Vaunted UFT Negotiating Team Helps Out In Greece

From Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism:

Tsipras Has Just Destroyed Greece


This post’s headline comes from an assessment by the Australian website MacroBusiness of the proposal that Greece submitted to its creditors in the wee hours of the morning in Europe. Greece has capitulated, offering to implement more stringent austerity terms than those rejected by voters last weekend by a resounding margin in the Greek referendum. We are posting the full text of the Greek proposal at the end of this post.
As MacroBusiness sums up:

This is basically the same proposal as that was just rejected by the Greek people in the referendum…This makes absolutely no sense. The Tsipras Government has just:

• renegotiated itself into the same position it was in two months ago;
• set massively false expectations with the Greek public;
• destroyed the Greek banking system, and
• destroyed what was left of Greek political capital in EU.

If this deal gets through the Greek Parliament, and it could given everyone other than the ruling party and Golden Dawn are in favour of austerity, then Greece has just destroyed itself to no purpose.

Accepting the same proposal they had rejected previously after a referendum had the Grek people defeating that proposal 61%-39%?

Sounds like the vaunted UFT negotiating team has flown to Greece to help out with the negotiations.

More Yves Smith:

The Greek government faces a legitimacy crisis. Given the overwhelming Oxi vote, how can Tsipras sign up for a deal that is even worse? There is a real possibility that young people, particularly in Athens, which has the highest population density of any city outside of Asia, will take to the streets.

And even if there is no outburst of protests, how can any government that signs a creditor-acceptable memo be seen as anything other that a Vichy state? Politico points out that Tsipras is likely to fracture Syriza with the proposal and will need to enlist other parties who supported a “Yes” vote to get the parliamentary approval he needs. That should hardly be a surprise to Naked Capitalism readers; we pointed out the disconcerting move the morning after the referendum, in which Tsipras met with leaders of all the parties outside the government save Golden Dawn and asked for their support, and all agreed save the communist party KKE. Did FDR seek the support of the defeated Republicans in 1933? I struggle to think of a similar move (beyond a mere polite gesture) after a landslide win.

...

Syriza has thus managed to deliver to the neoliberals a victory more complete than they could ever have engineered on their own. This has been the basis of our criticism, that Syriza by engaging in an open war against an opponent it could never hope to vanquish, was doing not just itself but also the Greek people and the left, lasting damage.

The Greek negotiations are now being steered in large measure by the French, who are conceivably next in line if there is a Grexit, given Marine Le Pen’s rising star. If Greece and the lenders manage to reach an agreement, it’s hard to think that Greek citizens will see the ruling coalition as anything other that a creditor puppet state. If the two sides can’t agree and Greece falls into a Grexit, the economic devastation will be so large as again to discourage any state save Italy and France, from pursuing a Eurozone exit, and even in those two countries, it is likely to give Euroskeptics considerable pause.

The net effect is to give Germany, its retrograde ordoliberals, and its neoliberal allies freer rein to continue their destructive austerity policies. Despite how counterproductive austerity clearly is, Greece will be used as tangible proof that the cost of Euroexit is vastly higher. And that means that Germany will be able keep pursuing policies destined to destroy the Eurozone going well beyond their sell-by date: running large trade surpluses, refusing to finance its trade partners, and bucking all measures to move to meaningful Federal fiscal spending that might buffer national differences in performance and stealthily recycle some of the German trade surpluses. The end result will be more oppression, more suffering, and a more catastrophic eventual Eurozone breakup.

Syriza and Tsipras have given the neoliberals a victory more complete than they ever could have engineered on their own, the next effect will be more oppression, more suffering, and, in the end, catastrophe.

Sounds quite like Randi Weingarten, Mike Mulgrew, Karen Magee and the rest of the Vichyites in the AFT/UFT/NYSUT.

No wonder the neoliberals keep winning in.

UFT Leaders Are Completely Detached From The Day-To-Day Reality Of Working Teachers

A commenter responds to the UFT's Teacher's Choice survey:

Not being a licensed psychiatrist I can only offer a layman's opinion, but something seems to happen once a person becomes a union official. You immediately enter another world, completely detached from the reality of rank and file teachers. Mulgrew's e-mail is evidence of this phenomenon.

The No. 1 issue right now for every teacher in the state is the looming teacher evaluation law that increases the use of one-time test results; utilizes administrators completely unfamiliar with us, our schools, students, dynamics, etc.; strips our unions of some rights to collective bargain; disturbs long established tenure regulations; undermines tenure protections; demands all of us with permanent teacher certifications to re-register them with the same state office that issued them in the first place, etc.

I don't give a damn about classroom supplies when my very livelihood is being threatened and useless union officials like the crews at the UFT and NYSUT are standing by seemingly helpless.

Another commenter's take:

 I would like the choice not to be evaluated with junk science and student test scores. Keep the money, put it toward fighting Cuomo and the deformers. Heck, use it to do anything!!! Our union just gets steamrolled by everything. Everyone just lies down and takes it, after the steamroller passes you see that Cuomo is driving and Mulgrew has his hands around his waist. There are corporate deform sponsor stickers all over that thing.

Classroom supply money?

Sure, it's swell.

But given all the stuff going on in the education world, it surely is not what I want my union leadership focused on right now.

What Did NYSUT Get For Dropping $600K On Lobbying?

From State of Politics:

Expenses records filed with the state’s lobbying regulator show the education battle show at least $757,093 was spent by both pro-charter school groups or the statewide teachers union during January and February.

The figure is likely to grow when the organizations reveal their March and April lobbying data later in the year with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

The New York State United Teachers union alone spent $591,093 during the first two months of the year, with money being spent on travel to Albany for rallies, advertising and in-house printing and postage.

Records show that during the same time period last year, NYSUT spent a fraction of that amount on lobbying costs: $179,350.

The ads and the rallies put a dent in Cuomo's poll numbers.

But Cuomo got his way on his education reform agenda anyway.

If you go back over this blog, you'll see different ad ideas I had for how to take on Cuomo and his education reform agenda (see here, here and here, for example)

NYSUT didn't take me up on my ideas (and to be honest, I didn't expect them to) and went with their own campaign instead.

It helped a little, since Cuomo's poll numbers, especially on education issues, dropped.

But the end result was still a major victory for Cuomo and a major defeat for teachers.

I would have helped design their ads for free and maybe gotten better results than NYSUT got for $600K.

This ad idea in particular would have had Cuomo and his flying attack monkeys jumping:

New Cuomo Ad Idea: Governor Cuomo Spends $1.7 Million On Court Costs To Keep From Spending More Money On Public School Kids

This came up in yesterday's post about how Cuomo is spending $1.7 million on legal fees and expert witnesses to keep from having to spend more money on public schools:

A reader wrote:

Cuomo is losing his sense of reality. I am now reading how Cuomo is spending almost 2 million dollars to defend not spending more money on schools!!!! This is so crazy people. Say it again, Cuomo is spending almost two million dollars to defend his policy of short changing schools of funding. 

And that gave me an idea:

NYSUT should run ads "Cuomo spends $1.7 million on lawyers to keep from spending more money on public school kids..." Bet that would be great for his poll numbers.

What say you NYSUT?

Want to take Cuomo's numbers down even more?

Run an ad with public school teachers looking into the camera and telling the public how Cuomo is spending nearly $2 million dollars on court costs to keep from having to pony up for more money for public school children. 

Alas, was not to be.

Instead NYSUT and the UFT took him on their way and we got the results we did - complete defeat.

Mulgrew And The UFT To Blame For The Cuomo Deform Budget

A lot of teachers are waking up to the news that they have been stripped of their permanent certification and tenure protections and are subject to a odious new evaluation system that will be designed by the same incompetent bureaucrats who rolled out the mess that is Common Core and gave a liar named "Dr" Ted J. Morris Jr., MA, Ph.D, MSW a charter school.

A lot of teachers are wondering just who to blame for the shiv that got stuck into them last night.

Fingers are pointing at Cuomo, of course, because he pushed these reforms and ensured they would be in the budget.

Fingers are also pointing at Assembly Dems who, with "heavy hearts," passed this budget laden with education reforms into law, all the while claiming it was the best they could do:

@DeborahJGlick Your betrayal will not be forgotten.
— rbe (@perdidostschool) April 1, 2015

And while it's useful to let pols like Glick know that her sellout will live long in the memory of individual teachers, the truth is, she doesn't care about individual teachers any more than Cathy Nolan, Assembly Education Committee chair, or Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie care about us.

That's because Mike Mulgrew and the UFT gave Assembly Dems the okay to sell us out:

ALBANY — State lawmakers raced to finish work on New York’s budget Tuesday amid simmering resentment over Gov. Cuomo’s education reforms - which opened up an unusual rift between the city and state teachers’ unions.

...

City teacher union president Michael Mulgrew angered NYSUT President Karen Magee and her team after he put out a statement Sunday night - before the education bill was even in print- claiming victory in beating back some of Cuomo's more strident proposals, sources said.

While Magee urged lawmakers to reject the education measures, city lawmakers said they were told by Mulgrew's team that voting for the package would not be held against them.

"They just weren't on the same page," said one legislator of the two unions. "The issue between them was whether to strike the best deal they could or whether to oppose it outright."

Make no mistake, had the UFT joined with NYSUT and opposed passage of this budget because of the odious education reform provisions in it, many of the Dems who voted "yes" on the budget last night with "heavy hearts" would have had to think twice before casting an "aye" vote.

But Mulgrew told these sellout Dems not to worry about their betrayal, that the UFT understood and it was okay.

I suggest you vent your frustration at sellouts like Heastie, Nolan and Glick today by calling them at all their offices, emailing them and countering their self-serving jive on Twitter the way I did with Glick.

But you need to call the UFT and let them know that you hold Mulgrew and the UFT leadership ultimately responsible for this disaster.

It was reported that Mulgrew took the lead over Magee and NYSUT in "negotiating" the reforms that would end up in the budget.

Mulgrew declared "victory" on Sunday claiming the lack of merit pay and the hold on the charter cap were "wins" for teachers.

Alas, merit pay actually is in the budget, along with the loss of tenure, permanent certification and an insane new evaluation system developed by the hostile teacher-haters at SED, and the charter cap will be raised later in the legislative session.

Finally, Mulgrew refused to oppose the budget and the reforms in it in any meaningful way, giving Assembly Dems all the cover they needed to stick the shivs into teachers and public schools.

To be sure, this is Cuomo's "reformy" budget - but it couldn't have been done so easily had Mike Mulgrew and the UFT not helped him.

Ultimately, teachers need to blame the UFT for selling them out.

Cuomo Wins A Complete And Utter Rout

So here's some of what's in the Cuomo Deform Budget:

Permanent certification is gone - teachers with permanent certification have to "register" with NYSED every five years showing they have done 100 hundred hours of "rigorous" PD.

Tenure is gone - two "ineffective" ratings and a district may have a teacher fired in 90 days.  Three "ineffective" ratings in a row and a district must move to have the teacher fired in 30 days.

The same geniuses who brought you the mess that was the Common Core roll-out and gave a liar named "Dr" Ted J. Morris Jr. MA, Ph.D, MSW a charter school are now in charge of creating a new evaluation system that links tests scores and observations, including one from an "outside evaluator," by June.

Teachers who teach subjects and/or courses that do not end in state tests will be evaluated by "Student Learning Objectives" that will be developed by NYSED.

If a teacher comes up "ineffective" on the test-based component, they may opt to have students take another test approved by the state, but no funding will be provided for the test:

The budget describes the following as eligible options for the second test: “state tests or assessments developed or designed by the state education department, or that the state education department purchased or acquired from another state; an institution of higher education; or a commercial or not-for-profit entity.”

The optional "second test" idea is in the evaluation system in order to put the onus of overtesting onto teachers according to a Cuomo official.

Education aid increases are tied to the new evaluation systems being in place in individual districts by November.

“No school district shall be eligible for an apportionment of general support for public schools from the funds appropriated for the 2015-2016 school year and any year thereafter in excess of the amount apportioned to such school district in the respective base year unless such school district has submitted documentation that has been approved by the commissioner by November fifteenth, two thousand fifteen,” the bill says.

Students may not be instructed two years running by "ineffective" teachers.

There's more - and it's all bad.

You can see the rest of the mess here at this Capital NY rundown by Jessica Bakeman.

This is what UFT President Mike Mulgrew called "victory."

This is what Assembly Dems passed with "heavy hearts" last night.

If it wasn't clear to you before this that teachers have been abandoned by their union leadership and the politicians we support both financially and politically, it should be now.

Quick Poll On UFT

This "Quick Poll" is on the UFT website:

Which classic television show most accurately portrays the high school experience?

Fame

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Wire (Season 4)

Freaks and Geeks

My So-Called Life

I don't really care about that poll, so I didn't respond to it, but it did give me the idea for our own little "Quick Poll" here at Perdido Street School blog:

Which classic film most accurately portrays the experience UFT rank & file have with the UFT leadership?

Rocky 

The Godfather

On The Waterfront

Double Indemnity

Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers (1956 version)

We'll tally up responses and let you know the winner.

UFT Decides Not To Challenge The "Stop Common Core" Ballot Line

Looks like UFT President Michael Mulgrew wanted to punch GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino in the face over the "Stop Common Core" ballot line but decided not to:

ALBANY – The major New York City teachers union considered challenging Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino’s attempt to create a Stop Common Core ballot line, but decided against it.

...

“We challenge petitions all the time -- especially in an election year – about all sorts of things,” said Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which filed a general objection to the Astorino campaign’s effort but ultimately didn’t proceed.

State law allows candidates for office to hold multiple spots on the election ballot.

It takes 15,000 valid signatures from New York voters to create a new line on statewide ballots. But once those signatures are filed with the state Board of Elections, anyone can file an objection within three days. Six days after that, the objector has to lay out specifics -- what they object to, and why they object to it.

The deadline to turn in the signatures was Aug. 19. Astorino’s campaign turned in the Stop Common Core party petitions a week before that, and two employees of the teachers union filed a general objection three days later.

...

Mulgrew said the teachers union takes issue with Astorino taking an educational issue like Common Core -- tougher education standards being rolled out in New York and much of the country -- and using it “for clear political purposes.”

But the union ultimately decided against moving forward with the challenge; the deadline to file specifics was Thursday.

Interesting to see that UFT leadership started to go ahead with the challenge to the "Stop Common Core" ballot line, then pulled back.

Clearly they didn't pull back because they've had a sudden epiphany on Common Core - Mulgrew says the UFT loves Common Core and thinks Astorino is politicizing an issue that shouldn't be politicized.

So what made them pull back?

Did they think the challenge would ultimately be unsuccessful?

Could be - Astorino filed well over the 15,000 signatures needed for the ballot line.

Did they decide they didn't want to be the face of the pro-Common Core fight in the election battle?

I'm skeptical of that -  Mulgrew was quite vociferous over his Common Core support at the AFT Convention in July.

Are they worried about the growing parent revolt over Common Core in the state and decided it was best not to do Cuomo's pro-Common Core dirty work for him?

I'm skeptical of that too.

The AFT/UFT/NYSUT leadership doesn't care what anybody outside of Bill Gates and their corporate buddies think about anything.

Not their rank and file members, not parents, not students.

Did the UFT leadership decide that helping a weakened Cuomo by going after Astorino's anti-Common Core line doesn't help them much at this point?

That's possible.

Cuomo's Democratic Primary opponent Zephyr Teachout has been endorsed by PEF, NOW and the Sierra Club in the last few days.

There is clear opposition to Cuomo from the left bubbling up, there is clear opposition within the rank and file to Cuomo too, and while the UFT leadership still supports Cuomo behind the scenes (please note the work they did for him during the Working Families Party convention in May), political expediency may dictate that going out on a public limb for him at this time doesn't help the leadership much.

In any case, the UFT decided no to challenge the "Stop Common Core" ballot line.

And so it stands.

Remember, Union Leaders Did Their "Endorsement" Work During Working Families Party Convention

I keep hearing some NYSUT people brag how NYSUT refused to endorse Andrew Cuomo for governor and am hearing from the same people that NYSUT is making sure the AFL-CIO does not endorse him either.

All of this is fine, dandy and absolutely meaningless.

I want to remind everybody that when it mattered, when Andrew Cuomo absolutely needed the union leadership - including the newly minted NYSUT leadership - to back him, they did.

That was during the weekend when it looked like Working Families Party might actually endorse Zephyr Teachout over Cuomo for the general election.

Polls had shown that Cuomo was running away with the race against his GOP opponent Rob Astorino - unless a third party candidate from the left entered the general election.

Then polls showed this:

Major elections in the United States are almost always two-party affairs. Yes, third-party candidates run, but they’re rarely competitive, and they almost never win. Still, there are exceptions, and the 2014 New York governor’s race may be one of them.

The progressive Working Families Party perceives Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo to be too centrist, and it will decide this weekend whether to field its own candidate instead of cross-endorsing Cuomo. (New York allows candidates to appear on multiple ballot lines.) An opponent from his left could put Cuomo’s re-election bid in at least some danger.

An average of early polls by Quinnipiac University and Siena College shows the governor garnering 38 percent support, Republican Rob Astorino 24 percent and an unnamed Working Families Party candidate 23 percent. That’s down from Cuomo’s average lead of about 30 percentage points over Astorino in a two-way affair.

As I detailed earlier this week, early gubernatorial polling of two-way matchups is pretty reliable — 30 percentage point leads are nearly impossible to overcome. But an early-stage 14 percentage point lead in a three-way contest may be a different story.

Cuomo was desperate to avoid that third party candidate from the left and his union allies were happy to oblige by threatening WFP activists that if the party nominated Zephyr Teachout over Andrew Cuomo, they would defund the party:

When Working Families Party state committee members gather at their convention tomorrow, far more than the endorsement for governor will be at stake.

The very future of the labor-backed party will be on the line, and according to one labor source, the damage done by the disagreement over whether or not to back Gov. Andrew Cuomo again may very well be irreparable.

“Regardless of what happens now, the way the party has conducted itself has done lasting damage to relationships with key (union) affiliates,” the source said. “It’s unclear if the party will ever be the same.”

Union leaders were burning up the phone lines this morning, discussing whether the time had finally come to pull their support of the party they helped create and have financially sustained since 1998.

According to another labor source involved in these talks, a number of the largest and most significant unions – including 1199 SEIU, HTC, the laborers, RWDSU, and the UFT – were prepared to call it quits with the WFP, knowing that their withdrawal could very well lead to the party’s “collapse.”

The Teamsters and TWU were also involved in these discussions, which were far enough along to warrant talk of drafting of a joint statement, although one was never actually released.

The UFT controls NYSUT - it was the UFT leadership, backed by Randi Weingarten, who instituted the Spring Time Putsch that dethroned the previous NYSUT leadership and replaced them with pro-Cuomo shills.

The Spring Time Putsch was all about making sure that the suddenly aggressive old NYSUT leadership would be replaced by a more compliant Cuomo-friendly leadership - which is exactly what happened.

That the UFT was part of the union leadership that threatened WFP if Teachout was endorsed and was behind the NYSUT putsch to get rid of the old regime that had turned on Cuomo tells you all you need to know about how much they've already helped Andrew Cuomo.

An endorsement by the UFT, the NYSUT or the AFL-CIO is not needed at this time because all the help Cuomo needed to win re-election - keeping a third party candidate from the left out of the general election race - was engineered by the unions, including the UFT and the NYSUT, last spring.

How Much Longer Can Michael Mulgrew Stay In Power?

The UFT has signed on as a co-sponsor for the Rev. Al "Rent-A-Collar" Sharpton's anti-police brutality march and it's not sitting well with the police unions who are now openly savaging UFT President Michael Mulgrew in the media:

In an open letter to The Post, the spitting-mad boss of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association ripped his teachers-union counterpart Saturday for the “disgraceful” decision to co-sponsor the Rev. Al Sharpton’s anti-police rally next week.

PBA President Pat Lynch fired both barrels at United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, saying, “It is absolutely ridiculous that [Mulgrew] . . . would waste his members’ dues to get involved with a march that has nothing to do with teachers or his union.

“Mulgrew knows that the UFT is under siege from all sides, and this is purely an attempt to distract attention from that mounting criticism,” Lynch wrote, referring to the union’s chronic battles over teacher tenure and charter schools as well as the “substandard” contract Mulgrew recently negotiated for his membership.

“How would he like it if police officers lined up with the activists who oppose his efforts to shield bad teachers and undermine effective charter schools?” Lynch fumed.

In a series of personal jabs, Lynch suggested Mulgrew was more concerned with “continuing to curry favor with politicians and Al Sharpton” than in helping his 200,000 union members or the city’s 1.1 million schoolchildren.

...

 The Queens-born Lynch, 51, in a phone interview that followed his literary fusillade, said he was blindsided by Staten Islander Mulgrew, 49.

“We’ve never had a problem,” said Lynch, who represents 50,000 cops. “We’re amazed that he would chime in on an issue like this.

“We typically boost each other up. I’m dumbfounded why Mike Mulgrew would do and say the things that he has,” Lynch told The Post. “It’s disgraceful.”

Detectives’ Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said he was “not surprised” by Mulgrew’s co-sponsorship.

“Teachers union leadership marched alongside Sharpton, with the Bloods and Crypts, during the Bell case,” Palladino said. “I imagine most educators would be embarrassed by Mulgrew’s actions.”

The UFT declined to comment.

I'm going to leave aside the efficacy of joining Rev Al "Rent-A-Collar" Sharpton's march - Michael Fiorillo dispensed with that pretty well in a comment he left on a post by Arwen at NYC Educator's site on this move by the UFT to back Sharpton - and focus on the open animosity coming from other union heads aimed at Mulgrew.

According to the Post piece, the kind of dispute that's going on between Lynch, Palladino, et al. and Mulgrew would normally be taken care of behind the scenes:

Labor insiders were shocked by the escalating battle between the two political heavyweights who head two of the city’s most powerful unions.

“It’s just not right,” said Bill Pelletier, former VP for the Transit Workers Union. “For the leaders to get involved with this is out of character.”

He said such disputes are usually resolved privately at the Central Labor Council.

That this dispute made it out into the open, with Lynch hammering both Mulgrew and teachers (essentially framing Mulgrew's job as "protecting bad teachers" and "keeping bad schools opened") shows you how pissed off the cop unions are at Mulgrew and the UFT leadership and is just the latest piece of bad press Mulgrew has gotten this summer.

Earlier in the month, the Daily News publicized Mulgrew's violent speech at the AFT Convention in which he threatened to "punch in the face" and "kick in the dirt" anybody who took away Common Core from him.

I followed that up with a post re-examining the two other scandals Mulgrew has faced in recent years - the conflict of interest that saw his sister's tutoring company make millions of dollars from NYCDOE contracts even as she was still on leave as an NYCDOE teacher and the allegations that surfaced in a lawsuit that he had sex with a co-worker in a classroom when he was a teacher.

In the comments section of that post, Michael Fiorillo and I had the following discussion:

Michael Fiorillo August 10, 2014 at 11:39 AM

Is he a crook?

Maybe.

Is he a incompetent slob, whose fake tough guy persona is directed against teachers, rather than their enemies?

Without a shadow of a doubt.

reality-based educator August 10, 2014 at 11:41 AM

I would argue that he's highly competent in making sure his gravy train never derails.

But I agree with the rest of your comment, Michael.

Michael Fiorillo August 10, 2014 at 1:45 PM

He may be able to keep his gravy train on the rails, but I suspect not.

I have little beyond what we already know about him - not very appetizing, at all - to base this on, but my sense is that, at some point in the future, this guy is going down: the crude and coarse persona, the macho buffoonery, the bullying of the membership, the skeletons in the closet, the clear contempt with which he's held by elected officials (after all, Bloomberg scammed him in 2009, and Cuomo uses him as an errand boy)... all suggest to me that he is not likely to complete another term as UFT President.

Michael followed that comment up with the following comment about Mulgrew's Unity caucus's hold on power on a Diane Ravitch post about the UFT-controlled state union, NYSUT, endorsing ed deformer/charter fan/voucher proponent Jeff Klein for re-election this November:

Endorsing an oily bottom-feeder like Klein is just part of Unity’s workaday world. NYC teachers who’ve been around for a while probably have not-so-fond memories of the UFT leadership giving its annual John Dewey Award to Republican governor George Pataki, and then stabbing Democratic gubernatorial candidate and long-time UFT ally Carl McCall in the back some years ago. It’s typical behavior on their part.

After all, this is an organization that continues to endorse Mayoral control of the schools (except when the Mayor tries to rein in charter schools, in which case they silently stand by and allow him to be knee-capped by Cuomo/Moskowitz), did nothing to keep Bloomberg from buying an illegal third term and then gave him a de facto endorsement in 2009, takes pay-offs, er, investments, from Gates and Broad, supports Common Core and the testing regime that motivates it, as well as test-based teacher evaluations. The hostile takeover of public education would have never, ever, had the “success” it found if Weingrew had not accepted its premises.

Unity often appears invincible, given their choke-hold on power and the frequent cleverness with which they manipulate it, but everything runs it’s course, and these people have been enjoying their one-party state, and the double pensions that accompany it, for more than half a century. Unity Caucus is literally the last of the great political machines.

However, Unity Caucus is trapped in a dilemma: it fattens off the apathy and demoralization of it’s grossly manipulated membership, yet that very same apathy and demoralization inevitably lead to the weakening of the union, which ultimately endangers their hold on power.

The stronger they appear, the weaker they in fact are.

Michael Mulgrew can threaten to punch us all in the face – everyone, that is, except Andrew Cuomo, whom he kneels before – but he is now widely seen as a joke and embarrassment, and it’s hard to maintain monolithic power when your ostensible leader is a literal punch line.

Like the Communist Party in East Germany, which it ironically resembles in its inner “Democratic Centralist” workings, Unity will continue to be invincible, until it isn’t.

As Michael noted in the comment on the Mulgrew speech post, Mulgrew's buffoonery, the skeletons in his closet, the contempt elected politicians (and now other union leaders) have for him, the bullying of the members - these are starting to add up.

Now with the police unions actively taking aim at Mulgrew and savaging him in the papers, you have to wonder just how much more it takes before Mulgrew is given his walking papers.

These union leaders need calm and quiet to do their sell-out job without the rank-and-file noticing what they're doing.

Clearly nothing Michael Mulgrew does is calm and quiet.

Business As Usual At AFT Convention: Pro-CCSS Resolution, Lame Arne Duncan "Development Plan" Pass

I wrote yesterday that I wasn't going to be all that impressed if the delegates at the AFT convention voted to call for Secretary of Education Privatization Arne Duncan's ouster.

See, even if Duncan goes, his boss, Barack Obama - the guy whose education policies Duncan implements - will still be in power.

Nonetheless Norm Scott and others thought the AFT leadership would probably let such a resolution pass because they don't like to be seen as less radical than the NEA.

Since the NEA passed a resolution calling for Duncan's ouster, it was assumed the AFT would follow suit.

In the end, they did something pretty lame instead  - they put Duncan on a "Secretary of Education Improvement Plan":

Yeah, I know - I bet you think I'm joking here.

Alas, I am not:

#AFT14 Duncan deflection - call for Duncan to "improve" - Mulgrew, et al support - Randi said let members decide - we knew they had a plan
— Norm Scott (@NormScott1) July 13, 2014

So cheeky amdmt passes, 2 implement "Secy Improvement Plan" on Duncan, & if he doesn't improve, having been treated fairly, to resign #AFT14
— David Dayen (@ddayen) July 13, 2014

The AFT also passed a pro-CCSS resolution, heavily promoted by the AFT leadership, that the Common Core Federal Standards have lots of "promise" but have been corrupted by corporations looking to profit from them as well as poor implementation:

I can't believe we would agree to CC$$ because we're worried about bad press. When we present our reasoned arguments, we win. #AFT14
— Karen Lewis (@KarenLewisCTU) July 13, 2014

Stunning from member "Notice all voices pro Common Core were union leaders all against were rank and file." #AFT14 @AFTunion (Gunderson)
— Wilhelm II (@knightofgood) July 13, 2014

Here is Lacetothetop putting the AFT convention into perspective for us:

#AFT14 Next yr will start w same standards, high-stakes tests, & false accountability. Make sure green laces are on the back to school list.
— lacetothetop (@lacetothetop) July 13, 2014

On Friday I wrote that you should always watch what they do at the AFT and UFT, not what they say, because their actions often undercut their words.

That's what we've just seen at the AFT convention this weekend - AFT leaders leaking how they would be "escalating" the "union opposition" to corporate reform and the Obama Administration this weekend, but in the end, they issued a few lame resolutions that are meaningless in the real world and it's back to business as usual.

So Much For Randi Weingarten And The AFT Fighting The Common Core

Norm Scott is at the AFT convention in L.A. - he reports Randi Weingarten and her Unity/UFT minions had the votes to secure their own pro-Common Core resolution but rigged the committee process in order to ensure the Chicago Teachers Union resolution condemning Common Core didn't pass anyway:

Since we were not allowed in, we were watching the Education Issues Committee debate from outside the glass doors. With long lines at the mic, it was clear that Chicago TU people did not have the muscle to win the room over to its anti- common core resolution to counter the Weingarten pro common core - with conditions.

...

But just like at home where winning a majority is not enough, the Unity Caucus block voting machine (they model the Hassidic community) which controls the AFT did not leave any stones unturned.

Having experienced Unity tactics in the last 2 conventions, the CTU crew tried to get a step ahead. One of them asked me how much earlier they should get there to gain seats near the mics. "You should have left yesterday," I said.

Well, they got there early enough to get seats at the mics. Seeing the situation, never underestimate the slugs. They just cleared the room to force the CTU people out of their seats and had everyone re-enter, thus allowing Unity and allies to capture the seats around the mics. One CTUer left a bag on the seat. But when she got back, the bag had been moved and Mulgrew was sitting in the seat.

The CTU should have brought chains and locked themselves to their chairs - make Unity use a fork lift to get them out. Actually, I need to share some of my "I refuse to move, call the cops" stories with Chicago. Just don't move when they tell you to and invite them to call the cops. I once lay down on a table in the lobby at the DA when they told me to remove our lit. Think that is why they think I'm crazy or is it just my imagination?

I think mid-westerners are just too nice.

That's Weingarten's "vibrant AFT democracy" in action.

Remember this morning when I asked "Is Randi Weingarten REALLY Getting The Message" about how much opposition there is in the rank-and-file to Common Core and the ancillary corporate education reforms that come with it?

Remember how I said to watch what they do rather than listen to what they say over this stuff?

Well, if you were watching this farce, you saw happen exactly what I thought would happen - Weingarten and her shills talked a good game about opposition to Common Core and leaving it up to the membership whether the condemnatory CCSS resolution passed or not, then rigged the game to make sure that didn't happen.

In other words, they ensured that their lame "The Common Core Standards are wonderful if only the implementation was better" resolution passed.

Dunno what the usually astute Stephanie Simon was drinking last night when she wrote up her Politico piece about how the AFT leadership was escalating opposition to the CCSS, but whatever it was, she should stop drinking it so we can get back the astute reporting she always does.

Because the AFT leadership had NO intention of letting the condemnatory CTU resolution on the Core pass committee and go to the convention floor.

Randi Weingarten and the AFT/UFT leadership remain as pro-Common Core as ever - the proof was in the committee vote.

Randi Weingarten Stands With Arne Duncan (UPDATED - 3:45 PM)

From Politico:

Education Secretary Arne Duncan has brushed off a call for his resignation from the National Education Association.

The NEA adopted the resolution last week at its representative assembly in Denver, where the air was charged with anger and members buzzed with frustration at Duncan and other education reformers — especially their emphasis on high-stakes testing.

The resolution blamed Duncan for a “failed education agenda” consisting of policies that “undermine public schools and colleges, the teaching education professionals, and education unions.

...

  

But Duncan couldn’t be baited.

“Secretary Duncan looks forward to continuing to work with NEA and its new leadership,” spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said over the weekend. And at a White House press briefing Monday, during which Duncan outlined a plan to ensure all students have access to highly effective teachers, Duncan said he was “trying to stay out of local union politics.”

“We’ve had a very good working relationship with NEA in the past,” he said and congratulated President-elect Lily Eskelsen García on her win.

Duncan also noted that the president of the other major teachers union, the American Federation of Teachers, was joining him Monday for the rollout of the teacher equity proposal. He said had NEA members not been at their convention, “I think they would have stood with us on this” today, too. The AFT is not expected to consider a resolution calling on Duncan to step down at their convention, which starts Friday.

In the week after the NEA membership call for Duncan's ouster, AFT President Randi Weingarten is helping Duncan and the Obama administration in their efforts to make sure that every child in every zip code has access to an "effective teacher".

Of course those of you out there who understand reformy speak know that "access to an effective teacher" means giving states and districts the power to fire teachers they consider "ineffective".

Given that the mechanisms for measuring so-called teacher effectiveness are half-baked at best (i.e, the Voodoo VAM, the Danielson rubric), by joining Duncan in his "Teacher Equity Project, Weingarten is giving aid and comfort to the enemies of teachers who wish to fire them and replace them with cheaper (and younger) hires.

No wonder the AFT isn't expected to consider a resolution calling for Duncan's firing.

Weingarten's on his team.

UPDATED - 3:45 PM: Education Week reported Weingarten's response to the NEA's call for Duncan's ouster:

When asked whether the AFT joined the NEA in calling for Duncan's resignation, Weingarten said, "I understand the sentiment." She pointed to the letter she sent to the Secretary immediately after his commentary on the Vergara decision.

Yeah, that's telling them, Randi.

Like they give a shit about the letter you sent over the Vergara decision.

You know that they care about?

When a large teachers union stops joining them for the reformy programs like the "Teacher Equity Project" and calls Arne Duncan what he is - the Secretary of Education Privatization - at every opportunity they get.

Sending strongly-worded letters doesn't cut it when you're undercutting whatever sentiments you put into them by standing with Duncan at his events and failing to put all the pressure you can on getting him fired.

The UFT MUST Endorse Andrew Cuomo For Governor

I am calling for the UFT to enthusiastically and vocally endorse Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for re-election this November.

Sure Cuomo has shown himself to be anti-union, anti-teacher and anti-traditional public schools during his tenure as governor.

And sure it makes no sense that a teachers union would continue to support a politician who hates unions, teachers and traditional public schools, as the UFT does with Andrew Cuomo (and the AFT and NEA do with Barack Obama.)

And really, another four years of Andrew Cuomo will probably be the final nail in the coffin of traditional public schools in NYC, since Cuomo has already forced into law a provision that forces the NYCDOE to take money and resources from traditional public schools and give them to charter school entrepreneurs like Eva Moskowitz and David Levin.

So you may be wondering, why am I calling for the UFT to endorse Andrew M. Cuomo for governor?

Well, it's quite simple really.

As I posted earlier this morning, pretty much every candidate the UFT endorses loses - the latest being Adriano Espaillat, the state senator who conceded to Representative Charles Rangel after losing a second close primary race for Congress.

Quite frankly, one of the better things that can happen if you're opposed to Andrew M Cuomo and corporate education reform in New York State is for the UFT to enthusiastically and vocally support Andrew M. Cuomo for re-election.

While the UFT's endorsement may not be the "kiss of death" for Cuomo, it surely means a lot less in real political terms than the UFT leadership would have the members and the public believe.

So go ahead, Mikey and Company - do the right thing and endorse Cuomo for governor.

And then we can hope for the kind of political results you got in the Espaillat/Rangel race, or the Thompson 2013 run or the backing of the Holy Triumvirate of Hevesi, Ferrer and Green in 2001...

UFT Planted "Kiss of Death" On Espaillat With Union Endorsement

From State of Politics:

In a statement sent out this afternoon, Sen. Adriano Espaillat conceded the primary for the 13th congressional district to incumbent Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel. He also declared his candidacy for re-election to the state Senate.

Espaillat had held off on conceding to Rangel, saying he’d wait until “every single vote” was counted before admitting defeat. This comes after the senator’s last attempt to knock off Rangel in 2012 ended in an extremely tight race. As affadavit and absentee ballots continued to be counted in that election, the race grew tighter, eventually ending in a victory for Rangel of less than 1,000 votes.

But it seems Espaillat’s camp realized the vote deficit was too much to overcome this time around. Earlier today, the senator called Rangel to congratulate him on his victory and his long career in the House of Representatives.

Two months ago:

The city’s teachers union, which backed Rep. Charlie Rangel for re-election in 2012, is now looking to unseat him.

The delegate assembly of the United Federation of Teachers voted today to urge the union’s state affiliate, the New York State United Teachers, to endorse State Senator Adriano Espaillat, the leading challenger to Rangel in next month's Democratic primary.

Two years ago, the U.F.T. recommended an endorsement of Rangel.

In a statement, U.F.T. president Michael Mulgrew credited Espaillat with having “been a vocal champion for pre-k funding” and “a leading voice for banning standardized tests for our youngest students,” along with backing a three-year moratorium on using the new Common Core curriculum.

Back during the 2013 mayoral election, Bloomberg called the UFT endorsement the "kiss of death":

The candidates vying to succeed him can "shill" all they want for the teachers union, but they may very well be wasting their time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters today, during a press conference at the education department headquarters near City Hall.

"The last time the U.F.T.'s endorsement got somebody elected was better than two decades ago, O.K.?" said Bloomberg. "It's almost the kiss of death."

Espaillat made a lot of mistakes in this race - the UFT endorsement was not literally the "kiss of death" that did him in.

I'm sure he garnered a few votes because of Mulgrew's endorsement, but let's be honest here.

The UFT endorsement is pretty much worthless.

The Rangel/Espaillat race is just one more example of that.

You always see the UFT described in the papers as the "powerful" teachers union.

"Powerful"?

Hardly.

Andrew Cuomo And Michael Mulgrew Still Love The Common Core

Students, aprents and teachers all over the country are turning against the Common Core.

Protests have risen up in many states, three states have already pulled out of the Core (Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina) and two more are on the cusp of going (North Carolina and Louisiana.)

Here in NY State, a mass movement of students, parents and teachers is rising up against the Core and the ancillary tests that go with it, but that hasn't stopped our "betters" from keeping the Core agenda going.

Governor Cuomo, for example, just reiterated this week how much he loves the Common Core when he finally came out against using the CCSS scores in teacher evaluations (since the tests don't actually count for students):

Cuomo said the proposal would apply only to those teachers and principals who have “developing” or “ineffective” ratings, because those are the educators who could be unfairly affected by the state's rough transition to higher standards. Teachers that were rated "effective" or "highly effective" are not at risk.

“The fear is that if, in fact, the transition to Common Core has been rushed, which is the operating premise here … you don't want to have a negative evaluation ... that's not 100 percent accurate,” he said.

“I believe long term in Common Core,” Cuomo continued. “And I believe the move to the Common Core is exactly right. But when the Regents [and] the state Legislature accepted the premise that we were somewhat rushed in the transition to Common Core and therefore had to make adjustments for students, these are the corresponding adjustments for teachers.”

And Arwen at NYC Educator points out that UFT President Mulgrew also reiterated his support for the Core this week:

I received a second Mulgrew e-mail later in the day.  Here's an excerpt:

Dear Arwen,

Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature heard our concerns and have agreed to a two-year pause in attaching high-stakes consequences for teachers to student performance on Common Core-aligned state tests. Everyone recognizes that the Common Core, while the right direction for education, had a terrible rollout. Students aren’t being judged on the Common Core tests and state lawmakers made the smart decision not to judge teachers on those tests either.

I was horrified to read Mulgrew's implicit assumption, however.  "Everyone recognizes that the Common Core" is "the right direction for education."  How can he make this claim?  I guess everything to the contrary goes in one ear and out the other.  Does he not know how states are pulling out like it's the plague?  Louisiana pulled out just recently.  I believe only 36 states are still with the CC program.

I don't care how much PD is provided and how many CC-aligned lesson plans are sent along, I don't want the Common Core.  I don't want test companies and data companies profiting off of the misery of little kids.  I don't want to teach to someone's test today, tomorrow or ever, to save myself from professional annihilation--when I already know students living in poverty with language deficiencies and many special needs will never on average surpass the scores of children in wealthy suburbia.

As I think about it, I am sure that America has not so much bought the Common Core as been handsomely paid to adopt it.  As states begin to realize the federal morass in which they are now mired, I am sure many more will agitate for withdrawal.

So as state after state begins to pull out of the Core, Cuomo and Mulgrew double down on their support for the CCSS agenda.

No wonder Mulgrew helped engineer a Working Families Party endorsement of Cuomo.

He's on the same side as Sheriff Andy.

No Deal Yet On Teacher Evaluation Changes

From State of Politics this morning:

There’s no deal so far on modifications to the state-mandated teacher evaluation system. A sticking point is how many years and for which school years the state would remove Common Core-aligned test scores from consideration in the teacher evaluations.

Is anybody surprised that the UFT- and NYSUT-backed Cuomo is holding out for minimal and ineffectual changes to his APPR teacher evaluation system?

Aren't you glad the UFT was part of a contingent of unions that threatened the Working Families Party with dissolution if they didn't back Cuomo and put his name of their ballot line?

OPEN THREAD: What Is The UFT/AFT Strategy To Counter Attacks On Teacher Tenure/Due Process Protections?

The NY Times published an attack on teacher tenure earlier in the week in an editorial and today the NY Post followed up with a sensationalized PERV TEACHER story that is meant to drive the "Reform Tenure" narrative and bring about political action.

The attacks on teacher tenure/due process here in NY State have begun in earnest.

What is the UFT/AFT response to these attacks?

Do they have any?

I have an idea or two as a response that I'll write about at length in coming days, but they're nothing you haven't heard before.

It's important for teachers unions and teachers groups to partner with parents and parent groups to engender good will and understanding within the state, the cities and the communities.

Attacks on teachers and due process protections are less likely to work, no matter how well funded they are, if teachers unions and teachers groups are partnered with parents and parent groups on issues in which they have mutually shared interests - like calling for lower class sizes, like fighting for more funding for education, like opposing Common Core, like the fight against Endless Testing.

Alas, our union leadership doesn't do the best job of outreach to even its own members, let alone parents and others outside the union.

On some of those issues - like CCSS and testing - they're on the other side from many parents and parent groups (and teachers, for that matter!)

So I don't see a whole helluva lot coming from the union leadership that gives me confidence that we can fight the coming attacks against tenure and due process protections here in New York.

What say you?

Any ideas how the unions should counter the coming attacks?

Any ideas how teachers can do it even when they're union leadership is either too inept, incompetent or uncaring to do it for them?

Will The UFT Leadership Publicly Debate The Contract Proposal?

NYC Educator posted the following this morning:

On Friday I decided it would be a good idea to have a forum in which both sides of the contract proposal are examined. I asked my friend Julie Cavanagh if she would be interested in presenting the con side, and she agreed. I went to my principal and asked if we could use the school auditorium. He said if we got a permit and did so after school hours it was fine.

I then happened to be speaking to Geoff Decker from Chalkbeat NY, and he offered to moderate if we could find a time to fit his schedule. We envisioned either that a panel of him, me and someone pro-contract to select questions from the audience. We wanted to do something balanced. I asked my district rep, who said this would have to go before a UFT officer. So I wrote the following email to Janella Hinds, UFT VP for Academic High Schools:

Hi Janella,

We are trying to organize a forum on the contract, and are thinking about doing it next Thursday afternoon at FLHS. My committee would get a permit, and anyone who wished to co-sponsor could help pay. We think it will be between 100-300, depending on how large a room we use, with auditorium at 300.

We envision a pro and con speaker, equal opening and closing statements, and questions from the crowd taken by a committee consisting of one pro, one con, and one non-partisan, perhaps Geoff Decker of Chalkbeat NY. We envision giving each speaker equal time to answer each question.

Do you think UFT would be interested in participating in such a forum?

Arthur

NYC Educator reports that thus far, there has been no response from the UFT leadership.

Now to be fair, the email went out on Friday and chances are, many of the UFT leadership were already well into their weekend cups and unavailable for response.

But I for one would like to hear the UFT leadership agree to the public debate of the contract proposal - and if the UFT leadership are so sure this proposal "scrapes the skies" it's so good, they ought to come to the public debate and demonstrate it to the rest of us.

As NYC Educator wrote:

If they have such great faith they've made a good decision, it behooves them to subject it to the sunlight of reasonable scrutiny.

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?

Indeed.

Here's hoping the UFT leadership takes the opportunity to publicly debate the pros and cons of the contract proposal.

But I won't hold my breath waiting for this to happen.

A union leadership as top-down autocratic and Stalinst as this one isn't big on submitting to public scrutiny or debates they cannot control.

PEF President Wants To See Someone From Left Primary Cuomo

Can you imagine anybody from the Mulgarten-controlled AFT/UFT (and perhaps soon to be NYSUT) saying anything like this?

The state Democratic and Working Families parties should find a primary challenger to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the president of one of the state’s top public-employees unions said today.

Susan Kent, the president of the Public Employees Federation, said the Democratic governor hasn’t lived up to the ideals of the parties and should be challenged.

“I’m hopeful that the Democratic Party will come up with a primary candidate,” Kent told Gannett’s Albany Bureau. “I think that it’s important, especially in light of this budget, where progressive issues were really not pushed by the governor. I think it’s incumbent on the Democratic Party, the Working Families Party to come up with a primary challenger if they want to be true to the spirit of the parties.”

Kent’s comments are the latest sign of dissatisfaction by liberal groups and unions with Cuomo, who is seeking a second term in November.

Kent said she doesn’t expect the union, which has 55,000 members and is the second largest public-employee union in the state, to endorse Cuomo. She knocked the union’s prior leadership for backing Cuomo in 2010.

She said she doesn’t think “my members would be in any mood to endorse this governor.” She said she would be willing to talk to GOP candidate Rob Astorino.

Of course the UFT's Michael Mulgrew just bragged at last month's DA what a swell relationship he has with the union-hating, public school-hating Andrew Cuomo, so doubtful we'll hear anything from the UFT about primarying Cuomo.

But PEF's Kent seems to really want it:

Kent said she’s been talking to the AFL-CIO and the Working Families Party about taking on Cuomo.

“If we look at why the Working Families Party was founded, I’d say this should be job one for them right now,” Kent said. Cuomo’s “all about approval ratings. What we need to do is really tell the public what is going on here; what is a smoke screen.”

Meanwhile Mulgarten are looking to take over the NYSUT this weekend in the election and turn the leadership back into pro-Andy Cuomo shills. 

Isn't it time Mulgrew and Weingarten are sent packing to their post-union leadership StudentsFirst or Gates Foundation gigs like that former DC union guy and replaced with leadership that fights for the rank and file?

What Did The UFT Leadership Get To Look The Other Way On Cuomo's Charter Deal?

Michael Fiorillo on the news confirmed today by the NY Times that the UFT leadership did nothing to fight the charter school protections Cuomo wanted enshrined in the budget that give charters unlimited expansion rights, free rent in NYC public school buildings or the tab picked up by the NYCDOE and other goodies that the charter entrepreneurs wanted:

Does this (mis)leadership ever fight anything?

So, the APPR deal, which never should have been agreed to in the first place, will be tweaked - which would have happened anyway, since the admins are being crushed by it - in exchange for allowing charters to run wild, which is guaranteed to reduce UFT membership substantially in the coming years, as the charter cap is enlarged or eliminated altogether.

I have said that the UFT is a dues collection agency, but I was obviously wrong, since a real dues collection agency would have a better sense of self-preservation.

Cuomo and his backers from Hedgistan must be laughing among themselves when they observe the rubes from the UFT; it's no wonder that, behind their occasional condescending remarks, they think of us as chumps.

And:

These people are bought and sold. 

Weingrew thinks that the members will be mollified by a (five year late) contract - obtained while stabbing De Blasio in the back - despite the unending concessions (Common Core, APPR, VAM, charters run wild, etc) that he has made.

Are these people deluded, actually thinking they will organize charter schools? Or is something else allowing them to agree to the public school's and the union's eventual destruction?

Good question - is the UFT leadership complicit in the destruction of the union through ineptitude, delusion or deliberate collaboration?

I'll leave that question out there for now, but let's make one thing clear:

By failing to fight the charter school power grab, the UFT leadership have sowed the seeds of the destruction of traditional NYC public schools, traditional (i.e., unionized) public school teachers and by extension, the union that is supposed to represent and serve those teachers.