NYC Educator: Should Retirees Vote?

NYC Educator: Should Retirees Vote?:

Should Retirees Vote?

by NYC Educator

There's a very thoughtful piece at Gotham Schools discussing the power of retired UFT teachers. It notes that most unions do not allow their retirees to vote. Now I hope to be a retiree one of these days, and I personally vote every chance I get.

But I wonder whether or not this is a good idea. For one thing, as crazy as I am now, by the time I retire I might be crazier still. Of course, given American politics, being crazy is no obstacle to anyone's vote anyway.

I remember vividly the 2005 contract, the thing that got me to be active in union matters. I had just started the blog, and I was excited that the UFT was starting one. I thought we'd finally have a big voice standing against the nonsense perpetrated by Mayor Bloomberg and his minions. I thought we'd finally have a platform to address the nonsense appearing on the editorial pages.

What I got, though, was strong and steadfast support for the ATR brigade, passionate interest in curtailing