NYC Educator: Retirees Should Not Vote in UFT Elections

NYC Educator: Retirees Should Not Vote in UFT Elections:

Retirees Should Not Vote in UFT Elections

It's pretty disappointing to read that only 17% of working teachers could get off their butts to vote for UFT leadership. In fact, to write a check and seal an envelope, getting off said butt was not even a requirement. If you have family, for example, you could always ask a family member to mail the thing for you.

Even more disappointing was the fact that more than half of the vote came from retired teachers. Some were in Florida, where the UFT has an office. Actually, if there's a large concentration of UFT retirees in Florida, the office is not a bad idea. However, having the incumbent non-teacher President campaign there, directly or otherwise, is questionable. First of all, if the opponent is a teacher, the opponent has no way of getting her voice heard.

More importantly, retirees should not be voting at all. The issues facing teachers today are frightening and complex. The new evaluation system,despite a great recent Gotham piece, is so convoluted few people understand it at all. Maybe I'm just slow, and everyone else is catching the nuances. But I'm a teacher, and I will be facing this each and every day. I don't care how many free lectures they give in the Florida office, and that ought not to be a factor in my decision.

I worry about the day to day. I worry about what tens of thousands of my colleagues will face next year. I worry