New Candidates for NYSUT At-Large Director Positions
Today we are excited to announce a team of candidates who will be running for seven of NYSUT’s At-Large Director positions in the upcoming NYSUT election. We do so only after having given the situation very careful consideration.
Running for these positions allows us to challenge incumbents for the opportunity to sit on NYSUT’s board of directors and affect policy on the statewide level that represents both the needs and desires of the rank and file membership who we represent. At the same time it allows us to continue the work we are doing in the schools we currently work in and the communities in which they serve. Our candidates are a diverse collection of working classroom teachers, representing a variety of certifications within our profession and an even greater array of students they serve.
An important part of our decision to announce our candidacy now is that it is after the deadline to seek endorsement from the statewide Unity Caucus. We want to make it clear that we are not seeking Unity Caucus endorsement as we oppose one party systems that limit democracy within our statewide union. We believe in an active and informed rank and file. We believe in true democratic, bottom up, member driven unionism. We stand for social justice unionism that not only fights for teachers and our working conditions, but simultaneously our students and their learning conditions.
We believe that this declaration is not just the beginning of our candidacy for the positions we seek, but also the beginning of a movement towards a new direction for the statewide union that we all love dearly.
Our candidates for the At-Large Director positions…
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Beth Dimino, President of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association, Middle School Science Teacher
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Mike Schirtzer, UFT Delegate- MORE Caucus, High School Social Studies Teacher
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James Eterno- UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, 2010 candidate for UFT President, High School Social Studies Teacher
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Lauren Cohen- UFT Delegate- MORE Caucus, 5th Grade General Education Teacher
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Julie Cavanagh, UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, 2013 candidate for UFT President, Elementary Special Education Teacher
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Francesco Portelos, UFT Chapter Leader- MORE Caucus, Intermediate School Science and Technology Teacher
- Jia Lee, UFT Chapter Leader-MORE Caucus, Earth School Elementary Teacher
The Offical Website of the PJSTA 
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Actually we have always argued that UFT LEADERSHIP is the tail that wags the NYSUT dog. There is a big difference between the UFT and it’s leadership. We’ve made that assertion over and over which you seemed to have missed. If UFT represented it’s rank and file there wouldn’t be such a big problem.
Additionally the at-large director position Beth Dimino is running for can only be served by a Suffolk County member. The positions the MORE candidates are running for can only be served by NYC teachers, so your point fails to hold water. If you are from another part of the state and want to run for a position in that portion of the state, by all means, please do so. The deadline to register is 2/21.
It is interesting to note that while this blog, and the MORE blog have complained that the UFT is the tail that wags the NYSUT dog all except one position is going to a UFT member. And no members on this slate come from any part of NY except people who could commute into NYC within less than an hour. Most of the state is rendered voiceless. Kind of hypocritical