UFT Delegate Assembly--We Still Love CPE 1, But We Still Won't Pass a Resolution in Favor of CPE 1

President’s Report

Mulgrew welcomes us.

Says last DA wasn’t happy.

National

Says we did hell of a job at state level.

Randi taking DeVos to a school. Says it’s good. Says he invited her here. Is going to Ohio district that voted 80% for Trump. She proposes to cut their budget. Best thing nationally.

Many budget cuts on horizon. Calls it circus. Who’s got worse haircut, guy in Korea or US? People who think a lot about themselves walk around with hair like that.

Everything is cuts, going after workers, new SCOTUS justice. We will prepare, but when all you see is ed. cuts, and we know Janus, new Friedrichs coming later this year, we have a clear path on what we have to do. What Randi is doing is important. Public school proud important, but Texas is outdoing us. They have sustained statewide campaign. Fought vouchers.

We in NY need to work with other teachers across country to protect and support our schools. Do they want to fight every PTA in US? We will see they do that. PTAs not red or blue. Not political—people love their kids, their kids’ schools, and will protect them.

We have to remain focused here.

State

Good news—was talking about eliminating charter cap and removing geographic cap. Wanted to change regs on use of public school space. Wanted to unfreeze tuition. Went to Albany to educate people that charters asked for freeze. Used to be three year lag. We faced cuts in recession. Charters got increases because they had a three year lag. When it was their turn to get cuts, they froze their tuition. Charters felt they were owed money. Not understood by media.

Also wanted to get rid of millionaire tax. Media was focused on DC. We beat them at every turn. Caps in place. Space regs unchanged. We didn’t unfreeze, and also got rid of their lag. We should get more per student because we have all the challenging students. They can be expensive. Very proud of work of this union. Always Senate GOP opposing us. We asked local GOP to stop voting for this. Visited them, made it happen.

We have 1.1 billion increase for ed. NYC 4.7% increase. Foundation formula helps. Millionaire tax extended two years. 40% increase for NYC Teacher Center. Union dues tax deduction for state of NY. Next challenge is Constitutional Convention. Vote no.

AFL-CIO hired campaign manager for Constitutional Convention. Will not be easy fight. Really bad people working against us. First goal is approval, will say anything to anyone to get it. Will be real fight. From now until end of summer, it’s engage members.

We think it’s important that state keep deals with working people. We will remain diligent. Please remind everyone. Will be heavy push in September.

We are pushing back on ESSA and value added scores. We believe in May we will see changes in CTE regs.

City

Our political action coordinators working hard, need meetings with city council people. City in good shape right now, but everyone keeps talking about what feds will do to us. Many contingency plans. Many potential cuts. State also worried about cuts. Told pols you can’t cut schools once you set up school years. We are at highest funding level. NY State setting up to be anti-Trump place. Rejects idea of rejecting safety net.

Says people tell him governor should burn in hell. Says NY Post in 11th circle of hell. But we talk to them when they call. Look at budget this year, protecting schools. He had a part in it and we helped him get there.

With city budget teachers choice, positive learning and many issues, but wants us to engage. We need to know if our locals will stand with public schools when feds come to destroy us. Worked with city to change lead in water protocol.

We can’t be outdone by Texas. Want to do a lot of grassroots events. School and borough based. We need to make big loud noise in September. Will do UFT van and celebrate. Asks we engage. Asks we engage in Public School Proud.

On May 1st 4.5% pay raise. Will be reflected on May 15 paycheck. Asks we make it clear at workplaces. Ends report 5:02.

Staff Director’s Report

Howard Schoor stands in place of LeRoy Barr. HS awards April 28th, 5:30 PM. May 6, 5K run. May 13th spring conference, Rev. Barber. May 15th, immigration meeting 4-6. Will give advice.

Mulgrew says first Dreamer has been deported.

Questions

CL—On lead in water—PS 289 had high level—worse than Flint—what are our procedures?

Once spigots identified, they are turned off. Schools are informed. Staff should be told. Recommends you see doctor. Asks you be tested. Refer parents to principal.

CL—Now that ELA finished, math coming, teachers told they won’t receive preps that day.

Tell DR they must contact superintendent, if that doesn’t work, contact me. We have rules and laws. There’s a law that says you can go to bathroom, in fact. This is not an emergency. They knew two months ahead of time.

CL—Student led parent teacher conferences—Some teachers volunteered, was flagged in principal’s PPO that not all teachers did it. How do we go forward?

You need SBO, cannot be mandated. That means superintendent is an idiot, doesn’t understand that she has to work with people. We have schools who SBO them. They like them. Cannot be mandated.

CL—After election of Trump many members ushered in Prez. Now they see what we’ve been talking about and feel union pride. How can we keep that going?

Our strategy is to take pride in what we do. Tactic we need is to embrace schools and have communities feel the same. We will deal with Janus. We will attack them on anti-union stuff. Asks they do Public School Proud piece.

CL—mayoral control will come up. Heard you say you are for it with changes. Can you tell me what those changes are? Chancellor not accountable to parents, abusive principals problems.

We are on record. We have a resolution. We want mayor to lose control of PEP panel. We want CEC approval on spaces. NY is only one form of mayoral control. We have most stringent. Doesn’t matter who mayor is, they think if you change it it won’t be control. We decided our form better than school boards. Were not good old days. Funding and nepotism issues. We didn’t get our form, don’t know when it will get done. Union has official position, has been voted on by this DA.

Delegate—NYSUT catastrophic insurance—are we communicating this to members?

Plan hasn’t been open for almost six years. Open period for first time. Gives you additional medical coverage. Has saved a lot of union families. Will put out a blast on this because it’s very important. You don’t know you need it until you do and then it’s too late.

Motions

Paul Egan—DA endorses for Brooklyn DA and Manhattan DA—this month.

Delegate moves for resolution for next month—in support of CPE 1.

CPE 1, wonderful school and community, thrown into turmoil by abusive principal. Targets teachers, families, children. First LIF last Feb., second last Feb, reassigned quickly. All vet teachers under investigation. One found unsubstantiated but SCI wouldn’t use word. Parents working tirelessly to protect teachers, children, culture and school community. Chancellor unresponsive. Teachers need help of union. You said we will bring 800 pound gorilla down, please move this for next month.

Howard Schoor—Asks if it’s same as EB, told no. Says similar resolution came to EB. Voted to table it. Asks you vote against it, not that we disagree. If we pass this we shut down all communication with DOE. We would have to do all these things. LeRoy Barr was there at SLT. We had 15 people there. Names people giving support. Says it is DOE problem to resolve.

Motion defeated.
Mulgrew says we are having conversations. Says it’s nasty situation. We are trying to resolve it. Thinks we’re getting there. Says it was tabled. We’re asking DOE to stop playing games. Says you can write this on your blogs. Says we are standing and doing all we need to do.

Special Order of Business

Parliamentary inquiry—James Eterno—Last two meetings I was out of order. Told last month I could not move to amend resolution. Says he could have.

Mulgrew—will check

Eterno—five speakers in favor of de Blasio, one against, chair should alternate.

Mulgrew asks for inquiry.

Eterno—Says you should alternate with opposition.

Mulgrew says he’s out of order.

Eterno—Can you respect order of inquiry, or taking turns?

Mulgrew—We will continue to select everyone. You don’t think people have right to express opinions.

Support of Andrew Hevesi’s Proposal—Paul Egan asks for support of home stability. Help resolve homeless situation in NY State. 150K homeless kids right now. More than 80K NYC facilities on brink. Would help with rent and keep them in homes instead of shelters. Will save state and city millions. Will save 151 million in NYC in one year. Feds will pick up cost for five years.


Point of info—What is difference between this program and Bloomberg’s program to put homeless into apartments? Present mayor eliminating that program.

Egan—Provides families with income to stay in their own place until they are stabilized.

Speaker stands in agreement. Has two kids in class in shelters. Parents have to bring kids from Brooklyn to Bronx. Asks for support.

Health Care for All—Ellen Driesen—Saw show in DC when they decided to repeal and replace, was great entertainment, but many people are at risk. DC crew wants to eliminate health care for 24 million. Unacceptable. We need to push for single payer. We need to get word out and lobby hard.

Mike Schirtzer—MORE--Motion to amend—additional resolved at end—Resolved that the UFT will not support any political candidate who is against the affordable care act or single-payer system.

Says in Unity there is strength. Says this is no brainer. Says IDC parades as Dems. We ought not to support pols who don’t support us.
Dave Pecoraro—Moves to divide resolved with ACA and single payer.

Says we have reality, fighting to keep ACA alive. Maybe in 2021 we can debate single payer. Says eventually there will be two separate votes.

Mel Aaronson—against both amendments—would make UFT one issue organization. Says we wouldn’t be able to support people who otherwise support us, would make us irrelevant.

question called on all matters by UFT special rep.

First resolved defeated.

Second resolved defeated.

Original resolution passes.

Chair asks if endorsements are timely. No, says Egan.

Initiative on Voter Registration—Janella Hinds—42% of Americans didn’t vote. 6th congressional district engaged people. NYS requires HS students to study government participation. This resolution says we will work with community based organizations and help students to vote. Asks for support.

CL—Rises in support. Was involved in school registration drive in middle school. Says voting discussions very rich.

Passes unanimously.

Paul Egan asks for extension, 6 PM, Mulgrew grants it without vote. For Gonzalez Brooklyn and Vance Bronx.

Gregg Lundahl—calls question.

Endorsements pass.

Mulgrew does raffle. Speaks of raise.

We are finished.

Contrary

That's what leadership calls us. Contrary implies simple-mindedness, as though you're a two-year-old who just says "no" to everything. Unity contends, during campaigns, that we oppose whatever they bring up, just for the sake of doing so. We disagree with everything, just because, they say. I've observed UFT elections pretty closely and that's one of their big arguments.

We in MORE are now aligned with New Action, and I couldn't be happier about that. Back when New Action was opposing us, they portrayed themselves as a more reasonable opposition. In fact, I agreed with many of their positions. The only major stumbling block, for me, was their endorsement of the UFT Unity President. I have, in fact, had differences with some things UFT Presidents supported, like mayoral control, the ATR, charter schools, co-locations, school closings, junk science ratings, Common Core, and failure to oppose Bloomberg or Cuomo, just to name a few.

But let's not rehash the past. It's 2017, and the UFT High Schools have selected MORE and New Action to represent them. And represent we do, twice a month at 52 Broadway. For the first time, anyone who wishes to know what happens at the Executive Board can read about it right here. My notes, unlike the official ones, contain the questions and statements from members and guests. I have no idea why the official notes omit them. Why shouldn't UFT members be able to know what goes on?

Now if you've been reading my notes (or even writing them, as I have), a pattern is emerging. The pattern, in fact, is precisely the opposite of what Unity Caucus says it is. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I only recall our opposing one resolution Unity has brought up. Ironically, we applauded it enthusiastically when it first came up, and if they had not brought up a resolution condemning Trump and the bigotry he'd not-so-subtly encouraged, we'd have done so ourselves. In fact we were in negotiations to do so together, but they introduced it before we could do that, precluding an opportunity for us to work together. However, when they removed Trump's name and attributed various atrocities to "the presidential election" we deemed it absurd and toothless, which it was.

On the other hand, Unity Caucus has either voted down, tabled, or severely cut every resolution we've brought up. Abusive administrators? No. Class size? No. Support CPE 1? No. It's too this, it's too that. We do this some other way. We took care of this 50 years ago, and who cares if it doesn't work at all? We fixed this in one place, and it therefore doesn't exist in other places.

There are a whole lot of excuses. And in fact, they don't even need them. When LeRoy Barr stood to table our resolution to support CPE 1, and to oppose the abusive principal in precisely the way Mulgrew suggested we should, several loyalty oath signers immediately raised their hands and said, "Second."

When UFT Unity says there is one caucus that is contrary, they're absolutely correct.

But it isn't us.

On Class Size and Contract

Readers of this blog may recall that, along with my MORE-New Action high school colleagues, I introduced a class size resolution to the UFT Executive Board last December. I did this in response to an outrageous ruling by an arbitrator. The arbitrator ruled that every teacher at Francis Lewis High School with oversized classes be relieved for one C6 period per week.

Evidently, the arbitrator believed an extra 40 minutes of prep time would compensate for having class sizes above 34. (Amazingly, the same arbitrator said Forest Hills would get one C6 period per oversized class, so if you had two oversized classes there, you got two C6 periods off, as opposed to the one you'd get at Lewis.)

I was just a little upset by that, and that's why I worked on that resolution. Predictably, Unity Caucus rejected our resolution outright. The reason they gave was that "we" had sacrificed so as to place class size in the contract. I found that argument ridiculous, as that happened 50 years ago when almost none of us were in the system, and when a whole lot of people in the room had not even been born.

So there I was, with an absurd ruling from a $1600 a day arbitrator, and with union leadership essentially siding with her, telling me she had made rulings that were not insane in the past. While I was encouraged to hear she'd had lucid moments, I was still outraged by the ruling. I decided to write it up and send it to the Daily News, and what do you know, they published it.

While UFT leadership did not accept the resolution, they had formed a committee to meet and discuss class sizes. Now it's great to talk about this stuff and try to work it out, but meanwhile we were still stuck with the stupid ruling from the arbitrator. UFT, my administration and I had a few meetings about this, and I contended if we were to have an action plan for oversized classes, it ought to demand a second qualified subject teacher help with them. For example, if I had 38 students, maybe a certified ESL teacher could take the students most in need of targeted assistance somewhere in the building and offer them assistance.

Of course we still had oversized classes in February, and UFT filed a grievance on our behalf. I received the rulings for Francis Lewis, Flushing, Hillcrest and Forest Hills and they are identical. Arbitrator Jay M. Siegel ordered that all schools reduce class sizes and come into compliance. He ordered, if it were necessary, that the schools create additional classes to do so.

My UFT contact told me this was the strongest language he'd ever seen. I'm happy about that, because honestly, this is how it should be done. If principals think they can overcrowd hundreds of classes and they'll lose one day of tutoring, why the hell shouldn't they continue to do so? How does it affect their bottom line? I don't see it.

If, on the other hand, principals know they can be ordered into compliance, it's a different issue. Principals may think twice before oversizing classes. Of course that ruling is only four schools, and I can't say how reflective it is of the city as a whole. I cannot say for sure that my Daily News article had any influence, and UFT leadership cannot say for sure that the committee changed anything. Maybe we're both right. Maybe we're both wrong.

Regardless of what happened or why, I'm glad of the result. I have differences with leadership, but this isn't one of them. I hope this is replicated all over the city.

Think of What It Would Lead To If Teachers Spoke Up

I'm sorely disappointed to read this exchange with Mayor Bill de Blasio at a Staten Island event:

An IS 61 teacher asked de Blasio why teachers are under a "gag order" not to speak ill about state tests, when teachers elsewhere encourage their students to opt out of tests.

"Think of what it would lead to" if teachers openly criticized every education policy they disagreed with, de Blasio said.

I'm thinking about it right now, and I think it would lead to better education for each and every one of the students I serve. Opt-out is relatively inactive in NY City, and that's a shame. The discredited Common Core exams drag down the whole state in the nonsense that passes for data here. For my money, the only reason Andrew Cuomo has slowed down his vendetta against pubic education is the principled and outspoken parents, teachers, students, and residents who fought it.

Standardized tests are largely crap produced by overpaid corporations who take money we could use to build libraries, school seats, and joy into the work we do. What they excel at is letting us know what zip codes our kids live in. Rather than make all schools good ones, rather than empower teachers to do what we know works, we hand out these tests and sort out the winners and losers. Great Neck wins, the Bronx loses, and we all pretend to be surprised.

I can't tell whether the mayor is misinformed or whether he knows better, but the effect is the same. His statement is upsetting to those of us who support opt-out, and to those of us who are going to be rated on nonsense, but it goes beyond that. It's one thing to oppose opt-out, and perhaps you could make arguments against it (though I myself can't think of any). This reminds me of nothing more than John Kasich saying he would abolish all teacher lounges.

De Blasio is attacking more than opt out here. What he's attacking is our free speech. In fact I do not believe I ought to make overt political arguments in front of my students. It's my job to encourage them to think things through, not to bully them into believing what I do. I do not believe it's my job to tell students whether or not to take tests. I believe that's a discussion for a parent to have. So I would not address the students.

But hell, I would address the PTA, and I would speak up in whatever forum afforded me, and I would write here and elsewhere. While I don't believe that my classroom is the best forum for political speech, there is a First Amendment, this is still America, and I will criticize each and every crappy educational policy with which I disagree.

Not only that, Mr. Mayor, but I will actively encourage my colleagues to do the same. Four years ago, I refused repeated and insistent requests from UFT to make calls for Bill Thompson. I donated to Bill de Blasio. I went to his inauguration in the freezing cold. More recently, I voted with the UFT Executive Board to endorse him.

Maybe this is a slip of the tongue on the mayor's part. I certainly hope so. What would happen if every teacher stood up and criticized all the crap that infects our education system, Mr. Mayor? Every kid in your city would get a better education. We wouldn't spend our time worrying about tests that measured zip codes and we wouldn't have parasites like Eva Moskowitz vilifying us for teaching every kid, no matter which zip code, which disability, or which level of English.

Teachers are great advocates for children. It's nothing less than a disgrace that a progressive politician would utter word one about shutting us up.

You May Not Be a Nazi. You May Still Be a Bigot.

 I don't know what to say when I see stories like these. I don't condemn people for how they vote, but I may object to some things they believe. Of course, you're entitled to your beliefs, and they don't need to jibe with mine. It's a little upsetting to see that teachers who post signs of welcome to students are asked to remove them. What on earth is controversial about expressing sympathy for the plights of those you serve? 

Of course there are other points of view:

Another public-school teacher in Brooklyn said she was warned to stop expressing her political beliefs to her middle-school students. A Trump supporter, she said she was harassed by teachers who disagreed with her politics.

“I was called a Nazi,” said the teacher Ann who asked that we not publish her last name. "They never had that complaint until they knew what my political affiliation was."

I don't think you should call people Nazis with no basis, and I don't think you're a Nazi because you supported Trump. I don't think Trump is a Nazi, even though he's appointed rabid anti-Semites like Bannon. I think Trump's a bigot, a pathological lair, and a malignant narcissist, but I don't think he's a Nazi.  

Ann said most of her students were Muslim and she stood by them. 

“Whether they’re here illegally or not, they're my kids and I love them," she said. "Once they come into my classroom, I don’t really care.”

But before or after they come in, it appears different:

 Yet, in her private life and on Twitter, Ann has said the U.S. should "ban Islam," and deport all immigrants. She said she considers activists with the Black Lives Matter movement "terrorists.”

How do you serve Muslim students and support a ban of their religion? How do you "stand by" them when you publicly demand a whole lot of them be deported? How do you serve students of color when you consider a movement to protect their lives "terrorist?" I don't think teacher Ann is a Nazi. But it's hard for me to argue she isn't a bigot and a xenophobe. How do you argue to ban a major religion? If most of your students subscribe to that religion and you find it unacceptable, how do you serve them?

Of course it could be that you hold those beliefs privately and don't express them in public. And "Ann" did indeed withhold her name. But she says in the interview that she encourages discussion in her class, and offers students the choice to hear her real opinions or not. Knowing that her real opinions include banning her students' religion, I'm not altogether sure that's a good idea. In fact, were I to advocate against a student's religion in my class, I'd be opening myself up to charges under Chancellor's Regulation A-421. I'm not sure what Ann does in hers, but I'd advise her against that if I were her chapter leader.

Advocating to ban a religion is textbook intolerance and I wouldn't want a teacher promoting intolerance to any child or student of mine. I don't rightly see how we distinguish Islamophobia from anti-Semitism or any other garden-variety strain of bigotry. For me, when I think of teachers, I think of role models. And when I think of role models, the word "bigot" is not the first one that enters my mind. 

I don't impose my politics on my students. I don't tell them who to vote for, or to support what I support. But like Popeye, I yam what I yam. I'm pretty sure my students know it. I'm pretty sure they know that I judge their effort and ability, and that their religious, or sexual or ethnic background is not my business. Like Ann, once they come into my classroom, I don't really care.

Unlike Ann, before they come in and after they leave I still don't care. And whether I'm getting paid or not, I am their advocate. I don't spend my free time condemning their backgrounds or advocating against them. And frankly, speaking just for myself now, I wouldn't want anyone who advocated against the students I serve teaching my kid. Or yours. Or anyone's.

No Irony in Mr. Pallotta's Neighborhood

NYSUT President and UFT Unity loyalty oath signer Andrew Pallotta (pictured at left with illustrious NYSUT Secretary-Treasurer Martin Messner)  just sent me an email. It says, "New York's political insiders are throwing a party and we aren't invited." That's an interesting assessment of the NY State Constitutional Convention, which many politicians currently oppose. For the record, I oppose it too, and I ran a COPE drive in my school to help enable opposition.

This is my eighth year as chapter leader and I never did a COPE drive before. That's because UFT supports some questionable causes and candidates. Pallotta, along with UFT leadership, ousted former NYSUT President Richard Iannuzzi for objecting to donating thousands of member dollars to Cuomo. While Cuomo has backed off some of his more reprehensible comments and positions on education, I don't believe that has any fundamental effect on his overall lack of principles and integrity. It certainly doesn't save me from being rated on how six beginning ESL students perform on the Common Core English Regents exam this year. Who knows how many others are rated in an equally absurd fashion?

There was a pretty big party going on at the New York Hilton last week and I wasn't invited, not by Pallotta, not by UFT leadership, and not by anyone. Most UFT members probably don't even know it happened, but our dues sent 750 loyalty oath signers to midtown at a cost I'd guess to exceed half a million dollars. There they elected Pallotta and his gang to run the state union. I went anyway, as the guest of the Port Jefferson Station Teacher Association. Oddly, they wanted me there even though my own union didn't. I was pretty surprised to get a really dirty look from a Unity Caucus member I'd previously deemed myself on good terms with. But make no mistake, this was their party and it was completely private.

How private? Well, though we all know that Pallotta won a majority of the delegate votes of the 48% of eligible unions who could afford the trip to the Hilton, we don't know the percentage, and we don't know who voted for him. In a fair election, in fact, we shouldn't know who voted for him but NYSUT actually keeps records. That way UFT would know if some loyalty oath signer violated the terms of his agreement and needed to face expulsion. Expulsion for failing to two the line is a long and hallowed Unity tradition, dating back to the days that Al Shanker tossed people for failing to support the Vietnam War.

Some Unity people I respect swear up and down that they've never signed a loyalty oath, but you can read the Unity application right here and come to your own conclusions.Who voted to support mayoral control under Bloomberg? Who voted to continue it under Bloomberg when it was well-established to be an unmitigated disaster for working teachers and the schools they served? Why would anyone in a union support that if they weren't compelled to do so? Why did UFT Unity demand a few changes, fail to get them, and then support it anyway?

Yes, there's a party going on. Almost none of UFT rank and file were invited, and 100% of those who were voted precisely as they were told. Although a majority of my high school brothers and sister voted for me to be one, all UFT delegates are "at large." That's precisely because the high school teachers tend to vote their consciences and leadership is having none of it. So we have absolutely zero representation in NYSUT, though we enjoy the great honor of paying them dues. That goes for AFT as well.

Oh, and by the way, we will never be privy to the actual voting results. They are available only to delegates, and from what I hear they haven't even got them yet. Not a delegate? Screw you. Not only do you not get to see how your delegates voted, but you also don't get to know how much Pallotta won by. Just shut up and pay your dues, thank you very much.

Me, I don't want a party. I want fundamental democracy. So with all due respect, Mr. Pallotta, until 52% of NYSUT locals and 20,000 NYC high school teachers get a voice and a vote in NYSUT, you have some gall telling me about whose party we're excluded from.

Happiness and Teaching

Yesterday I wrote about a young teacher who was happy when she ate lobster. Today I'm going to look at something a little broader--what exactly makes teachers happy? That's a tough question, because there are a lot of variables. I know a lot of unhappy teachers, and the reasons for their unhappiness are varied, with some more valid than others.

I like my job a lot, and I feel blessed for that. I'd like to share this happiness, but it's very much about circumstance and point of view, so I'm not always able to do it. It's a little easier to give students optimism than it is to give it to adults. Because I'm happy with my work, I try to show students they can be too. I try to show them that they have choices. That's important to me. Alas, it's not important to the politicians who make the laws, or the bureaucrats who regulate my work.

For example, I wrote a few days back that I will be rated based on the NY State English Regents scores of six beginning ESL students. This is awkward because my main role is not to teach them whatever it is they do on the English Regents this year. My main role is to teach them to speak, understand, write and read English. If that means teaching them, "My name is ___________. What's your name?" then that's what I do. I want them to be happy here, and it's hard for me to see how they do that if they can't communicate.

If I were to judge myself by the same standard the State does, I'd be very unhappy indeed. I do not expect those six students to pass that test, and I will not waste one minute of my time or theirs preparing them to do so. They will pass that test when they are ready. I judge myself differently. Little things kids say to me mean a lot.

I have had one girl in my class for a long time. She arrived toward the end of the 2014-15 school year. In 2015-16, she didn't manage to pass my tests, and was very quiet. This year, for some reason, she started talking. She started making jokes. In fact, she recently went out and got herself a job as a cashier somewhere. I congratulated her, and told her how happy I was with her progress.

"It's great to see you speaking English like this, " I told her. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know," she said. "I was surprised too."

But it was her time. I may or may not have had something to do with it, but regardless, I'm very happy about it. This means a lot more to me than some test that measures things she may or may not know, and may or may not be ready for. It took her a little longer than many to acclimate herself, but she's here. And she knows I'm her friend. I'm happy to go in and support her every chance I get.

It's hard to rise above what's expected of us. I suppose I could research the English Regents and teach it to my classes, ignoring the over 90% of students who won't be taking it this year. Maybe I could cram for the NYSESLAT and make sure all my students went to the next level of English, whether or not they actually merited it. I could have them bone up on Hammurabi's Code so they could more easily answer the stupid questions about it, should they ask them for a third year in a row. (Perish forbid the geniuses who take all our money should write new tests each year.)

I see new teachers discouraged. I see them leave. Some of them, particularly those who work for vindictive and short-sighted supervisors, are afraid to even talk to me. I guess if you make it your mission in life to meet standards designed for your supervisor to more rapidly advance himself to principal, you're always going to be disappointed. This is particularly true if your supervisor is not all that bright, and won't get any better even if he becomes principal. Then you'll be working on making him superintendent, thus further surpassing his level of incompetence.

It's problematic when your happiness means nothing to your supervisors and you judge yourself by how closely you meet their expectations. I expect nothing from supervisors, have not done so for years, and I am never disappointed by them. I've been lucky in that I haven't had a crazy supervisor in several decades. This notwithstanding, I never judge myself by what crazy people think of me. That's an impossible standard.

Most of my energy at work comes from my students. As far as I can tell, they are who I work for. Of course getting along with your supervisor can make your life easier. I write an aim on the board. I always have a lesson plan. I could probably work just as well without either, but I don't need the hassle, and I particularly don't want other members having issues. (Maybe that's selfish. As chapter leader, every time anyone else gets in trouble, I do too.)

I haven't got a magic formula for happiness. I try to judge myself based on factors other than test scores. If the painfully shy girl smiles despite herself and I see it, I think I'm doing a good job.  When I manage to make a kid come to class on time with zero confrontational episodes, I think I'm doing a good job. When I see glimmers of a kid who hated school liking it, I think I'm doing a good job. I can't precisely put my finger on how I measure myself, but I can assure you it has nothing to do with test scores.

I'm also pretty happy since I let go of fear. I don't know when that happened. Maybe it was when I started writing. Maybe it was when I stopped caring who knew who really wrote the blog. But fear is useless. I've seen members refrain from reporting outrageous supervisory misconduct because they were afraid of repercussions. Guess what? The repercussions came anyway.

I did manage to put a bad supervisor behind me in the early 90s. Because the Spanish teacher always threw students out of class and I never did, she was going to make me teach all Spanish. I'm certified to teach Spanish, but English is my first language and I love teaching English. I don't know how I'd manage happiness if I hadn't grabbed that chance to transfer, back when there was a UFT transfer plan instead of the ATR. Given what happened to John Adams, I'd likely be an ATR right now, and that would not make me happy at all. Nonetheless, my friend Chaz has molded a very positive attitude into being an ATR and made it work for him. I'd hope to be able to somehow do the same.

Chaz looks at the absurdity inherent in his position and embraces it. Maybe that's something you have to do wherever you are. But one of the saddest things I ever hear is when a five-year teacher tells me how lucky I am that I can retire. For one thing, I don't want to retire. More importantly, I see a person who has to put fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years or more into something she wants to leave right this moment.

We've gotta work on that for ourselves, for our colleagues, and for our students. Maybe it's a long and winding route to happiness. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be looking for it.

The Lobster

Ms. Brown was on a date. This was a big deal since she'd been very, very busy all year. Her school was a tough place to work. Everywhere she turned there were demands. You had to go to this meeting. You had to fill out these forms. You had to sign in for this and sign out for that. Your classroom had to look just like this and your bulletin boards had to look just like that. It never ended. But here she was, in a nice restaurant, with a guy she liked. And right in front of her was a two-and-a-half-pound lobster. She loved lobster.

"Let's talk about us," said the guy. "It's time for us to decide where we're gonna go from here. We've been dating for a few months and I think it's time we..."

Ms. Brown was torn. There, right in front of her face was a lobster. She really wanted to eat that lobster. Almost every day she went to lunch in the school cafeteria, where she had to decide between a grilled cheese sandwich in a plastic bag or a rectangular piece of dried out fried fish. Was it really fried? Maybe it was baked. Maybe they stuck it in a microwave. It was tough to say. How did they get it all dried out like that?

"Because, you know, these are important decisions. We have to make them. We don't get opportunities like these every day. I think it's time we start thinking seriously about..."

And then there was that lobster. It looked perfect. All she had to do was start cracking it open. But wouldn't that be rude? I mean there was this guy, probably paying for the lobster and everything, and if she were to pick up a claw and loudly crack it, it would seem rude, wouldn't it? But she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a lobster. She loved lobster. When was the last time she had a chance to just sit down and enjoy something?

"...and we have to really consider whether or not these are the right steps. You can't take these decisions lightly. They have long-term implications. Too many people just jump into things without even..."

Sure, these decisions were important. You can't move ahead without thinking. But couldn't she stop just for one moment and consider the lobster? It looked so good. When was the next chance she'd get to have a lobster? Maybe if she quietly picked out pieces of the tail it wouldn't be so noticeable. She had that little fork. Could she act like she was considering the speech and just kind of eat while appearing thoughtful? That would probably pass.

"...so, you know, it's all about where we go from here. We need to decide whether this next step is right for us, because this is a very important stage in our relationship, and the only way we're gonna..."

He was a pretty nice guy, actually. If only he'd stop talking for one moment so they could eat. Food was kind of important, and with her job she never had time to cook it. She usually had to run someplace and grab something after school so that she'd be able to grade papers. It was a constant struggle to get that done without spilling food on them. You had to be so delicate when you wiped off food, or even worse coffee, from a piece of looseleaf.

"So at this stage, we have to carefully weigh our alternatives. You can't just do these things without thinking because while it might seem like a good idea, you have to..."

It was so hard to find time to go out. She had at least two stacks of papers that she had to grade this weekend. Couldn't she just eat the lobster now? She wanted it so much. She nodded her head. That was good. She would appear to understand the words that kept floating into the air.

Meanwhile, she delicately maneuvered the little fork into that tail. She kept nodding, saying, "Mm-hmm," in the most sympathetic voice she could muster. She maneuvered a piece of lobster onto her fork. It was a little big. There was a knife. She cut it into three pieces, all the while nodding her head. It was working.

She took one of the pieces, dipped it in butter, and raised it to her mouth. It was the best thing she'd ever tasted in her life.


Now, life could continue.

Ignoring Rank and File Not Paying Off for NYSUT. Or UFT.

Now it's official, of course. UFT has placed its man at the actual head of NYSUT, and has dropped all pretense of simply placing someone in the Executive Vice President position. That's because not one, but two consecutive NYSUT Presidents thought they were Presidents of NYSUT.  That's unacceptable to UFT leadership, which took reliable Andrew Pallotta and pushed him to President. After all, why bother pretending that UFT doesn't control NYSUT 100%?

This notwithstanding, there are some spoilsports who actually want to, you know, have a voice in the organization to which they pay dues. Jeez, why can't these people get with the program? We in the NYC high schools are completely accustomed to having no voice whatsoever. We don't even get to pick our own Vice-President. And it serves us right for not selecting the one UFT leadership picked for us 30 years ago. We can't be trusted with democracy.

Clearly, neither can the rest of New York State. I mean, just a few years back there was that awful Richard Iannuzzi, getting his panties all out of shape because Pallotta wanted to give a bunch of NYSUT money to Andrew Cuomo, you know, the guy who ran for governor on a platform of going after union and passed not one but TWO junk science based teacher evaluation systems. If UFT leadership wants to give the guy money, that should be good enough for anyone. That's why Iannuzzi is history, along with much-beloved secretary-treasurer Lee Cutler.

And when Karen Magee started supporting opt-out, well, that was beyond the pale. Who the hell does she think she is supporting a program that, according to UFT Secretary Howard Schoor, only affects 3% of NYC students? (And hey, while we're at it, let's pretend the lack of support from UFT leadership is just incidental in this, even though other unions all over the state work hand in hand with opt-out.)  If it isn't popular in NYC, who the hell do these hillbillies think they are supporting this? And sure, you could argue that opt-out moved Cuomo to become marginally less insane on the subject of education, but you could just as easily argue that UFT leadership is responsible for it. So why not do that and give opt-out no credit whatsoever?

On the other hand, Long Island teachers and unionists are worlds apart from UFT. While I live in Long Island, three years ago I began to meet and know Long Island teachers. I know several union presidents out here, and unlike the president of my union, they answer my email. In fact, some of them even answer my phone calls. Not only that, but as far as I can tell, they do the same for their members.

Some of them are pretty tired of being told what they can and cannot do by the United Federation of Teachers. Making a UFT Unity member President of NYSUT didn't sit all that well with them. Hence, a lot of them are not precisely feeling the love for NYSUT. Some are thinking about forming their own umbrella union. That's the sort of thing that happens when you bounce two presidents in a row. Sure, the most recent one took a golden parachute to AFT rather than put them through a campaign, but since that benefits a grand total of one person, it's not precisely smoothing the ruffled feathers out here.

I saw NYS Unity, on Twitter, boasting that they would hold the RA somewhere other than NYC in 2020. Nice as that is, it's not much consolation to all the people who didn't get to vote on the NYSUT presidency this year. I understand that, because as a city high school teacher, absolutely no one we voted for represented us at all. Now sure, you'll say, we're not that many. Actually there are more of us than there are members in the Philadelphia teacher union. So we understand.

Long Island is a pretty big place. It's a hotbed for opt-out, and neither UFT nor NYSUT is inspiring a whole lot of love in that movement. If Long Island were to move out of NYSUT, and several local presidents have told me they plan to do so, could upstate be far behind? What can NYSUT do about this? What can UFT do about this?

It's pretty simple, actually. You can start respecting views that differ from your own. You can start at home, by listening to the high schools. Maybe when we bring up things like fighting abusive principals and enforcing reasonable class sizes, the first reaction ought not to be reflexive resistance. Maybe it's not a good idea after all to get up and oppose and table and tear apart each and every contribution we offer. Maybe it's not a good idea to do that to every district in the state with its own opinion.

We in the loyal opposition support almost everything that leadership suggests. The sole exception, in my memory, was when they took a resolution we loved, condemning racism and discrimination, and decoupled it from Donald Trump, absurdly attributing it to "the Presidential election" instead. That, and lack of fundamental democracy. We kind of hate that.

But like our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the state, we don't give up, and we aren't going anywhere. We can work together or not.

We're ready for anything. Are you?

Notes from NYSUT RA

I'm at the NYSUT Representative Assembly. I was here three years ago as a candidate, running against Executive Vice-President Andrew Pallotta. I'm here this year as a guest of the Port Jefferson Station Teacher Association. I had cleared this with UFT, but there was no pass for me. While some woman was making a phone call to check out my standing, PJSTA's Brian St. Pierre walked up to me and handed me a pass.

We are sitting up in a huge empty room watching the convention on TV, Norm Scott, Jia Lee, and myself. Evidently allowing us on the convention floor is too risky. We are hearing about who is teacher of the year.

Interestingly enough, I'm an elected member of the UFT High School Executive Board. We high school teachers are kind of uppity. In fact once, in the eighties, we elected Michael Shulman of New Action our Vice President. This was unforgivable. UFT Unity disputed that election and prevented him from taking office. He spent a whole lot of his term waiting for the next election, which he also won. I was not particularly active back then, but I voted for him both times.

We needed to be punished for that, so once they got rid of Shulman they changed the rules. Now all vice-presidents are voted for "at large." Since every branch but high schools votes Unity, this change affects only us. It's as though New York State were judged too liberal, and the Trump administration decided that Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming needed to help us choose our governor. Thus, James Eterno got the majority of votes for high school VP, but he hasn't been seated.

I'm also not seated. I'm one of seven Executive Board members. We are the only people 20,000 New York City high school teachers elected and we have zero voice in NYSUT. That's because Randi Weingarten's UFT Unity made the rules. Of course, sometimes that's frowned upon:

It’s a dark day when one party thwarts constitutional process & Senate tradition to confirm an ideological ally https://t.co/bXOIHTFFHT

— Randi Weingarten (@rweingarten) April 8, 2017

Ironic, ain't it?

This notwithstanding, we all pay dues to NYSUT. While this happens, we are facing imminent "right to work" laws, which will make union dues optional. Meanwhile leadership is upstairs wondering why people won't want to pay. I say that as a strong supporter of union who will certainly pay.

I met Lee Cutler here, who was unceremoniously ousted three years ago. Lee was much loved by NYSUT members, and almost managed to edge out Martin Messner, the choice of UFT Unity. Richard Iannuzzi told me that UFT holds 28% of NYSUT membership, but 33% of the vote. Thus, with the Unity loyalty oath, they only need to grab 17% of the vote to do whatever the hell they wish. And this year, they're dumping their hand-picked President Karen Magee, giving her a golden parachute to AFT somewhere, and planting UFT's Andrew Pallotta as President.

Yesterday there was a vote to introduce democracy to NYSUT, by allowing remote voting. Many small locals just can't afford a weekend at the NY Hilton. It was defeated. Mike Lillis, running for President against Pallotta, told me that 50% of locals weren't here. On the other hand, the Unity people say 88% of delegates are registered (though not necessarily present). I'm not sure exactly how that jibes, but some locals are very small indeed, so they could both be true.

During this campaign, NYS Unity has not bothered to debate Stronger Together. Who needs to see the candidates head to head when you begin with 33% of the vote in your hip pocket?

I was approached by a delegate who remarked, "In my union all the good guys get to be delegates. Not like yours." 

Don't get me wrong, there are some great people in UFT Unity. But that doesn't mean we're represented. 20,000 high school teachers aren't represented at all, and if that isn't an outrage, I don't know what is.

Update: No surprises here as NY State Unity candidate Andrew Pallotta becomes President of NYSUT. 

The Sad Tale of UFT-Unity's Robo-Voters

I've brought this back, from brilliant Arwen who used to help me out here. I still think it's her best work. Though the dates have been updated, the story's still the same as UFT-Unity sends 750 pre-programmed voters to the NY Hilton. I'm working at a school event tonight but will swing by tomorrow to report. 

Enjoy.

By special guest blogger Arwen E.

Welcome to the NYSUT Convention in NYC. Your UFT-Unity representatives were programmed after last month's Delegate Assembly, and will be arriving at the appointed time.

April 7th-9th, 2017, Mid-Town Manhattan

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The Unity Caucus, representing about one third of NYSUT's convention votes, will send approximately 800 robo-delegates to vote according to the dictates of the Unity leadership, rather than the dictates of conscience or the dictates of a democratic representation of constituencies.  It is a sad and sorry fact that although our Union is the most powerful tool we have to defend the rights of teachers, students and public schools, it has made some very poor decisions in the recent past, including support for mayoral control in the Bloomberg era, Common Core State Standards which have blighted student populations and V.A.M. which will threaten careers based on junk science and simultaneously lead to endless lawsuits.  Will our Union continue to support union-bashers as well as policies to squash students and schools?  Let us take an imaginary look into the Hilton during the second weekend of April to understand some very real threats.

The Mid-Town Hilton Pool:  Saturday Afternoon, April 8, 2017  

Poolside, Saturday Evening:  Delegates Must Not Bend!

 

Robby Converses with Robby in the Lobby 

A Breach of Security Sunday as the Convention Winds Down 

Will this potential breach to security be contained? Will our heroes be contaminated by rogue programming? Or will leadership thwart this dastardly plot from their magical and trusty seat at the table?

Tune in next time for another exciting adventure of UFT-Unity Caucus and their zany antics. 

Executive Board Takeaway.

 UFT Secretary Howard Schoor appears to be an avid reader of this blog. He seemed anxious to influence my notes on two occasions Monday night. I'd previously criticized his apparent ridicule of the question period, so he wanted to make sure I noticed it was more popular. I certainly noticed Monday, for the first time, that Unity members asked questions. Evidently, after a mere seven months of looking absolutely ridiculous, Unity Caucus has concluded it doesn't reflect particularly well on them when we question many things and they question nothing.

Therefore, Unity Caucus planted some questions, just like they do at the DA. I'll never forget going to the DA when the 2014 Contract came up. The very first question was something like, "Gee Mike, what happens if this contract doesn't pass?" That allowed Mulgrew to launch into his carefully prepared appeals to fear, that we would go to the back of the line of 151 unions and that retro wasn't a God-given right.

This notwithstanding, UFT Unity came up with some remarkably silly questions. The first was about when we would get a raise. A Unity member claimed people were asking him about it. Let's assume, for one moment, that this question was not a plant. That would mean that this hand-picked member of the UFT Executive Board was so uniquely inept and unresourceful that he was unable to go to the UFT website and look up the chart that's right here, or even call the borough office. More likely UFT leadership thought it would be a good idea to have him ask the stupid question and have me report on the raise. Naturally I'm delighted to report that UFT members will soon get a fraction of the raise that NYPD and FDNY managed to get almost ten years ago. Kudos to the Unity geniuses who cleverly negotiated that with no interest, and are making us wait years more for back pay.

Another question went to UFT HS VP Janella Hinds. What progress had she made on the resolution regarding Regents scoring that we passed at the DA twelve days ago? That's enough time to wind up a major negotiation with the DOE, isn't it? Janella said that it was not, in fact, and reported on her survey about SAT administration. It's ironic that this question came up, because I'd repeatedly pushed for that resolution. Schoor characterized me as "begging" for it. I can only speculate that, being in the a group that has an army of patronage-crazy loyalty oath signers at its beck and call, Schoor has become less familiar with the concept of advocating for members. That, in fact, is what I was doing. It's kind of my job. I pushed this resolution because I actually teach every day and see firsthand what Regents scoring at remote schools does to people, not to mention various ways principals can make things worse for those who remain. This resolution has the potential to help tens of thousands of high school teachers.

Then, because there are no news reporting organizations and the world's sole source of information is UFT leadership, there was a question about whether ICE had done any raids on public schools.

It was an interesting night for other reasons. We had scores of teachers and parents from Central Park East 1 standing in the back. There were a few members from MORE steering. There was amazing energy in the room, and it was nice to have a sizable group of vocal supporters for once.

 I motivated this resolution to support CPE (that whole advocating thing again), and LeRoy Barr was instantly up to table it. Before he gave a hint as to why he wanted to do that, several nearby Unity loyalists seconded his proposal. Each and every one of them was a loyalty oath signer, bound to support any damn thing they're asked to. They don't need no stinking reasons.

Barr's rationale was that leadership was already doing a lot for CPE 1, and that supporting the resolution would somehow interfere with that. You won't be surprised to learn that I disagree. I motivated the resolution with a direct quote from UFT President Michael Mulgrew. I'm going to reproduce my remarks from this report below:

Tonight we have a school and a school community in crisis, a school suffering under the wholly gratuitous tyranny of an out of control principal. Ironically, this school is one founded on principles of functional democracy, a school that ought to be a model for us all. It’s deplorable to see the ostensible leader of this school trod all over its basic premise, a premise developed by renowned educational activist Deborah Meier. As President Mulgrew told this body just two weeks ago:

"Our biggest issue hands down is (the DOE’s) lack of responsibility with reigning in their principals. We will go after them at the school level. By law the superintendent is in charge. They are responsible for the actions of the principal. It is always best to have documentation when bringing any issues forward." 

Here is our chance to put those words in action. We have abundant documentation. We have firsthand testimony at our fingertips and in this very room. This is a golden opportunity for the United Federation of Teachers to walk the walk. Not only will we be giving much-needed support our brother and sister unionists and community members, but we’ll also be making a stand for the kind of innovative instruction and independent thinking we need to foster and enable for the students we serve.

I urge you to support this resolution and bring it to the Delegate Assembly this month.

We had a great chance to walk the walk and stand against just who Mulgrew said we would. We failed utterly to do this, even though this abusive principal had placed another teacher up for 3020a that very day. When LeRoy Barr asked us to stand for CPE 1, it struck me as odd. Hadn't we just declined to do precisely that? I was not inclined to honor that request. Howard Schoor asked me to report that I failed to stand, literally, for one moment. In fact I was typing furiously at the time, but I'm happy to oblige.

Who failed to stand for CPE 1? Was it us, New Action and MORE, the folks who brought the resolution to support CPE 1? Was it me, the guy who rose to motivate it?

Or was it the caucus that killed it without even bothering to ask why?

You decide.

My MOSL Rating Is Based on Test My Students Don't Take

NY City's brilliant and infallible Engage system has mandated that I be rated on a test the overwhelming majority of my students will not be taking. As far as I can determine, this is a side effect of the rather awful regulation called CR Part 154. You see, I'm an ESL teacher, but teaching ESL isn't real teaching. That's because under Part 154 anything not regarded as "core content" is utterly without value. After all, if it can't be measured with a standardized test, what proof is there that it even exists?

And yet, in fact, there is a standardized test to measure ESL progress. Sure it's a stinking piece of garbage, but it exists. This test is called the NYSESLAT. It used to test language acquisition, albeit poorly, but it's been redesigned to measure just how Common Corey our students are. For the last few years I've lost weeks of instruction so I could sit in the auditorium and ask newcomers endless questions about Hammurabi's Code. I'm not sure what effect this had on non-English speaking students, but I know more about Hammurabi's code than I ever have.

You may have read me lamenting the fact that I'd be measured on such a poor test once or twice. Last year, in fact, I must have done OK with it since I got an effective rating. I have no idea how exactly I did this. I don't teach to that test nor do I go out of my way to learn what's on it. With the oral part is so outlandish and invalid it doesn't seem worth my while to study the written part. So why the hell aren't I rated on this test?

It's complicated, and I can only guess. But Part 154 largely couples ESL with another subject area. In my school, that area is English. It's kind of a natural pairing, until you realize the high likelihood of ELL newcomers sitting around trying to read To Kill a Mockingbird when they can't yet tell you what their names are. After all, when English teachers take the magical 12 credits that render them dual-licensed, how can we be sure part of that training entails instruction to NOT give ELLs materials they CANNOT READ? Maybe the focus is on making stuff more Common Corey. Who knows?

My case is a little unusual. I majored in English as an undergrad, and started out as an English teacher. I only fell into ESL by accident. I recall some administrator walking up to me and asking, "How would you like to teach ESL?" My response was, "What's ESL?" The administrator said, "Try it." I did and I loved it. I turned down my very first appointment, got a job in the world's worst Irish wedding band, and took my Master's. Every day I'm grateful to have stumbled into this.

Decades later, I find myself one of a growing number of dual-licensed ESL/ English teachers in my department. This was convenient for me and my school. I am a certified English teacher and a real ESL teacher. With all due respect, I didn't just take 12 credits and claim certification. The down side, of course, is I am the official English teacher of my students. (Actually, I used to think that was an up side, but now if I'm gonna be rated by the English Regents I'm not sure.)

As a teacher of beginners, my students are sorted by English level rather than grade. The overwhelming majority of my students are in 9th and 10th grade. But there are six 11th graders too. The geniuses over at Advance have determined that I will be rated on their English Regents scores. Who am I to question the great and powerful minds over at Advance? Don't they have air-conditioned offices and make a whole lot more money than I do?

Of course ELLs take history courses that terminate in Regents exams, and their teachers will be judged by them. They take science and math courses and those teachers are stuck with the state scores too. I suppose they can factor in somehow that these students are ELLs. Maybe that makes the junk science a little fairer. On the other hand, if you teach five classes that's 150 students. While that's likely not a valid sample, it beats the hell out of six.

Like everyone I know, including Diane Ravitch, I have no idea how the hell these scores are calculated. It's some complex algorithm incomprehensible to all living humans I know, and that ought to be good enough for me. This notwithstanding, it's a bit worrying to be judged by a sample score of half a dozen students. It's particularly nerve-racking since I know for a fact that all of my students are beginners or near-beginners. That's why they're in my class.

But hey, when you have a teacher rating system based on junk science, stuff happens. So why shouldn't it happen to me?

UFT Executive Board March 27th--We Love CPE1 But Won't Pass Resolution of Support

Howard Schoor—Secretary—Says we’re almost ready to start, and that there are a few speakers.

Speakers:

Erica Pastorella—CL Queens Prep Academy—First year in school, hired from excess. Was no CL when she came in. CL had left school at end of last year, along with 11 others out of 29. Did not want to be CL right away, as art teachers at high risk of excess. No one wanted that position for fear of principal. Met UFT rep Washington Sanchez in February, who sought a CL. Formed a committee, which works well. Still needs a leader.

Schoor thanks her for her service.

Norm Scott—MORE--Abusive principals—Mulgrew said this was our biggest problem. The biggest crisis in our union is the power imbalance between union and teachers. I felt I had a little leverage, feel we don’t now, and feel union responsible. CLs leaving and principals have unfettered power. There is sword hanging over many people, including JHS 145. We’ve left them in a hold—will they get a job? What is their future?

CPE1 Run by Debbie Maier. We’ve watched that place be destroyed. Fariña is anti-union, anti-teacher. We continue to support mayoral control which enables this. We’ve seen manipulated charges hurting people, DRs know. Maybe that was Munich and maybe removal of Marilyn is invasion. This is crime against children. Blandness in this room very disturbing. There is no sense of outrage.

Townsend Harris—Same person destroyed math dept. at Bronx Science. We need to use our resources.

Thursday evert at CPE1. This union owes it to that school to be there in force. At PEP Rich was there. Our presence may have moved votes. We owe it to them to be there. We need to be accountable for what goes on in these schools.

Schoor—Minutes—passed.

Mulgrew is not here. Schoor states he's brought Artie Pepper, UFT Welfare Fund leader, in his place.

Pepper—Doesn’t know what’s happening with ACA. Your guess as good as mine. Knew they wouldn’t take away 26 age.

21st Century cures act. Worried about streamlined drug testing. E-prescribing now mandatory. Reduces fraud. Some scrips rejected because doctors use wrong program names.

Trying to control opioid abuse. Have to send out health coverage forms for tax purposes. Sent out 300,000, 14K rejected, had to resend. Catastrophic medical plan now available again. Have to be in-service and residing in NY State. (Opens April 17th, I’m told.)

Speaks of technology in medicine. Says we will be able to send info electronically via web. Shows us demos.

Here’s the question I didn’t get to ask him, since there were no questions—-Arthur Goldstein—MORE—My doctor just notified us he won’t accept GHI beginning next month. Several specialists we see have told us the same recently. Is this a trend and if so what are we doing about it?

Staff Director Report—LeRoy Barr—LIU professors coming to strike possibility, Rally during day on Thursday. LIU Brooklyn Campus 11-12, April 6. Also, CPE 1 rally that day. Much applause. Will give out details when I get them.  April 15th tax rally, asking Trump to show returns, at Bryant Park.

Immigration reso passed and we have been doing forums in Bronx and elsewhere. May 15th, Monday, 4:30 will have one here.

UFT 5K run May 6, 9 AM. Also school secretary luncheon here. Spring Conference May 13th.

April 28th HS Awards. Apr. 14 EB.

Schoor—Marcus asked about JHS 145 (though I'm pretty sure I did too). Says they have spoken to attorney. Attorney says we have not yet come to conclusion. Past suite was complete elimination of zoned schools,

Questions

Lamar Hughes—Have you heard of ICE agent incidents? How can we help to lower anxiety of that?

Schoor—Hasn’t happened, mayor put out guidelines. We think they are clear. It’s on DOE website.

Mike Schirtzer—MORE—Been reported that Tish James will take action as public advocate. Are we working with her and are there other plans.

A—We have respect for James and may reach out to her.

Schirtzer—MORE--In terms of CPE rally can those teachers facing 3020a be there?

Schoor—Yes.

CPE 1 teacher— Caller Asallas—rally at 4:30 in front of CPE 1. Welcomes all to SLT meeting at 3:30. 

Martin McCalin—When are we receiving salary increase?

Schoor—May 1.

Marcus McArthur—MORE—On plan to life charter cap—how Moskowitz taking over JHS 145—Governor planning to lift cap, seems like that will target our buildings and take over schools. How likely is cap to be lifted and how do we assess that threat. We have 10% of city population in charters and 50K waiting. What is our strategy?

Schoor—Threat is real. Senate GOP doesn’t want charters in their districts but wants them in NYC. Almost reached cap. We oppose it and lobby. Not final yet.

Michael Solo—Last month we discussed Regents scoring, passed resolution. Any updates?

Janella Hinds—Engaging with DOE. No movement for June but dealing w SAT day. Sent survey. Want to insure they are making good decisions around testing.


Arthur Goldstein—MORE—The OPT OUT movement helped us move Cuomo into a marginally better position. I’m told NYSUT took out billboards and sent out an email supporting OPT OUT. What is UFT doing about OPT-OUT?

Schoor—Less that 3% opted out in NY, not big issue here. This union has not voted to participate.

Kuljit Ahluwalia—New Action—How many people are still ATRs? How many were placed? Rumor is they won’t be rotated until June.

Schoor—Can’t comment on rumors. We are negotiating. Hope to get agreement but we are not there yet.

Amy Arundell—About 200 plus ATRs hired through incentive, around 800 rotating

Jonathan Halabi—New Action—Several meetings ago I asked about marches. People’s Climate March April 29th. Are we supporting this or helping people go?

Schoor—Will visit this Friday at AdCom. We need not pass reso. Will get back to you.

Reports from districts—

Jackie Bennett—Paying attention to ESSA. Ed. reform groups want to recreate NCLB. State had meetings on this to get feedback in five boroughs. UFT says don’t recreate NCLB. Thanks CLs and schools who came out.

Anne Goldman—Contractual victory—Nurses discouraged from being unionized. Bosses multi-billionaires. However, we have established strength and have on-time contracts for over 30 years. Just completed contract with Northwell. Improved pay, working conditions, protected pensions. Our strength is in organization. Celebrates ratified contract.

Dave Kazansky—UFT Labor Seder, 11th. 70 people of all faiths. Thanks everyone who was there. Invites us next year.

Duane Clark—CPE 1 rep. discussed concerns, met CL at reassignment center. Got mail from parents. We support CPE 1.

?—DR for District 75—Union proposed public school proud campaign—through all city, social media, 721M, most challenged students, larges sp. ed. district in world, had 8 students selected for special olympics in Austria. Welcomed them back. Gave them UFT bags, water bottles, were very proud.

Janella Hinds—On Friday Bronx UFT had college fair designed by our liaison. 1500 students came to Bronx UFT to see advisors. Replicated next day for parents. March 24th 106th anniversary Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, UFT was there. Honored women and teenagers who perished.

Sterling Roberson—Was proposal for certification for career and tech ed. Proposal means they don’t have to go through overlapping roadblocks. Stay tuned.

Schoor—Board of Regents will vote on it.

Tabio DaCruz—Behalf of Marion Manley—D27 holding SBO workshop April 26th, thanks Amy A.

(Schoor asks me to comment on popularity of question period, which I most certainly will.)

Legislative Report—Paul Egan

Budget season here, federal state and city. Our President suggested budget that would hurt single working parents while enriching the rich. 2 billion dollars would have to be made up elsewhere. Just the beginning. Will largely affect NY. NY State lawmakers skittish about passing budget. Looking at giving money to unaccountable, non-transparent charters. This and many other sticking points around, and no deal done until all deal is done. Missed deadline, first time in six years. Budget now extended. May be able to see fed. budget before they decide. This make city budget a mess too. Must be done by June 30th.

Will have to continue to advocate. Dems statewide attacked for being in pocket of NYC and DeBlasio in GOP districts.

Special order of business—

Janella Hinds—Initiative on voter registration. HS students reaching voting age while in school. We can support them to become registered voters. Asks for support.

Jonathan Halabi—New Action—Rises in support and suggests we combine with voter registration for our own members.

Paul Egan—Over 80% of our members registered, but not all in NYC. Different counties have different policies. We could have 100%, but names need to be in our database and same as county database. People change addresses in one place or other, problematic. DRs having convo about constitutional convention.

Passes.

Arthur Goldstein—MORE—Tonight we have a school and a school community in crisis, a school suffering under the wholly gratuitous tyranny of an out of control principal. Ironically, this school is one founded on principles of functional democracy, a school that ought to be a model for us all. It’s deplorable to see the ostensible leader of this school trod all over its basic premise, a premise developed by renowned educational activist Deborah Meier. As President Mulgrew told this body just two weeks ago:

"Our biggest issue hands down is (the DOE’s) lack of responsibility with reigning in their principals. We will go after them at the school level. By law the superintendent is in charge. They are responsible for the actions of the principal. It is always best to have documentation when bringing any issues forward." 

Here is our chance to put those words in action. We have abundant documentation. We have firsthand testimony at our fingertips and in this very room. This is a golden opportunity for the United Federation of Teachers to walk the walk. Not only will we be giving much-needed support our brother and sister unionists and community members, but we’ll also be making a stand for the kind of innovative instruction and independent thinking we need to foster and enable for the students we serve.

I urge you to support this resolution (which you can read in full right here) and bring it to the Delegate Assembly this month.

LeRoy Barr—Rises to table motion. (Several seconds jump up instantly.)  Says we’ve heard of all the work we’re doing. We clearly stand with you. Heard from borough rep, about outreach. We agree with a lot of this stuff. Wants to table this because we are meeting with DOE and bringing this issue forward. Want to give them opportunity to work with this. Asks people to stand.

Schoor—Says I am not standing. Asks me to be sure to comment on that. I most certainly will.

Barr—Says he will come to rally, bring people to rally, and speak at rally. Still asks that we table this.

Jonathan Halabi—New Action—After reso was written, DOE has raised the stakes. Not only is there no reconciliation, but they’ve gone after another non-tenured teacher today. Wants to argue against tabling.

Schoor—Not debatable

Halabi—New Action--Neither was motion to table. (Barr has commented on this.)

Schoor—Giving you two minutes, Thinks it’s against Robert’s rules.

Halabi—New Action--immediacy here, DOE escalating These people live at their school. In past chapters weren’t ready. This chapter is ready.

Schoor—Calls motion to table. Resolution is tabled. We are adjourned.

Chalkbeat NY--From Reforminess to White Supremacy

Chalkbeat NY has been showing its colors for years now, but has managed to reach a new low. That's not easy. I once wrote for them, back when they were Gotham Schools, and was subject to the most brutal editing process I've ever experienced. (I found this curious because there was some reformy teacher guy who wrote abject nonsense for them that appeared to flow freely without regard to accuracy, and they had no issue running a blatantly stereotypical takedown of ATR teachers.)

I've always questioned their judgment in links, but it has now started directing its readers to ultra-right wing Breitbart. (It now labels it a "national news organization aimed at ultra-conservatives," but that's not what it said the first time I saw the link. It called them simply "advocates.") For years I'd noticed them linking to every single NY Post editorial on the perfidy of teachers. It made no difference how nonsensical or baseless the attack. Of course every time the preposterous Gates-funded "Educators 4 Excellence" sneezed, there was Chalkbeat NY ready to report where every drop landed.

Naturally, when self-appointed education expert Campbell Brown started a reformy website, Chalkbeat NY eagerly linked to it. I often see "The 74" there, and I figure if that's what their readers want, well, they can have it.

But Breitbart is not merely reformy, or "aimed at ultra-conservatives." It's a veritable cesspool of hatred, and how the hell New York City's students, most of color, are supposed to be served by presenting Breitbart as a worthy source eludes me utterly. I mean, sure you can say "alt-right" instead of white supremacist, but at the end of the day you have to call a bigot a bigot, an anti-Semite an anti-Semite, and a racist a racist. I don't tolerate that in my classroom, but of course I'm a teacher. What could I possibly know about education? That's why you won't see me in Chalkbeat anymore.

Chalkbeat's got a very different point of view, and just blew Trump's Education Secretary Betsy DeVos a big old wet kiss.  Betsy's done a heckuva job in Detroit, and wants to introduce that particular brand of wonder and beauty to America as a whole. While students just like ours try to motivate through neglected rat-infested public schools or abysmal charters with no accountability, you can be sure Betsy's BFFs are profiting handsomely off the misery of the children she claims to be serving.

Donald Trump is a textbook bigot. He appeals to the worst of people, and has managed to capitalize on religious hatred. He has Breitbart founding member Steve Bannon in the West Wing. Does anyone seriously believe that Donald Trump is looking out for the welfare of the kids we serve? Does anyone think that Betsy DeVos holds some exalted philosophy that sets her apart from Trump and Bannon? And if she does, why on earth did she accept a job working for them? I mean sure, she gave hundreds of millions of dollars to GOP pols and bought the gig fair and square, but does anyone believe her philosophy is fundamentally superior to that of the people who placed her where she wanted to be?

Maybe Chalkbeat NY does. Evidently Chalkbeat NY thinks it's perfectly fine to link to "alt-right" sources. Certainly Chalkbeat NY has a right to its point of view. Certainly Chalkbeat NY represents someone.

But whoever that may be, it sure as hell isn't NY City's 1.1 million public schoolchildren.