got to observe Andy Pallotta pretty closely over those forums, and I can tell you this--unexpected questions were not his forte. This notwithstanding, fielding questions from your constituents, whatever they may ask, is fundamental.

What Pallotta is good at is reading statements. He's a very good reader. When he has a script he can sound commanding and persuasive. On the other hand, Martin Messner, who happily peddles MetLife/ NYSUT insurance that costs twice as much as Allstate, had trouble with that. This guy, who works with NYSUT finances, did not appear to understand what he was reading. Maybe that's why he can endorse an insurance plan that makes us pay double. Who knows?

Let's talk honorable. Is it clean and honorable to dump the sitting President for acting like a President? Once Richard Iannuzzi took action against Andy Pallotta for supporting a Cuomo gala, his fate was sealed. Iannuzzi curtailed Pallotta's money supply, which was a big no-no. NYSUT finances are a mess, in fact, according to my friend Harris Lirtzman, among others. I'm not sure why that merits re-election. I'm not even sure why the deteriorating pension tiers or the APPR that's brought morale to a low I've never seen in three decades teaching merits it either. In fact, as far as I can tell, the only legislative victory Unity/ Revive achieved was to get double pensions for the officers, so they wouldn't have to go through what they put Lee Cutler through.

How about Karen Magee? I'd heard almost two years ago that she wouldn't be getting a second term, because she somehow labored under the misconception that being elected President meant she was President. A friend of hers told me Magee herself didn't hear about that until January 2017. Anyway, it appears they're now doing away with the fiction that Pallotta doesn't run NYSUT and he's running for President, so we'll grant at least one point for their honesty.

As for clean and honorable argument, the person in charge of the NYSUT Unity campaign feed is purposeful but less than admirable in that he traffics largely in logical fallacy. As far as I can determine, he would not know a proactive argument if one were beating him over the head. His prime argument against Iannuzzi was that he lived like a king because he held meetings in some club they'd joined in Albany. The Unity/ Revive folk said they'd prefer to hold meetings in Starbucks. Hey, Governor Cuomo, meet us at a Starbucks so we can negotiate an APPR that doesn't rely on junk science. How do you suppose that would work out? How many times do you suppose they did that?

The last time I read the NYSUT PR guy he'd posted a personal attack piece against me. Among other things, he called me a part time teacher and a part time unionist. I discovered this piece because AFT President Randi Weingarten tweeted it and commented how good it was. I pointed out, on Twitter, that this managed to libel not only me, but also every working chapter leader in New York City, and Randi took it down. The rest of the post was strawman/ ad hominem nonsense. Several of my friends wrote me that they left comments, but this particular clean and honorable NYSUT Unity guy doesn't post them. That's one way to avoid argument, I guess.

Another, of course, is to refuse to show up to a forum. What about it Andy? Are you willing to debate Michael Lillis? How about you Martin? Ready to debate finance? Are you guys willing to put your money where your mouths are and participate cleanly and honorably? Are you willing to stand alongside your opponents and let the public see how able you are next to them?

Hey, it doesn't matter to me. I'm a New York City high school teacher, and like my 20,000 colleagues, I'm not represented no matter who wins. But since we have the honor of paying your salary and at least one of your pensions regardless, it would be nice to know that your campaign consists of something more than telling us how honorable you are. I have never known anyone, honorable or otherwise, to advertise not to be honorable. Saying how honorable you are, to me, means less than nothing. But hey, any time you want to show me you're honorable, I'm here every day, ready to accept your PR guy's apology.

Alas, if you have any honor, you're also gonna have to stand in public and defend your record, repeatedly, and all over the state. So what's it gonna be, NYSUT Unity? Are you gonna answer unscreened questions? Or are you fraidy-scared?

Inquiring minds want to know.

NYSUT Follows in the Footsteps of Rahm Emanuel

As usual, there's big fun in Chicago. Admin wants to make teachers fund their pensions, and pick up the 7% of the pension that the city had paid, when it felt like paying it. Essentially, this becomes a 7% pay cut. It's funny how, when contract time comes around, there are all these deals that aren't what they seem.

For example, if you get a 5% raise, and you work 5% more, you did not get a raise. Or if you get a raise and don't receive it for 10 years, it has considerably less value than it would if you'd gotten the money up front. Don't believe me? Try buying a car with the 30 or 40 K NYC owes you. Let me know how that works out.

It's pretty reprehensible that the Chicago government is treating its teachers this way. CTU President Karen Lewis says they will strike rather than accept pay cuts. This is what happens when an employer doesn't plan properly. It blames working people rather than itself, and asks them to suck it up, even while those in high places are highly compensated.

We all know what a loathsome reptile Rahm Emanuel is. We expect this sort of nonsense from him. It's pretty shocking, though, to see similar talk from NYSUT leadership, according to a letter NSYUT employees sent local presidents:

(it)...says that officers of the union are willing to "significantly reduce our benefits," in order to dodge a looming financial crisis.

While it doesn't detail how those benefits would be lowered, much of the letter talks about the growing costs of NYSUT pensions for its own retirees.

NYSUT, of course, is a union, and ought to take very seriously the priorities of union. But it appears NYSUT leadership has no problem circumventing local presidents to ask members for COPE money even as it takes aim at empoyee pensions. As PJSTA President Beth Dimino puts it:

From the same legislative department run by Andy Pallota that gave NY Teachers; tier 5, tier 6, 4 year tenure, and an evaluation system based 50% on flawed HST, they want more money from each of us to further screw ourselves! 

I actually sat across from Pallota at a 2014 forum in which he would not commit to opposing reformy Andrew Cuomo. In subsequent forums, I watched him evolve his message this way and that, but it ultimately didn't much matter. Indeed, though his Revive NYSUT slate promised they opposed Cuomo, they failed to do so in not one, but two primaries. They followed up by sitting on the fence in the election.

Now they're threatening their employees with the very same thing Rahm is holding over the CTU.  NYC is a very large union, and all contracts are negotiated by Michael Mulgrew and his merry band. There are a whole lot of smaller locals, like PJSTA, and the PSA supports them as they negotiate. From Beth Dimino:

PSA members are the people who provide field services to our locals. They are our labor relations specialists (LRS) and they help local presidents negotiate your contract and answer the day to day questions presidents face when they deal with Administration. I'm not exaggerating when I say that without our LRSs we'd be lost! 

A lot of small local members on Facebook have taken the PSA symbol as their profile pictures.

It is a fundamental responsibility of union leadership to improve conditions for its members. Clearly there are sometimes setbacks in negotiations. But I've been following NYSUT pretty closely for the last few years, and the only serious pension improvement over which its presided has been for the NYSUT officers themselves, who can accrue two pensions simultaneously. So even as teacher pensions are seriously degraded, Karen Magee and Martin Messner don't have to worry they won't be taken care of.

As for the rest of us, we're on our own. Worse, they have failed to set an example for governments, and are now looking to degrade the pensions of their own employees. After reviewing public documents submitted to the US Department of Labor, Harris Lirtzman, former NYC teacher and deputy New York State comptroller, attributes this to poor planning:

NYSUT funds its pension plan, largely, on a pay-as-you go basis: money comes in through member dues and employee contributions and goes right back out to pay current year pension benefits. NYSUT stays solvent only through a complex network of loans and transfers every year to and from the AFT and UFT.

I don't know what NYSUT does with all the dues we pay it, but that's less than encouraging. Are they indulging in some shell game with our money and expecting PSA to help pick up the tab?  Are the top people, like Magee and Pallota getting big bucks while the little people suffer? Are they, in fact, expecting working people to pick up the tab for their lavish lifestyles?

That's not what I'd call setting an example. We need to be better than the likes of Rahm and Cuomo. We need to show them that things can be done better.

For my money, NYSUT leadership is doing precisely the opposite.

Bonus: Here's the rapid response from NYSUT Unity. Note that they utilize ridicule rather than argument. These are the people running our union.

@TeacherArthurG One of your most biased and fact free posts ever. Congrats!In other news aliens have landed and they are in fact dinosaurs

— NYSUT Unity Caucus (@Unity_Today) August 20, 2016

NY State's Unity Caucus Launches a Despicable Attack Against PJSTA President Beth Dimino

NYS Unity Caucus, of course, is the one that's behind Revive NYSUT. This is the Caucus that promised to oppose Common Core and Cuomo. Yet Karen Magee, pictured at left, offered the logical fallacy that it was CCSS or chaos at an AFT convention. That's called a black and white fallacy, insinuating that there are only two possiblities when there are, in fact, many more. Another Revive lie, also in the picture, was its claim to be against Cuomo. Revive/ Unity failed to oppose him not only in two primaries featuring the incredible Zephyr Teachout, but also in the general election.

Revive was a coup in NYSUT that was supported by Michael Mulgrew and his loyalty oath signing UFT Unity Caucus. UFT is by far the largest group in NYSUT and is pretty much the tail that wags the dog.

The NYS Unity blog is a largely self-congratulating tool, a piece in its ineffectual social media arsenal. It doesn't publish much, but just attacked my friend PJSTA President Beth Dimino. It is not widely read, and I'd never seen it until someone sent me the link. I'm not going to link or send traffic to it, but I will respond to it. Let's begin with the first sentence:

It is with great regret that we feel compelled to respond to a recent yet familiar rant by Beth Dimino, Chair of the Stronger Together Caucus and President of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association on Facebook. 

First of all, this is classic passive aggressiveness. We're sorry, but.... Everyone knows that once you say "but," you can disregard everything that's come before it. If they regretted it so much they would not say it. A claim like that is plainly disingenuous.

The UNITY Caucus has taken the high road for a year and a half but eventually, enough is enough.

I'm not particularly sure what the high road is for Unity Caucus. This smells like the same writer who did a similar hatchet job on me, full of nonsensical strawman assertions. In fact, AFT President Randi Weingarten thought that was just fine, and linked to it on Twitter.  She removed the link after I pointed out that the writer, by falsely calling me a part time teacher and part time unionist, managed to insult not only me, but also every UFT chapter leader in the city.  

I will spare you some of the invective, but this piece revolves around her refusal to pay into VOTE-COPE, known in NYC simply as COPE. This is the political fund used by NYSUT and UFT. It is, in fact, completely optional. There are things, most obviously NYSUT's failure to oppose Cuomo, and its dominance by folks who mistake logical fallacy for argument, that cause people like Beth (and me) to question their judgment. Here's more from Unity:

By publicly encouraging others to defund VOTE-COPE on Facebook, “Go into school tomorrow and reduce your VOTE-COPE contributions to $0.00!” she is feeding conservative legislators the ammunition they need to pull our union apart.

First of all, it wasn't Beth Dimino who gave tens of thousands of dollars to Senator Flanagan, who has helped enable the reforminess now making NYSUT members miserable statewide. It wasn't Beth Dimino who supported Senator Serphin Maltese, who helped break two Catholic school unions. Nor was it Beth Dimino who supported George Pataki, who thanked us by vetoing improvements to the Taylor Law. No, that was our COPE money. 

Some might say she should consider joining in with the Koch brothers and other right winged-politicians if her goal is to kill the union.

Let's be clear--this writer just said that, while attempting to sugar-coat the statement with "Some might say." Let's further examine the logical fallacy inherent in this sentence. Obviously, there's that strawman. Beth Dimino is one of the most passionate unionists I've ever met. The notion that she wants to kill union is preposterous, a pure concoction of the Unity writer. Secondly, by invoking the Koch Brothers, there's guilt by association, another logical fallacy. 

Let's be further clear that there is a movement to kill union and it is in no way supported by Beth Dimino. It is enabled, however, by our history of concession to reforminess. Look at the UFT 2005 Contract. Look at Michael Mulgrew helping to craft the APPR law. Look at him praising the Heavy Hearts legislature for making it worse. Look at Bill Gates addressing the AFT Convention. And those are just a few of the low lights.

When you cannot muster a proactive argument, logical fallacy is one way to go. What's truly pathetic is that this is what our leadership chooses to put forth as their voice. Among teachers, there are quite a few thinkers, quite a few creative and passionate souls. Judging from what passes for argument among leadership, and how they choose to treat people who speak their minds, they haven't got the remotest notion what a creative and passionate thinker even is.

Related: PJSTA defends its President. 

Related: ICE-UFT blog

The Perils of Merryl

Merryl Tisch is concerned about how things are going, or at least how things appear to be going. To remedy this, Tisch has decided not to change how things are going, but rather how things appear. For one thing, she wants to change the name of Common Core. This is part and parcel of the canard that there's nothing wrong with Common Core, but rather the way in which it was rolled out. This, evidently has given the whole Common Core thing a bad name.

So we can call it the Empire State standards, or the NY State Standards, or Merryl's Perils, or whatever. Then everyone will forget that their kids are spending 12 hours a night studying for developmentally inappropriate tests. The rising tide of opt-out will stop dead in its tracks, because well-informed parents will fail to notice it's the same nonsense with a shiny new bow on top. No one will notice that their kids are spending hours, days and weeks preparing for tests even the governor admits are meaningless (except for rating those darn teachers). Bill Gates has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on these standards, and we can't just leave them lying around on some railroad track.

The other big idea is to allow teachers to appeal their junk science ratings. This way, you see, it will be tougher for teachers to take their cases to court and claim the entire system is nonsensical and incomprehensible. That the entire system happens to be nonsensical and incomprehensible is of no consequence. What's important is, with this regulation, some teachers may have their ratings reversed. NYSUT and UFT leadership have praised this, but as usual they've started the celebration prematurely. However they spin it, all the ratings are baseless. How can Karen Magee or Michael Mulgrew get up and claim victory because every now and then logic may trump junk science? The optimal percentage of junk science in teacher ratings is, and has always benn, precisely zero.

No matter how many times you paint over that garbage can, its contents remain the same. It's really unbelievable how many people are paid to run around and rationalize this nonsense. Maybe they should start a cult or something. They could all gather around a Bill Gates statue and pay tribute.

Maybe they could call it a religion. It kind of fits that an organization dedicated to the privatization of a public good would pay no taxes. Perhaps they're rich enough to pay no taxes already, but why not double down?

It's a WIN-WIN!

Victory, NYSUT and UFT Style

One of the great things about being a teacher union leader is you always win. You win when there are 22 components in Danielson and you fight back Bloomberg's call for only seven. You win again when there are 22 and you negotiate it down to 8 (almost exactly what Bloomberg wanted).

You win when there's a transfer plan that allows teachers to go where they wish. You also win when you give up that plan and teachers can go nowhere without the OK of a principal. You not only win when you get a junk science evaluation system, but you also get to dump the sitting President of NYSUT because he helped you win that.

This year Governor Cuomo, whose popularity is at an all-time low, pushed through a revision of the APPR, expressly designed because too few teachers were getting low ratings. UFT President Michael Mulgrew sent an email thanking the Assembly for that. Why? Because, of course, it was a victory. Everything is a victory. We always win. Those who criticize junk science, like me, like Carol Burris and a large percentage of NY principals, like Diane Ravitch, are cranks, Chicken Little, shouting the sky is falling. Why?

Because this year fewer people were rated poorly than under the old system. Of course, under the old system, you were not necessarily bound for 3020a after two years of crap ratings. Furthermore, under the old system, it was on the DOE to prove you were unfit. Under the new system, if a member of the UFT rat squad says so, the burden of proof is on you, the teacher.

Now that UFT has dumped the former President of NYSUT, the new one has adopted the UFT good news policy. Here's an excerpt from a Karen Magee email:

We beat back the education tax credit that would have been a giveaway to rich supporters of private schools, stopped the push to make the tax cap permanent, and made progress on testing and transparency.

Now this isn't the first time we "beat back" the tax credit. It likely will not be the last time it rears its ugly head, and it's far from time to rest on our laurels. And Ms. Magee omits the fact that we're sending private schools 250 million bucks. And while the tax cap isn't permanent, it isn't gone either.

Note that this is not about what we achieved. It's about what we didn't lose yet. It's like when your friend tells you about all the things he's done for you. Remember when you were walking down the stairs and I didn't push you? Remember when we went out for coffee and I didn't put poison in your latte? Remember when we were walking by that semi-frozen lake and I didn't toss you in?

Just forget about all the broken promises in the leaflet above. So what if they utterly failed to oppose Cuomo when he was actually running for election? Who cares if Karen Magee and her Unity BFFs have not only failed to oppose Common Core, but spoken forcefully for it at AFT?  What does it matter if they not only failed to do anything against APPR, but also labeled its new steroid-laced draconian iteration a legislative victory? They still haven't joined that Fort Orange Club. Maybe next week they won't join it again. 

It will be another grand victory.

Related: A local union leader stands up to the nonsense. 

Teacher Torture Wins 3 to 1 in UFT Poll

I recently got an email from Punchy Mike Mulgrew informing me that 12,000 members filled out their one-question poll and preferred Neverending Professional Development to 37.5 minute Small Group Tutoring. Apparently there was no choice C: None of the Above. Nor was there a spot to make suggestions. Therefore 3 out of 4 UFT members want to stay 80 minutes after school on Monday and 70 on Tuesday to accomplish Whatever Is Done on those days.

I guess it's good to put out polls like that. It makes it look like you care what people think. I just took a poll from NYSUT asking me about the NYSESLAT test, which I administered. It asked how I would like the test to be weighted. Should speaking, listening, reading or writing be weighted more or equally? I wrote equally, and NYSUT asked me why. I said because the test had no validity, it made no difference how the parts were weighted, and they left me no option to write any such thing.

I don't usually give A, B, C, D questions on tests I write. Maybe sometimes I'll put a few, but no more than 20%. I usually want to see what students can write themselves. I never, ever, do true and false. It's pretty ridiculous when you have a 50% chance of getting it right. When you get surveys with sorely limited choices, they're not really asking you what you think. They're giving you limited choices and suggesting one is acceptable. That's not necessarily the case.

In the case of the UFT poll, it's simply ridiculous. It's kind of like what I used to do to my daughter when she was very young and I wanted her to do something. Well, you can do this thing that I want you to do, or you can do this other awful thing that I just made up. By the time she was six, she was hip to this trick and using it against me.  But there's UFT leadership saying you can do this thing, or some other thing that you want to do even less. In argument, that's called a black or white fallacy. It's what Karen Magee used at the AFT convention when she suggested the alternative to Common Core was Complete Chaos.

I can't testify as to the 37.5 minute small group thing, as my school is multi-session, and we simply rolled the extra time into classes. As chapter leader, everyone tends to complain to me about everything, but no one ever complains about that. In six years, not one teacher has said to me, "You know, our classes are too long. Why don't we shorten them and go to meetings instead?" And plenty of teachers in my building are tutoring kids all the time, whether or not that's their C6.

As always, it's tough looking reforminess in its twisted little eye while wondering what union leadership is doing to fight it, if anything. Mayoral control is now under attack because de Blasio doesn't support charters sufficiently. They want to raise the cap or dump it. Dump it, I say. But UFT leadership supports it, along with charters, junk science, and testing.

Most teachers want real choices. Not many are getting them.

The Glory of Apathy

Every day I read the news and I feel like I'm in the middle of a Fellini movie. Cuomo makes a big threat, that 50% of our evaluation will be based on test scores, and the other 50% will be observations. He also says that, because administrators tend to actually like the teachers they hire, that someone else must rate the teachers. He wanted to give outside administrators 35 of the 50%, but now it looks like, in the only concession to that plan, it may be a little less.

This happens while Cuomo's popularity is at its absolute low ebb. The Democratic Heavy Hearts Club declares, gee, we didn't want to do this, but what the hell we're gonna do it anyway. Assemblyman Ron Kim, who I watched give an inspirational pro-teacher speech in a Bayside UFT forum, drops his professed ideals and votes for it anyway. Mulgrew declares it a victory and thanks the folks who voted for this atrocity. Next month at the DA he'll speak to rousing cheers, because no one who wants the $749 for the glorious Buffalo trip is allowed to do differently.

Most teachers in NYC are not paying attention.  Everyone knows that Mulgrew and his people are gonna win the next election no matter what, and most working UFT members will once again not bother to fill out a ballot. NYSUT's President Karen Magee can keep giving mouth service to opt out, and she can oppose the Cuomo plan, but where the hell was she when the guy was actually running for governor? Where was she when Zephyr Teachout wanted the Working Families nomination? And where will she be when Mulgrew decides he needs someone more cooperative in 2017?

There are distinct advantages of not paying attention. You don't have to fret over what evaluation system they're using this year. All you have to do is read the UFT guide on whatever the hell it is that's supposed to be good teaching this year. Then you do it and hope you don't get fired. After all, as Cuomo said, lots of teachers haven't been fired. In fact this is actually the first year UFT teachers can face 3020a over this, and we won't know until September just how many that will be.

Of course, one measure of how good this system is would be how many teachers were rated ineffective year one and then did better year two. That would reflect how many teachers were actually helped by this system. If a lot of them were, perhaps it means the system worked at some level. Of course, not putting people under the amazing stress of having their jobs at risk might have worked out better. Who knows? Certainly not anyone who thinks it's a good idea to change APPR in NYC three years in a row. That's a terrible idea. Just as you get accustomed to a new system, it's history, garbage, out the window and on the trash heap.

For the majority of UFT members, the ones who don't get involved, they've spent a lot less of their valuable time focused on this. They've been home spending time with their families, catching up on TV shows, visiting the sights, and enjoying themselves a lot more than those of us who've been reading the papers, going to demonstrations, and calling our elected representatives.

As long as most people aren't going to actually do anything, Cuomo can do whatever he likes and his deep-pocketed supporters will be happy. As long as most people aren't going to do anything, NYSUT and UFT can go to conventions, make speeches, and enable Cuomo and his BFFs to continue with their destructive plans. The only downside, really, is that our kids will have to suffer through test prep instead of receiving an education. That, and their job opportunities will be severely limited once they graduate from test prep.

But if you can live with that, then, hey, roll out the hammock and take a nap. No sense getting all in a tizzy over things you aren't gonna bother to change anyway.

Why the Budget Agreement Doesn't Suck

Hi folks, it's me, your old pal "Punchy" Mike Mulgrew! Don't try and take my Common Core from me! I'll punch out your stinking face and push it in the dirt! But seriously, folks, let's talk turkey. First of all, don't believe anything you read on those blogs. I'll be nice, which is hard for me because I'm an ex-carpenter, a regular blue collar guy who can't help but walk around spouting obscenities for no reason. So I'll just say they're purveyors of myth, rather than call them a bunch of despicable liars.

Anyhoo, the new agreement does not suck. Cuomo wanted probation to take five years, and now it only takes four. And all due process rights remain in place, as long as you don't get rated ineffective twice in a row and need more than 90 days to prove your case, as long as you don't get rated ineffective three years in a row and need more than 30 days to prove your case, and as long as you aren't an ATR who needs more than one day. Sure tenure used to take three years, but you gotta admit four years sucks a full year less than five years. Score another victory for us!

Governor Cuomo demanded more charter schools, and whoopee! He didn't get them as part of the budget agreement! How much does that not suck? Instead, he'll negotiate it later! It would suck if they had done it now. Now, we will talk about it later and no one can say just how much it does or does not suck until then. So, in review, doesn't suck now. Another victory! Plus we've always supported charters, and we've even opened and co-located one, and the part of it that didn't suck is still open. Another feather in our cap.

As for placing schools into receivership, the Governor won't do that. Instead, local chancellors will choose receivers. How bad could it be if the city took over closing schools, or had someone take them over? That's much better than Cuomo doing it, and it sucks way less. Of course it's never happened and we have no idea what it will be like when it does, but it is our considered opinion that it will suck less. After all, what's a few thousand ATRs between friends, and who even knows if that will happen? Clearly the amount of suck cannot be quantified here, so, no suck, no foul.

As for merit pay, Cuomo wanted 20K in merit pay. But that won't happen. In NYC, we have master and model teachers, and the rat squad which goes out and determines whether the burden of proof to fire you is on the DOE or you, but that's not merit pay, just like our last failed schoolwide program wasn't merit pay either. And since merit pay sucks, that isn't merit pay, and Cuomo didn't give us merit pay, this also doesn't suck.

As for funding, Cuomo wanted to give 1.1 billion in increases if we sucked up his sucky programs, which would suck. We went out and demanded that Cuomo pay us the 5.6 billion he owed us from the CFE lawsuit, and even paid valuable lip service to the notion of taking him to court over it. But we got 1.6 billion in aid, which sucks a lot less than 1.1 billion and a bunch of sucky programs. Sure the bloggers will ask why we didn't go for the 5.6 billion, but screw them because they're a bunch of lying bastards and we will never, ever allow them to influence us in our mission to accomplish things that don't suck as much as they could otherwise.

As for evaluation, we have of late been suggesting that the 1-100 measure, the one we had Leo Casey defend passionately on Edwize, sucks, and that we're looking for something new. Of course we don't want 50% of your rating to be based on test scores, because that would suck. Instead we will have multiple measures, which we already have, which suck way less than the 50% Governor Cuomo wants. What will they be? Who knows? And sure you might get observed by strangers from the state, but who can judge your skills better than someone who doesn't know you from a hole in the wall? That doesn't suck, does it?

Like Governor Cuomo, we loved the current law when it came out, but when people started to suggest that it sucked, we listened, and dumped NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi, contending that he sucked for passing the law in the first place. And believe you me, if there are any further problems, we will step up and declare Karen Magee sucks and dump her too. We are not afraid to dispense blame for things that suck. Just bear in mind that nothing is ever our fault, and that every change is a victory in that it could have sucked even more without our valuable input.

So thank you for everything you've done. In retrospect, it sucked that we scheduled the rally for March 28th coinciding with the budget agreement. Perhaps it would have been smarter to do it a week earlier when we might have gotten massive press coverage and actually influenced someone. Believe me, I will blame someone for that, maybe the bloggers, maybe Karen Magee, but someone will pay. And maybe we should have actually endorsed someone against Cuomo when he was running for governor, rather than sitting on our hands and letting Zephyr Teachout lose twice. However, we have already decided to blame NYSUT for not making that decision, so again, it's not our fault and it doesn't suck. And those bastard bloggers won't mention this, but under my leadership we haven't had a catastrophic natural disaster in over two years.

So, in conclusion, things suck much less than they could suck, we've reduced suckiness to a bare minimum, anything that does suck is not our fault, a thousand points of light, and God bless the United Federation of Teachers.

Another Brilliant Victory for Revive NYSUT

A few months back, it was vital that NYSUT be revived. Oddly, this coincided with then-President Richard Iannuzzi taking steps and speaking out against the reforminess that pervaded the state. But they came out with a lot of bold promises, the only one they've been able to keep was likely leaving the Fort Orange club. But I have no doubt they're pretty cozy anyway. If you think they're traveling around sleeping in their cars or staying at Motel 6, you've got another thing coming.

Thus far, their most significant legislative victory has been passing a bill to make sure they get two pensions. What have they done for us? Well, they helped delay Common Core-related junk science scores to be used against teachers. So you have another year or so before you can be fired for that particular strain of junk science.

But Karen Magee, while not quite offering to punch us in the face and push us in the dirt a la Mulgrew, pretty much told the AFT that that the only alternative to Common Core was utter chaos, directly contradicting the pictured pamphlet. And personally, I'm weary of the nonsensical talk from union leaders about divorcing the Core from testing, particularly since we just supported a bond that will provide billions for computer equipment to give the tests we supposedly oppose.

And Cuomo, who we failed to oppose at every step, who we in fact supported at the useless and preposterously named Working Family Party, is now making noise about doubling down on APPR. If you think Magee, Pallotta, or any of the Revive crew opposed APPR in the least when Iannuzzi and Mulgrew negotiated it, I have a bridge in Brooklyn with your name on it.

In a brilliant and creative use of our member dues, NYSUT sent out a voter election guide that I received yesterday, three days after the election was over. In Revive's defense, some of my Facebook friends report having received it as early as Wednesday. They do things like this and wonder why we got trashed on Election Day last Tuesday. Of course it isn't their fault, because nothing ever is.

As for the small things, I bought a car last spring. The salesman offered to sell me insurance. Of course, having MetLife via NYSUT, I knew I had a good deal. After all, we must get a discount or something, what with 600,000 potential paying customers. I thought, oh my gosh, he already sold me a car and he's still not satisfied. But my wife said, no, let's listen.  She dragged me into the insurance guy's office, where we were offered the very same coverage we had with MetLife via Allstate for almost a 50% reduction. When I canceled MetLife, they didn't even ask me why, let alone try to dissuade me.

Apparently Revive NYSUT, who traveled all over the state promising to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb, has not bothered to look at quality-of-life things that affect us lowly members. Of course this was my fault too, for assuming they'd bother to negotiate anything worthwhile for us. I certainly won't make that mistake again. They have priorities, like their double pensions. They barely wasted a moment making sure that none of them would have to go through what they're putting former Secretary-Treasurer Lee Cutler through. You won't see a Revive member kicked off the gravy train without recourse anytime soon.

And I don't doubt for a moment the double pension deal was negotiated before any of the younger Revive members agreed to run. You don't think they'd risk being treated the way they treat Lee Cutler, do you?

As for the rest of us, MetLife is happily advertising its overpriced coverage on Facebook this week. Apparently they enjoy profiting from their cozy relationship with NYSUT. And evidently Revive NYSUT leadership is either unaware, doesn't give a damn how overpriced this coverage may be, or both. It continues breaking promises, being utterly ineffectual, failing to take and follow up on substantive stands, and painting a smiley face on deals that benefit leadership and do nothing whatsoever for those of us who still do the actual work of helping New York's children.

Cuomo's Betrayal--The Fruit of Appeasement

We in UFT/ NYSUT/ AFT are always on the cutting edge. When people say Bill Gates is trying to destroy American education, we open our arms, show them how open-minded we are, and invite him to be keynote at AFT convention. Of course I wasn't there, you weren't there, and anyone there who may have opposed Bill Gates had signed a loyalty oath agreeing not to do so in public. Nonetheless, our loyalty-oath signing "representatives" showed how reformy the UFT was.

When mayoral control came to NYC with Mike Bloomberg at the helm, we supported it. When it proved to be an abject disaster, with dozens of awful school closures that sent our brothers and sisters into the ATR, we asked for a few piddling improvements, failed to get them and supported it again. When Bill de Blasio kept a campaign promise to block charters, Cuomo and the legislature passed a law favoring Eva Moskowitz, and we did not even lift a finger to stop it. A very highly placed source in NYSUT told me my UFT President supported it.

When it's time for passionate defense, though, we're right there. Mike Mulgrew brought 800 loyalty-oath-bound "representatives" to Los Angeles last summer and swore anyone who took his Common Core away from him would be punched in the face and pushed in the dirt. Any day now I expect to be crawling around in the mud recuperating with Diane Ravitch, Carol Burris, Leonie Haimson and all the other dangerous figures my President needs to beat the crap out of.

When Zephyr Teachout, who actually supports and respects teachers, reached for the Working Families Party nomination, our union made it known that it would not support the party if it embraced Zephyr. And we blocked the only viable chance of making Andy Cuomo, with his booming warchest, break a sweat. When Zephyr boldly challenged him in the primary, the President of the AFT was busy making calls for arch-conservative Kathy Hochul, lest Tim Wu should win and a true progressive should even help govern NY State.

And God forbid NYSUT or UFT should endorse Howie Hawkins, the last and only candidate standing who is not insane. That would be radical and scary. What would people think? Instead, we'll sit it out and pretend we aren't tacitly endorsing Governor Andrew Cuomo. After all, he is a Democrat, when he isn't making glitzy commercials pretending to support women, or students, or anyone other than the only person he cares about--himself.

You'd think Cuomo would be grateful. You'd be wrong, of course. The error our union leadership makes, over and over, is thinking because we let the reformies stab us in the arm, in front of God and everybody, that they won't follow up by stabbing us in the back. But they always do and we never learn.

Cuomo got in front of the Daily News editorial board and used the boilerplate term favored by fanatical ideologue teacher bashers everywhere--the public school "monopoly." Likely he forgot about the police monopoly, the fire department monopoly, and the government monopoly. Certainly he forgot how many Americans and New Yorkers would benefit if we enacted single payer, gave everyone health care, and had a monopoly rather than people going bankrupt over medical bills. Certainly the fact that charter schools have failed to improve education hasn't factored into his thinking. The fact that the best education systems in the world are public and unionized didn't seem all that important either.

 For our restraint, for our diplomacy, for our covert support, he has declared war against us. Once again, Mike Mulgrew, Karen Magee, and Randi Weingarten have screwed up by failing to take be proactive, by choosing fear over inspiration, by moving backward rather than forward.

Cuomo pretty much announced he hates us and everything we stand for.  What do we do? Boycott Time magazine, a magazine that has hated us for years, a magazine it's unlikely any of us read anyway?

When are we going to wake up and insist on real union and real leaders? I, for one, am getting a little tired of waiting. How about you?

Related: Perdido Street School on NYSUT's pathetic response.

Revive NYSUT Supporters School Me

Yesterday on Twitter, I was barraged with various defenses of Revive NYSUT's double-pension grab. I'm going to recount a few here.

1. You aren't telling the whole story.

I paint what I see. If there's another side of the story, you're free to tell it. And if you do a good enough job of it, you might persuade me. Thus far, I've seen little or nothing that does that.

2. Former President Iannuzzi had two pensions.

That's true. But Iannuzzi worked 34 years as a teacher and earned his first pension. Whatever he gets from NYSUT he earned after the fact. He did not earn the pensions concurrently.

3. You're siding with the Koch Brothers when you criticize the union.

That's what you call a strawman fallacy, combined with a guilt by association fallacy. I've never sided with the Koch Brothers. It's easier, though, to say that I did than to face my arguments outright. I'm just a little rankled by outright hypocrisy. I traveled all over the state listening to the Revive team complain about perks taken by leadership, and yet when it came to feathering their own nests, they didn't hesitate for a moment.

They specifically stated they opposed Common Core, yet Magee just suggested to AFT the alternative was chaos. In their campaign literature they compared Cuomo to Scott Walker, yet they failed to endorse pro-teacher Zephyr Teachout against him. They did this not once, but twice, and it was particularly egregious that they failed to support her on the Working Families line. Why on earth isn't Working Families supporting a pro-working families candidate, and if they aren't, why do we even need them?

Did any of these positions help them get their sweetheart bill passed? Is it a coincidence it happened concurrently with an evaluation deal? I can't prove it one way or the other. But they can't either, circumstance is not in their favor, and their actions certainly do little to enhance their credibility.

4. They aren't perks because a lot of people have them.

That's ridiculous. UFT just sent 800 people to Los Angeles at a cost of 2 million dollars. It's not like we didn't know how each and every one of them was going to vote. They could just as easily have sent Mulgrew there to cast 800 votes. There's a reason 100% of UFT reps sign a loyalty oath, support Common Core, mayoral control, junk science evaluations, and what have you, and it's simply not based on principle. No matter how many people receive perks, they're still perks. And again, I listened to Revive rail against perks all over the state of New York last spring. 

5. You're just looking for reasons to criticize.

If that's the case, I don't have to look very hard. I didn't send Mike Mulgrew a letter asking him to behave like a professional wrestler when he addressed the AFT convention. And I didn't tell Revive leadership to quietly push a piece of legislation that benefited themselves rather than membership.

This is an old canard UFT trots out to vilify opponents. I will stand with leadership when they do the right thing. Last week I marched with UFT to protest police violence. This particular march faced a lot of opposition among UFT, but I thought they were doing the right thing. I'm not Mulgrew's biggest fan, but I didn't sign the petition demanding his resignation for participating in the march.

I will stand with the union leadership when they're right, and there are few things that would make me happier than seeing them right more frequently.

I stand for democracy and transparency, and to anyone offended by that, too bad for you.

New York's Passion for Crap in Education Means No Flexibility in APPR

Over at Perdido Street School he's pierced the bazillion-dollar Capital NY paywall and discovered that Arne Duncan's flexibility with APPR does not extend to states that have already begun Common Core testing. For those of you who are dancing in the streets because it will be two years before you can be rated ineffective based on these particular tests, be advised that there are multiple other ways junk science can take you down. Apparently, since we were brilliant enough to start testing early, junk science rules in NY.

If you want to sent a thank you card, you can start with our union leaders, all of whom adore Common Core. AFT President Randi Weingarten says it's the implementation and high-stakes that are the problems. NYSUT's Karen Magee, who specifically ran against Common Core, now claims we need Common Core or we'll be reduced to utter anarchy. And UFT Prez Mike Mulgrew will punch you in the face and push you in the dirt if you lay your stinking hands on his Common Core.

And of course, we helped every step of the way to fail 70%, and, in a great victory for Reformy John King, now only 65% of our children. How many "attaboys" would your principal be sending your way if you failed 65% of your kids? And make no mistake, UFT President Mulgrew was proud as Moses bearing the Ten Commandments when he came down to us with New York's junk science law. Oddly, he supported Karen Magee and Revive NYSUT as they blamed Dick Iannuzzi for it all over New York State.

And now, despite Revive NYSUT's bold opposition, thus far followed up with a whole lot of nothing except covering their own pensions, we seem to be stuck with this. I traveled all over the state last year and met many local presidents who'd negotiated reasonable APPR plans, but the one in NY is so complicated that the people I know who best understand it barely understand it at all. I hear that upstate cities also have awful systems, as evidenced by large numbers of teachers receiving poor ratings. It will be tough for us to improve these systems, with editorial writers in every major newspaper having conniptions over anything that might improve teaching and learning that isn't pre-blessed by Emperor Bill Gates.

The enthusiasm of our leaders for reforminess has proven helpful neither to us nor the children we serve. In fact, even our leaders agree that Common Core has been a statewide and national disaster. The only problem is, having taken millions from Gates to support it, it's hard for them to say, "Gee, we screwed up." Instead, they press on with bold calls for moderation. Those of us on the ground see clearly that Common Core is doing precisely what it's designed to do--fail a large number of students.

The problem with Common Core is not the massive failure rate, but rather New York's unwillingness to conclude either our children are stupid or our teachers are incompetent. Despite Governor Cuomo's best efforts, the public is simply not clamoring to burn down the public schools and rebuild them as Moskowitz Academies.

That's why there was a huge public outcry against this nonsense. When thin-skinned John King was faced with angry teachers and parents, his first response was to label them "special interests," take his ball and go home. Only later was he pretty much forced to listen. Yet while he sends his kids to a Montessori school, Common Core is good enough for us commoners.

And because we were so eager to judge our kids by junk science, our teachers are stuck with it too.

It's time to reject Race to the Top, dump Common Core, and give Arne Duncan back his blood money. And that's what's gonna happen, eventually, no matter how many people Mulgrew punches in the face. Because all his tough talk won't mean much to you after you watch this.

Revive NYSUT Leadership Takes Care of Revive NYSUT Leadership

 It was inspiring to a lot of people when the Revive NYSUT ticket appeared last year. Naturally, there were frustrations with NYSUT, and a few people I respect explained some of them to me. In fact, when I first saw them, I thought it might be a good idea. Like most UFT members, I had little contact with NYSUT, but I knew UFT needed a revival, so why not try this? It wasn't until weeks later I discovered that UFT leadership was actually behind this movement. I was recruited to run for Executive VP of NYSUT, and I traveled all over the state going to forums. I learned an awful lot about NYSUT.

For one thing, it's clear new NYSUT leadership follows UFT in every way. UFT makes up 28% of NYSUT, but has a 34% voting bloc, because many locals simply cannot afford to spend a weekend at the NY Hilton. Therefore, they get no vote. Of course all UFT reps have signed loyalty oaths. They vote as Mulgrew dicates or risk not only a punch in the face, but also expulsion from the elite, invitation-only Unity Caucus and all the privileges membership entails.
 
This is ironic because one of Revive NYSUT's biggest cheerleaders criticized the old leadership for belonging to the Fort Orange Club. NYSUT claimed membership was 15K a year, that the membership preceded their tenure for decates, and that the space was needed. Current Secretary Treasurer Martin Messner, in particular was vocally livid about this "perk." Not only this, said Messner, but NYSUT officers were taking first-class flights. He was gonna get to the bottom of this and make sure there was transparency, and no more perks! NYSUT could hold high-level meetings at Starbucks, suggested Revive, and save these crucial member dollars. Ya think they invited Cuomo to Starbucks to discuss endorsement plans?

Here's the thing, though. It was tough to recruit people willing to run for NYSUT office. You see, the UFT has a deal with the city that while its members work union jobs, it compensates the city for salary. Full disclosure--I'm chapter leader at a large school, and I get one period off to take care of union business. I believe UFT covers 20% of my salary. For those who do more work, or even all work for UFT, their salaries are covered too.  Even more full disclosure--I don't think it's a bad idea.

Of course, I didn't run for office bitching and moaning that current officers had too many perks, were living like kings and lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills. In fact, I ran demanding representative democracy, saying there was precious little of it in UFT and that this model was not one we ought to emulate. I ran complaining about anti-teacher legislation, particularly APPR, Cuomo's punishing tax rule that districts need a supermajority to help kids, and Tier 6 pension. I was amazed to see the APPR labeled as an Iannuzzi bill, and  that no one from Revive seemed to remember their staunch supporter Mike Mulgrew taking credit for it.

 Anyway, while NYSUT leadership can't oppose Common Core, while it can't oppose Cuomo, while VAM is still enshrined in law, and while pension is still severely diminished for members, it managed to quickly and quietly get legislation passed to make sure leaders Magee, Messner, and Pecorale have their pensions covered. Unlike Iannuzzi, none of them have thirty years in. Now NYSUT will make sure that if they resign or retire, or even if they get blackballed by Mulgrew, it will be like they were at their old jobs.

When is Martin Messner gonna take a principled stand, resign his old job, and demand a salary cut from hard-working NYSUT members? When is he gonna protest that this bill was passed so surreptitiously and demand transparency? Personally, I suggest you sit while you wait for that to happen. 

This is hypocritical not only because they, particularly Messner, were so adamant about not taking perks and being transparent. It's also hypocritical because former Secretary Treasurer Lee Cutler was denied the transition pay that ex-officers receive, and NYSUT is fighting to make sure he doesn't get it. Not only that, but Cutler resigned from his position to work with NYSUT. Neither Magee, Messner, nor Pecorale are showing this level of commitment, even as they work to make sure Cutler isn't compensated.

Current NYSUT leadership takes good care of current NYSUT leadership. You and me? Meh. Why do they support Common Core, despite explicity promising they were against it? Why do they support Jeff Klein? Why won't they oppose Governor Cuomo in favor of pro-teacher, pro-labor Zephyr Teachout? Why did Governor Andrew Cuomo sign a bill that protects NYSUT leadership when we have such a hard time getting substantive pro-education bills realized? Why is Tier 6 good enough for new members?

I'll leave that to your imagination. You might also be interested to know that, far from a principled salary cut, NYSUT Board of Directors voted a 2% raise for officers, already making at least 250-300K or more. And why not? What does 250-300K even buy nowadays?

I can't be sure. I only know it's a hell of a lot more than most working teachers will ever be able to afford.

NYSUT Opts for Ignorance

This year, NYSUT once again declined to endorse Andrew Cuomo, and now the AFL-CIO, for the moment at least, is doing the same. All over the Twittersphere NYSUT patronage employees are trumpeting their great victory. From where I sit, a bold move would have been endorsing Zephyr Teachout and taking a principled stand against Cuomo's crippling anti-public education policies.

As Perdido Street School pointed out yesterday, a truly bold move would have been getting behind Teachout's bid to get on the Working Families ticket. In fact, UFT, which controls NYSUT, was discussing pulling support from WFP over the spectre of actually nominating a pro-teacher candidate. Threatening the status quo of pols who hate us and everything we stand for was unacceptable to our leadership. As always, leadership could not be bothered consulting with those of us who actually work in classrooms and trailers.

Yesterday, Beth Dimino, President of the Port Jefferson Station Teacher Association, rose to speak in favor of a Teachout endorsement. Sergeant at arms told the chair, who refused to recognize her. Obviously, the decision had already been made, and there was no point whatsoever in allowing the other side even to speak.

Revive NYSUT compared Cuomo to Scott Walker in its campaign literature, but won't even go so far as to endorse his opponent. This reminds me the great victory UFT enjoyed when it declined to endorse Bloomberg's opponent term 3. Some of you may recall going 6 years without a raise and finally getting a contract that was not only inferior to that of other municipal unions, but also seriously compromised due process for ATRs.

Revive NYSUT's primary selling point, of course, was that it was against Common Core. Karen Magee became President with 34% of the vote coming from the UFT machine. At the AFT convention, Magee suggested without Common Core, the entire country could become be the Wild West, with cowboys testing whatever they wanted. The notion that there are no standards without CCSS is not only preposterous, but downright insulting to those of us who've done our jobs for years before it even existed.

Perhaps the most revealing Common Core talking point, though, came from NYSUT spokesperson Carl Korn. Though the Newsday article that printed this quote has been revised, I have the original text:

“The vast majority of test questions released appear to be educationally and age-appropriate. Unfortunately, we can’t tell if that is true of all test questions, because only 50 percent have been released. We reiterate our call for release of 100 percent of questions.”

NYSUT is happy with what it saw in tests that failed 65% of our children. Are you? Are the parents of the children you teach?

I'm chapter leader of a very large school, and I'm accustomed to hearing complaints. For the most part, I get complaints about programs, observations, carelessness, and various things that trouble people working in schools. Lately, though, I get an inordinate percentage of complaints from young parents. Why is my third grader reading about genocide? Why does my daughter no longer love to read? Why is my little boy spending three hours a day on homework? Even administrators with whom I'm often at odds ask me these questions.

And here's the thing--we, UFT and NYSUT, are behind the curve, on the wrong side yet again. I don't know exactly what supernatural senses union leaders have that bring them regularly to the wrong side of pivotal issues, but they're uncannily accurate. Cuomo isn't gonna help us. Teachout would stand by us, but we won't stand by her.

Our natural allies in the fight against corporate reform are public school parents, and rather than stand with them, we cower away and place our heads in the sand. We tremor in the faces of Bloomberg and Cuomo, accept a third-rate contract from a labor-friendly mayor, fail to oppose the man who set up a system in which those who say no to children have more say than those who say yes. At the same time, we threaten violence on anyone who dares question the corporate reform that labels our precious children as failures.

We are behind the times and behind the curve. It's time for us to pull our collective head out of the sand and get our eye on the prize, which entails helping children rather than failing them.

NYSUT Takes a Stand. Or Is it a Sit?

A few weeks ago, at the AFT Convention, NYSUT President Karen Magee, despite campaign promises that her leadership opposed Common Core, said the following:

If not standards, then what? A free-for-all? Everyone does what they please? No common base? No common method to look at what they're doing?

This is a black and white logical fallacy, acknowledging no other option but chaos to the program in which Bill Gates invested billions, including contributions to AFT. Judging from Magee's assertions,  we were having gunfights in the street before Bill Gates and his billions came along to save us. Though Magee went on to offer the boilerplate rationale about implementation being at fault, this is a blatant broken promise. This was followed, of course, by a refusal to endorse Zephyr Teachout or Howie Hawkins, despite a handout that compared Cuomo to Scott Walker.

Not that the English scores have risen a whopping .1%, and math scores 5%, after the cutoffs being lowered, Magee is singing the same old song:

Karen Magee, president of the New York State United Teachers union, said the union is “certainly pleased to see scores rising,” but cautioned that “students are more than a test score.”

From her mouth, this amounts to another empty platitude. Where's the Revive promise to oppose Common Core? Where's the Revive promise to oppose Cuomo, who they likened to one of the most union-unfriendly figures in living memory? Where's the Revive promise to move out of the shadow of UFT, or its face-punching President?

Where's that NYSUT that was going to be led from the bottom up, as promised after its UFT-sponsored victory? It appears that now they're in office, status quo is just fine with them. That's too bad, because outgoing Prez Richard Iannuzzi was beginning to take clear stands against Cuomo and Common Core, and likely as not, that's why he's ex-president.

UFT makes up 28% of NYSUT, but gets 34% of statewide votes. Small impoverished locals can't afford a weekend at the NY Hilton, and there's no mechanism for remote, online or absentee voting. NYSUT still accepts the dues of these disenfranchised teachers. NYSUT also accepts my dues, and those of my members, though we get no voice in the loyalty-oath bound UFT delegation. Of course, if I were to sign the loyalty oath we'd still get no voice, since I'd then be representing leadership rather than membership.

It's clear to me that the current NYSUT leadership is there to maintain status quo, including failure to oppose Cuomo, failure to oppose Common Core, and failure to stand up to total domination by the UFT political machine. The question is whether or not that will become clear to NYSUT membership.

There are those of us here who will work very hard to give city members a voice, no matter how hard Mulgrew wishes to punch us in the face. How many of our brothers and sisters statewide will stand with us?

Only time will tell.

NYSYUT President Karen Mageee Explains How Common Core Enables Life, the Universe, and Everything

In recent debate over the Common Core, NYSUT president, Karen Magee, said:

"I pose the questions to you today: If not standards, then what? A free-for-all? Everyone does what they please? No common base? No common method to look at what they're doing? ... The implementation of the common core in New York was absolutely an embarrassment; we were testing before we were teaching; the materials were not developmentally appropriate. That being said, we have an opportunity."

Magee is absolutely right.  The roll out of the Common Core in NY State was an "embarrassment" of grand proportions.  And, as we all know and can easily agree, we never had standards before the Common Core was handed down to us.  In fact, in delving into my archives, I discovered a picture of our planet pre-Common Core, barren, desolate, dry of ideas and pathetically "standardless."

The Educational Landscape Pre-Common Core:

Common Core made civilization possible.  Now, look how far we have come.

Civilization as it Stands Today, Many Thanks Owed to the Common Core:

Here are some pro-Common Core testimonials to further prove my point:

Testimonial #1:

Testimonial #2:

Testimonial #3:

For these, and many more testimonials in favor of the Core, visit the web address:  illtakebillgatesgrantmoneybutitwontmakemeanylessimpartial.com

New NYSUT Leadership Breaks Fundamental Promise

Last spring I was recruited to run for NYSUT Executive Vice President, and I ran all over the state to forums. NYSUT leadership was challenged by a UFT-supported group called "Revive NYSUT."

The first forum, in Melville NY, was the most open. All candidates were asked questions, and all got equal time to answer. At the second, mostly the presidential candidates spoke, which kind of irritated me as I had to travel all the way to Lake Placid to mostly sit and listen. The third had no interaction, and people just read statements. The fourth was in Newburgh, and Revive said they couldn't come because they had to teach. Not all of them did, actually, but I did, both that day and the next. At the final forum, Revive got to speak twice while we only got to speak once on each issue. It was bizarre.

A big Revive message was that they were grassroots. This was odd, because they had the support of the loyalty-oath bound UFT, and thus had 34% of the vote before they even got out of bed on any given morning. It was an uphill battle, and we lost, but I met many passionate unionists, even some on the other side, and many, many people for whom loyalty oath was anathema. People still don't believe it, but there it is.

One of the things I kept hearing was that Revive would fight the power, as it were. They specifically stated opposition to Common Core. In a discussion on Facebook, my friend Leonie Haimson wrote:

Magee said if not standards then what: a free for all? [what about better standards?] added that if the AFT came out against the Common core the tabloids wd attack us.

Please forgive Leonie's shorthand, but you get the idea. I guess NYSUT President Karen Magee thought we'd have forgotten her slate's promises by now. After all, they scrubbed their "Revive NYSUT" website and disappeared into the netherworld, or wherever old websites go. But James Eterno saved their position paper. It said:

Revive NYSUT is...

Against Common Core...

That was their very first point.  Clearly they thought it was important if they made it number one. And now the NYSUT President is implying the only alternative is a "free for all." That's a logical fallacy known as the "black or white" fallacy--suggesting that there is only one alternative when many exist.  In fact, if Karen Magee cannot envision another alternative, she ought not to be our leader. Leadership demands imagination.

@MSGunderson Generals out of touch with soldiers on front lines. #aft14
— Chris Cerrone (@Stoptesting15) July 13, 2014

In other news, the AFT failed to demand Arne Duncan step down. Instead, as Kevin Glynn of Lace to the Top wrote, they gave him a stern warning, placing him on "double secret probation."

I certainly hope they follow this non-demand with a strongly worded letter. That'll show 'em. @TeacherBeat @Stephen_Sawchuk @arneduncan
— Arthur Goldstein (@TeacherArthurG) July 13, 2014

As usual, UFT President Michael Mulgrew speaks passionately in defense of Common Core, offering to punch people in the face and rub their faces in the dirt if they pry our precious Common Core from us, or some other such insightful comment. I don't know, because like most UFT members I'm not there. Only loyalty-oath signing invited UFT Unity Caucus members get a vote, and if they're asked to vote for a cheese sandwich for US President, they'll do so gladly.

Such is the State of our Union. Only question standing is what are we gonna do about it?