The Offical Website of the PJSTA

NYSUT Withdraws Support for Common Core and Seeks King’s Dismissal

The state’s largest and most powerful teacher’s union on Saturday issued a declaration of “no confidence” in state Education Commissioner John King, a symbolic but unprecedented gesture calling for King’s removal from his post by the state Board of Regents.

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The resolution states that the board declares “no confidence in the policies of the Commissioner of Education.” Earlier this month, NYSUT president Richard Iannuzzi announced that he would seek the action in an interview on Time Warner’s “Capital Tonight” program.

NYSUT’s board also withdrew its support for the state’s new Common Core learning standards “as implemented and interpreted in New York” until the State Education Department “makes major course corrections” and “supports a three-year moratorium on high-stakes consequences from standardized testing.”

“SED’s implementation plan in New York state has failed,” said Iannuzzi in a statement. “The commissioner has pursued policies that repeatedly ignore the voices of parents and educators who have identified problems and called on him to move more thoughtfully.”

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UPDATE: Education Commissioner John King and state Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch issued a statement Saturday afternoon in response to the NYSUT vote. The statement follows, in entirety:

“Every year more than 140,000 New York students leave high school without the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in college or the workplace. Many are essentially trapped in a lifetime of economic despair. Together with the Board of Regents, the Governor, and legislature, we will make necessary adjustments and modifications to the implementation of the Common Core, but now is not the time to weaken standards for teaching and learning. Our students are counting on us to help them develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life. The higher standards the Common Core sets will help them do just that.”

This is a huge step in the right direction for NYSUT. Of course Tisch and her puppet John King don’t care. We have known for quite a while that they are not listening to anybody and that they are planning to steamroll forward with their agenda. Tisch and her plutocrat cronies, after all, have far too much money to lose should this privatization scheme fail in New York State. She isn’t going to let hoards of teachers, students, and parents get in her way. Which of course is why it is exceedingly important to keep the pressure on your state legislators and the governor. Let them know that if there is not a full withdrawal from Race to the Top, they will pay with their jobs in November.

Reality-Based Educator says, “While these moves will not make the Andy Cuomo contingent of the state union happy – namely Mike Mulgrew and the UFT leadership – they surely will make many in the rank-and-file around the state happy.” Be sure to check out his reaction at the Perdido Street School blog.

7 Comments

Posted on January 24, 2014 by thepjsta

State of Politics Picks Up NYSUT Story

Via State of Politics…

But there’s also chatter that what this is really all about is an effort by the UFT to wrest control of its parent union once and for all. This theory is primarily being pushed by the pro-Iannuzzi faction, which thinks Mulgrew, who has a close relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is particularly miffed that Iannuzzi is apparently unwilling to even entertain the possibility of endorsing the governor for re-election this fall.

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“I will be in this until the end,” Iannuzzi replied. “I’ve been part of NYSUT for 40-plus years, and I know what NYSUT is. It’s an organization that has a really delicate balance between New York City and the rest of the state. It won’t be NYSUT if this crowd takes over.”

2 Comments

Posted on January 24, 2014 by thepjsta

The Tangled NYSUT Web

The NYSUT drama continued to roll on this week. It is quite a nuanced debate, particularly for those people who aren’t familiar with the inner workings of the statewide union. We’ll try and connect some dots for you…

Earlier this week former Executive Vice-President Alan Lubin wrote a letter backing Pallotta. Lubin clearly made a significant attempt to put to bed the notion that this is a “UFT take over of NYSUT”. He made the point that the UFT would only hold two of the five officer positions. He failed to make the point that all of the officer positions would be hand picked by UFT/Unity hack Andy Pallotta. For those people who have believed that Lubin has always been the one pulling the strings of Pallotta, this did nothing to silence them.

Yesterday Revive NYSUT posted an endorsement from UFT President Michael Mulgrew. “We support the Revive NYSUT Unity slate. We have heard the voices from locals across the state and agree with their call for change.” Two days earlier, in a ~~love letter to Governor Cuomo~~ letter to his members addressing Governor Cuomo’s budget proposal, Mulgrew said “The governor’s budget proposal is a good start for the legislative process, one that puts the needs of New York’s children and educators at the center of the debate.” This is the same Mulgrew whose UFT DA last week refused to rule out a Cuomo endorsement. For people who believe that Pallotta’s slate wants to endorse Cuomo, the Mulgrew endorsement was more fuel for the fire. Revive NYSUT claims to promote “grassroots unionism”. I wonder how they felt about Mulgrew’s refusal to debate his opponent last spring, a true grassroots unionist, Julie Cavanagh.

Today, over at Ed Notes Online, Norm Scott continued his brilliant coverage of this topic. Scott received a copy of a letter sent from UFT rank and file members to NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi. In it they say…

The influence that the UFT has on the decisions of NYSUT must be countered. Andrew Cuomo is not a friend to teachers. Andrew Cuomo isn’t even close to being fair to teachers. If Michael Mulgrew wants to support Andrew Cuomo, he should do so by writing a personal check. We are certainly not the only UFT members who feel abandoned by the UFT. It is time for NYSUT’s locals to unite against the useless behemoth of a local called the UFT and take steps to protect the hardworking teachers of NYS.

One of the teachers who sent that letter, Roseanne McCosh, also had this to say…

I worked with Andy Pallotta when we were both Dist 10 chapter leaders and I continued as chapter leader while he was the Dist 10 rep. I am no longer chapter leader but I was replaced by someone strong and on the right side of the issues.

On a personal level I have a lot of good things to say about Andy. But this UFT/NYSUT situation ain’t personal— it’s business, and I completely disagree with Andy on how vehemently we should be fighting those looking to eliminate teachers’ unions and wreak havoc on the day to day conditions under which we must try to teach. I spoke with Andy this past summer and expressed my frustration with the lack of leadership on tackling Albany and the DOE head on. Andy’s a peacemaker. I’m a fighter. We disagree on tactics. He had a VP from the UFT call me (For the life of me I can’t remember her damn name) and I was given lip service that the UFT was on top of this whole eval system. I knew I was being placated and ended the conversation noting that time would tell how ahead of all of these issues the UFT would be in the months to come.

To get an in depth look at the evaluation system that the UFT was “on top of” you can take a look here.

2 Comments

Posted on January 19, 2014 by thepjsta

More on Andy Pallotta

We told you earlier of this week of the war brewing inside of NYSUT between NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi and Executive Vice-President Andy Pallotta, who is believed to be backed by UFT President Michael Mulgrew. This morning we have a few more layers of intrigue to add. In response to things posted on the Revive NYSUT Facebook page (and subsequently removed), Iannuzzi was quoted on the Revive NYSUT Slate Lies page (Yes, there is a “Revive NYSUT” and a “Revive NYSUT Slate Lies”).

Via Revive NYSUT Lies…

BREAKING: Dick Iannuzzi responds to lies posted on Revive NYSUT

Carla McLaud, at large nysut director, called Dick directly to seek the truth regarding the NYSUT table at Cuomo’s fundraiser. Dick asked to be quoted on the misinformation being posted on Revive NYSUT.

“This is a lie. Either the writer or his source is lying. Andy authorized the table without consultation with the officers or the approval of the V/C committee. In fact, as of Friday, a request still has not been forwarded to the V/C Committee. For this reason I have frozen all contributions over $5000 to statewide parties or candidates without prior approval. This lack of judgment is why officers that provide a variety of views and insights (not 4 hand picked by one officer) is the checks and balance needed at NYSUT. This is not micro-managing, it’s good common sense. Had this come to the five officers, I am confident Maria, Lee, Kathleen and I would have opposed a $10000 contribution to Cuomo’s reelection fund.”

Richard Iannuzzi, NYSUT President

In addition we came across the memo below, distrbuted by Pallotta. A memo with plans that Iannuzzi apparently didn’t have knowledge of…

MEMORANDUM

TO: NYSUT Board of Directors

FROM: Andy Pallotta, Executive Vice President

DATE: January 15, 2014

RE: NYSUT’s Legislative Reception

On Monday evening, January 27, 2014, NYSUT will host a Legislative Reception and briefing in the Observation Deck of the Erastus Corning Tower at the Empire State Plaza. The reception will be held between6:00 PM – 8:00 PM.

The Governor and his executive staff, members and the executive staff of the Senate and Assembly will be our invited guests.

Light refreshments will be served and a cash bar will be available.

A copy of the invitation is attached. If you are interested and your schedule allows, please RSVP to Karen Rhatigan at (518) 213-6000 x6626 or by e-mail, krhatigan@nysutmail.org.

On Saturday evening PJSTA President Beth Dimino delivered the following message to the members of the PJSTA…

For the record, the PJSTA will NOT endorse a slate of NYSUT Officers, led by Andy Pallotta, that endorse and use our vote cope money to pad Cuomo’s war chest! The PJSTA is leading the charge against this heinous act and will support individuals that oppose Pallotta and Cuomo!

Beth Dimino, President PJSTA

1 Comment

Posted on January 17, 2014 by thepjsta

Burgeoning NYSUT Civil War

Those of you who monitor your statewide union via Twitter will have noticed a flurry of activity this week that is sure to continue until the elections at the NYSUT RA in April. It began Tuesday evening with the creation of the @ReviveNYSUT Twitter account. Originally and anonymously dubbing themselves a “grassroots” group seeking change within out parent union, they were later revealed to be led by current Executive Vice-President Andy Pallotta (who has been largely ineffective in regards to his role as director of legislative action… see Tax Cap, Tier V, Tier VI, etc.). Pallotta, frustrated with NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi’s resistance to allowing Pallotta to have unlimited access to Vote Cope funds, apparently cobbled together a slate to run against the current NYSUT leadership. To add gasoline to the fire it has been revealed that Pallotta used $10,000 in Vote Cope funds to purchase a table at King Andy Cuomo’s birthday bash. In addition to the expected Pallotta and Ianuzzi, members of the slate Pallotta is running against Iannuzzi also attended. They include Karen Magee (President of the Harrison Teachers) who is running against Iannuzzi for NYSUT President. The $10,000 paid for the table went to “Cuomo 2014”. There has been some discussion that Pallotta’s slate would seek a Cuomo endorsement, or at the very least contribute further Vote Cope funds to Cuomo 2014 should they win.

This situation reminded me of Pallotta’s trip to the PJSTA’s Union Conference Day a couple of years back (2012 I believe?). When a PJSTA member questioned whether he could be assured that NYSUT would not endorse Cuomo for re-election in 2014 Pallotta was non-committal. That exchange may very well prove to be prophetic.

In a separate, but possibly related story, at the UFT Delegate Assembly on Wednesday evening, the UFT’s Unity Caucus voted down a motion “that the UFT not endorse Cuomo’s reelection nor provide him with any COPE money.” (Thanks to James Eterno for making the motion and blogging about it on the ICEUFT Blog. Reality-Based Educator chimes in with “Why The UFT Will Probably Back Cuomo“) Where this connects to Pallotta is that he is a former UFT member who was, in essence, tapped by UFT leadership to take the NYSUT Executive Vice-President position (traditionally this has always been held by a UFT member, dating back to Albert Shanker). Additionally in the profile of their @ReviveNYSUT Twitter account, they are now admitting who they are and that they are “Unity Caucus members.”

It is a twisted and tangled story that is only getting started. Norm Scott of Ed Notes Online does a much better job than I do of explaining it so be sure to head on over to his blog to read about it. Mike Antonucci wonders about Revive NYSUT’s viability here.