UFT Contract: Send these alleged negotiators back to the table to get a real contract without give-backs or illusory promises!

the example used by our anti-tenure president even if true would probably not lead to disciplinary action for teachers working and maintaining personal relationships with their supervisors. .. Jeff Kaufman

I love that Jeff pinned the anti-tenure label on our union leaders because that is exactly what they are. If they thought there wouldn't be a political price to pay they would agree to dump tenure in a minute -- oh, wait a minute -- they pretty much have agreed to dump a load of it.

Jeff blogged about the same issue I did earlier (UFT Contract: Mulgrew Says It's OK to Fire ATR for "Screaming in the Hallway") over at the ICE blog but in more depth. Jeff assumes when Mulgrew mentioned screaming he was talking about a mentally ill teacher - who of course Mulgrew seems to think should be fired even though ill. What next, you have a heart attack in school and are brought up on charges of disturbing the karma of the kids?

Mulgrew Admits He'll Leave Critical Issues to Others in Proposed Contract

In an amazing admission our UFT president was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article yesterday that a critical issue, the definition of "problematic behavior" will be left to arbitrators to discern. Illusory promises and predictions for our precious health benefits, the future of the proposed"no-contract" PROSE schools, merit pay for a new class of teachers and the impact of inflation on 9 years of earned pay all demonstrate that this proposal must be defeated.

Mulgrew told the Wall Street Journal, "[that] a panel of hearing officers would "solidify the definition" of problematic behavior. "If someone says a teacher is screaming in the hallway, that's a problem," he said. "If you do that once, you should be written up. If you do that again you should go through an expedited hearing process."

This quote clearly shows how disconnected the proposers are. 

First, the statement assumes the truth of the allegations. A fundamental part of due process and 3020-a hearings is that charged teachers have the absolute right to cross-examine witnesses against them and present a defense if they wish. Our due process system has, until now, withstood the test of time and while some ed deformers might argue it does not work the bottom line is that based on the number of teachers charged and teachers returned to teaching and the settlements entered into by all sides it is clear that this right is taken seriously and mere allegations must be clearly proven before they become the basis for disciplinary action.

Secondly, the example used by our anti-tenure president even if true would probably not lead to disciplinary action for teachers working and maintaining personal relationships with their supervisors. If the teacher displayed psychotic behavior (I assume Mulgrew did not mean the teacher was trying to stop a fight or call attention to serious problem) we would hope that the teacher would be referred for proper medical attention. Instead Mulgrew further maintains and supports the ed deformer myth that ATRs are mentally ill people who should be terminated.

Progressive discipline is the hallmark to good labor relations. With 80,000 teachers we would expect some problems (including whatever "problematic behavior" turns out to be) but to strip away some of our most basic protections it outrageous and must be stopped.

Send these alleged negotiators back to the table to get a real contract without give-backs or illusory promises!

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UFT Contract: Mulgrew Says It's OK to Fire ATR for "Screaming in the Hallway"

UFT logo for ATRs

Don't you think we should have the definitions of "problematic" behavior BEFORE voting on the contract?

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said a panel of hearing officers would "solidify the definition" of problematic behavior. "If someone says a teacher is screaming in the hallway, that's a problem," he said. "If you do that once, you should be written up. If you do that again you should go through an expedited hearing process."

What else? Peeing without picking up the toilet seat? (Hmmmm -- I can go with that -- cameras in the bathrooms.)

How many times do you hear teachers screaming in the halls at a kid? Or even at each other? I once had a screaming match with my principal.

And remember the argument Portelos had with a teacher where part of the charges were that he cursed her in the hall. But DOE legal left out the part where she cursed him multiple times before he responded. That teacher was never charged and in fact testified against Portelos - there was a tape of her screaming match, she openly lied during the testimony - a chargeable offense.

Don't you think we should have the definitions of "problematic" behavior BEFORE voting on the contract?

The WSJ reports:

Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday he trusted principals to judge whether to keep teachers assigned from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back. His comments followed critics' claims that the tentative city teachers' contract wouldn't ensure that the pool's poor performers would be kept out of classrooms.

Mr. de Blasio referred to teachers in the so-called Absent Teacher Reserve, who have lost permanent jobs because of budget cuts or disciplinary problems but continue to get full pay as substitutes, often for years. The contract offers them severance of up to 10 weeks' pay for 20 years of service.

The tentative contract says that in certain cases, the Department of Education can assign these teachers to full-time jobs in schools with vacancies even if they have been penalized with 30-day suspensions or fines of $2,000 or more. The pact says principals can return teachers to the pool if they aren't good matches. Further, if two principals formally write one up for "problematic behavior" within consecutive years, the teacher would face an expedited hearing that could lead to dismissal.

That would mean that there is some flexibility over cases like Portelos - who was fined 10 grand and not returned to his school despite the hearing officer mandating that. But I think this is de Blasio smoke and mirrors designed to fuzzy things up given there has been some reaction to this situation over the past few days.

Note to Unity slugs humping the contract: Should you be in this situation one day don't come crying - I know of a Unity person who pushed for the 2005 contract and has seen some light: (ICEUFT Blog: LONG TIME UNITY CHAPTER LEADER OPPOSES CONTRACT - WHY I OPPOSE THIS CONTRACT PROPOSAL).

Read it at the WSJ where you can read how poor Jenny Sedlis from Students Ignored plays parrot. Note how Jenny, that paragon of children support, doesn't mention how kids are ignored in the contract which fosters high class sizes.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304081804579558473061202320?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304081804579558473061202320.html

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Class Size Sellout as UFT Contract/Farina Endorse Continued High Class Sizes

Mulgrew claims to be against ed deform are smoke as the contract clearly supports the ed deform emphasis on PD while disparaging class size reform.

Video of Farina comments on class size below.
 
I'm home today and have many posts to go so take your time and read them all. With Ravitch having her knee replaced today  - did ed deformers CAP her?, I have to make up the difference. And good luck Diane. Use that new knee to good use. 


A YES vote for the contract is a vote for continued high class size. NYC teachers are working under class size limits - with loads of loopholes - that was codified almost 45 years ago. Under the last 20 years of BloomIani there was no chance of improving those numbers. And now with a more friendly mayor - supposedly -- the UFT had its chance to make a dent in these numbers. But instead it codified these class sizes basically in perpetuity. Shame on them. And on Farina, who has never been a big supporter of class size reductions, feeling more PD is the answer. Sure let's do PD with 80 in a class.

What a tandem -  it is not only the UFT/Unity Caucus leadership that feels class size is not an important enough issue to address in the contract but Farina too. Both entered into negotiations with no thought to class size but more PD instead.

When Unity people challenged me on my NO Vote stance I threw the class size issue back in their faces and they just shut up. Please use this point when they come a callin' to your school.

Fred Smith asks:

Folks,

Remember Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?  According to Wikipedia this is the title of several edutainment computer games... that teach geography and reference skills.

Based on Leonie's question about the Chancellor's acceptance of large class sizes--and our vigorous string of emails trying to nail down exactly what she said, I propose we keep chronicling remarks she makes at public forums (i.e., generalities and statements like: "We're looking into it."; "Give us some time."; and "We can't do that because we must follow state and federal mandates.") 

Let's put them together and follow up on them under the heading Where in the World is Carmen Farina?! 

I get the feeling we're all becoming exasperated by too much slipping and sliding on her part. Maybe this is a way we can pin her down.

Fred

Follow this thread from parents on the CTS listserve on Farina views on class size:

I read a tweet that in response to a parent’s concern about large classes at the d15 townhall, Carmen said that a 3rd grade class of 30 which includes special ed students is not too large. Janine, or anyone else who was there, can you confirm this?

I am so disheartened – the Council hearings yesterday about charters featured the same BS from DOE w/ no change in terms of increased transparency or honesty as far as I could see. Elizabeth Rose even said that it would be impossible to estimate the increased cost of busing charter students even though the IBO has already done this.

Please let me know what Carmen said.

===
I was there and heard this but it sounded so unbelievable that I assumed I heard wrong. I would triple confirm!
===
I was there too & she did say it. I think she made some casual remark that it's on the large side, but as though it was no big deal. In general, I thought she was minimizing things &/or saying Well we just don't have the money. One of her pro-test lines was one I particularly hate: kids are going to have to take tests sometime in their lives.... (So let's start assaulting them early?) How did the rest of us, especially us older farts, manage to survive & even thrive without being given standardized top-down tests when we were little?
====
unfortunately, what ch farinia says here is true. it is hard to find a school where class size is under 30. in fact, i find this is the norm. we now see 31, 32. this is because every student brings a little pot of $$ to the school. what is an admin to do when the budget cuts so deeply that this little pot of $$ is now how we fund things. this sucks, and this is what needs to be addressed. you cannot shrink class size w/o properly funding schools. period.
=====

Video by Michael Elliott re: Farina on class size question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPPqN0-ytq0&feature=youtu.be

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NYSUT Election Update: Message to Revive: Now that you broke it, you own it

Well, Revive certainly broke NYSUT with the claim that the Stronger Together leadership wasn't militant enough -- one very big joke. So now they own it.

And Revive will come under the very same attacks they used on Stronger Together starting ---- yesterday. Even with 100% of the Unity block voting for him, Revive's Martin Messner won with 53.7% of the weighted vote while Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler came in with 46.3%.

In fact the Julie Cavanagh vs Mulgrew numbers (Julie Cavanagh Defeats Mulgrew Outside NYC With 52.3% of Vote) show just how soft the support for Revive is -- let's split the baby -- say half of Julie's votes were due to people knowing her and the other half anti-Mulgrew. So even the big cities had some clear drift toward the Stronger Together candidates.

James Eterno at the ICE blog (REVIVE WINS; MORE DOES VERY WELL OUTSIDE NYC) shows how Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler beat Martin Messer (whose tweets put him in slug territory) with 70% of the vote outside NYC. James explains:

A detailed look at the numbers for the election, which we have said was run on as tilted a playing field as a UFT election, shows it was much closer than most people expected.  Outside of New York City, Revive candidates either lost or only won by a small margin.  The difference in this election was the New York City UFT Unity Caucus bloc of votes. 
These Delegates are bound by their caucus obligations to support the decisions of their caucus in public and union forums (the so called Unity loyalty oath) so we knew 34% of the vote (the percentage the UFT has in this election according to what we looked at) was going to Revive from the start. That is a healthy head start.
For Secretary-Treasurer, Revive's Martin Messner won with 53.7% of the weighted vote while Stronger Together incumbent Lee Cutler came in with 46.3%. We got to know Lee Cutler during the last month and found him to be a decent guy who did a pretty good job as an officer. We are not surprised that he won a huge percentage of the vote outside of New York City. Let's look at some of the details.
There were 328,014 weighted votes that were cast in the election for president.  It was less for other offices which is not unusual in any election. Since 34% of the votes were from the UFT and this was a non secret ballot, we can safely assume that all of the UFT votes were for Revive's Martin Messner.
Outside of NYC we can conclude there were 216,489 weighted votes by simply subtracting 111,525 (34% of the total weighted votes cast) from 328,014 (number of weighted votes cast for president).  Now subtract from Messner's totals the same NYC 111,525 weighted votes from his 175,790 total and he is left with 64,275 votes while Cutler keeps all of his non NYC weighted votes which add up to 151,526.  Outside of NYC, where the election is not a top down mandate from Michael Mulgrew, Cutler won easily with 70% of the vote to Messner's 30%.
The same holds true if we take out the NYC votes from the other officers. Stronger Together's Maria Neira, Kathleen Donahue, and of course Dick Iannuzzi won easily outside of NYC. It was also very competitive outside of the city for Arthur Goldstein against Andrew Pallotta for Executive Vice President.

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NYSUT UPDATE: UFT Sells Out on Charter Law in Exchange for Cuomo Tossing a Bone on Evals to Cut Iannuzzi

It will be even more interesting to see how the election results affect the delegates and the union. Will they all close ranks behind the next regime? Or will the divisions opened up during the campaign linger on?.. Mike Antonucci, EIA

Insiders are telling me that Cuomo throwing Mulgrew an olive branch on teacher evals yesterday was a way to slap Iannuzzi and help Mulgrew in NYSUT election - a sign it is closer than we thought. Mike Antonucci seems to think so too.

In exchange, UFT was quiet as a mouse in disastrous charter deal that will end up costing the UFT thousands of working members over the next few years as charters grow into a much as 10% of the school system. Actually, I'm predicting that this new charter enhancement bill will have a tsunami effect -- think accelerating greenhouse effect and global warming -- ice pack melts, etc.

This is the charter equivalent -- watch charters grow to 30% in a decade as the state legislature keeps expanding the charter cap -- see millions in commercials spent on that coming soon. UFT will barely organize any of them and end up losing 15,000 members.

If Dick wins, no NYSUT endorsement for Cuomo.

If Mulgrew wins and NYSUT endorses Cuomo there will be a revolt - esp w Cuomo support for charters.

Mike Antonucci who gave Revise a slam dunk not long ago now sees a closer election.

Mike is right on that but wrong on a few things in not bringing up the Cuomo issue. He is also wrong that national AFT has little impact on local stuff. National AFT and local UFT are one and the same -- under the control of the same people on all levels.

Mike doesn't see that the key is Randi's ties to Dem party. Randi still controls Mulgrew and UFT. This is her deal as much as anyone's -- she wants to be a player in Dem party and Iannuzzi revolt threatened that.

Summing up:

• UFT/Randi have sacrificed long-term interests of union for short-term stool at the Cuomo table.
• No matter what they have fomented a permanent split in NYSUT that cannot be healed -- though watch them attack the people they just finished going after for being "divisive."
• This will carry over to the national AFT as alliances are built between the NYSUT anti-Unity crew and others around the nation wanting to challenge Randi's leadership.
• Ed Notes will be there to cover everything as I continue to not have a life.

 From Antonucci EIA:

NYSUT Election Will Be Held Saturday Evening

Posted: 02 Apr 2014 10:53 AM PDT

The incumbent has the support of more than 300 locals, and the challenger has the support of all the largest ones. Barring something utterly extraordinary, Karen Magee will become the new president of New York State United Teachers, but by a less-than-impressive margin.
Almost all of the union’s business will be conducted prior to the election on Saturday evening, and it will be interesting to see how much the battle between the two caucuses affects other areas.
Former NYSUT president Tom Hobart will be receiving an award. He has endorsed incumbent president Richard Iannuzzi. AFT president Randi Weingarten will address the delegates. Her local, the United Federation of Teachers, is the driving force behind the challenger. John Stocks, the executive director of NEA, will also speak. The national union has little influence on NYSUT, and its staunch support of Common Core has hit swirling rapids in New York.
It will be even more interesting to see how the election results affect the delegates and the union. Will they all close ranks behind the next regime? Or will the divisions opened up during the campaign linger on?

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As the NYSUT World Turns: Some NYC Unity Caucus Delegates May Bolt and Vote Stronger Together

Leroy Barr Offer to Unity RA Delegates

Reports are surfacing that a small faction of Unity may just vote their conscience and damn the consequences at the April 5 NYSUT Representative Assembly.

Unity Caucus held a meeting at 52 Broadway (UFT HQ) after last Wednesday's (March 19) Delegate Assembly - with dinner served (were they using our dues money - did they pay rent? Can MORE hold caucus meetings there too?).

Leroy Barr strongly reminded the 800 Unityites who were elected as delegates to state and national conventions in the March 2013 elections that they were expected to vote as a block for the Mulgrew/Weingarten instigated Revive slate in the April 5 NYSUT election and they would be watched due to the open ballot.

There are early signs that Barr's message did not go over very well with at least a few of the Unity faithful, soon to be classified as traitors and drummed out of the Caucus if they should dare cast their vote for Stronger Together on April 5.

Barr also admonished them that they should not miss sessions to traipse around the city, as usual, using their meal money to eat at local restaurants. "Bring your own food and snacks into the convention hall" - paraphrasing Barr's comment from someone who was present. I'll bring them a bag of peanuts when I stop by late Saturday afternoon on April 5th after I work the FIRST LEGO League robotics tournament at the Javits Center.

Too bad I'll miss Arthur Goldstein's early morning speech that day. Arthur us running a piece this morning (On Timeliness and Learning) chronicling  his travels around the state speaking and making new friends as he goes head to head for NYSUT VP against former UFT District Rep Andy Pallotta, who by the way makes around $350,000 a year. I gotta hit Arthur for a loan when he wins - and by the way, if he does I bet we see Arthur make a move to reduce those crazy salaries of our union leaders, just as Karen Lewis did in Chicago.

Arthur has a funny piece running this morning on
The Sad Tale of UFT-Unity's Robo Voters with cartoons yet.




That Barr had to make this point so strongly as a reminder to the Unity faithful (and those soon to be not so faithful) is a sign there is some unhappiness inside Unity Caucus (in the UFT) with the way the NYSUT split was fomented.

In some of my personal contacts when the subject comes up there is a rolling of the eyes. Sometimes a shrug. Clearly, little enthusiasm for the initiative to dump the current NYSUT leadership minus Andy Pallotta, a leadership that has one of their popular former members - Maria Neira - being dumped too. Maria still has a lot of supporters in Unity. Her integrity is well-known and counts for something when she sticks with Dick Iannuzzi when she probably could have deserted him for what could have been a guaranteed win if she ran on the Revise slate.

We always know that there are some decent Unity Caucus people with a conscience, but a conscience that will be put on hold when it comes to supporting dictums from the top. (I remember on the bus to the airport in Seattle after the 2010 Bill Gates AFT convention, some Unity people approached me and said they agreed with Ed Notes on many positions and trashed Randi and the Gates appearance. That didn't stop them from booing the people who walked out on Gates.)

There are some Unity people planning on leaving the caucus on their own and this vote will be their form of resigning. If they are thrown out of the caucus before the AFT July convention in LA, do they still get to go, given they were elected? In 2010, a Unity delegate and chapter leader who had invited my pal Angel Gonzalez to her soon to be closed school was tossed from the convention trip because she hadn't paid her Unity dues on time. She sent me off to Seattle with a scathing criticism of Randi/Mulgrew and Unity and joined GEM (the pre-cursor to MORE and Change the Stakes).

How interesting if even a sliver of Unity actually joins Stronger Together, the first even minor break in Unity here in the city since the mid-to late 60s. (We saw in the 2013 elections a large rank and file desertion of Unity - votes that MORE was not able to pick up.)

There is so much going on behind the scenes that I can't talk about yet - if I did I would have to kill you. But you will read it here first.

Stay tuned to "As the NYSUT World Turns."

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NYSUT Rift Update: The Fat Lady Hasn't Sung as Hobart and Cortese Endorse Iannuzzi Slate

Rumore is making a gambit that Mulgrew would defend his local better than Iannuzzi? Who is he kidding? ... Comment on ed notes

Our pals at Port Jefferson Station have posted this. For NYC people Hobart and Cortese may not mean much but they have been heavy hitters in NYSUT. I've never supported them but their support for Dick carries some weight. Below that is a comment on Ed Notes, followed by emails from Mike Lillis, President of Lakeland Federation of Teachers with some heavy criticism of Andy. This battle ain't going away too soon.

I think a question to explore very soon is WHY? And how  this battle affects Randi and the AFT given the dominance of NYSUT in that organization. Some people are even whispering that this is a Mulgrew power play against Randi. Hard to believe but anything is possible.

Hobart and Cortese Endorse Iannuzzi, Neira, Donahue, Cutler

January 31, 2014
NYSUT Leaders and Members:
We are proud to serve as the Honorary Reelection Committee and to endorse the reelection of Dick Iannuzzi for President, Maria Neira and Kathleen Donahue for Vice President and Lee Cutler for Secretary-Treasurer of NYSUT!
We have been involved in framing the NYSUT mission and vision from its inception.  Along with many great unionists from across New York, we’ve watched our union grow and evolve in ways that place NYSUT at the forefront of the teacher union movement — in fact of the entire labor movement.  Dick and his team have a vision that is inclusive of every constituency group and local regardless of region or size.  They have made leaders feel and know that they are part of a union that cares about and advocates for every member.  They understand that leadership is about making the tough choices in tough times to save our members’ jobs, and about recalibrating our budgetary priorities and restructuring our organization to better meet our members’ needs.  They know that leadership is about leading and taking responsibility for decisions, not finger-pointing or scapegoating colleagues when times are hard.
Like each of us, the STRONGER TOGETHER team understands that a union best serves its members with a long-range strategy and vision that supports real change, but not change for the sake of change.
The future of NYSUT depends on a team whose vision looks toward the future with new ideas that engage a collective voice, and not one that seeks to look backwards and fails to recognize the value of every member.  Dick, Maria, Kathleen and Lee have the vision and experience to lean into the future on your behalf, and that’s why we are proud to actively provide our support.
In solidarity,
Thomas Y. Hobart, Jr.
President Emeritus
Antonia Cortese
Former  NYSUT First Vice President
Hobart/Cortese Endorsement Letter

Geo Karo has left a new comment on your post "Is Iannuzzi Toast?":

Important coverage here.
Opponents of Cuomo and King's corporate deformist policies that have ravaged teachers' working conditions and children's learning conditions should do all they can to build support among the remaining out of NYC and out of Buffalo teacher union locals.
And Rumore is making a gambit that Mulgrew would defend his local better than Iannuzzi? Who is he kidding? Mulgrew and his proxy Pallotta paid $10,000 for a table at Cuomo's (reelection) birthday party. What Kool-Aid is Rumore drinking? Has he forgotten that Mulgrew's beneficiary --Cuomo-- has threatened to take over the Buffalo School District, screaming that the BTF's APPR MOU is illegal?
Thankfully, Buffalo is not the only big non-NYC block of votes. Syracuse's union president Kevin Ahern was an early supporter of Iannuzzi's move vs. King. Think of all those YouTube videos of teacher union members across the state, railing against Common Core & King's tour. Like Ahern, we could expect that they will more likely side with Iannuzzi over Michael "put up a lame response to deform" Mulgrew.

This is a classic Which Side are You On struggle. Mulgrew is unapologetic re the most repressive APPR in NYS, Mulgrew defended CCSS on principle throughout 2013. Can NYS teachers afford to let Mulgrew's sham unionism seize tighter control of NYSUT?

======
Andy Pallotta/Mulgrew may win in a runaway but they have created longer lasting problems of divisions at the state level that won't go away soon. Will a serious opposition caucus to state Unity emerge? Even people who vote for Mulgrew will soon come to see that things will go backward.

Aside from the email below from Lakeland Fed of Teachers President Mike Lillis regarding the threat to the NYSUT legal department once Mulgrew gets his hands on it with total control, I've heard similar thoughts from people inside the legal dept -- that whatever support they give teachers currently will not be as strong. And I know that there are people who have said they wouldn't use their NYSUT lawyers but I've also heard some good things. Remember - UFT has no legal dept for teachers - only NYSUT lawyers.

Norm, 

I thought you might find this helpful.  For anyone who believes that Andy is somehow being held back by Dick, this article in Capital New York would be illuminating.  Since Andy got to Albany, the only meaningful means we have had to address our members concerns is the legal dept (APPR lawsuit, Tax Cap lawsuit).  Thankfully the legal dept is controlled by Dick, because if Andy controlled that as well our members would have no reason to hope for improvement.  Andy has mastered the Art of talking about hard work and doing nothing,except working behind the scenes for the last year and a half to  orchestrate a coup.

Here is his email to the Pallotta:

Michael Lillis mlillis510@gmail.com	10/25/13
to apallotta, rianuzzi, mneira, dianuzzi, kdonahue, Lee

 

Andy,

I am compelled to write to you regarding the recent article in Capital NY concerning the I.D.C. and their efficacy. After reading and agreeing with everything that Dick had said about the I.D.C. and the dysfunction that they have created in the Senate, I was shocked to read that rather than let Senator Klein answer directly for the lack of movement regarding our agenda items concerning testing, women's rights, and farm workers, you decided to intervene and allow Senator Klein to save face by not having to provide a rationale for why he is obstructing our agenda.  To see so many of our legislative agenda items either stalled or rejected by our "friends," it is high time that we more clearly and publicly delineate our agenda items as Dick has just done.  

We are at a crucial moment and we need the legislature to perceive us as unified and moving in a single direction with clear expectations for the Legislators behavior.  Significant work has been done to lay a foundation to turn back the tide of the education reform agenda forced upon us by the Governor, the Legislature and the Regents.  Within the next couple of months there will have been close to two dozen public hearings hosted by Regents and Legislators alike and they will hear a consistent message about SED overreach and incompetence.  For you to have so visibly sent out a mixed message about what we want is amateur and does not serve my members.   As evidence of how this undermines our agenda on educational issues I found the article in Capital NY through a link on GothamSchools.org.  Clearly organizational dissonance undermines our effectiveness and will be exploited by people who want to marginalize us. 

We, the rank and file teachers in NYS, are at the breaking point over these curricula and testing issues.  We need action and the current structure of the Senate has proven itself to only enable inaction and an opportunity to blame others for why individual Legislators are not taking tough stands. Dick is absolutely correct to point out that it would be better if the Senate was completely controlled by either the Republicans or the Democrats, because then when teachers and parents go to vote, we will know who to blame.  

The next few months is going to provide us a unique and powerful opportunity to act quickly to get legislative action to slow down and reverse this poorly conceived education reform agenda.  If we squander this opportunity through our own legislative dissonance the membership will be justified in wondering, "how could such a once powerful organization have been marginalized so quickly"?  Nothing will marginalize us more effectively than sending a mixed message to legislators about what we demand.

Thank you,

Mike Lillis

President Lakeland Federation of Teachers

 

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Updates from Weekend NYSUT Meeting: Locals and Counting Oppose Mulgrew Takeover

.... just last year, Mulgrew asked the State legislature and Cuomo to allow King to arbitrate a dispute Mulgrew was having with Bloomberg over APPR shows that UFT wants and needs King and Cuomo’s help.... Friday night, Mulgrew accused Cutler of undermining him at the UFT’s last delegate assembly because a motion was brought to the floor for UFT to not endorse Cuomo. Of course that motion was defeated.  It wasn’t Cutler that brought that idea to that UFT delegate. It was me Michael and you should have supported that resolution because Cuomo is not good for the UFT or the rest of NY State... Beth Dimino, Pres. Port Jefferson Station TA

Here is a report from the Long Island Presidents' Council listserve about the weekend from Port Jeff Station Pres Beth Dimino-- I'll follow up with analysis later. There is only one statewide caucus - Unity - an open caucus unlike UFT/Unity - and the state level is where the split is taking place. So all sides were present at the state Unity Caucus meeting on Friday night. These 50 presidents met separately on Saturday and formed Stronger Together
to support Iannuzzi. Beth uses lots of first and last names I don't know but we'll all figure this out later.

Date: January 26, 2014 at 6:37:16 PM EST

Subject: Fwd: Fw: LIPC Intranet: New Discussion Thread - [POSTSU...

This weekend I was in Albany with 50 other local presidents to address the upcoming NYSUT elections... please read my recent post on the Long Island President's website below and be sure to go to thepjsta.org for updates as well...

Message:

Everything that is posted here was either told to me directly by the individuals involved or was witnessed by me. Fifty Local Presidents from large and small locals, from all parts of the State, braved the snow and met to discuss the future of NYSUT, yesterday afternoon in Albany.  Everyone shared their ideas for how to move this organization forward after the insanity of the election is over. It’s no coincidence that the president’s meeting was Saturday afternoon. I anticipated that Friday night’s Unity Caucus meeting would be a fiasco and it was that and more as NYSUT members who attended the Friday night meeting informed the group.  I’m sure you’ll hear highlights of the Caucus meeting but what I’d like to inform you of is what mattered the most to the fifty presidents that were in the meeting with me. 1)     The revive slate is anything but a grass roots movement. Pallotta and Lubin, with Mulgrew’s blessing, have been planning the revive run for more than a year. I personally was courted at last year’s RA and this fall to run on the revive slate, as was one other LI local president. Andy “tapped” people to run with the promise that he would get Unity Caucus backing and therefore would win the election. Messner showed his loyalty to both Andy and Michael at the RA last year and was promised the Secretary Treasurer’s position. (Maria) Niera intimated to me that Mulgrew contacted Niera and told her that if she agreed to walk away from Iannuzzi and join Pallotta she would keep her NYSUT job. Only after Niera explained to Mulgrew that even though she felt great affection for her UFT brothers and sisters she NOW represented the interests of the entire State of NY, not just NYC, was Niera informed that Fortina [UFT VP and Teacher Center head] was “tapped” to run against her. I was personally told that neither Paul nor Nadia really wanted to run for Donohue’s position, but when the other LI local President and I turned it down, Paul agreed. Andy cannot divorce himself from the other officers. He was part of the “team” for 6 years and if he wanted to call the shots he should have run for President. Instead Magee was “tapped”. Magee is best known recently for three things, 1) introducing herself to a group of upstate presidents at a meeting last July as the next NYSUT President, 2) accepting another term as a TRS delegate when she fully intended to run for NYSUT President in October instead of serving on the TRS, and 3) Standing at a NYSUT Board of Directors meeting in December and asking that Iannuzzi reconsider endorsing Cuomo. 2)    All 50 presidents agreed that Cuomo’s tax cap is crippling every local except the UFT. NYSUT must not endorse Cuomo and Cuomo must know that today. Cuomo and King must acknowledge that King and the common core are hurting teachers and children. The fact that, just last year, Mulgrew asked the State legislature and Cuomo to allow King to arbitrate a dispute Mulgrew was having with Bloomberg over APPR shows that UFT wants and needs King and Cuomo’s help. Friday night, Mulgrew accused Cutler of undermining him at the UFT’s last delegate assembly because a motion was brought to the floor for UFT to not endorse Cuomo.  Of course that motion was defeated.  It wasn’t Cutler that brought that idea to that UFT delegate. It was me Michael and you should have supported that resolution because Cuomo is not good for the UFT or the rest of NY State. Most importantly for the 50 presidents in the   Saturday meeting, was the fact that even though Friday night’s Unity Caucus meeting was a “shit show”, Iannuzzi was able to pull that dysfunctional group together to get the NYSUT BOD to agree to a vote of no confidence for King and withdrawal of support for CCSS.     3)      What are the facts; Iannuzzi and Niera got us the APPR.  After a year of the APPR, all of us agreed that it is a huge pain in the ass.  But, Unlike Mulgrew who had his APPR imposed on his local because he could not effectively negotiate with his Superintendent, the rest of the presidents in NY negotiated APPRs where less than 2% of all the teachers in NY were ineffective. The APPR needs revisions, and all of us agreed that Iannuzzi and Niera will get those revisions done. In regards to the tax cap, Iannuzzi directed the legal department to file the lawsuit. Palotta and his legislative team got us tier 5, tier 6, charter schools, and merit pay. Palotta has not pushed back against Cuomo’s tax cap or the common core. Lubin may have been effective in his day, but his protégé Palotta is not producing. Further, one of Pallotta’s staff members asked me to “tone” down my presentation after a Flanagan meeting and Pallotta’s controlled Suffolk PAC asked me not to go into the room with them at the last Committee of 100 meeting with Flanagan. Long Island presidents were asked to support LaValle because Pallotta’s staff needed someone friendly they could talk to in Albany at the last President’s Conference. Pallotta and his directives to his legislative team do NOT represent the best interests of Long Island or NYS. 4)      50 President’s Conclusion: We will support the Iannuzzi, Niera, Cutler and Donohue slate because it represents the needs of all of the locals on Long Island and in NY State. We will work with Iannuzzi to insure that each and every NYSUT member knows that regardless of whether they are from a local that is large or small, rural, suburban or urban, whether they do any job in higher ed or pre k to 12, health care or life guard their voice will be heard and they will be represented. Now that’s a Grass Roots Democratic Movement!

See James Eterno's excellent analysis now running on both the ICE and the Port Jefferson Station blogs.

The official website of the PJSTA: UFT Guest Post #1: James Eterno

ICEUFT Blog

MAKING SOME SENSE OF THE NYSUT LEADERSHIP SPLIT - Many New York City teachers view New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) as the group that offers UFT members discount insurance. It is so much more importa...

 

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The State of Politics: UFT Sides With "Insurgents" In NYSUT Power Struggle

If Iannuzzi has to go how about Randi Weingarten? Duhhhh! We told you from Day 1 Pallotta was Mulgrew's tool. I'm putting in a tab up top of the blog where I will keep links from Ed Notes and some other sources as this gets played out.

For those of you who have not following the ed notes coverage of this NYSUT internal struggle, as we predicted from Day 1 Mulgrew has been behind it.

A pointed out Unity controls 40% of the delegates who will vote -- all 800 elected last April despite the fact thousands of people voted for MORE, yet those people get disenfranchised at NYSUT and the AFT.

Pallotta et al also has the support of NYSUT’s former executive vice president, Alan Lubin, who wrote on the REVIVE website:

“Four incumbents say ‘Now is not the time to change leadership.’ That’s an argument used in Union elections since the beginning of time. (Including by me, in the past!). We are past that argument now. The REVIVE NYSUT leaders argue for new approaches, new coalitions, and improved outreach and much more involvement and input from locals across the state to bring NYSUT to a higher level.”

As I wrote recently the "retired" Alan Lubin, who we are told despises Iannuzzi, is up to his ears in this. Yeah, Alan, you guys have been telling us since the beginning of time "now is not the time." If Iannuzzi has to go how about Randi Weingarten?

A point to watch here is:

Also this weekend, a group of some 50 NYSUT local leaders from around the state – basically, everywhere EXCEPT New York City – will be meeting separately at an Albany hotel to discuss their support of Iannuzzi, but also their vision for the future of the union and what it should look like going forward. This group of Iannuzzi backers also has a wesbite: StrongertogetherNYSUT.com.

We know people who will be at this meeting and will report as soon as info comes in.

check the comments

http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2014/01/uft-sides-with-insurgents-in-nysut-power-struggle/

UFT Sides With Insurgents In NYSUT Power Struggle (Updated)

A significant rift has developed between UFT President Mike Mulgrew and NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi, with the downstate teachers union honcho backing a slate of challengers against his statewide counterpart’s leadership team.
Mulgrew announced his support yesterday on the website of “REVIVE NYSUT” – the insurgent arm of the statewide teachers’ union that is challenging Iannuzzi and his allies in a fight for the NYSUT leadership. The opposition slate includes Andy Pallotta, NYSUT’s current executive vice president and a Mulgrew ally.

“We support the REVIVE NYSUT Unity slate,” Mulgrew wrote. “We have heard the voices from locals across the state and agree with their call for change.”

UPDATE: Pallotta is the REVIVE member who is drawing the most attention, due, I believe, to his Bronx roots and his alliance with Mulgrew. But he is seeking re-election to his current post. The presidential candidate challenging Iannuzzi is Karen McGee, a NYSUT Board member and president of the Harrison Association of Teachers in Westchester County.

Pallotta et al also has the support of NYSUT’s former executive vice president, Alan Lubin, who wrote on the REVIVE website:

“Four incumbents say ‘Now is not the time to change leadership.’ That’s an argument used in Union elections since the beginning of time. (Including by me, in the past!). We are past that argument now. The REVIVE NYSUT leaders argue for new approaches, new coalitions, and improved outreach and much more involvement and input from locals across the state to bring NYSUT to a higher level.”

NYSUT’s internal power struggle has been the talk of education blogs for several weeks now, but so far has failed to break through into the mainstream media. The fight recently surfaced when state Education Commissioner John King suggested during a CapTon interview that Iannuzzi’s motive for advancing a “no confidence” vote against the commissioner might be more about problems within his own house and less about unhappiness with the Board of Regents’ implementation of the controversial Common Core curriculum.
Common Core – or, more specifically, its impact on the controversial teacher performance evaluation process (which, by the way, both NYSUT and the UFT signed off on) – is indeed a source of consternation among NYSUT members, especially on Long Island, where opponents have been particularly vocal. This is one of the prime examples offered by the anti-Iannuzzi faction about why the current leadership team needs to go.
But there’s also chatter that what this is really all about is an effort by the UFT to wrest control of its parent union once and for all. This theory is primarily being pushed by the pro-Iannuzzi faction, which thinks Mulgrew, who has a close relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is particularly miffed that Iannuzzi is apparently unwilling to even entertain the possibility of endorsing the governor for re-election this fall.
(Recall that NYSUT remained neutral in the 2010 governor’s race, as did several other unions. Cuomo hasn’t done much since he took office to improve his relationship with much of the labor community. If anything, that relationship has deteriorated, thanks to the passage of Tier 6 and the 2 percent property tax cap, as well as several contentious contract negotiations with public employee unions).
This is the final year of Iannuzzi’s three-year term. Technically speaking, the NYSUT elections take place in April, and since the UFT controls some 40 percent of the vote, the outcome is going to be close.
But the union is holding a board meeting tonight and tomorrow in Albany at which the topic of trying to avoid the coming bloodbath will no doubt be broached. I did reach Iannuzzi this afternoon, and asked if he would consider stepping aside to avoid a fight – epsecially given the fact that this is an important election year in which the union I’m sure wants to play a big role.

“I will be in this until the end,” Iannuzzi replied. “I’ve been part of NYSUT for 40-plus years, and I know what NYSUT is. It’s an organization that has a really delicate balance between New York City and the rest of the state. It won’t be NYSUT if this crowd takes over.”

Neither Pallotta nor Mulgrew has yet returned a call seeking comment.
Also this weekend, a group of some 50 NYSUT local leaders from around the state – basically, everywhere EXCEPT New York City – will be meeting separately at an Albany hotel to discuss their support of Iannuzzi, but also their vision for the future of the union and what it should look like going forward. This group of Iannuzzi backers also has a wesbite: StrongertogetherNYSUT.com.

 The comments section is one-sided anti Iannuzzi so far. But so funny when we know that the "democratic" UFT is behind it. And as I wrote recently the "retired" Alan Lubin, who we are told despises Iannuzzi, is up to his ears in this.

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Looming Battle: Mulgrew vs Iannuzzi For NYSUT Leadership - Split Over Cuomo Endorsement?

Oh, the tangled web at NYSUT and the UFT. A very intriguing story is emerging in what has been viewed as a monolithic UFT dominated NYSUT (NY State United Teachers). Some of this is hearsay and we may have follow-ups with new information and new interpretations over the next few days. But here is what we have heard so far. (WARNING- YOU MAY HAVE PROBLEMS WADING THROUGH THIS WEB -I'M STILL WORKING MY WAY THROUGH IT ) BUT IF YOU HAVE INFO LEAVE A COMMENT).

Few have questioned that the UFT/Unity Caucus has been running the state teachers organization, NYSUT, since it was founded in the 70's and Al Shanker installed Tom Hobart as a front for President, with himself as Exec VP. The UFT/Unity leadership has always wanted the NYSUT president to be someone from outside NYC to give the impression that the UFT isn't in complete control -- Unity Caucus in NYC has about one third the total NYSUT delegates -- the very same 7-800 Unity people that were elected in the winner-take-all UFT election in March 2013.

I should point out something I recently learned: that the statewide caucus is also called Unity - the only game in town - in other words, there is no equivalent like MORE to run against it in elections. This is similar to the national AFT where Unity is known as the Progressive Caucus, also pretty much the only game in town.

When Hobart retired Dick Iannuzzi was installed as President and the UFT's Andy Pallotta, a Bronx Unity Caucus staffer, as Exec VP. The other 3 VPs are split with 2 from outside NYC and one from the local NYC Unity. The other NYSUT VP from the local NYC Unity Caucus is Maria Neira, who has always garnered the respect of most UFT members, even those from the opposition.

Let me give you some more background. When Randi Weingarten emerged as Sandy Feldman's successor c. early 1990's, the highly respected Alan Lubin (many of us in the opposition also liked him) who was the Brooklyn Borough head and a popular choice for Sandy's heir apparent was "kicked" upstairs to NYSUT as Executive VP. But it turns out this position is the real power in many ways in NYSUT in that the person in charge controls the massive amount of COPE money going to politicians. More important than the president in some eyes, Lubin had free reign on the use of this money so he was a major power broker in Albany.

But Alan had a heart condition I believe and retired -- (I saw him at the AFT convention in Seattle and he looked great and here's to continued good health to him.) So that was how Andy Pallotta was elected Exec VP - the NYSUT elections are every 3 years with the next one taking place this April at the NYSUT convention which will be held here in NYC at the Hilton April 4-6, 2014.

With Lubin no longer riding herd and Andy Pallotta viewed as somewhat of a weak link, Dick Iannuzzi assumed a stronger role in managing the COPE money and didn't give Andy the same unlimited range Lubin enjoyed. Lubin supposedly despises Iannuzzi and remained a prop to Andy as resentment soared. The story is that Dick put a 50 grand limit to Andy's spending.

Then there was what seemed some head-scratching differences between NYSUT and the UFT arising when Dick Iannuzzi began to take some positions against the evaluation system, common core and raising a greater share of criticism of the State Ed Department - Tisch and King in particular with his call for "no confidence -- while Mulgrew was relatively silent. In essence, Mulgrew has been forced to take a more critical stance than he might have wanted to. (See Eterno's DA report on the MORE and ICE blogs where James' call for a non-endorsement of Cuomo was rejected by the Unity faithful - and to see just how bad Cuomo is for us read the daily reports at Perdido Street School.)

Then there's the Cuomo endorsement factor. Iannuzzi seems flat out opposed to a naked Cuomo endorsement. Then this came in over the transom.

On November 21, 2013, Andy Pallotta, in charge of legislative action, used Vote Cope money to make a $10,000 donation to "Cuomo 2014". The purposes of this was to purchase an entire table at Cuomo's birthday celebration.  An entire table, in lieu of just sending one or two people (or none!).  This was done without Iannuzzi's knowledge.

Word is that Mulgrew is backing a slate to run against Iannuzzi and all the VPs (including the UFT's own Maria Neira who seems to be backing Iannuzzi with the exception of Andy Pallotta. They have a hand-picked candidate to oppose Dick (more on all that in a follow-up.)

Then the other day an anonymous Twitter account and Facebook page was created with the handle @ReviveNYSUT.  They are calling for a change in NYSUT leadership. The tweets are anti-Iannuzzi and seem to be coming from people who would normally be allied with us but insiders have challenged them for being phony shills for the Mulgrew/Pallotta team since they attack Dick but not Andy. We received this message:

THE ACCOUNT IS ANDY PALLOTTA.  The Mulgrew/Pallotta crew is behind it.

With tweets like this:

1. Sashammy ‏@Sashammy 2h

   @CNYTeacher @ReviveNYSUT & because they call for change yet leave one of our most ineffective "leaders" in place
2. Sashammy ‏@Sashammy 12h

   @ReviveNYSUT @NYSUnionTeacher @nysut nice try. take pallotta off your slate then come talk to me about grassroots.

And to top it off, a new Facebook page appeared called  ReviveNYSUT Lies which is calling out the supposed Mulgrew choice to oppose Iannuzzi, Karen Magee:

At tonight’s ED 15-16 meeting NYSUT Presidential candidate Karen Magee said nothing to her constituents about running for NYSUT President. Nothing! Does this mean she is afraid that she doesn’t have the support of her region?? Maybe she feels that she doesn’t need it because she has the support of the UFT or maybe the UFT has not given her permission to talk about it yet.

And this:

Good News: There are some independent candidates looking to run for the Executive Vice President position if he does not resign soon.

There could be a contested election for NYSUT leadership with Mulgrew leading the charge against Iannuzzi.

Officers and Board Of Directors

Officers At Large

• 
  Richard C. Iannuzzi
  President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Andrew Pallotta
  Executive Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Maria Neira
  Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Kathleen M. Donahue
  Vice President
  Executive Board Member
• 
  Lee Cutler
  Secretary Treasurer
  Executive Board Member 
   
  NYSUT Election District Directors:
   

  NYSUT Election District Directors

  Of 84 election districts -- 53 plus 31 at-large, UFT connected - the names I recognize - and I may be missing some -- total 21 - all of them the usual suspects. Those who won't support the Unity move against Iannuzzi may face opposition for their position.
  

  • Janet Utz

    E.D. 2

  • Thomas Parker

    E.D. 3

  • Joseph Sweeny

    E.D. 4

  • Adam Urbanski

    ED 5
    Executive Board Member

  • Michael Herlan

    ED 6

  • Sylvia Matousek

    E.D. 7

  • Diana Giffune

    E.D. 8

  • Jeanette Stapley

    E.D. 9

  • Anthony McCann

    E.D. 10

  • Kenneth Smith

    E.D. 11

  • Stacey Caruso-Sharpe

    E.D. 12
    Executive Board Member

  • Kathleen Taylor

    E.D. 13

  • Paul Ellis-Graham

    E.D. 14

  • Karen Magee

    E.D. 15

  • Jeffrey Yonkers

    E.D. 16

  • Kenneth Ulric

    E.D. 17

  • Barbara Hafner

    E.D. 18

  • Christine Vasilev

    E.D. 19

  • John Mansfield

    E.D. 20

  • Tim Southerton

    E.D. 21

  • Paul Pecorale

    E.D. 22

  • Antoinette Blanck

    E.D. 23

  • Karen Blackwell Alford

    E.D. 24 (UFT)

  • Jose Vargas

    E.D. 25 (UFT)

  • Evelyn DeJesus

    E.D. 26 (UFT)

  • Rona Freiser

    E.D. 27 (UFT)

  • Arthur Pepper

    E.D. 28 (UFT)

  • Emil Pietromonaco

    E.D. 29 (UFT)

  • Anthony Harmon

    E.D. 30 (UFT)

  • Bob Astrowsky

    E.D. 31 (UFT)
    Executive Board Member

  • Catalina Fortino

    E.D. 32 (UFT)

  • Paul Egan

    E.D. 33 (UFT)

  • Michael Mendel

    E.D. 34 (UFT)
    Executive Board Member

  • LeRoy Barr

    E.D. 35 (UFT)

  • Iris DeLutro

    E.D. 37 (City & Private Higher Ed.)

  • Steven London

    E.D. 38 Steven London

  • Ellen Schuler Mauk

    E.D. 39 (Community Colleges)
    Executive Board Member

  • Edward Quinn

    E.D. 40 (State Higher Ed. – UUP)

  • Rowena Blackman-Stroud

    E.D. 41 (State Higher Ed. – UUP)

  • Thomas Matthews

    E.D. 42 (State Higher Ed. – UUP)

  • Philip Rumore

    E.D. 44

  • Catherine Savage

    E.D. 45

  • Matthew Hill

    E.D. 46

  • Loretta Donlon

    E.D. 51 (Retiree)

  • Joan Perrini

    E.D. 52 (Retiree)

  • Thomas Murphy

    E.D. 53 (Retiree)

  At Large Directors

  • Kristin Sterling

    E.D. 1 & 3

  • John Burns

    E.D. 2 & 44

  • Eileen Healy

    E.D. 4 & 46

  • David DeFelice

    E.D. 5 & 6

  • Paul Farfaglia

    E.D. 7 & 8
    Executive Board Member

  • Rod Sherman

    E.D. 9 & 10
    Executive Board Member

  • Dona Murray

    E.D. 11, 12 & 45

  • Carla McLaud

    E.D. 13 & 14

  • Patricia Puleo

    E.D. 15 & 16
    Executive Board Member

  • Selina Durio

    E.D. 17-20

  • Edward Vasta

    E.D. 18-19

  • Nadia Resnikoff

    E.D. 21-22-23
    Executive Board Member

  • Richard Farkas

    E.D. 24-25

  • Howard Schoor

    E.D. 26-27

  • Carmen Alvarez

    E.D. 28-29

  • Michael Mulgrew

    E.D. 30-31
    Executive Board Member

  • Janella Hinds

    E.D. 32-33

  • Sterling Roberson

    E.D. 34-35

  • Barbara Bowen

    E.D. 37-38-39
    Executive Board Member

  • Phillip H. Smith

    E.D. 40-41-42
    Executive Board Member

  • Joseph McLaughlin

    E.D. 51-52-53

  • Shelvy Young Abrams

    At-Large
    Executive Board Member

  • Margie Brumfield

    SRP At-Large

  • Sandra Carner-Shafran

    SRP At-Large
    Executive Board Member

  • Catherine Rienth

    SRP At Large

  • Deborah Paulin

    SRP At-Large

  • Anne Goldman

    Health Care At-Large

  • Stephen Rechner

    Private Sector Higher Ed At-Large

  • Andrew Sako

    Community College At-Large

  • Morton Rosenfeld

    At-Large National Unification

   

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