The Stronger Together Caucus has authored a letter to the NYSUT officers, Board of Directors, and members. The letter addresses NYSUT’s seeming reluctance to push back against Governor Cuomo and Merryl Tisch regarding their APPR agenda.
Click here to view the letter.
Click here to contact the Stronger Together Caucus.
I’d like to take a bit of a break from our typical posts on here, consisting of news related to unions and public education in general to focus on something new. Across the school district we are employed in, PJSTA members can be found doing extraordinary work of all different varieties. Much of this work tends to go unrecognized as it is fairly ordinary for teachers to do extraordinary things all under the umbrella of “doing our jobs.”
I am on Twitter and tend to follow any PJSTA members who I discover to be on there. Early this fall I followed one of our members, Matt Drucker, and quickly discovered something very cool that he was working on. At the time Matt had very recently started blogging and was starting off by taking on a challenge titled, “Reflective Teaching: A 30-Day Blogging Challenge.” The challenge asked teachers to write a reflective blog post each day for thirty days in regards to our profession. Matt decided to give it a try because he was new to blogging and thought that it’d be a helpful way to get started.
” I feel that this blogging experience has opened my eyes to a whole new way to make connections with other teachers from all over the world. It’s great to see that we have so many things in common and it has provided an additional support system. It has also helped open my eyes to new ways to integrate and use technology in and out of the classroom.” Matt said.
Following that initial challenge Matt has gone on to continue blogging about his teaching experiences while at the same time taking on additional blogging challenges. I highly recommend that you check out his blog Sig. Drucker’s travels through education…
Over the course of my career, as a teacher at Clinton, Norwood, and Terryville, I have had the chance to work with the overwhelming majority of our elementary teachers. I have gotten to know many of the others through meetings, professional development, and other district related activities. However one of my regrets is that I haven’t had the opportunity to get to know many of the secondary teachers outside of my union work. As is the case with our elementary teachers, it is clear that there is some really outstanding work going on at both JFK and Comsewogue High School. Social media has given me a bit of a window into some of the exceptional work that our members are doing at the secondary level. As an elementary teacher it is both comforting and exciting to see my students heading into such capable hands.
If you have examples of PJSTA members doing great work in your buildings (and I know there are many examples in every building!) feel free to pass it along to me. Additionally if you want to share some of your own best practices I would be happy to publish them here on the blog as well. You can contact me via email at wogteacher@gmail.com
Yesterday NYSUT held a Moral Monday rally on the Million Dollar Staircase in the state Capitol. Kudos to them for protesting funding inequities that rob our students of the education they deserve.
One thing I noticed in the coverage of yesterday’s events was that, deservedly so, there was lots of tough talk aimed at Governor Cuomo. From Andy Pallotta to Mike Mulgrew to Randi Weingarten, Cuomo was being called to task for his record as an ed deformer. What was unfortunate, however, is that none of this tough talk came last year when it mattered most. When there was a viable alternative to Cuomo in the race for governor the three aforementioned “unionists” weren’t talking tough about Cuomo. Instead Mulgrew was threatening the Working Families Party with dissolution if they didn’t endorse Cuomo and marching with the governor in the Labor Day Parade. NYSUT was hiding under a rock and throwing their money at reformy John Flanagan and Randi Weingarten was making robo calls on behalf of Cuomo’s running mate. So pardon me if their tough talk now rings a bit hollow to me.
Our friend Reality Based Educator had a good observation yesterday as well. Lost in all of this talk about funding inequities has been the fact that there has been little if any talk about the Cuomo and Tisch APPR agenda. As RBE points out on his Perdido Street School blog, it’s likely due to the fact that a big APPR sellout is on the way.
The union leadership puts together a rally with a message focused on the inequities between rich and poor districts.
Speaker Silver says education funding will be a “top priority” in this legislative session.
But there’s little-to-no pushback on the damages of test-based evaluations or redoing the evaluation system to make tests 40% of the entire rating (and really 100%, since if you come up “ineffective” on 40%, you’re ineffective overall.)
You can see how this will play out in negotiations, can’t you?
If you’ve been a teacher and have watched these kinds of fights for a while, I bet you can.
The unions and Assembly Dems will trade Cuomo’s evaluation, tenure, and 3020a “reforms” for more “education funding.”
And of course Cuomo will get his increase of the cap and funding for charter schools – that goes without saying.
…
It’s a lot of noise meant to fool the rank and file into thinking the union leaders plan on trying to protect them in upcoming negotiations.
Make no mistake – they don’t.
They plan on selling you out, giving Cuomo and the charter school entrepreneurs most (if not all) of what they want on the charter cap and charter funding, giving Cuomo and Tisch most (if not all) of what they want on the evaluation system “reforms” and 3020a changes in return for a few extra dollars in “education funding.”
We’ll hit on the coming sellout more in the coming weeks. For now one other thing to note…
Why is NYSUT giving VOTE-COPE money to John Flanagan? The Republican senator, who chairs the senate’s K-12 education committee, is a noted ed deformer and member of ALEC. He is on the take from reform group StudentsFirst and has been in the news for backing changes to the APPR that would take local control away from school districts. Flanagan has supported the idea of eroding tenure rights. He was also the senator who complained to Comsewogue’s administration that Beth Dimino needed to speak to him in a more deferential tone. He was not endorsed by NYSUT as there was literally no reason to endorse him. So one certainly wonders why NYSUT contributed $7,750 to him in this past election. That made them one of Flanagan’s top donors. Not issuing an endorsement is sort of pointless if you are going to then fill the coffers of that candidate anyway.
New York State Allies for Public Education (NYSAPE), NY BATs, Lace to the Top (LttT), STCaucus, Long Island Opt-Out (LIOO), and the Port Jefferson Station Teacher’s Association (PJSTA) have collaborated to write the following Test Refusal/APPR Resolution. The above organizations are in full support of this resolution and encourage its use as a working template for your local chapters. It will be presented at the 2015 NYSUT RA.
PLEASE bring this to the attention of the members in your local and make sure it is discussed in your Rep Council meetings. The more districts who sign-on, the better! There is strength in our numbers and in building MASSIVE test refusals for state assessments this Spring. Please encourage ALL your teachers to refuse testing for their own kids as this action will send a powerful message to other parents, that we support their right to opt their child out of developmentally inappropriate, non-diagnostic, high-stakes testing. We have provided a link at the bottom of the resolution for the purchase of Test Refusal car magnets and stickers to help build recognition and support within our communities. We encourage teachers to send in their child’s “I REFUSE” letter and display the magnet or sticker on their car to show support for students, teachers and public education!
Resolution to Support the “The I Refuse Movement” to oppose High Stakes Testing
WHEREAS, the purpose of education is to educate a populace of critical thinkers who are capable of shaping a just and equitable society in order to lead good and purpose-filled lives, not solely prepare that populace for college and career; and
WHEREAS, instructional and curricular decisions should be in the hands of classroom professionals who understand the context and interests of their students; and
WHEREAS, the education of children should be grounded in developmentally appropriate practice; and
WHEREAS, high quality education requires adequate resources to provide a rich and varied course of instruction, individual and small group attention, and wrap-around services for students; and
WHEREAS, the state assessments are not transparent in that–teachers and parents are not allowed to view the tests and item analysis will likely not be made available; and
WHEREAS, the assessment practices that accompany Common Core State Standards – including the political manipulation of test scores – are used as justification to label and close schools, fail students, and evaluate educators; therefore be it
RESOLVED that the PJSTA opposes standardized high stakes testing that is currently pushed by the Federal and State governments, because this testing is not being used to further instruction for children, to help children, or to support the educational needs of children; and be it further
RESOLVED, the PJSTA advocates for an engaged and socially relevant curriculum that is student-based and supported by research; and be it further
RESOLVED, the PJSTA will embark on internal discussions to educate and seek feedback from members regarding standardized high stakes testing and its impact on students; and be it further
RESOLVED, the PJSTA will lobby the NYS Board of Regents to eliminate the use of high stakes testing; and be it further
RESOLVED, the PJSTA will ask that all of its members have their own children refuse to take the Grade 3-8 assessments: and be it further
RESOLVED, the PJSTA will organize other members and affiliates to increase opposition to high stakes testing; and be it further
RESOLVED, that a copy of this resolution will be sent to the NY State Board of Regents, the Governor of NYS, and all members of the NYS legislative branch; and be it finally
RESOLVED, that after this resolution is passed by the PJSTA Representative Council, an appropriate version will be submitted to the American Federation of Teachers for consideration at the AFT July 2016 Convention and to NYSUT for consideration at the 2015 RA.
Please encourage your members to purchase/replicate these bumper stickers/magnets to support test refusal as a way to stop corporate education reform. http://www.cafepress.com/nysalliesforpubliceducation
Several years back, when discussing the work of our local union I had a colleague say to me, “If you can’t trust your union, who can you trust?” I, of course, agreed wholeheartedly. Years later I can still agree with this statement in regards to my local union. Over the course of my career the PJSTA has provided me with wonderful working conditions, a good living wage, and excellent benefits. On top of that they have represented my voice well in matters regarding public education and legislative issues that impact our profession. They have advocated for the students we teach and the community that we serve. The PJSTA, over the course of my 13 years as a member has undoubtedly earned my trust. Where things change, however, is with my other unions. My parent unions.
There was a time when I would go to the polls with a list of NYSUT endorsed candidates in my pocket and vote accordingly, believing that they had made endorsements only to those who would be fighting for quality public education. Additionally I would give generously from each pay check towards VOTE-COPE, with the belief that this money was going towards those candidates who would fight for the sort of public education system that I could be proud of. The type that benefited our students and communities. After all, if you can’t trust your union, who can you trust?
Unfortunately I have learned over the past couple of years that I can’t trust NYSUT and I can’t trust the AFT. I say them separately, though the elements that make them untrustworthy tend to be one and the same (The UFT leadership’s Unity Caucus, which controls both NYSUT and the AFT).
As we sit here, a week into 2015, the public education landscape looks bleaker than ever. We have clear adversaries regarding the attacks on our profession and what is perhaps most disturbing is the way in which our parent unions have, in many ways, been complicit in working with those adversaries.
For example, let’s look at Governor Cuomo. Cuomo was a clear enemy of public education throughout his first term in office, even going so far as to say that schools whose test scores weren’t good enough should receive the “death penalty.” By now we all know the litany of other offenses on Cuomo’s part. It goes without saying that Cuomo should have been public enemy #1 for NYSUT. If they were representing the voice of their membership he certainly would be. Let’s take a look at the NYSUT timeline of events regarding Cuomo over the past year…
There was certainly more than one local president at the endorsement conference who asked for an endorsement of Teachout in the primary. Our own Beth Dimino was one of them. That brings me to another option for NYSUT. Dimino suggested that if Teachout were to lose to Cuomo in the primary, NYSUT should support the Green Party’s Howie Hawkins and Brian Jones for governor and lieutenant governor. We covered their education platform back in May. So NYSUT had two separate options to oppose Cuomo and they chose none. Despite pleas from their membership and presidents from locals around the state, Magee, Pallotta, and the rest of NYSUT’s board of directors decided in their private meeting yesterday that they would not oppose Cuomo.
The names of the organizations may have changed in the above scenarios, but the faces behind them are essentially the same. Randi Weingarten and Michael Mulgrew pull the strings more than any other. In NYSUT, Executive Vice-President Andy Pallotta mostly does their bidding while the other officers fall in line. Pallotta, Mulgrew, and Weingarten have all taken the Unity Caucus oath and have all benefited from it tremendously. That’s why they won’t act in opposition to Cuomo. They won’t act in opposition to the Common Core. They will do very little to benefit the members (though Martin Messner may save you money on your car insurance!). It’s only a matter of time before the statewide APPR sellout comes. Unfortunately not many of our statewide members benefit from the work of Unity Caucus. Most of us are actually hurt by it. That’s why I can say that I don’t trust my union.
The only way for things to ever change within NYSUT is to defeat the statewide Unity Caucus and their “seat at the table” brand of unionism. We need leadership who is driven by principle, by the desire to see our schools strengthened, and by the collective conscience of our rank and file membership. Not by an oath that they took to vote along party lines.
We are getting pretty late into this game now. Things are becoming more dire by the day. Maybe the coming APPR sellout will be what finally galvanizes our members to stand up and take back their union.
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