NYC Educator: What Do Large Schools Need to Reopen?

NYC Educator: What Do Large Schools Need to Reopen?

What Do Large Schools Need to Reopen?

UFT President Michael Mulgrew has a column in the NY Daily News laying out a program for reopening. Mulgrew correctly points to the safeguards we insisted on as a reason schools were relatively safe this year. He asks that schools reach out to parents and enact a remote option for those who still aren't comfortable. These are all good ideas, and I think they apply to most city schools.

My school, however, is a little different. We routinely operate at somewhere around 240% capacity and the city doesn't give a hoot how uncomfortable or unhealthy that is. One of the first things I did as chapter leader was to get our school in the media, and we've been covered in not only all three major newspapers, but also on TV. We even had Bloomberg and Klein make cheery, misleading statements about us, because what were they gonna do? Fix the problem?

Surprisingly, though, their DOE did take a shot at it. UFT arranged a meeting at Tweed in which our then principal gave up a group of selected students, and for that they agreed to give us smaller incoming cohorts. They also agreed to more carefully screen incoming students, so that they couldn't simply say they lived where they did not. I personally had students who officially lived in Fresh Meadows who could never make it in on time, because their actual journey from the Bronx took them so long. 

Uncharacteristically, the Bloomberg people kept their word. Somehow when de Blasio came in, every aspect of our deal was left swirling the bowl. The selected students came back, and so did the veritable swarms of incoming CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: What Do Large Schools Need to Reopen?

Mulgrew and Porter statements seem contradictory | JD2718

Mulgrew and Porter statements seem contradictory | JD2718

Mulgrew and Porter statements seem contradictory

How can they both be right?

I think that Mulgrew’s words have to be read very carefully. They have lawyers and others at 52 Broadway, I am guessing, who carefully help craft lawyerly ways of saying things. Everything written since last March has to be carefully parsed, not read at face value. Did he say something would not happen, or that he did not expect it? Did he say that something was wrong, or that the UFT would actually fight it? You can’t go by a first read. But in this case, he states details of the CDC guidance that are correct, and says it would be complicated, and that the DoE would have a lot to figure out. He does not say that the UFT would fight it. (I didn’t expect that). He does not say the UFT would fight the DoE if they violated state guidelines. (Too bad, I thought he might).

Read it yourself, see if you agree.

Meisha Porter is a new entity – and in her first meaningful act – sounds like Bill de Blasio is speaking. I’m not shocked to be disappointed, although I had hopes otherwise. And I’m a little surprised to be disappointed so swiftly. I think she is ignoring the State, and ignoring that there is no actual plan. I’m also not wild the way she addresses teachers. Lots of people make us feel like pawns, but sometimes it takes more than a week.

Read for yourself, see if you agree:

Dear Jonathan, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today released updated guidance saying only three feet of distance is required between students as long as everyone is wearing a mask. While we understand that the availability of vaccines and new information have prompted policies and CONTINUE READING: Mulgrew and Porter statements seem contradictory | JD2718

Evaluate This | JD2718

Evaluate This | JD2718

Evaluate This 

I’ve just spent the last two hours reading the evaluation letter that Mulgrew sent out. (Letter linked here). I’ll probably write much more, later. But for now I have a few observations:

Unnecessary

Why was this necessary? (I know, there is a state law – which the UFT helped pass – and which Mulgrew used to claim credit for helping to write)

Where was the fight to twist Cuomo’s arm?

Where was the full court press to get Cuomo to waive this nonsense for this year? (there was no full court press – why not?). Cuomo is wounded, vulnerable. It may have been possible to stop this.

Where is the guide to teaching during a pandemic?

Where is the “research-based” framework that we were trained on for remote and hybrid teaching? (there is none, just a rewrite of the Danielson framework. And – oh oh oh – Danielson herself says that it is inappropriate to use it to evaluate teachers! So, Mulgrew and Carranza, if Danielson did not think her stuff was appropriate for evaluation, who decided to use it anyhow?)

Did Danielson really say this is not appropriate? Take a look. Focus on

√ No Rubric. “Teachers need support, not scores. Now is not the time to be thinking about how to evaluate teacher performance.”

Here is the link. Scroll to page 4.

Have the evaluators successfully taught during a pandemic? CONTINUE READING: Evaluate This | JD2718

NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly February 10, 2021--Debate Upon Debate

NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly February 10, 2021--Debate Upon Debate

UFT Delegate Assembly February 10, 2021--Debate Upon Debate

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--We're more than halfway through this wonderful school year. Hope everyone is safe. Asks for a moment of silence for former CTU President Karen Lewis. 

Middle schools--They needed testing capacity. They do not need an agreement with UFT. State approved city plan with 20% testing per building per week. We did not take their word for it. District has money from second stimulus act. We demanded time to get teams up to speed. Over last few weeks they've hired 55 additional testing teams. There are 60K additional tests, but they are now in compliance with state plan. 

We are frustrated with vaccines, and scrambling for more, as are hospitals and medical providers. We will get out more info, but city has agreed to specific number of slots every day at city centers for in person DOE employees--elementary, MS, and D75 working in schools. We also have more vaccine for our own program and will do the same.

We want middle schools to have time to get ready. That's why we have two weeks. Staff will have one day to come in and check. We will make sure PPE is in place. If you're going back, protocols, PPE, cleaning and ventilation are important. Testing gives us early warning so we can take proper procedures and shut rooms and schools as needed. Make sure everything is in place. Covid building response teams have done great work.

Around country people are surprised we have teams to do this. Other cities don't have testing capacity and haven't been doing anything for months. Disappointing to see teachers around country fighting for what we already have. Not enough to just say schools are important. 

Contact us with any issues. We will push and monitor. That's watching each other's backs. 

Federal--CDC was supposed to put out new guidelines, but pushed until Friday. You're going to see what we always talk about. Will sound a lot like NYC, but they don't have CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly February 10, 2021--Debate Upon Debate

NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly December 16, 2020--With Vaccine Coming, What's in the Future?

NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly December 16, 2020--With Vaccine Coming, What's in the Future?

UFT Delegate Assembly December 16, 2020--With Vaccine Coming, What's in the Future?

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Welcome to last DA of 2020. People on this call are the leadership of the union. We understand how much people lean on leaders during normal times. During these times, dealing with shutdown, fear and anxiety, people look to you. What you have done in terms of moving schools to remote, opening safely, and COVID response teams has been phenomenal. Recognize what you've done. None of our work matters unless it works at the building where people go to work. 

Our number one priority in mayoral race will be that DOE be completely revamped, in that their responsibility will be to support school buildings, not themselves. We remember what happened in March April and May and now it's happening all over the country. You've protected the school system.

Snow--City has given notice that tomorrow is an instructional day. Last year they forced us to report during spring break. We had a ruling that remote is instructional and when we're out of COVID our first act will be to seek compensation. We agreed that two snow days in our calendar were instructional days. We need to meet minimal mandate or state can tell us to cancel holidays, and in that case we wouldn't have agreement. This agreement is only for this year. We will look at things we want to see and things we don't. Our calendar now has more holidays than any system in US. Most snow days we could ever have would be two. Don't want to see days from Spring break canceled. 

There's no substitute for in-person instruction, but there are some things that are valuable in remote, as well as some that are definitely not.

NYC--State plan for COVID, geographically based. City has right to modify plan if it meets minimum NYC requirements. Our position was they have a right, but we stress testing, social distancing, ventilation, and CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Delegate Assembly December 16, 2020--With Vaccine Coming, What's in the Future?

Outsmarted by Michael Mulgrew | JD2718

Outsmarted by Michael Mulgrew | JD2718

Outsmarted by Michael Mulgrew

I submitted a resolution to move away from blended learning last month. It was next on the agenda, 3 minutes left in the motions period, and they didn’t even tell me to get ready to speak. Mulgrew filibustered away the full 3 minutes.

So I was going to reintroduce the resolution this month.

Background – The UFT/DoE blended learning plan never made much sense pedagogically. It was going to disorganize teaching when we needed to be more organized than usual.

But until today, the UFT leadership had been strongly committed to blended learning. They adopted it as the union’s position – without ever putting it up for a vote.

So I was going to reintroduce it. But I got outsmarted.

I never got the email to submit a resolution, I thought, so I wrote to Leroy Barr and asked what was up. He told me it had been emailed on Sunday.

Sunday? What? I looked through my old emails. And found it.

The email came on Sunday. I opened it. I did not recognize it as the email to submit resolutions. Bad on me.

Here it is: CONTINUE READING:  Outsmarted by Michael Mulgrew | JD2718

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board December 7, 2020--School in the Times of COVID 19

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board December 7, 2020--School in the Times of COVID 19

UFT Executive Board December 7, 2020--School in the Times of COVID 19

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Asks for moment of silence for Barbara Schiller, who passed today.

Says schools ran smoothly today. City is allowed to change plan as long as they adhere to test rules. Says testing will keep us extremely safe. Closed 1400 schools based on monthly testing, not weekly. Schools said large majority of students came in.

Parents had many complaints about consent forms. Did so on clipboards. City doing much better than rest of state, where there is real problem. Doesn't seem to work in Western NY, Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany. Layoffs happening in Syracuse, Schenectady, Albany, up to one third work force. Not making it into news. 

People are taking advantage--State has not cut budget. District using this saying people aren't working, firing paraprofessionals. NYSUT going after school superintendents. 

Waiting on stimulus. We will see. Now it may be just for next two months. If nothing done, large % of people will lose permanent housing. January 1, all protections are gone. 

Many virtual classes done last week at UFT. Working for homeless coalition, and will do Feed NYC event. Will be tough winter for many. People are reaching out to us, running out of food. 

Operational things moving forward, clearing more quickly.

Debbie Poulos--We continue to resolve issues, getting stipulations. Reaching out to CLs to make sure they get correct info.  

Mulgrew--Monitoring to make sure 20% testing done each week. Mayor said he would CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board December 7, 2020--School in the Times of COVID 19

Should we talk about blended learning? Some in the UFT do not think so | JD2718

Should we talk about blended learning? Some in the UFT do not think so | JD2718

Should we talk about blended learning? Some in the UFT do not think so

I submitted a resolution to this month’s Delegate Assembly – to move away from Blended Learning. I am attaching the text at the bottom. I submitted as late as possible – five minutes before the deadline – assuming that I would be #14 on the list and it would not come up. I was a bit surprised – there were only two submissions. The Stop Blended Learning reso would come up.

However, with today’s closure, no one is teaching blended tomorrow. And the agenda included a dozen resolutions, and #1 and #12 I really want to vote on (#1, Black Lives Matter, has already passed).

So I was prepared to withdraw the resolution for today. I drafted what I would say:

Jonathan Halabi, Chapter Leader, High School of American Studies at Lehman College. – bear with me for a moment. We really do need to talk about blended learning. All of our members need to be part of that conversation. But we have a dozen important resolutions coming up; I want to get to them all. And, with today’s announcement, no one is teaching “blended” tomorrow. Michael, I’m not making a motion today. Let’s move the agenda.

But I didn’t get a chance to graciously withdraw the reso. The leadership of the United Federation of Teachers filibustered. Mulgrew dragged out the first motion, and added three minutes of commentary CONTINUE READING: Should we talk about blended learning? Some in the UFT do not think so | JD2718

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 26, 2020---DOE Unilaterally Issues Grading Policy

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 26, 2020---DOE Unilaterally Issues Grading Policy

UFT Executive Board October 26, 2020---DOE Unilaterally Issues Grading Policy

Roll Call--5:50

Minutes--approved

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--City put out a grading policy. Not discussed with us. Should've come up with something more flexible. We will look at it and decide what to do. DOE hasn't done much work because it's very similar to last year's.

There are supposed to be four opt in periods for parents. We wanted parents to see how things were going. While in schools we have procedures, but they unilaterally announced people had to make decisions right now. Doesn't follow what's in state plan, and may lead to a fight. Newark just went into complete lockdown. Country had largest 7 day average ever. Not smart to force a choice now. Will be conversations. 

Operational side--complaints are moving and being resolved. Still have issues with superintendents unfamiliar with concept of work. Grievance dept. getting involved. DRs are pushing. Some districts have no issues, but others have many. 

Election will take up a lot of energy, hopefully for no longer than two weeks. Our retirees and volunteers are working very hard. We understand what everyone's facing so we're CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 26, 2020---DOE Unilaterally Issues Grading Policy

Albert Shanker and Michael Mulgrew: Tough Times Need Tough Leaders | Ed In The Apple

Albert Shanker and Michael Mulgrew: Tough Times Need Tough Leaders | Ed In The Apple

Albert Shanker and Michael Mulgrew: Tough Times Need Tough Leaders

Dr. Aragon: “Now this is the Central Parallel of the American Federation. This district is what you you’d probably call the Southwestern United States. That was before it was destroyed by the war.”

Miles Monroe (played by Woody Allen): “War?”

Aragon: “Yes. According to history, over 100 years ago, a man named Albert Shanker got hold of a nuclear warhead.”–Sleeper (1973).

Well, perhaps a little harsh, Shanker’s reputation was a “take no prisoners” union leader who defended his members, within, a contentious union membership.

A little history: the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) emerged after decades of in-fighting among teacher activists in scores of teacher organizations.  The Teachers Guild and the Teacher Unions were bitterly opposed to each other. In 1949 New York State enacted the Feinberg Law, requiring teachers to sign a loyalty oath, over 500 teachers were forced to defend themselves and several hundred teachers were fired. The law was challenged in the courts, all the way to the SCOTUS, who affirmed the law. (See Clarence Taylor, “Reds at the Blackboard,” 2012 here). The Guild and the High School Teachers Association merged into the United Federation of Teachers, a one-day recognition strike in 1960, a negotiated contract in 1961 with the remnants of the  Teachers Union CONTINUE READING: Albert Shanker and Michael Mulgrew: Tough Times Need Tough Leaders | Ed In The Apple

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 5, 2020--The Fun Never Stops

NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 5, 2020--The Fun Never Stops

UFT Executive Board October 5, 2020--The Fun Never Stops

5:50 Roll Call



Minutes--Approved

UFT Secretary LeRoy Barr--Welcomes us.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew--Asks for moment of silence for Ruth Greenburg, guidance counselor and special ed. pioneer. 

Busy weekend--all schools opened, and now 91 schools and 18 sites going remote. Serious issue. Hoping for fewer last minute dramas. Plan says if zip code goes over 3% they have to do heavy testing, but city was slow to react. Virus emerging in certain communities and cause for concern. There should be quicker testing. After over a week, city tested only 25 schools and not in compliance.

Mayor made right decision. Only one of those schools was in quarantine. Doctors said it was only a matter of time before these schools tested positive. Mayor made right call. Asking state for permission was rather odd, but there was a meeting today, governor, mayor and UFT. Decided to start tomorrow.

Looking at other zip codes. City has to increase testing capacity. We need to increase testing when zip hits three, not 7 day average. 

Some schools doing very well. Ready for any emergency. Other places have challenges. We don't have great leadership in every building, but that will always be a problem in a district of our size.

Mandated monitoring--there will be a clarifying document saying if you want to be in a school building, testing is mandated. You will have to sign consent form or go home. Constant problems with city before they get things better. They now understand with testing and PPE. Next challenge, hopefully, won't be so difficult. 

Testing has to happen every day. Randomization will hopefully be easy and clear as possible. With this virus moving, we need to monitor closely, increase testing, and follow protocols.

National--It's all about the election. Our UFT retirees are doing immense work on FL and elsewhere. NYSUT organizing phone banks for PA. We'll see where this thing goes. Election will take twists and turns no one could imagine. Debate, COVID, all crazy and unprecedented. We know how important this election is. Economy completely wrecked. We need help for city and state. Will take years, won't be easy. 

Staffing problems difficult. Had kept SBO programs shut--didn't want them before city admitted how much staff was needed. We have short term agreement for pay increases for subs who stay. People redeployed from central walk into schools and announce they don't teach.

Live instruction problematic because of staffing. Principals ask for live and remote together. Class sizes are too large. Starting to move through operational complaints. Hope there CONTINUE READING: NYC Educator: UFT Executive Board October 5, 2020--The Fun Never Stops

Ed Notes Online: Speculation on Weingarten and Mulgrew futures - Part 1

Ed Notes Online: Speculation on Weingarten and Mulgrew futures - Part 1

Speculation on Weingarten and Mulgrew futures - Part 1

Norm here - Sept. 30, 2020 

The next UFT election is looming in spring 2002 and Mulgrew is reaching new levels of unpopularity due to the often tepid UFT response on opening
schools. especially with the CSA coming off as more militant than the UFT. The standard opposition voices have been very active. And in addition there is growing skepticism within the UFT rank and file and even in Unity Caucus about Mulgrew's leadership. (My sources tell me that some in Unity wanted to strike). And then there is a history of the three most recent UFT leaders going back to 1974 becoming AFT president. And with massive budget cuts to come once schools reopen - probably by next year - [See Arthur report - UFT Executive Board September 29, 2020--Staffing is a Disaster and the Budget Looks Even Worse] all balls are in the air.

With speculation growing about Randi's future, Mulgrew's future must enter into the picture. In this 3 part series I will speculate about the possibility Mulgrew may very well not be the Unity Caucus UFT presidential candidate in the 2022 election, depending on just how bad the conditions in the schools get and how relatively weak Mulgrew looks.



Recent articles, from the left (Jacobin) and from the right (Mike Antonucci/Intercepts), addressed another upcoming election, for AFL-CIO president if Richard Trumpka retires - or is pushed. How would Randi's leaving the AFT affect the UFT and Mulgrew? I'll address that issue in more detail in Part 2 or 3.

What does Randi really want?

In 2016 there were rumors Randi would be Hillary's Secty of Education and now there are rumors she would be up for the same CONTINUE READING: Ed Notes Online: Speculation on Weingarten and Mulgrew futures - Part 1