NYC Educator: UFT singalong

Showing posts with label UFT singalong. Show all posts

Friday, November 13, 2015

I Ain't Gonna Work on Mulgrew's Farm No More

With apologies to Bob Dylan

I ain't gonna work on Mulgrew's farm no more,
No, I ain't gonna work on Mulgrew's farm no more.
He don't like the slogan,
You got on your shirt,
So he punches your face and pushes it in the dirt,
He's so worked up about that Common Core,
I ain't gonna work on Mulgrew's farm no more.

I ain't gonna work for Leroy Barr no more,
No, I ain't gonna work for Leroy Barr no more.
He looks you in your face, says get out on that floor,
Says vote the way I say or you won't have that job no more,
Then he laughs as we hightail it out the door,
Oh, I ain't gonna work for Leroy Barr no more.

I ain't gonna boo at Lauren Cohen no more,
Well, I ain't gonna boo at Lauren Cohen no more.
Well she gets up on that platform, and what she says is true,
And we make lots of noise until they tell us not to boo,
It's a shame the way we bully from the floor,
I ain't gonna boo at Lauren Cohen no more.

I ain't gonna sign that loyalty oath no more,
Oh, I ain't gonna sign that loyalty oath no more.
You put on a tie, you put on a coat,
They tell you where to sit and they tell you how to vote,
Integrity or trips it's either or,
Oh, I ain't gonna sign that loyalty oath no more.

I ain't gonna go on no free trips no more,
No, I ain't gonna go on no free trips no more,
They make me go there, they make me go here,
When Gates gets on the stage, they order us to cheer,
We vote for stuff and no one knows what for,
I ain't gonna go on no free trips no more.

I ain't gonna sit here on my hands no more,
No, I ain't gonna sit here on my hands no more.
They give you a contract, they give you a few beers,
They give you a raise that you don't see for five whole years,
You ask them why and they show you the door.
I ain't gonna sit here on my hands no more.

Monday, December 22, 2014

Who's Clueless Now?

It's remarkable to watch UFT and NYSUT finally appear to come to the same conclusions about Cuomo we bloggers arrived at years ago.

Perdido Street School: The Arrogance Of Cuomo's Power Play Over Education... http://t.co/rCey0YDxDT
— UFT (@UFT) December 19, 2014

It's fabulous to see the UFT citing Reality Based Educator as a source. Last spring UFT President Mike Mulgrew, fervently pushing yet another sub-standard contract, stood in front of an audience largely composed of his 800 loyalty-oath signing sycophants, He then declared he didn't read the blogs, but that we were purveyors of myth. He then said he was being nice, having evidently determined we were too stupid to realize he was calling us liars. I suppose when you're accustomed to addressing bought-and-paid-for loyalty oath signers you don't expect much in the way of even marginal critical thought from your audiences.

But RBE is right, of course, as usual, and has been all those years as Mulgrew and NYSUT kept their respective heads placed firmly in the sand. He was right when Eva trounced mayoral control last spring while Mulgrew did nothing. And he's been right to call out Cuomo consistently. NYSUT has now rolled out its big gun, which entails calling Cuomo "clueless." They've apparently put their heads together and determined this remakably clever tactic is the straw that will break the Cuomo's back.

In fact, it's possible they've finally determined that sitting in the cone of silence is not the optimal strategy after all. Six months ago, in a Suffolk forum, I sat a few seats away from NYSUT EVP Andy Palotta as he hemmed and hawed and failed to answer a question--"Will you support Andrew Cuomo for governor in November. My answer, "No," was very well received. The moderator had to ask me to expound on it, which I did, but the overall gist of it was in that single word.

In a later campaign leaflet, Pallotta and his Revive pals claimed to oppose Cuomo. This notwithstanding, they missed a golden opportunity to do so when their overlords, the UFT, scuttled Zephyr Teachout's bid for the Working Families nod. That was more significant than their failure to support her Democratic bid. Teachout would have been a huge threat to Cuomo in the general. It was quite clear that she inspired people as much as Cuomo left them cold. Could you imagine having the choice of brilliant Zephyr Teachout as Governor of New York? UFT and NYSUT found that prospect unacceptable, and made certain we didn't get it.

Cuomo has now reneged on his promise to spare teachers being judged on Common Core junk science. This is what reformy folk do. They give you the "seat at the table," so valued by our leaders, and then stab us in the back. It's happened time after time. If we just give Bloomberg mayoral control, everything will be fine. If we just make a few people ATRs, everything will be fine. If we just allow him to close a few schools, everything will be fine. If we just allow a few charter schools, everything will be fine. If we just get a few changes to mayoral control, everything will be fine. If we fail to get those changes but support its renewal anyway, everything will be fine. If we just show how open-minded we are by making Gates keynote, everything will be fine.

It's fine that NYSUT and UFT finally appear to have woken up and realize Cuomo, like other reformies, is not our friend after all. But history suggests he's had a consistent agenda to follow the mandates of his huge campaign contributors, and that betraying us is just one more step in enacting it.

It's certainly correct that someone is clueless. But it does not appear, by any stretch of the imagination, that it's Andrew Cuomo. Worse, it's by no means clear that the folks who claimed to be "against Cuomo" when running for election, and call him clueless now won't be in love with him, inviting him to keynote the next convention, or enjoying a "seat at the table" with him next year, next month, next week, or one minute from now.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

What Do the Reform Folk Do?

By Learner and Loewe (Scorer)

Based on the Tune from Camelot

What do the reform folk do
To help them escape when they're blue?
The Duncan who is ailing, the Bill Gates who is glum
The Coleman who is wailing from branding kids dumb

When they're beset and harassed
The folk not of the common class
However do they manage to shed their weary lot?
Oh, what do reform folk do, we do not?

I have been informed by those who know them well
They find relief in quite a clever way
When they're sorely pressed, they craft tests for a spell
And testing seems to brighten up their day

And that's what reform folk do, so they say
They craft tests?
So they say

What else do the reform folk do
To pluck up the heart and get through?
The wee folk and the grown folk
Who wander to and fro

Have ways known to their own folk
We small folk don't know
When all the doldrums begin
What keeps each of them in his skin?

What modern native custom
Provides the needed glow?
Oh, what do reform folk do?, Do you know?

Once, upon the road, I came upon John King
VAMing in a voice three times his size
When I asked him why, he told me not a thing
But VAMing always made his spirits rise

So that's what reform folk do, I surmise
They VAM?
I surmise

What else do the reform folk do?

They must have a system or two
They obviously outshine us at turning tears to mirth
Have tricks an average joe is minus from birth

What, then, I wonder, do they
To chase all the goblins away?
They have some elite sorcery you haven't mentioned yet
Oh, what do reform folk do to forget?

Often, I am told, they raise funds for charter schools
And collect while they're completely free of rules
Soon they stuff their bank and all bring their candy
To an enthused Governor called Andy

And that's what reform folk do, so I'm told

What else do the reform folk do
To help them escape when they're blue?
They sit around and wonder what simple folk do
And that's what reform folk do

Oh, no, really
I have it on the best authority
Yes, that's what reform folk do

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Would You Like to Drink at the Bar?

Would you like to drink at the bar?
Stay in the Hilton instead of your car,
And be better off than you are,
Or should I punch you in the face?

A punch in the face will shut your festering craw,
It might bust your nose or break your jaw,
The dues you're paying are what you're here for,
So shut your gob and love the Common Core,
Cause if your don't get in line and know your place,
I'm gonna punch you in the face.

Or would you like to drink at the bar?
Stay in the Hilton instead of your car,
And be better off than you are,
Or would you rather be a drone?

A drone is a teacher who does classes each day,
He just doesn't know another way,
He doesn't like to see the kids all fail,
So he stands up instead of eating quail,
So if you're outraged and shout and bitch and moan,
Well then you just might be a drone.

Or would you like to drink at the bar?
Stay in the Hilton instead of your car,
And be better off than you are,
Or would you rather be in MORE?

A MORE is a teacher who speaks out every day,
She might be a pinko so they say,
She thinks that voting should be fair and free,
She won't sign a simple oath of loyalty,
And if you think lavish trips are just a bore,
Well then you just might be in MORE.

Or would you like to drink at the bar?
Stay in the Hilton instead of your car,
And be better off than you are,
Or let your conscience be your guide.

A conscience will hinder you at every step,
You'll think of the people that you rep,
You won't support all that reformy crap,
You'll tell the truth and let us take the rap,
And your advancement and privilege will slide,
Because your conscience is your guide.

Or would you like to drink at the bar?
Stay in the Hilton instead of your car,
And be better off than you are,
You could be drinking at the bar.

And all the flunkies ain't in the zoo.
52 Broadway has their share too,
Pays really well and it could be you.
You could make money more by far,
You cold be better than you are,
You could be drinking at the bar.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Even Ed. "Reformers" Gotta Serve Somebody

Based on the song by Bob Dylan...

You may be head of Kipps or Success Academies
You may counsel out kids and keep entry fees
You may have a padded cell to suspend kids with habits
You may be Joel Klein with a stash of Amplify tablets