Ed Notes Online
Showing Desperation, Unity Comment Red-Baits and Compares MORE to KKK
“Members deserve more details than we have,” said Peter Lamphere, a math teacher at Gregorio Luperon High School in Manhattan.“They want it passed, and they want it passed immediately,” said Francis Lewis High School ESL teacher Arthur Goldstein. “I can’t believe the things they get away with.” ... Daily News Comments section:The Daily News once again is stirring the pot. The Memorandum of Agreeme
UFT Contract: A Play in One Act
Special Rep: I should probably schedule some time to come to your school and talk to your membersCL: na, that's alrightSpecial Rep: well. What's the general feeling over there?CL: yeah, we're pretty much against itSpecial Rep: oh then I really should come down and speak to membersCL: na, that's alright. Thanks though.--the borough rep is now coming with the Spec rep and is staying here for four ho
Layoffs in Newark and Jaisal Noor: Video on Ras Baraka Election in Newark
A mayoral election in Newark becomes a battle for the soul of the city... Jaisal Noor, The Real News, delivers - as usual.Newark may be a future model for the NYC school system despite the Baraka win, who in the New Yorker article admitted he was for a bunch of ed deform - like ending tenure. Who knows what is really where he stands?But also note the message from the Newark Teachers Union regardin
Rockaway Theatre Company: “Buffalo” Leaves Them Laughing
Memo from the RTC: “Buffalo” Leaves Them LaughingBy Norm ScottI attended the final dress rehearsal of the current Rockaway Theatre Company production of Ken Ludwig’s “Moon Over Buffalo” the night before it opened. Aside from the directors, Leslie Ross and Alan Rosenfeld, there were two of us in the audience watching the impeccable timing and perfect delivery of lines that hit right on the money de
YESTERDAY
Big Rally Today at City Hall - Taking Back OUR Schools
I'm going with video camera in hand. Make sure to smile when you see me. And come along to the post rally happy hour afterwards - though I don't know where it is.Taking Back OUR Schools Rally & March – NYC MetroMay 17 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pmNYC Metro“Declaration, Protest, Successes, and Call to Action”Calling all NYC Metro Area community activists, the “voices of resistance”, families, students, c
UFT Contract: Harsh Greetings at Some Schools for UFT/Unity Crew Selling Contract
Hey Norm - check out how desperate UFT leaders getting telling CL's to send out to staff.....an ed notes contact -- see Unity spin below the foldI have a bunch of anecdotals about UFT reps getting a not so nice greeting. Or turning off what was not at first a hostile crowd. I heard at the MORE happy hour this afternoon -- that attracted over 40 people from many different schools to talk about the
Buffalo Teacher Exposes Phil Rumore and NYSUT Sham Militancy
[Buffalo Teachers Fed president] Phil Rumore manned up courageously and strode into #45 with a roll of BTF stickers handing them with bravado to all the teachers and enjoining them to affix them to their raiment as a fierce show of unity, solidarity and power in the face of the evil doers....Phil thinks we should all cover ourselves in them to scare away the woman married to the Loew's hardware he
MAY 15
MORE In the Media: Lupkin, Wainer and Cavanagh in The Chief
“While there were clear efforts made in this contract about improving communication and collaboration, too much has been left on the table,” Ms. Cavanagh said. “I stand up with my chapter as we continue to urge the UFT and the city to go back to that table.” By DAN ROSENBLUM A couple of days before about 2,000 delegates voted May 7 to recommend for ratification the United Federation of Teachers’s
UFT Contract: When the Unity Spin Doesn't Play
My District Rep spun her shit at a school with surrounding schools attending – big crowd – listened to her avoid health issues and baited retro pay – lots of very mad people leaving the building bewildered – all voting NO – DR was like watching FOX News.... An Ed Notes ReaderMaybe the UFT is rushing to get the vote done before their hordes of people racing to the schools turn off even more people.
NYC Educator: When Will Unity See Its Berlin Wall Fall?
I say without any reservations that there is an illness in Unity. Presently, its members sense only the "stillness in the wind" and they think it will always be so. They think they can stand without the support of the rank and file. The rank and file of today will become the retirees of tomorrow and many are intensely unhappy. I say Unity is living in a house of cards. They may laugh
UFT Contract: Factor in de Blasio Sellout on Charters - With UFT Support
That brings the total amount his administration plans to spend on charters in FY2015 to nearly $1.3 billion, up from $1.06 billion this year.... Capital NY If you don't think the ATR stuff in the contract has nothing to do with the "Big Plan" to chop down a third of union teachers, you must be "smoking something" - to use a phrase our former union chief Sandra Feldman used when
Petition the UFT for a mass meeting to explain the contract's impact on ATRs
we wish to have a full enumeration of all actions that would constitute "problematic behavior". .. ATR Stuff is coming in fast and furious. This popped up. UFT claims it is having mass borough meetings and sending its people into schools to explain the contract. Jeff and I wrote about the "problematic behavior" issue. If the UFT/Unity leadership had a good history of really fi
Newark Ed Update: Round One: Baraka v. Jeffries, Round Two: Baraka v. Christie
I urge my NYC pals who will be voting on the contract to look closely at the Cami Anderson "Newark One" charter giveaway plan and the consequences for NY Teachers over the next 5 years. Randi sold the teachers of Newark a contract a few years ago. I'm betting the UFT contract contains a hidden mine field - why? Because they always do. Our correspondent in Newark has recovered from the wi
MAY 14
Tonight: Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno" - Reading and Discussion
Reads like a Steven King horror story.I started reading Laurel Sturt's "Dante's Inferno," her story of 10 years in hell in the NYC school system under the Bloomberg years, on a beach in Florida in February. There were so many disturbing incidents at her Bronx elementary school, I had to put it down and pick up something lighter so as not to ruin my beach karma. Every page enraged me. I
MAY 13
Major Defeat for Ed Deform: Ras Baraka Is Mayor of Newark
A major focal point of the election was the debate over the schools and state-appointed Superintendent Cami Anderson’s controversial "One Newark" school reorganization plan — which calls for the relocation and consolidation of one-quarter of the city’s schools and turning over some neighborhood schools to charter operators. Jeffries, 39, a law professor, former assistant attorney general
Saturday, May 17 - Time to Take Back Our Schools
The counterattack against ed deform continues.Just organize, baby, just organize.There is no point in rallying for the sake of rallying - unless it can be BIG. And a chance to get all the groups battling ed deform together in one place. This Saturday it is happening. Look at the lineup. Taking Back OUR Schools Rally & March – NYC Metro May 17 @ 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm NYC Metro“Declaration, Protest
Success Academy Rejected in Co-Location of Public School Teacher Apartment
A Success Academy teacher applied for the vacant room in my apartment. I maybe enjoyed writing that "it doesn't sound like a good fit" response a little too much... A MORE TeacherHow long before Cuomo gets the legislature to pass a law forcing this teacher to accept the occupation of her apartment?
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 KaufmanI 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 tenu
UFT Contract: Mulgrew Says It's OK to Fire ATR for "Screaming in the Hallway"
UFT logo for ATRsDon'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 yo
Union Internal Revolts: Activist Barbara Madeloni elected president MA teachers association
Another sign the union winds they are a-changin'. - As Leonie points out:Between this and the CTU rejection of the Common Core, the local teacher unions are getting more aggressive. This is an unreported story - the growth of opposition movements inside many teacher unions in reaction to the waffling leadership playing footsie, if not outright backing, ed deform. Of course Leonie can't be talking
MAY 12
UFT Contract: MORE Talks Business While Unity Goes Into Hiding
Since the Unity slugs aren't willing to hold a conversation about the contract, MORE is going to do so. Which would you rather attend? A one-way filibuster at a Unity/UFT sponsored borough meeting - while your school is getting a visitor from the UFT who will also filibuster in your school while leaving a few minutes for you to ask questions - or a MORE event?Really, you should check out some of t
MAY 11
UFT Contract: MORE Sponsors Discussion (Unlike Unity) - Long Island City - Thurs May 15, 4:30PM
Open and honest debate. While Unity hides behind official visits to schools, MORE will hold open discussions. Come whether you are for or against the contract and talk about it. Download and print copies for your school if you are teaching in the area - or even if you're not.UFT Contract Information Session Come hear a detailed breakdown of the proposed contract by John Giambalvo followed by disc
Newark Teacher to Southern Poverty Law Center
Totalitarianism is never content to rule by external means, namely, through the state and a machinery of violence; thanks to its peculiar ideology and the role assigned to it in this apparatus of coercion, totalitarianism has discovered a means of dominating and terrorizing human beings from within. .... Hannah Arendt 1951Dear Southern Poverty Law Center,I am neither a right wing Christian, nor a
UFT Contract: NYC Educator Puts Out Challenge to Unity on Contract
If it's such a great deal, why wouldn't they jump at the opportunity? If we bloggers and opponents are spouting myths, as UFT President Mike Mulgrew repeatedly told the DA last Wednesday, why doesn't he grab this, a golden opportunity to demonstrate it? ... Arthur Goldstein at NYC Educator blog. I'm ready to tape this one but as I said in previous posts, I'm predicting the Unity people will never
UFT Contract: Secretaries Ask MORE for Help After Mulgrew Ignores Pleas
Mulgrew being handed requestsDear Mr. Scott,The secretaries of the UFT have been working under a 1979 contract. Some of the secretaries put together an outline of requests to up date our duties, title and protections against out of license employees being put in our positions. They have not opened up the test or upgraded it for yes ads. We handed these outlined requests to Mr. Mulgrew personally.
Southern Poverty Law Center Sells Out on Common Core - Brands Opponents as Extremists, While Salon Declares They’re lying about Louis C.K.: He’s right about Common Core — and not a Tea Partyer
Give the SPLC a call and ask them to talk to Louis C.K.FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 7, 2014Contact: Rebecca Sturtevant (334) 956-8372Rebecca.sturtevant@splcenter.orgSouthern Poverty Law Center Report: Extremist Propaganda is Distorting the Debate Over the Common Core State Standards MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The fierce grassroots campaign threatening to derail the Common Core State Standards is being fueled
MAY 10
UFT Contract: MORE in the Media
WNYC: http://www.wnyc.org/story/delegates-recommend-yes-vote-teachers-contract/The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/blog/179726/should-new-york-teachers-reject-de-blasios-proposed-contractTHE AP WIRE - story is in the Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/AP31f7a75d7fba46aeb4863df7d1616d35.htmlSan Francisco Gate:http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/NYC-teachers-panel-approves-proposed-
Portelos an ATR as DOE Violates Hearing Officer Mandate - Which is OK With UFT
For those of you who are voting YES on the contract and don't think things can be fixed if we send the negotiating committee back to the bargaining table -- how about all the loopholes and leavouts in our current - and future contract? I have a list - starting with curbing the unfettered power of principals.Here is the irony that Francesco was the legal chapter leader of IS 49SI, the only bulwark
MORE Contract Meeting Today
Organize the No Vote Against this Contractby morecaucusnyc Saturday, May 1012:00 - 3:00pmYa-Ya Network224 W. 29th St., 14th Fl.Come to a meeting with UFT Chapter Leaders and Contract Committee members to hear a breakdown of the proposal, ask questions, and organize against the proposed contract in our schools. Join us in fighting for The Contract NYC Educators Deserve!RSVP on Fa
Rallies Scare Cuomo into Meeting with Stronger Together
As momentum built toward’s the April 28th rally at Villa Lombardi’s to protest Governor Cuomo, one of the governor’s top aides, Joseph Percoco, reached out, through an intermediary, to the President of the Connetquot Teachers Association Tony Felicio. Percoco offered Felicio, one of the rally’s organizers, a meeting with the governor to air his grievances in exchange for canceling the rally. Fel