Friday, February 13, 2015

Michael Mulgrew Shows Us Which Sides He's On

Michael Fiorillo's reaction to UFT President Mulgrew's defense of standardized testing:

Do I really need to pay over a thousand dollars a year to listen to someone who misrepresents me and acts like a ventriloquist's doll for Bill Gates, Eli Broad, Michael Bloomberg and all the other so-called reform privateers? To say that tests should drive instruction, as Mr. Robeson did, is to repeat their phrasing word for word.

The needs of children, not tests, should drive instruction.

The reviving of democracy, not tests, should drive instruction.

Education as a means of providing choices, and the ability to rationally judge them, not tests, should drive instruction.

Yesterday's DA provided yet more proof, as if it was necessary, that the Weingrew regime fully accepts the premises of the so-called reformers, which pivot on high stakes testing. These people are there to manage and pacify us while the deal goes down.

How these folks think they can maintain their dues machine once the union is so weakened and discredited (and make no mistake, any union where 80% of the active membership doesn't vote, where archipelagos of schools have no Chapter Leader, and where the contract is ignored with impunity, is racing there) that it can be drowned in the bathtub.

That is exactly what Gates and company will do when Weingrew have outlived their usefulness: stop taking their phone calls and send them on their way to their double pensions.

Apparently, they've signed a loyalty oath to Bill Gates, not that it will help when he's used them up.

Perhaps they're operating under the assumption of the crooked bankers and mortgage brokers leading up to the financial crisis of 2008: IBGYBG, or "I'll Be Gone, You'll Be Gone."

If you had any hope that the UFT is going to do anything other than slowly sell you out year by year, it ought to be snuffed out by the words and deeds of our union leaders.

They defend testing and Common Core with a lot more passion than they do the teaching profession or teachers.

As Michael said in his comment, these people are there to manage and pacify us while the deal goes down.

The Weingrew shills cry "unity" when you criticize their tactics, criticize their strategies - all "unity" means to them is, shut up and let the leadership sell you out.

7 comments:

  1. I think we should stage a public event where we burn our union cards and call for a constitutional convention to redefine the organization

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    1. How can a constitutional convention be organized?

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  2. Interesting take - atradventures.blogspot.com

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  3. The leadership of the AFT has been working for the other side for a long time.

    Which Side Are You On?

    http://www.defendpubliceducation.net/which-side-are-you-on/

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  4. Since it sounds like very little fight is shown at delegate assemblies, maybe conscientious chapters leaders should stage a walkout of some kind, there.

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  5. I believe the UFT just needs a top notch leader as Mulgrew clearly has never and still is just not up to the challenge. I mean mulgrew was a shop teacher (nothing against shop teachers) but how does that qualify him in any way to be UFT leader?? Look at some other NYC union leaders and you can notice right away that Mulgrew is weak and anyone dealing with him knows this. Clearly this is the issue at hand. Lets not sell out the UFT but rather look at the leader and get the leader out of there with someone who has the teeth of a tiger

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  6. Maybe Mr. Mulgrew needs to be educated about the latest VAM Research supported by AERA and the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation here http://www.aera.net/Newsroom/NewsReleasesandStatements/StudyStateValue-AddedPerformanceMeasuresDoNotReflecttheContentorQualityofTeachers%E2%80%99Instruction/tabid/15512/Default.aspx
    what they found (in a huge study that included, NY, LA , Philly and 3 other large metropolitan areas) was that State VAM measures DO NOT REFLECT THE CONTENT OR QUALITY OF TEACHER INSTRUCTION!!! VAMs are not reliable or valid. Why would he want to use them to assess teachers!! He is not only a political hack but ignorant about education research to boot!

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