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Education Notes

An independent point of view on issues affecting the educational community


Norman Scott, Editor Email: norscot@aol.com

FREE (Suggested contribution: $1 on Mon/Weds/ Fri., $2 on Tues/Thurs)

Vol. 6 No. 1

From the Editor


THE KITCHEN COUNTER (where else?) Belle Harbor, NY

As I sit in my kitchen on a sunny Tuesday morning


on Sept. 3, I think about all the people heading back to
schools after their summers off. Having retired July 1,
this is the first time in 35 years (other than 2 sabbaticals)
that I wasnt working in a school soon after Labor Day.
When you think of it, this routine of starting the new
year in September begins when you enter school at the
age of 5. It takes some acclimation to get rid of those
September butterflies.
People ask me how it feels. It feels fine. Actually,
it feels wonderful, though I can honestly say there wasnt
one year where I didnt go back somewhat eagerly. Other
than all the chores I had left undone that would have to
wait for another summer (some have been waiting for
35 years,) a summer off always seemed enough.
This summer really was different. The Endless
Summer. You know all those chores? They still didnt
get done. But I didnt feel pressure because I now have
the entire year not to do them. (Do not tell my wife I said
this.)
Of course, once September rolled around, it
didnt take long for the emails and phone calls to start
coming in complaining about the idiocy going on in the
schools. A number of them asked: Are you still going to
continue Education Notes? It is needed now more than
ever.
For 5 years Ed. Notes was a hand printed,
hand collated, mimeographed newsletter (last year 7
full issues and 2 supplementary ones totalling close to
70 pages) that reached 1500-2000 people. Costs were
minimal (about $100 an issue.) The newsletter was
distributed by hand, mostly to delegates and chapter
leaders at the monthly UFT Delegate Assemblies. It
was aimed at people who were interested in and fairly
sophisticated about union political matters. In other
words, people who dont have a life.

Continued on page 14

About Ed. Notes (on the back page)


Editors biography (P. 12)
Join the Ed. Notes Email Hotline
Share news and views on education and union
matters. Email: norscot@aol.com

Fall 2002

Coming Soon to a School Near You: Mayoral Control

When UFT leader Randi Weingarten floated a proposal to give the mayor control of the
school system in May 2001, Education Notes took strong exception, arguing that giving
politicians control would only result in a system of education by the numbers in a corporate
style system. Our opposition caused a breach in our relationship to the UFT leadership that
has not been healed to this day. Weingarten took exception to what she perceived was an
accusation that she was selling us out. We did not go that far, but we did feel that she was in
favor of recentralizing the school system, thus opting for short term gains (a quick contract)
while sacrificing the long term interests of school workers, whose ability to control the
conditions under which they work decrease significantly under centralized control. Mayor
Giulianis scornful rejection of that deal delayed our contract for more than a year. It was
the unions behind the scenes support for giving Mayor Bloomberg control that finally got
the contract done. Did Weingarten sell out our educational interests for a pot of gold? The
next few years will allow people to judge for themselves. This month, we give our readers a
break from our diatribes against centralized corporate style mayoral control and turn instead
to surrogates.

We reprise the article George Schmidt,


editor of Substance, Chicagos independent
educational newspaper, did for us in May which
points to the lessons of Chicago over the last 7
years as a guidepost to the future of education in
New York. PAGE 5. A group of teachers had the
pleasure of meeting George when he visited us
this summer. PAGE 3.
We include excerpts from an article
on Chicago Teacher Union President Deborah
Lynch in the August Teacher Magazine. (Email
norscot@aol.com for the complete article).
Lynchs story is a fascinating one and creates some
interesting contrasts when a real educator rather
than a politician takes the reigns of a teachers
union. We also reprint Lynchs campaign speech
to the Chicago House of Delegates just before she
was elected. This rousing speech talks about the
impact of the corporate model. PAGES 5, 6.
Another Deborah (Meier) also comments
on mayoral control in excerpts from an interview
she gave the NY Times. Meier has been a legend
as a progressive educator who seeks realistic long

term solutions to problems and doesnt just look


to create the veneer of lets make things look like
theyre okay like the majority of educators do.
PAGE 2.
Howie Schwack, editor of Rockaways
newspaper The Wave, gives us his surreal account
of a meeting with City Council members and
points out how politicians just dont have a clue
about education. Schwacks account makes the
future of education in New York look bleak. But
then we know that already. PAGE 2
We comment briefly on Joel Klein and his
education czar Diana Lam in Klein on the Lam.
PAGE 2
Ed. Notes hasnt lost its sense of parody
(Parodist Lost?) with articles entitled:
Survivor: Searching for the next Chancellor
Bloomberg Corp. to Appoint Teacher as CEO
Microsoft sues Klein for running a monopoly
Bloomberg calls for take over of UFT. Some say
he already has PAGE 2
Future editions of Ed. Notes will report on the
impact of the corporate model on our schools.

Loving the New Contract? Maybe, Maybe Not

Now that we are retired we have the voted agreed with them as 94% Solomons description of
attitude: contract? Whass that? Alas, approved the contract. At the DA an expedited grievance
(Dec./Jan)
some of you are still working and 54 people out of about 1200 voted procedure at the Sept. 10
its not all joy in Mudville. Marian NO, myself included. At my last chapter leader meeting
As the Union World Turns: The Continuing Saga of Debbie
& Randi : Union leaders react differently to school closings Swerdlow did some analysis back meeting as a voting delegate, I made things sound pretty
in June and writes an account of her didnt want to ruin a 30 year run good. But then again
Unity Caucus primer
experiences at the June Delegate of voting against contracts. My everything sounds good
The Tweed Courthouse: Boss Klein in action
Assembly where she and others in main reasons have to do with when youre retired. Wed
UFT leader says longer day=higher scores. Lets work till
Teachers for a Just Contract were issues such as class size and other appreciate it if someone
midnight
Special: Seniority rights of 17 teachers at City as School the only group to formally come out basic working conditions that would send us their own
in opposition to the contract. (PAGE were not addressed. Grievance analysis of the grievance
HS were violated when they were notified on July 1 that
their Executive Internship program was ended. The program 9) Only 6% of the people who D e p a r t m e n t h e a d H o w i e procedure for Ed. Notes.
was reconstituted under another name. We report on how
Cost of this edition
well the UFT grievance procedure worked
Retired teachers protest RTC CL election. P 3
Printing: $916
Ed. Notes available on the web as downloadable pdf Exec. Bd. votes UFT staff 16% raise. P 4
Production costs: labor donated
New contract in dead sea scrolls discovered
at www.sec4sec.com courtesy of Lillian Varrassi
Look for interim Ed. Notes
under 260 Park Ave.S. P 7
handout at Nov. DA (maybe)
Opposition groups speak. P 8
JOKES ON PAGE 15

Coming Next Edition

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Does Anyone Have A Clue?

From the Editors Desk The Wave

by Howard Schwack (www.rockawave.com) May 25, 2002


Schwack had just met with members of the City Council Education Committee
Of course, the question of education came up over and over again. I
asked them if they really believed that education in New York City would be
improved should the mayor take over without reforming what happens at 110
Livingston Street. Without imposing strict rules for student behavior and strict
punishments for improper behavior. Without changing the fact that supervisors
without any expertise in a subject area often supervise teachers who are experts
at that subject. Without changing the fact that teachers are forced to pass students
who do not deserve to pass and are sanctioned by administrators for failing too
many students.
They looked at me as if I were from another planet.
Those who do not work in the system do not understand why the system
is failing in many schools and succeeding in many others. The system cannot
be fixed by people who do not understand what is broken. If you dont know
the questions, you will never get any of the right answers.
Giving the mayor control of the schools will not change much of what
is going on in those schools; not unless some systemic changes are made at the
same time.
Ed. Notes, Spring 02: Does anyone think that any politician cares
more about the children than they do about getting re-elected? Given
the choice, will they put enough resources into classrooms to help
children really learn? Or will they take the politically expedient way
out by calling for more tests and placing the blame on teachers and
school administrators when children dont produce?
In light of the above, it was announced that 3 high schools in Brooklyn
(Bushwick, Erasmus (for the 2nd time) and Jefferson (my alma mata--sob!)
will be closed because they continue to be failing schools. Disgraced
teachers and administrators will be scattered throughout the system. Were
enough resources put into these schools to make a difference? When 3
schools were closed in Chicago, union leaders led protests. In New York,
there is deafening silence.
Heres an idea: leave the schools open with the same staffs and swap the
student body of Styvesant with any one of them. Then check the scores.
Chancellor Joel Klein may have leaped
from the frying pan into the fire when
he accepted the job of Chancellor, but
Ed. Notes agents at
Bertelsman, the giant
German based media
corporation where he
had been CEO of American operations,
tell us that he was about to be pushed.
Just a few days before he accepted the
Chancellors position, Tomas Middlehoff,
the CEO of Bertelsman and the man who
had hired Klein just a year before to be the
ax man in instituting massive cuts, was
himself fired by the Bertelsman Board of
Directors. Kleins days were numbered
and he nimbly jumped at the chance to lam
out of there into the chancellors job. Good
luck on this move!!

Deborah Meier on mayoral control

Deborah Meier has been a hero to those who wanted to see change in
the NYC public school system. Meier seemed to have rational solutions
to complex problems. As a teacher she ran open classrooms, started
the small schools movement in NYC, and set up a progressive system
at the Park East complex in Dist. 4. She finally gave up on the system
and moved to Boston to set up a school. Now 71 she was the first public
school teacher to win the genius MacArthur Foundation grant.
Excerpted from NY Times, 9/3/02, Jane Gross, author
"I can't imagine anything they can do that would make a
substantial difference," she said, except bucking a nationwide trend
of more and more standardized testing. "If the only thing you want is
better test scores, it poisons the game."
Ms. Meier said that the current "mania for accountability," with
rewards and punishments for students, teachers and administrators,
was borrowed from the corporate world. "It's like Enron," she said,
pointing to all the ways that educators can cook the books to make
attendance, graduation rates and test scores appear better than they
are. "When the goal is the numbers," she added, "it leads to distortion
of the data. The connection to reality gets problematic."
What would she do? She would start with a small schools
movement:
Clustered in networks of half a dozen schools, teachers
and principals could observe and critique each others' work, design
accountability systems to suit their individual needs and systematically
study what worked and what did not. It would take five years to arrive at
effective measurements, Ms. Meier said, and probably a generation to
make the small-school model and its less rigid accountability methods
the norm.
Her critics, she said, wanted "a faster, more guaranteed route,"
like the order to lift test scores annually. Her counter argument is that
"being in too much of a hurry leads us to do things that are a waste
of time" or to jump on the latest fads. Among them, in Ms. Meier's
opinion, are putting city school systems under mayoral control,
appointing chancellors who are not educators and moving district
superintendents to a central location.

Speaking of being on the lam, Klein appointed


Diana Lam, fresh from her jobs as Superintendent
of schools in Providence, San Antonio, Dubuque
and Chelsea Mass., as
deputy chancellor for
teaching and learning
at a salary of $250,000
a year. (Did they include stock options?) In the
new corporate speak of the DOE we can refer to
Lam as a short term take over artist: she comes
in like a whirlwind, gets the numbers up (in corp.
terms, get the scores up) and gets out before the
rough stuff starts hitting the fan. On the way, she
often endears herself to teachers and parents with
a top down management style where she consults
no one but herself. Exactly what we have been
missing in New York. Did someone say that
Mayoral control will be different?

Klein on the Lam

Bloomberg Corp. to Appoint Teacher as CEO

Since Michael Bloomberg will be too busy to run his corporation for at least the next 3 years, the Bloomberg Corporation
will hold a contest to choose a teacher to run the multi billion
dollar enterprise. If non-educators can run the school system, it makes perfect sense for a teacher to run the Bloomberg business, a spokesperson declared. The teacher will
be chosen based on scores from the latest reading test. The
new head of Bloombergs company is expected to end social
promotion in the giant corporation and raise standards.

Page 2

Microsoft has filed suit against its


former Justice Dept. nemesis and
new Chancellor Joel Klein, calling
for the breakup of the newly formed
Department of Education (DOE--as
in deer in headlights.) Claiming the
NYC shool system is such a giant
monopoly it makes Microsoft look
like a corner Bodega, Bill Gates has
hired lawyer David Boies to do unto
Klein as Klein did unto Microsoft.

Late breaking news: Bloomberg says he needs to take over UFT (some say he already
has) to make school system work and will ask the state assembly (a UFT subsidiary) for control.

Survivor: Search for a Chancellor

An upcoming episode of Survivor will take place


in an urban setting: The Tweed Courthouse. The search
for the next Chancellor has already begun and the Dept. of
Education will use the format of the hit TV show. The entire
process will be broadcast as part of the Survivor series.
Twenty top candidates will be locked in the Tweed
Courthouse for 8 weeks. There are no qualifications other
than the fact that they may not have one iota of knowledge
or experience with education in any way. They will eat
only food prepared in school lunchrooms and must eat at
least one Jamaican beef patty a day without taking antacids.
Every other day one of them will be voted out based on
how well they complete a number of tasks. Ed. Notes spies
have obtained a list of these tasks:
Teach SFA (Suckcess for All) to a class.
Pass all teacher certification tests.
Type a memo within one day.
Know what ECLAS stand for.
Teach a class of 35 students for an entire day.
Sit through a faculty conference.
Sit through a full day of staff development.
Teach a class of 15 special ed students. Test them on
what is taught. If students fail the test, the candidate is
automatically eliminated.
Take a class on a trip.
Sit through 50 minutes of watching staff development
videos twice a week. The doors to the roof will be locked
during these sessions, as it is expected that at least one
or more candidates will attempt suicide.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 3

Retired teachers protest Tom Pappas High School VP Election Exposes


Lack of Democracy in UFT
election as chapter leader of RTC
Dear President Weingarten:

Sept. 19,2002

It was announced at the UFT Executive Board meeting of September 9,


2002 that Tom Pappas has been chosen by the executive committee of the
Retired Teachers Chapter to be that chapters new Chapter Leader.
As members of the UFT Retired Teachers Chapter,we strongly object
to the decision of the Retired Teachers Chapters executive committee
and the agreement with this decision by you and other UFT officers. The
selection and/or appointment of Tom Pappas to the vacant position of
chapter leader is in clear violation of Article IX, Section 8 of the UFT
Constitution which states: If the position of chapter leader becomes
vacant or if the chapter leader becomes an acting supervisor, the
President shall assign a person to conduct an election.
When a chapter leadership is vacant, the entire chapter votes to fill the
vacancy, not just the executive committee of the chapter. Having a chapter
executive committee fill chapter leader vacancies in a chapter with over
30,000 members is counter to the democratic wishes of the chapter as a
whole and gives the incumbent an unfair advantage when the full term
election will be held in the spring of 2003.
The entire process raises questions about this fait accompli procedure: No
election announcement or notice of the meeting was made to the entire
chapter. No one else was given an opportunity to be nominated. No list
has been distributed as to who attended the meeting or how they voted.
No minutes of the meeting has been made available to the members.
In light of the above, we call upon you to immediately appoint someone
to conduct an election of the entire chapter for a new chapter leader for
the Retired Teachers Chapter.
Paul Baizerman, Philip Bernie, Mary Dowling, Bruce Markens, Ira
Goldfine, Mel Hauser, Bob Norman, Ellen Norman, Vera Pavone, Loretta
Prisco, Sheila Rashal, Paul Reese, Norman Scott, Merry Tucker

The group of retired teachers requested a quick response from Weingarten.


If not satisfied, they will follow up by taking the issue to PERB.
Putting a VIP at the level of Pappas in charge of the RTC is part of the
Unity Caucus strategy to maintain an iron grip on the union. With the
amount of retirements going up, the RTC will be the largest voting block
in the union and the UFT leadership has always paid particular attention to
the members. (Randi Weingarten makes regular pilgramages to Florida.)
The chapter has always voted overwhelmingly Unity (85% in the last
election.) A large group of retired people having so much power to decide
the fate of people who are still working raises interesting questions which
we hope to address in future editions.

George Schmidt Visits Rockaway

George Schmidt, founder and editor of the independent education newsletter Substance
for the past 27 years and a major source of information on events in the Chicago
school system, met with a group of NYC teachers at the Ed. Notes palatial estate this
summer in Rockaway Beach. It was Georges first return to
Rockaway since he went out on a date to Rockaway Playland
in the 60s.
Schmidt, accompanied by his 14 year old son, Danny, regaled
his audience with tales of the Chicago corporate model of
mayoral control, how school workers took back the union
and shared his experiences at the AFT convention (attended
by 800 Unity Caucus members at your expense) held in July
in Las Vegas. George also gave us advice on how to make
Ed. Notes a more viable and effective source of information Schmidt discusses
for school workers in NYC. See Georges article on Mayoral events in Chicago
control on page 5 and the stories on CTU President Debbie
Lynch on pages 5 and 6.

When John Soldini retired as Vice President


of the Academic High Schools, the UFT Executive Board held an election on Sept. 9 to
choose his replacement. Brooklyn HS District
Rep. Frank Volpicella was the Unity nominated candidate (which means he was hand
chosen by Randi Weingarten.) James Eterno
was supported by New Action and PAC.
When the votes were counted, Volpicella
won by a count of 75-5. With such an overwhelming victory youd get the impression
that the sentiment of high school teachers
would be overwhelmingly for Volpicella.
Youd be wrong. If a popular election was
held in the high schools, Eterno would win
by a significant margin.

John Soldini recaptured the Veep


position in the next election. In 1991,
Shulman narrowly lost to Soldini (by
about 100 votes) while NA won all
HS Exec. Bd. seats. The Unity braintrust cast about for a way to prevent
this from happening again. The had
their chance when they narrowly recaptured all the Exec. Bd. seats in the
93 election. They rammed through
a constitutional amendment where
the divisional vice presidents were
elected by the entire membership
rather than the members of their own
division. This is known as at-large
voting. Thus, retired teachers and
paras and elementary teachers and
Junior High Schools teachers and
guidance counselors, etc., etc., get to
vote for the academic HS Veep and
Unity gets to keep a monopoly on
the Adcom. (Follow all this? dont
worry, well repeat it in future editions of Ed. Notes.)

In the last UFT election in the spring of 2001


HS teachers voted for the NA/PAC slate by
a 54% margin. (The opposition also won the
Academic HS vote in the 95, 97, 99, 01
election.) Yet NA/PAC only has 6 Executive
Board seats. Unity owns the rest. Unity also
controls the HS vice presidency even though
their candidate loses the vote among HS
teachers. How can this discrepancy be ex- That is how Eternos 5 votes (1 NA
plained? Sit down boys and girls and let us member has left teaching) out of 80
cast at the Exec. Bd. meeting on
regale you with:
Sept. 9 is so misleading and so unfair
THE BALLAD OF
to high school teachers. And this is
AT- LARGE VOTING
Prior to 1995, divisional vice presidents were one way Unity Caucus controls the
elected only by their constituents. Elementary entire machinery of the UFT.
teachers voted for their veep. Junior High
Schools voted for their veep. Ditto High If Gore really won, then Eterno
really won
Schools.
Its pretty funny to hear Randi WeinThousands of academic HS teachers are garten often joke that Al Gore really
won the presidential election. Well
disenfranchised
The opposition began to win HS Exec. Bd. the next time she does, tell her that
seats back in the 80s which culminated in James Eterno also really won the
Mike Shulman actually winning the HS Veep election for HS Veep.
election in 1985 and becoming the first (and
only) non-Unity member of the ruling Administrative committee (the Adcom). This so
shocked Unity, they forced one of the UFTs
founding fathers George Altomare to retire
for daring to lose. Unitys new candidate

Running a union and maintaining


control is simple: When the opposition gets close to winning or actually wins, just change the rules.

No Midterm Elections for District Reps.

In another move to squeeze democratic procedures out of the union, UFT leaders have
decided not to hold elections for district reps when DRs leave office before their term is
up. Claiming long time precedence (not true) Randi Weingarten has recently been able to
appoint 8 DRs (all Unity) with more to come. This procedure has taken away the rights of
chapter leaders in the districts to elect their DRs and has given the new incumbent an unfair
advantage when the elections do take place in the spring of 2003. Ed. Notes advocates the
popular election of DRs where all the school workers in the district get to vote.

ED. NOTES HS VP ELECTION

Since HS teachers never got to vote in the recent election


for HS VP, Ed. Notes is conducting its own election. Cast
your ballot here: (open only to academic HS teachers)

If the UFT were really a democratic union and I


could vote for HS VP. I would vote for:
James Eterno
New Action/PAC
Frank Volpicella
Unity
Return to your Ed. Notes representative in your school or mail
to 518 B. 134St. Belle Harbor, NY 11694

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Oh Those 16 % Pay Raises for UFT Staff

When union employees were voted a 16% raise by the UFT Executive Board (many
of whom are themselves employed by the union in either
a full-time or part time capacity--- Unity caucus members
only, of course) on Sept. 18,
eyebrows were raised. Randi
Weingarten took the floor and
made an im pas sioned defence of this raise. She talked
about how hard the staff had
worked to get raises in the
new contract and how much
of them selves they gave.
She was perturbed at 2 of the
4 amendments placed before
the Exec. Bd. by New Action
Exec. Bd. member James
Eterno. (See Ed. Notes
Hotline... on this page.) In
the end, a compromise was
reached and she agreed to
parts of the other two resolutions: that the NY Teacher
print all salaries (Board of Ed
plus UFT plus other disbursements) of officials and staff
each year and that the NY
Teacher inform its members
that they are entitled to see
or obtain a copy of the LM-2
report filed each year and give
clear procedures of where and
how to obtain the report. (We
provide that same info. on this
page)
It is standard operating procedure for union staffs to get
the same base raise as was
won by the people they represent and even many critics
of union leaders (including Ed.
Notes) have not automatically
jumped on a bandwagon of
outrage. Of course a significant chunk of the raise was
the 20 minute extended day.
Weingarten answered that by
proudly proclaiming that union
staff would not work 20, but
30 minutes more a day (union
Head quar ters will open at
9:30) and a number of people
(herself included) will work 7

more days a year.


Fall into the gap
New Action Exec. Bd.
rep. Ed Beller made the
point that this extra time
re al ly can not be compared to teaching or the
kind of extra time people
in the schools were experiencing, but the Exec.
Bd. was in no mood to
hear that kind of ar gu ment. Beller also pointed
out that since UFT staffers were starting from a
higher base (for example,
many full-time field reps
make 93,000 a year +
expenses as reported in
the 2000-2001 LM-2 report) the 16% raise was
creating a larger gap between people who work
in the schools and those
who represent them. The
new salary will bring a
vast num ber of UFT
staffers (70 or more) into
the $100,000 plus range,
a salary teachers will not
see for a very long time,
if ever. In other words, if
UFT staffers never feel
the pain, how desperate
will they be to get the
gain?
ED. Notes will duck the
issue of union staff salaries for now. Our general
observations have been
that a clear majority of the
union staff work very hard
and are very dedicated to
their jobs. We may have
enormous disagreements
with them from Randi
Weingarten (who works
24/7 and never lets up)
down but we also have
great re spect for their
abilities and their effort

Page 4
Ed. Notes Email Hotline puts amendments in play

When we received notice on Sept. 7 that the Exec. Bd. was going
to vote 16% raises for union staff, we sent out an immediate notice
on the Ed. Notes hotline. Responses came in almost immediately,
suggestions for amendments among them. These suggestions were
sent back to the list. New Actions James Eterno collated them and
bought them to New Action Exec. Bd. members for approval and
4 amendments were formally presented to the Exec. Bd. at the
Sept. 9 meeting. Randi Weingarten categorically rejected 2 of the
amendments (we dont have space for them here) but expressed
willingness to accept the 2 others with only slight modifications.
New Action huddled quickly and offered to drop the offensive
amendments as a compromise. Weingarten accepted. Here are the
amendments: 1) That the NY Teacher print all salaries (Board of
Ed plus UFT plus other disbursements) of officials and staff each
year. 2) That the NY Teacher inform its members that they are
Who gets the jobs?
Our criticism has to do entitled to see or obtain a copy of the LM-2 report filed each year
with who gets union jobs and give clear procedures of where and how to obtain the report.
and how they get them. (See below if you cant wait for the NY Teacher report.)
(even though that effort is
all too often misdirected.)
If youve dealt with people
running the DOE there is no
comparison with the capabilities of the people working
for the UFT, mainly because
many of them have been
teachers (just one example
of why teachers should run
schools.) Can you imagine
the nightmare if the DOE
ran the incredibly well-run
Welfare Fund instead of the
UFT?)

Jobs are never posted and


they are open only to Unity
cau cus mem bers (to the
victor belong the spoils?) A
myriad of abuses arises in
any political system of job
distribution where jobs are
awarded, or even created,
to pay people off for loyalty
or for long time service. Can
anyone for one minute doubt
that there are UFT political
jobs or that nepotism has
reared its ugly head? It happens in the school system. It
happens in the UFT.

Getting the LM-2

All unions are required to submit financial reports and other


data to the Department of Labor. These reports are available to
anyone who requests them at the DOL web site (www.dol.gov).
The process is a little confusing and

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/olms/
rrlo/lmrda.htm will get you there more directly. The UFT

registration number is: 063-924. The LM-2 lists the salary


and expenses of every UFT employee. The reports cannot be
read online (even though the impression is given that they can
be read online) and you have to order a copy. Make sure to click
on that button. DOL will bill you .15 cents a page (it will cost
So lets assume that UFT about $15.) The latest UFT report avalable is for the 2000-01
staff deserve the 16% raise. year. The 2001-02 is due in November, so it makes sense to wait
How are union leaders to until the end of the year.

be held accountable for the


rationale of these jobs, for
political motivations or nepotism, or for the tainted process by which they give out
jobs? In an undemocratic
world, one person makes
these decisions: The UFT
President. And people who
get union jobs owe their
primary loyalty to that person, not to the many people
they are ostensibly hired to
serve.

Ed. Notes will not accept contributions from Unity


Caucus members who are also union employees
until their 16% raise has kicked in. We will continue
our policy of accepting food.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that
genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

Promises Made, Promises Kept

UFT President Randi Weingarten cooed about the wonderful new contract in her column in the NY Teacher. Ed. Notes has procured the unedited portions of the column

When we started on the road to a contract I promised you we would fight for a decent contract. I
am very proud to present you with the results
of my Herculean efforts, frankly, without the
help of anyone else. I kept my promises without
compromising the basic principles that are the
foundation of our union.
1. A double digit raise in the amount of toilet
paper in teacher bathrooms. Frankly, after the
economy tanked, I had some doubts that I could
deliver on this one. The result? The city has
promised a 10% + 6% increase in the toilet paper
allocation (The extra 6% will only go to those
who spend an extra 20 minutes in the bathroom.)
And it wont be the cheap rough kind either. More
soft Charmin like. But if some rough toilet paper

should slip in, we have procured an increase in


the hemorrhoids allowance from GHI.
2. New grievance procedure. If rough toilet
paper exceeds 20%, we have gotten an expedited
grievance procedure. You can file directly from
the bathroom and an arbitrator will be dispatched
immediately from central headquarters at the
Tweed Courthouse to visit you in the stall to
make an immediate decision. Theres no way we
could have won this without that Hip Hop demonstration. Thank Russell Simmons for this one.
3. I promised you wouldnt lose your cars, your
homes or have your family sold into slavery.
Due to my efforts, none of these things are in the
contract. And this was one that Bloomberg really

wanted. They blinked and backed off when we


pointed out that the city had no place to put all
these cars. And UFT family members would be
really poor slaves because of their weakened
state from poor wages. I was going to make a
stand on this one no matter what. I told them to
read my lips: teachers families would be sold
into slavery over my dead body. And it worked.
You also had a role to play as your COPE contributions really helped kill this one.
4. I never promised you a rose garden, but
through the use of my lawyerly skills I managed to procure one for you anyway. Just take
to #2 or 3 to Brooklyn Museum and walk 2
blocks to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Free on
Tuesdays.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Mayoral Control in Chicago Disaster for Union


by George Schmidt, Editor of Substance www.substance.com
(reprinted from Education Notes, 4/02)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in New York,

No teacher union should support mayoral control of the school system -- especially
if the "Chicago Model" is invoked to
justify that control. Chicago's version of

urban school governance based on a supposed


"business model" of how things should be run
is actually the major form of "deregulation"
aimed at the heart of public education (and
the unions representing teachers and other
school workers) in the urban north. More
than vouchers, charters schools, or the antics
of Edison Schools Inc., the "CEO model"
for urban school governance is an attack on
democracy, on public school teachers, and
on the unions that represent the men and
women who work in public schools. Despite
the massive propaganda (including regular
reports in The New York Times) praising
Chicago's version of "School Reform," the
model is based on shoddy public relations
and relentless attacks on democratic public
schools and democratic unions.
In 1995, the Illinois General Assembly passed
a law (the Amendatory Act) which gave
Chicago's mayor complete control over the
governance of the school system. At the time
of the legislation, the Republican Party's most
conservative wing controlled both houses
of the Illinois General Assembly and the
governor's seat. Thanks to the legislation he
wrote with the Republicans, Chicago's mayor
was able to abolish the old (appointed, but with
many guidelines) school board, appoint a fivemember "School Reform Board of Trustees",
and appoint a "Chief Executive Officer" to
replace the credentialed superintendent of
schools. The legislation also prohibited
collective bargaining on class size, abolished
tenure, and took away other rights which
Chicago teachers and other union workers
in the city's public schools thought had been
secured forever.
The Chicago system immediately went into
an orgy of union busting, privatization, and
teacher bashing. In July 1995, Mayor Daley
appointed his former budget director (Paul
G. Vallas) as Chief Executive Officer of the
school system. Vallas, a career bureaucrat with
no private sector experience, had no teaching
experience and no other credentials to run the
newly deregulated school system. President
of the School Board went to Gery Chico, a
lawyer who had most recently been the Chief
of Staff for the mayor.
The key to the "success" of the Chicago
"CEO Model" was control of public
relations. From the very beginning of the
Vallas administration, a careful campaign
of slander and disinformation was launched
against the unions representing those who
worked in the public schools. Thanks to
a sweetheart contract with the leaders of
the Chicago Teachers Union, by the fall of
1995, the mayor's propaganda people made
the false claim that the new "CEO" (Paul G.
Vallas) had ended what was claimed to be a
$1 billion "deficit." The "deficit" had actually
been created on paper by inflating estimated
expenses and deflating estimated revenues.
Within a year after taking over the school
system, the mayor then announced that test
scores had begun to go "up."

Deregulation in Chicago's schools was based


on the same types of manipulation of numbers
that served the executives of Enron (and other
crooked corporations) so well in the private
sector during the "Dot.com" and stock bubble
manias of the late 1990s. The manipulation of
financial information (the budget "deficit" claim)
and test score information ("trending up" was
what Chicago's school administration called
the test score reports during the same years the
stock market bubble was being inflated) reduced
the integrity of the school board's financial
and educational data to a shambles. But that
was no problem in the short term, because
Chicago-based Arthur Andersen was doing
for the financial data (through the annual audit
of the ending financial statements) and many
educational programs (through multi-million
dollar "consultancies" to "audit" everything
from pre school programs to some high school
academic programs) the same jobs it was doing
during the same years for Enron (and before
that for Chicago-based Sunbeam and Waste
Management, both of which cooked their books
and cheated their shareholders and workers years
before Enron did).
For the union to support the rampant teacher
bashing and union busting that comes with
mayoral takeovers like Chicago's the union
leadership has to be willing to become a
company union. The company is City Hall.
By January 1999, the mayor's team at the
Chicago school board had busted several of
the union's that represented Chicago school
employees and was ready to attack the heart of
teacher rights: tenure. In February 1999, after
safely getting a new contract from the leaders
of the Chicago Teachers Union (after a highly
questionable referendum), the school board fired
137 tenured teachers, exercising its new power
to terminate even those with tenure. When the
union leadership challenged the firing in federal
court, the school board, supposedly run by our
friends from City Hall, not only used its own $8
million legal department but paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars to the blue chip law firm of
Jenner and Block to defeat the union's federal
court challenge to the abolition of tenure for
Chicago teachers. (To date, Jenner and Block
has been paid more than $1 million to defend
the school board against the union's challenge
in the main federal case, Shegog et al v. Chicago
School Reform Board of Trustees).
Throughout the entire attack on union and teacher rights, the union leadership refused to criticize
the City Hall school "team" that was undermining the unions and slandering teachers and other
school workers on an almost daily basis.
Critics within the union grew in size and strength
during the six years (July 1995 through June
2001) that Paul G. Vallas served as Mayor
Ri ch ard M. Daley's hand picked "CEO" of
Chicago's vast public school system. On May 18,
2001, the members of the 36,000-member Chicago Teachers Union got their first chance to vote
on a referendum on the mayor's takeover. Paul

Schmidt continues on next page

Page 5

A More Perfect Union By Ben Joravsky


Teacher Magazine, August 2002

Only a year ago she was teaching. So she can relate to the rank and file.
"Under [former school CEO] Paul Vallas, we were the fall guys," she adds.
"We were the ones who took the blame.
Well, we utterly reject that message. We
Deborah Lynch wants
have erosion of pay. We are not treated as
more than just decent
professionals. And they wonder why we
wages for Chicago's
have 1,100 vacancies. They bad-mouth the
schools. They bad- mouth the teachers. But teachers. She wants
I know better. You know better. We are the them to be in charge.
solution. We are not the problem."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Her mission as head of the CTU is unprecedented: She wants to change the
culture of education in Chicago by overturning a hierarchy in which teachers
are lodged somewhere near the bottom. She wants to win her members new
rights, higher wages, and greater responsibilities. "I want teachers to be treated
as professionals, not as workers," is how she puts it. "If they're going to hold us
accountable, well, put us in charge." Such talk, in this city (and many others,
no doubt), is revolutionary.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In 1997, for example, she wrote and disseminated an open letter to then school
CEO Paul Vallas that was as much an indictment of Reece as of the school
board. It began with her account of a recent professional-development day,
during which 120 teachers were forced to sit on "hard, wooden, nailed-down
seats for a mandatory six-hour workshop on team building," while a well-paid
consultant chided them for talking out of turn. "The day reminded me of an
article I read about 20 years ago, comparing teacher professional development
to the insemination of Flossie the Cow," she continued. "Like Flossie, [the
teachers] endured but didn't enjoy it very much. It just happened."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Lynch began teaching] at a public school on the South Side of Chicago. And
although she adored her students, she quickly took note of the repressive
education hierarchy and its unwritten rules. "The lessons you learn are to be
quiet, don't ask questions; only troublemakers ask questions," she says. "I saw
how teachers were beaten down."
By 1979, after five years in the classroom, Lynch had enough. She wanted to
stay in education but attack the problem from a different angle. So she took
a job as a professional-development specialist in a federally funded program
and went to graduate school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, earning
a master's degree and then a doctorate in education (her dissertation topic:
"Power and Powerlessness in Teaching"). She also crossed paths with John
Kostakis, a field rep for the CTU, who, she says, "talked about how a union
could be more than just reacting to negative things. He got me to think about
the toll of working in a huge, impersonal system in which curriculum is
dictated from the top, where you are a robot who follows orders."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lynch hammered Reece for isolating union members from the decision making
process. The system, she claimed, had undergone two contradictory reforms
in seven years. First, in 1988, the state legislature passed a law giving elected
local school councils control of the city's schools. Then, in 1995, the legislature
reversed itself, stripping the councils of power and handing the schools over to
Mayor Daley and his handpicked CEO, Paul Vallas. "Debbie pointed out that in
each case, those laws were passed without consulting the teachers," says [one
observer.]
The 1995 law also swept away many such time-honored bargaining rights as
seniority and class size. "Thanks to the new law, Vallas could basically cram 35
kids into a class and get away with it," says Lynch. "Despite the union contract
that limits class size to 28 or 30, there's nothing the union could do about it."
To heighten her profile, she wrote an autobiography, A Labor of Love: One
Chicago Teacher's Experience
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[When CEO (Chancellor equivalent) Arne Duncan, closed 3 schools without
consulting the union in spring 02, Lynch countered:] "This is not partnership,
this is not leadership. This is not an administration working with teachers to
figure out what's best for the kids," Lynch says today. "This is trying to look
like you're doing something
"I have devoted my whole
instead of taking the years of hard
life to working in systems
work it takes to turn around a
school."
with high concentrations
Within a day of Duncan's
of poverty. I am saying that
announcement, Lynch had
poverty is a predictor of low visited all three schools with
achievement unless you put crews of television reporters in
in appropriate strategies.
her wake. What she heard and
saw from teachers and students
only solidified her point of
view. They were three predominantly black schools in tough neighborhoods.
"I'm not saying poverty is an excuse for low achievement; I would never say

More Lynch on next page

Fall 2002
Schmidt continued
Vallas, the school system's CEO, endorsed
Chicago Teachers Union president Thomas
Reece, an incumbent with a war chest on more
than $200,000 and control of every one of the
more than 40 jobs at the CTU's headquarters.
The Chicago Sun-Times (circulation 500,000
daily) told Chicago's teachers to vote for Tom
Reece and his "team."
When the results of the election were announced on May 25 after a hand-count of
the paper ballots, the opposition slate from
the Pro Active Chicago Teachers and School
Workers (PACT) caucus had won the election with 57 percent of the vote to Reece's
43 percent. On the day they voted, all five
of the PACT candidates for city-wide union
office were teaching in their schools (or, in
the case of Maureen Callaghan, candidate for
treasurer, working in the school office where
she served as secretary). Deborah Lynch (now
CTU president), Howard Heath (now CTU
vice president), Jacqueline Price Ward (now
CTU recording secretary), James Alexander
(now CTU financial secretary) and Maureen
Callaghan (now CTU treasurer) all had to
clean out their classrooms (or desks) before
they reported to the downtown offices of the
Chicago Teachers Union on July 1, 2001, to
begin leading one of the largest locals in the
American Federation of Teachers.
The victory of PACT in the May 2001 CTU
election was an overwhelming vote of no
confidence in the union leadership that
had allowed the once powerful Chicago
Teachers Union to become a company union
under the domination of Chicago's City Hall.
The victory of Deborah Lynch Walsh (who
dropped the "Walsh" from her last name recently) and the other members of the PACT
slate (including 40 of the 45 members of the
CTU executive board, was a victory for the
rank-and-file and for the secret ballot and

Lynch Speaks
Deborah Lynch made the following
campaign speech to the May 2,
2001 Chicago House of Delegates
(excerpts courtesy of SUBSTANCE)
just weeks before she was elected
President of the CTU.
When the Board of Education unilaterally
imposed an arbitrary and unfair discipline
code....When it reconstituted six of our
high schools and 188 CTU members lost
their positions....When the Board imposed
probation...,and remediation, reconstitution,
re-engineering, and intervention (the list
of reforms goes on and on), the current
officers did nothing. The silence has been
deafening.
On their watch, our contract has been
eroded, our benefits diminished, our rights
trampled, our dignity denigrated, our
professionalism impugned, our colleagues
fired, our co-workers privatized, our
seniority eliminated, our due process

Education Notes

Page 6

Lynch continued
democratic unionism. The betrayal of the
teachers and other union members in Chicago by the former union administration was
decisively repudiated on May 18 in what was
the most exciting union election in recent
Chicago memory.
The hard work began immediately. The
new leadership of the CTU is rebuilding a
coalition of more than a dozen unions representing those who work in Chicago's public
schools -- from janitors and school engineers
to truck drivers and lunchroom workers.
With an eye towards the negotiations for a
contract which expires on August 31, 2003,
Deborah Lynch and her colleagues in the
union leadership have been mobilizing their
union membership in unprecedented ways.
Not only has the election of Deborah Lynch
provided a repudiation of the politics of union
busting and teacher bashing in Chicago's
public schools, but it has begun to lead to an
unprecedented era of mobilization and hope
among a formerly demoralized membership
of the once mighty union. With every step
the Chicago Teachers Union takes towards
getting its strength back after years of convalescence in the isolation ward of company
unionism, teachers and other union members
add their voices, votes and hard work to the
massive job of rebuilding the city's public
schools after years of mismanagement by
the political cronies of City Hall.
Check out www.substance.com for
more information

violated, our work year lengthened, our


class size increased. Through all this, the
current officers have steadfastly done the
bidding of the mayor and management, at
the expense of the membership. The public
thinks it has met the enemy and the enemy
is us. The current officers have not made
our case, have not pressed our concerns,
have not addressed the misperception
that we are the problem with the public
schools. As a teacher said: They havent
made the case that we are the good guys.
Were the ones who show up every day.
Enough! we say. Enough of the sham of
the Chicago reform miracle.
Enough of the blame-assigning and
scapegoating of CTU members over
student achievement and reform plans
gone amuck.
Enough of the political game-playing
over dubious, high-stakes decisions about
teachers and students and schools, using a
single test which even the test publishers
warn against.

BARGAINING RIGHTS BACK IN CHICAGO Inside AFT Online 9/9/02

that because I don't believe that," Lynch says. "I have devoted my whole life to
working in systems with high concentrations of poverty. I am saying that poverty
is a predictor of low achievement unless you put in appropriate strategies. Where
are their plans? There are no plans. They do not even know where they are going to
send these kids."
On April 24, Lynch led a group of about 250 protesters parents, teachers, and
activiststo a board meeting held, ironically, at a public school on the city's West
Side, not far from Dodge. The board members sat on a stage beneath a mural of
African American leaders, including the late CTU president Jacqueline Vaughn. As
the protesters' chants of "save our schools" subsided, Lynch addressed the board
in a voice that crackled with emotion. "We stand here today in the tradition of an
African American leader," she told its members. "We stand in her footsteps. Jacqui
Vaughn would not take the closing of three schools serving the poorest children
quietly, and neither will we."
She pleaded with the board to turn the schools over to the union, promising to lead
teachersall summer and around the clock, if necessaryin the establishment of
a new reading curriculum. Eventually the three schools could serve as models of
teacher-parent collaboration. "We're asking to be allowed to work harder and longer
and truly be held accountable for our actions," said Lynch. Despite her plea, the
board unanimously voted to close the schools.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------By 3:30 P.M.. on this day in early June, Lynch is in the lobby of one of the city's
union halls on the Near West Side, greeting CTU delegates as they pass through
the doors on their way into a monthly meeting. This is, by now, a familiar scene,
and she's surrounded by familiar faces: a socialist peddling his papers, Ted Dallas
handing out fliers (this one calling Lynch's first year in office a colossal failure),
various activists passing out leaflets. The delegates seem supportive. They shake
Lynch's hand, pat her back, return her hugs. She distributes copies of a newspaper
article describing the high points of her first year. Her smile never fades, and she
shows no sign of weariness. After an hour of hand-shaking, she enters the union
hall---[For the full story on Debbie Lynch, send email to norscot@aol.com or go Teacher
Magazine web site.
Related Education Week stories:
"Long Passage," June 5, 2002, "Teachers' Union Launches School to Train
Teachers," April 10, 2002, "Powerful Reforms With Shallow Roots," Commentary,
Feb. 27, 2002, "Illinois Union Leaders to Quit in Wake of Local's Charges," Sept.
12, 2001, "Challenger Topples Chicago Teachers Union President," June 6, 2001.
"Change Afoot for Chicago's School Team," June 6, 2001.
Related Teacher Magazine stories:
"Interview: Union Dues and Don'ts," March 2001, an interview with Deborah
Lynch Walsh.

These indefensible decisions are


ruining the careers of the dedicated,
hard working professionals in those
schools and destroying morale
throughout the entire system.
Not once have the current officers
called for the publication of the
schools poverty rates along with their
test scores.
If teacher quality is the best predictor
of student achievement, why do we
not have certified, qualified teachers
in all our classrooms?...When all the
class size research in the world shows
that lower class sizes have dramatic
effects on student achievement in urban
schools, particularly for poor children,
why havent they taken a stand against
the unconscionably high class sizes in
schools serving our poorest students?
Why havent the current officers
worked to ensure the kind of working
conditions that would keep good

teachers in the system and attract


new ones to stave off the teacher
shortage that has already hit us?
PACT certainly intends to.
Were the ones who opposed the
travesty of the anti-union, antiteacher sham called reconstitution
and predicted its failure. We said
then that you couldnt replace
experienced, dedicated teachers
with neophytes, give them the
same lack of resources and poor
resources and expect results...We
have pushed for the elimination
of anti-member reforms and have
opposed the misuse of standardized
testing.....As [one of our candidates]
put it so vividly, You either stand
up and be counted, or bend over
and be_____. Together we will
stand up and be counted.

AFT locals in Chicago and other school-related unions are poised to reclaim many of the bargaining rights stripped by the Illinois Legislature in 1995. A coalition of unions met
with the city throughout the summer and reached an agreement on restoring a number of protections and giving employees a renewed say in school operations at both the preK-12
and community college levels. The agreement was overwhelmingly approved the CTU House of Delegates Sept. 4; the agreement now will be crafted into language that the state
Legislature is expected to pass by year's end. "The restoration of these rights has been one of the top priorities of the CTU officers," Deborah Lynch, CTU president and an AFT
vice president, reported in an Aug. 26 letter to union delegates. Enactment of the School Reform Act of 1995 dealt a severe blow to members' rights at both CTU and the Cook
County College Teachers Union/AFT and crippled the unions' ability to bargain on a range of issues, including class size, assessment policy, privatization of services and staffing.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 7

Secretaries For Secretaries: What "Lies" Beneath?


By Lillian M. Varrassi www.sec4sec.com

Secretaries For Secretaries was formed as a network for secretaries to communicate on a daily basis, to bring to the floor new issues, and to assist
new secretaries with ideas on how to best handle the overwhelming workload that has accrued over the years. The SFS website has been a source of
information, inspiration and important issues. Experienced secretaries throughout the city have contributed to the site. The effectiveness of the site
has spurred the UFT web site, which had buried news for secretaries, into finally adding a secretarial webpage which does not require one to search
aimlessly for information. This came after they had tried to co-opt our page. But we wouldnt go along with their demands for total control.
The official UFT Secretaries' Chapter, which should be defending the
interests of secretaries, promotes mandates dictated by union leaders. SFS,
as an independent entity, owes its allegiance to one group and one group
only - the secretaries.
We are pro union. The problem lies with the people running our union.
They have promoted the lie that SFS believes secretaries should form a new
union. Do not believe it. The people running our union derive their power
from those who accept the status quo. They use trickery and deception,
while those of us who seek change in a system gone awry, face retribution
and harassment. The last several months have exposed the mask of deceit
perpetrated by our union leaders.
As we approach the beginning of another school year, it is time to take stock
of what the union has accomplished on behalf of secretaries in the new
contract. We are hard pressed to find at least one issue that can be deemed
successful to the needs of the school secretary. The borough meetings we
had to endure may have seemed genuine, but the truth is that they were
just "good theater." The concern everyone showed regarding our plight
was disingenuous. The Secretaries' Chapter leader was condescending and
manipulative in addressing our concerns. She may rule with an iron fist, but
union leaders dictate the agenda - one that clearly disassociates itself from
our immediate needs.
The new contract, which is promoted as a milestone vis a vis the workload
issue for secretaries, has come up short. If a secretary finds her workload to
be overwhelming, she will now have to file a grievance with her principal,
subsequently with the superintendent and, finally, the chancellor. How
ludicrous can you get? To put the onus on principals is unfair and quite
laughable since everyone knows the workload comes down from the Board

of Education. Our union leaders, in a bogus attempt to make it appear it has


corrected the workload issue, has actually created more problems for secretaries.
Instead of demanding that the Board of Education hire more secretaries or provide
proper technology training or make a clear distinction as to job descriptions, they
continue to address our issues in a backhanded manner. Increasingly, secretaries
feel that they are not considered important enough, worthy enough, or their cause
sufficient in content to be dealt with in a meaningful way.
To add insult to injury, a $1000.00 check was given to secretaries towards the
contractual increase. Teachers received $2000.00. Union leaders still persist in
promoting their notion of secretaries importance in the system by consistently
demeaning our role at every turn. Equity among all union members is nonexistent, and their particular disrespect of secretaries rears its ugly head time and
time again.
It is unclear what lies ahead for us this school year. With the additional 20
minutes, a workload solution that will lie dormant, a raise that is still unworthy of
our talents, inadequate working conditions, non-uniformity and lack of up-to-date
equipment, the new contract cannot, under any circumstances, alleviate the stress
that we face every day. However, we always had and still have - choices.
This school year, we will be able to make that choice in the upcoming Secretaries'
Chapter election. We can either accept what is and endure another three years
of hardship, or make a stand for change. It can be done - it already has. During
the last election, secretaries were suddenly thrust into the limelight, and it will
happen again. Do not lose the ability to see the light of truth, even through a pin
prick in the darkness. Do not use fear as a reason to sit in silence. This is what our
union leaders impose, and how they can disenfranchise members to the point of
extinction.

Weingarten Praises Retired Secretary Chapter Leader Berg, We Think


Source: The NY Teacher, 9/11/02
Berg worked so tirelessly to improve working conditions that even management no longer denies that the secretaries in this system are overburdened
and overworked, union President Randi Weingarten said.
Huh? A little parsing of this statement leads us to the conclusion that all of Bergs efforts have resulted in overburdened and overworked secretaries. Weingarten
may have really meant to say that Berg had successfully publicized the plight of secretaries as opposed to actually improving their working conditions, proving
once again, that in the UFT, Public Relations is more valued than results.

IF

: Researchers recently uncovered the following ancient text in dead sea scrolls discovered under 260 Park Ave. South

If we hadnt picketed schools on the last day of school in June 01, the contract we doth received would have been the same and UFT leaders would have deemed said contract
sufficient.
If UFT truth squads wearing black t-shirts
hadnt shadowed Giuliani appearances, the
contract we doth received would have been
the same and UFT leaders would have
deemed said contract sufficient.
If we hadnt endorsed Alan Hevesi for
Mayor, the contract we doth received
would have been the same and UFT
leaders would have deemed said contract
sufficient.
If we hadnt endorsed Farrar for Mayor,
the contract we doth received would have
been the same and UFT leaders would
have deemed said contract sufficient.
If we hadnt endorsed Green for Mayor,
the contract we doth received would have
been the same and UFT leaders would
have deemed said contract sufficient.
If we hadnt taken our Unfair labor practice complaint to PERB, the contract we
doth received would have been the same
and UFT leaders would have deemed said
contract sufficient.
If the March DA hadnt agreed to con-

sider recommending strike authorization to


be voted on at the April DA, the contract
we doth received would have been the same
and UFT leaders would have deemed said
contract sufficient.
If 1500 UFTers hadnt lobbied in Albany,
the contract we doth received would have
been the same and UFT leaders would have
deemed said contract sufficient.
If the April DA hadnt set a May 8 deadline,
the contract we doth received would have
been the same and UFT leaders would have
deemed said contract sufficient.
If parents hadnt joined teacher pickets who
had signs such as I dont want to strike.
Dont Force Me, the contract we doth received would have been the same and UFT
leaders would have deemed said contract
sufficient.
If 3000 NYSUT RA delegates (800 of them
Unity cau cus members get ting days off
from schools and using UFT dues money to
stay at the Hilton) hadnt rallied to urge the
Mayor to close a contract deal, the contract
we doth received would have been the same

and UFT leaders would have deemed said


contract sufficient.
If the May DA hadnt approved the membership strike authorization referendum,
the contract we doth received would have
been the same and UFT leaders would have
deemed said contract sufficient.
If the UFT hadnt rallied at the Board of
Education, the contract we doth received
would have been the same and UFT leaders would have deemed said contract sufficient.
If Governor Pataki hadnt received the John
Dewey Award at the UFT Spring Conference the contract we doth received would
have been the same and UFT leaders would
have deemed said contract sufficient.
If Strike authorization ballots hadnt been
sent to UFT members the contract we
doth received would have been the same
and UFT leaders would have deemed said
contract sufficient.
If there had not been 20,000 hip hop kids
and bewildered teachers at the City Hall
rally the contract we doth received would

have been the same and UFT leaders


would have deemed said contract sufficient.
If no free CDs had been given out at
the rally, the contract we doth received
would have been the same and UFT
leaders would have deemed said contract sufficient.

If none of the above hath occurred, any

contract we doth received would have


been deemed sufficient for UFT leaders
to recommend to the membership.

If the UFT leadership had negotiated

a contract that had even a minuscule


of impact on anything that goes on in
schools and classrooms or addressed
the deterioration in working conditions
that have left teacher, para and secretary
morale in worse condition that it has been
in almost 40 years, it would have been
more sufficient than the contract that was
negotiated.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 8

Ed. Notes invited all groups that have been critical of the union leadership to write a
summary of their basic point of view.
Teachers for a Just Contract
New Action/UFT
New Action/UFT is one of the two major caucuses within our
union. We have been in existence for almost twenty years. For
the past four UFT citywide elections we have won the majority
of the high school division. Currently six high school members
of our caucus serve on the UFT Executive Board. Over the
years we have worked within our union to improve our salaries,
working conditions, school safety and equalize pensions for all.

We are proud of the role we played in helping to win the current


contract and the impact we had on the final package - - making
salary parity a priority, defeating merit pay and opposing pattern
bargaining. We were a major force behind the mobilization of
members and parents. Our action proposals
which were adopted included: letters from
school chapters to Mayor Bloomberg,
informational picketing at 1,100 schools, a
rally in front of the Board of Education, a
more aggressive public relations campaign,
and a mass rally at City Hall. By working
together with the union leadership we helped
establish starting salaries of $39,000.

In
Their
Own
Words

Now there remain areas of concern that we


must address:
*monitoring for potential abuses of the new extended day
*continuing the struggle to achieve salary parity and ending
pattern bargaining
*lowering class size
*making every school and classroom safe
*allowing for professional discretion regarding teaching styles
*ensuring members are not harassed by administrators
*guaranteeing due process for all members
*fighting for realistic student standards
*improving working conditions
*achieving tier I pension for all
*assuring real union democracy
*involving community groups and parents in the fight for
public education
*working on common issues with the rest of labor in NYC
We will continue to work with the union leadership to improve
conditions. Where we disagree New Action/UFT will take a
firm, aggressive, and independent stand.

"Teachers for a Just Contract" formed in April 1992. Our goals are a
more democratic union, and a militant strategy to stop givebacks and
improve our pay, benefits and working conditions. In 1994, we started our
newsletter, "Class Action," which we publish between contract periods.
We demonstrated against the proposed contract of 1995. In 2000, we
launched a campaign against the longer work day, including petitions
and demonstrations, which culminated in our opposition to the contract
reached in June 2002.
Email us at JustContract @ aol.com or call 212-831-3408.

Progressive Action Caucus (PAC)

Progressive Action Caucus (PAC) initiated the legal battle for thousands
of teachers who have lost their licenses due to the punitive use of the NY
State Certification Exams. These tests are unrelated to job performance
and have a disparate impact on Black and Latino teachers. Teachers who
have worked in classrooms with satisfactory ratings should have their
licenses reinstated.
Progressive Action Caucus has expanded to fight for public schools
in which every student has the resources and opportunity to succeed
academically, and to develop her or his full potential. We cannot achieve
this goal alone. Our natural allies areparents, students, the communities
they come from, and progressive educators. We fight in the union for
demands such as smaller classes that will insure quality education for
students and give teachers better working conditions.
Contact Dave Poleshuck at 718-448-2647, email: dpoleshuck@yahoo.com

The Progressive Labor Party

The Progressive Labor Party is a revolutionary communist party.


Teachers and other educators are members of the working class. We
believe that all of the problems we have--terrible conditions in the schools,
homelessness, our economic struggles, racism, sexism and imperialist
war--are due to capitalism. We believe that as a class workers need
to fight to get rid of capitalism--we can and should struggle to better
our conditions, and those of our students--however, ultimately we will
fight those battles over and over again until we achieve communisn, a
system that works for all working people and not the bosses. We need
to fight together for our class by fighting for our students, fighting racism
and defeating the bosses' attempts to win us to support fascism and
imperialist war. Contact Joan Heymont: joan@heymoux.net

Would we leave Unity Caucus out? Even though they have the entire propaganda machine of the UFT at their
disposal, we didnt want them to miss out on reaching out to the influential Ed. Notes readership.

Join Unity and See the World!


Earn extra cash too!!

By not joining Unity, you missed a trip to Las Vegas to the AFT Convention in the summer of 02. And were going Washington in 04 after you elect
800 or more of us in the next UFT election. Dont forget the NYSUT conventions somewhere in upstate New York. Maybe even at the Hilton in NYC.
All at the members expense. And you can get elected without having to be responsible to the membership because of AT-LARGE VOTING! You
only have to run every 3 years. (Dont you wish it were 10?)
YOU CAN EARN EXTRA CASH AFTER SCHOOL WITHOUT HAVING TO TEACH ADDITIONAL TIME!
Join Unity and become eligible for an after school union job. Get the same pay as all those non-Unity teachers slaving away in after school
programs. And you get an extra UFT pension. Dont worry about competition from non-Unity members. These jobs are never posted and are
reserved solely for YOU!!! Demonstrate total loyalty and you can get the big enchilada: A FULL-TIME UNION JOB!

Heres all you have to do: Take a blood oath to be loyal to whatever policies the leadership hands down. Vote the way you are told to at AFT

and NYSUT conventions and at the Delegate Assembly. Now for the easiest part: convince yourself that any dissent from the leaderships views
are destructive and anti-union. If you do a good job, you can come to believe that anyone who criticizes Unity caucus is a disloyal idiot! Best of
luck!

UNITY CAUCUS: WE STAND FOR DEMOCRATIC UNIONISM

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 9

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: Educational Intelligence Agency Reports on AFT Convention

Many union members are not aware of the UFTs parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers or the fact that a portion of the dues they
pay goes to that organization. Or the fact that 800 elected Unity Caucus delegates go to conventions at our expense. Or that they exercise caucus discipline and are told how to vote. Or...We can go on and on. Mike Antonucci of EIA gives us his unique perspective on the AFT Convention held in Las
Vegas July 15-18. Mike also covered the NEA convention in Dallas two weeks before and provides some interesting comparisons between the 2 largest
organizations representing teachers in this country. We have culled what we consider the most pertinent aspects from the perspective of NYC teachers
and have added our comments at various points in Mikes reports. Space limitations forced us to leave out a number of his juicy observations. For his
full reports, email norscot@aol.com or contact Mike to get on EIAs email list (EducationIntel@aol.com.)
July 15,2002
Welcome from Las Vegas, where
the 77th Convention of the Ameri can Fed er a tion of Teach ers
opened today. EIA knew it would
be different, but how different! I
might actually get to eat regularly.
The morning session lasted for 90
minutes, most of which was consumed by the keynote speech of
AFT President Sandra Feldman.
We even managed to squeeze in
an invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance, the Star Spangled Banner, and two verses of America
the Beautiful. After Feldman's
speech, we broke for a two-hour
lunch. The del e gates re turned
afterwards for a two-and-a-halfhour breakout session devoted to
their specific job title. These were
closed to the press. The delegates
are logging a lot of slot machine
time.

July 16, 2002


Delegates Vote to Create Solidarity Fund, a special account
to be used to battle ballot initiatives and legislative measures
the union doesn't like.
The debate was pro forma,
since only one person spoke
against the measure citing cost
considerations. The voice vote
was overwhelmingly in favor.
An ac com pa ny ing pro vi sion
raised AFT's "per capita tax"
(its na tion al dues) by $1 per
month to $11.95 per month for
the 2002-2003 school year, and
an additional 40 cents per month
to $12.35 for the following year.
Of that additional dollar, 67 cents
will go into the Solidarity Fund.
That would amount to roughly
$6.4 million per year. If a state
affiliate sets up a similar fund,

AFT will return 25 cents per-member


per month back to the affiliate. Got
all that? Because there will be a quiz
later.
Ed Note: Do you know a Unity Caucus delegate who went to Vegas at
your expense this past summer? Ask
them how they voted or were told
to vote on this one. Lets see: .67 X
12=8.04. X 140,000 UFT members=
$1,125,600. Over a million dollars
taken away from our members. How
about putting that money in a strike
fund so the next time we are taken
through the sham of strike authorization votes we have some real teeth
(and money) to back us up?
Action on Resolutions.
After sitting through the AFT resolutions debate, I am more convinced
than ever that the two unions will not

merge. Each side's way of doing things


would drive the other side nuts. Imagine the uproar at an NEA convention if
someone suggested a mandatory vote
to close debate after 15 minutes. That
is standard AFT procedure. How would
NEA delegates like their adored new
business items vetted by a standing
committee, which would then stamp
it with a "concur" or "do not concur"
before it went to the floor? This is also
standard AFT procedure, and an important one. Of the 24 votes taken today,
none went against the committee's recommendation. Some voice votes were
close, but there was not a single call for
division----- AFT Vice President Nat
LaCour would say "all opposed?" when
calling for votes but he stopped waiting for the answer, simply declaring the
measure passed. Angry NEA delegates
nearly ran Reg Weaver out of Orlando
on a rail in 1999 for rushing through
AFT continued on next page

Notes from the Delegate Assembly


by Marian Swerdlow, UFT Delegate, FDR High School
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Brooklyn Marriott Hotel

(These notes were prepared for the Teachers for a Just Contract mailing list and are reprinted with the authors permission. Edited by Ed. Notes.)
I entered about 10 to
15 minutes late, because I was
distributing "Vote No" leaflets in
the corridor.
Our group, Teachers for
a Just Contract, was the one and
only group giving out literature
against the proposed pact. This
was partly because the largest
opposition group, New Action,
supports this proposed contract.
But, to be fair, other groups and
publications may not have had
time to produce a negative piece:
the pact was unveiled merely 48
hours before the DA. That's short
turnaround time for those of us
with day jobs.
The other interesting part
was the unusual hostility on the
part of those going in. Since I
was stationed at the top of the
escalator which was the only
entry route for the hall, I got a
good look at the crowd, and it was
even more predominantly old and
well-dressed than the usual DA.
Unity had been extra careful to

get as many as possible retirees


and other non-classroom people
into the hall. And they were
hostile. Many balled up our
leaflets and tossed them on the
floor or yelled such comments as
"You gotta be kidding," or "Get a
life!" In general, the people who
looked worn out and tired (i.e.,
who had spent most of that very
hot day in a classroom) politely
took the flyer.
Later, several people told
me that Weingarten had led off
her report by making disparaging
remarks about the "two groups"
(so her math stinks) outside
opposing the contract. "She
hit you upside the head," one
sympathizer described it. So
Unity, top to bottom, was in no
mood to tolerate any dissent.
She had also touted the fact
that the Executive Board vote
in favor of the proposal had
been unanimous, indicating that
the 5 New Action and the one

Progressive Action Executive Board


member voted in favor.
When I came in, Weingarten
was in the midst of explaining why
certified teachers were getting larger
raises than non-certified teachers,
"We could not get them totally off a
differential between certified and noncertified teachers. We said everyone
has to get at least 16%. Everyone is
getting at least a 16% raise," (there
she was misleadingly calling the 6%
pro-rata longer day a "raise.") "We
have not seen figures like this since
1972." Of course, in 1972, there was
no extended time for those raises.
Regarding the extended time,
she introduced the touchy subject by
saying, "Let me give you a sense of
what management wanted." (This is
always a favorite approach of union
leaders discussing givebacks: Let me
tell you how much worse it could have
been, so you won't be so upset about
how bad it is, and I can show how
hard I fought for you.') "First, Mayor
Bloomberg wanted total control over

when it will happen and what will


happen. We faced two problems.
First the police made a deal about soft
and hard productivity and somehow
compared themselves to teachers,
and second, I pushed hard on selfdirected activity and they pulled out
all the schools where no one is doing
professional activities. (And whose
fault is that? Supervisors can enforce
it. But it's too much of a headache for
most of them to bother. Besides, what
do they think those teachers are doing
instead of "professional activities"?
Playing pinochle? Dancing the cha
cha? Watching videos? No, they are
probably marking tests and homework,
making up lesson plans, talking to
guidance counselors and parents, in
sum: professional activities!) So, I
could not win that battle." (Not her
fault, the fault of the rank and file
teacher, see?)
H o w e v e r, " t h e y b l i n k e d
Monday morning. The parameters
on when this time would be worked.
There could only be a limited number
DA report continued on next page

Fall 2002
AFT report continued
new business items.
Ed. Note: Democracy in action.
Mike ought to come see a UFT
Executive Board meeting.
July 17, 2002
Antonucci comments on the AFTs
(ba si cal ly neg a tive) re port on
Charter Schools. Lack of space
prevents us from including these
comments. Check his web site or
email Ed. Notes if you wish to
receive his analysis. Here, contradictions in the report are raised.
One AFT Report Throws Light
on Another One other claim in
AFT's charter school report deserves closer scrutiny: that charter
school teachers are less experienced
and lower paid than the average
public school teacher. This claim
comes complete with a table. But
of course, less experience means
lower pay in the traditional salary
scale. AFT admits this by saying,
"Charter school salaries tend to
be competitive with other public
schools at the beginning teacher
level."
So the question really is
not why charter school teachers
are paid less. The question is why
charter schools attract and hire
less experienced teachers. AFT
prefers to conclude the reason is
charter school operators want to
save money on teacher salaries in

DA report continued

of options. We totally won." (If


this is victory, I'd hate to even
contemplate defeat) "There are two
alternatives a Superintendent can
choose from. The two 50 minute
blocs have to happen between 8
AM and three-thirty." (This applies
only to "single-session schools."
Weingarten neglected to mention
that fact.)
She went on, "The
parameters about what time was
used for was just as big a fight.
The two 50 minute blocs which
could be used as class had to be
consistent with the Fact-Finding
recommendations, which means
they had to be consistent with the
Extended Time Schools, which
meant, half for professional
activities (not in the sense of
circular six, I don't think), half for
small group instruction."
She continued, "We also
wanted to jerry-rig this in some
ways. We knew that multiple

Education Notes
order to spend it elsewhere. But a different AFT report provides a different
interpretation.
A Report of the AFT Task Force
on Union-Sponsored Professional Development details the AFT version of
new unionism, though AFT's name for
it is "professional unionism." In short,
the idea is that, as the report states, "a
professional union balances teachers'
legitimate self-interests with the larger
interests of teaching as an occupation
and education as an institution." The
report's recommendations were approved today by the delegates.
What makes the report interesting is its delineation of reasons why
professional unionism is necessary for
the organization. It cites Harvard education professor Susan Moore Johnson, who wrote, "Studies have shown
that, as a group, (retiring teachers)
value job security, prefer autonomy to
teamwork, tolerate isolation, eschew
competition, respect administrative
authority oppose differential treatment within their ranks, and express
little interest in career advancement."
On the other hand, new teachers like
jobs that "feature variety, teamwork,
risk-taking, entrepreneurial opportunities, and high pay. They often find
the values and priorities of the retiring
generation puzzling and outmoded."
Which of those teachers do you think
will leave a regular public school to
teach at a charter?
The people who wrote AFT's

session, it would mean for


those people the 50 minutes will
not work. We did not want a
Superintendent to start ruining
people's lives. So the 20 minutes
extra would be applicable to
multi-session schools and District
75 [the special ed district]."
Here Weingarten was not
sticking to the facts. First of all,
she was contradicting what the
Memo of Agreement itself said.
It clearly gives a Superintendent
a choice of which form to
impose, and has nothing to stop
a Superintendent from imposing
the two fifty-minute blocs on a
multi-session school.
In fact, the following week,
as the balloting was ending, high
school superintendents throughout
the city began ordering principals
to program their schools for the
two fifty minute blocs, and
principals began announcing this
to teachers.

charter school report should take


a look at this report. "Many of
the is sues that mo ti vat ed the
drive for collective bargaining
three decades ago are not salient
to new teachers," the task force
report reads. It calls upon the AFT
to pay attention to the needs of
young teachers. "We fail to heed
their message at our own peril,"
it concludes.
Ed Note: Has the UFT heeded
their message in New York City
where many new teachers complain of the lack of autonomy in
their classrooms, the lack of contractual protections for uncertified
and untenured teachers, the lack
of teamwork, the discouragement
of risk taking and the total lack
of entrepreneurial opportunities
in the schools?
Bob Chase Preaches Merger to
the Converted
NEA President Bob Chase addressed the delegates this morning, and was greet ed with a
standing ovation from the record
3,684 delegates. Though most of
his remarks were culled from his
keynote speech to NEA delegates
two weeks ago, Chase did open
with forceful defense of NEAAFT merger.
"The biggest disappointment
of my six-year tenure, without a
doubt, was the voting down of the

These orders were not


rescinded until the weekend of
June 22 - 23, probably mainly
thanks to opposition and pressure
from the CSA.
She went on to list what she
saw as the exceptional victories: a
no-layoff clause, useful mainly for
paraprofessionals and secretaries.
Two days of provisional for illness
in the family, still, however to come
out of the CAR. (Most people had
simply taken these as self-treated
days.) Expedited class size
grievance. (Has timeliness of class
size resolutions been a problem
recently?) Revamping of dismissal
procedures. Verbal abuse of a
student is now distinguished from
physical abuse (However, verbal
abuse is still a transgression and
can be disciplined.) Verbal abuse
cases must be finished quickly, and
you must receive a letter that you
have been exonerated. In cases
where teachers are suspended

Page 10
merger by the NEA Representative
Assembly in 1998," Chase said.
But he wanted to tell "the cynics
who believe that merger will never
take place" (who, me?), that merger
between NEA and AFT "is a dream
that will not die."
It was a powerful and persuasive speech, but it's worth noting that it was delivered to this
audience and not the NEA Representative Assembly. AFT delegates
approved the Principles of Unity
by a vast margin in 1998 (although
it oc curred af ter the NEA convention, rendering it meaningless
and sym bol ic). Nei ther Chase,
NEA President-elect Reg Weaver,
Vice President-elect Dennis Van
Roekel, NEA Secretary-Treasurerelect Lily Eskelsen, nor anyone
else with access to a microphone
in Dallas [at the NEA convention]
two weeks ago even mentioned the
word "merger," never mind placed
it on any future agenda.
AFT delegates approved Resolutions 12 and 14, which are AFT's
strategies for dealing with the standards movement and standardized
tests. The lengthy policy is similar
to that of NEA, but delegates defeated an amendment that would
have specifically opposed highstakes testing and any standardized test that led to "punitive"
measures. One of the provisions
AFT continued on next page
without pay, "they must be put back
in their rightful place, inclusive of
medical benefits." (For once, the
reality was better, not worse, than
Weingarten portrayed it. The memo
says medical benefits are maintained
while the teacher is suspended.)
Weingarten defended the new,
tougher disciplinary code by saying,
"It puts management instead of the
union on the firing line on dismissals.
It ends the abuse of the rubber room
by saying (teachers can be kept there)
no more than six months."
"Circular Six has been
maintained, with two changes. If a
teacher volunteers in lieu of teaching
(i.e., compensatory time) they can be
used to supervise the lunchroom. A
principal may create one, two for
larger schools, dean's positions."
On the unpardonable watering
down of contract protections by
reducing percent of the School Based Option vote needed to get rid
of a contractual protection from 75%
to 55%, Weingarten passed the buck:

Fall 2002
Antonucci AFT report cont.
of Resolution 14 called on states
to "involve teachers in the development and review of test items
that are used to assess students
against the standards."
Ed Note: Ask your favorite Unity
Caucus delegate why they favor
punitive measures for schools
as a result of high stakes testing.
All teachers know that there are
so many other factors than test
results. But leaders of the AFT
& the UFT ignore these factors.
Dont you just love the involve
teachers in developing & review
of test items as their way of saying: See, we are not abandoning
you. We are asking for you to be
involved. Of course you means
some AFT or UFT bu reau crat
who hasnt been near a classroom
in ages. Dont think for a minute
they are talking about involving
teachers who actually teach.
Huh?
This afternoon AFT handed out
the AFT-Sat urn/UAW awards,
which go to the union affiliates
who partnered with management
to make things better. I admit I
was semi-comatose during these
proceedings, but was jarred awake
when one award went to the
United Federation of Teachers

Education Notes
and the New York City Board of
Education. I'm not as well-versed
on the New York City education
scene as I would be if I lived on
the other coast, but cooperation
and partnership are not terms I
associate with these two groups.
Maybe I missed something.
Ed Note: We in NYC are not
surprised at this award for cooperation and partnership. Cooperation can be a good thing. But
to a number of teachers it often
seems more like collaboration. As
we wrote in the May, 02 Ed Notes:
You know that story about people
who own dogs: even tu al ly the
owner and the dog start to look
alike? Its time to apply that same
maxim to the UFT and the Board
of Education.
July 18, 2002
EIA estimates that, if it so desired,
the AFT could generate a mass
defection of high-ranking NEA
officers from all states simply by
publicizing the fact that its convention adjourned at 4:48 PM of
the final day -- and that was after
a two-hour lunch break. So while
NEA delegates were debating umlauts deep into the night, the AFT
delegates will be sipping cocktails
and watching Wayne Newton.

Ed Note: More examples of how


your dues money goes to support
the Unity Caucus patronage and
junket machine. As one Unity
Cau cus mem ber point ed out:
Since we are all told to vote the
same way, we might as well just
send Randi Weingarten by herself
and give her 800 votes. The money
saved could be used to really serve
the members.
Anti-War Resolution Defeated
A group of delegates led by the
contingent from the Professional
Staff Congress of the City University of New York attempted to
substitute its anti-war Resolution
46 for the moderately pro-war
Resolution 49 submitted by the
AFT Executive Council. Though
the AFT leadership was outmaneuvered at the microphones by
the anti-war group, the substitute
motion was rejected and Resolution 49 was approved by about
a three-fourths vote.
The adopted Resolution 49
offers support for the war on terrorism, with appropriate caveats
about civil liberties and the use
of force. The biggest complaint
of the anti-war crowd was this
sentence: "We support the use of
the wide range of powers at the
country's disposal to eradicate this

Page 11
threat to our people, our liberty and our
children's future." Tania Kappner of
Oakland argued that this was a "blank
check for Bush" to conduct all future
wars. But Leo Casey of the United
Federation of Teachers countered:
"If ever there was a just war, this war
is just." (Ed. Note: Leo is the UFTs
foreign policy director.)
* Resolution 22, "Fair Collection
of Sales Taxes on Electronic Commerce" was approved. This means
AFT sup ports tax es on Internet
sales. (Ed Note: Think about this
one the next time you buy something
online.)
All AFT Executive Officers ReElected to Two-Year Terms. President Sandra Feldman, Vice President
Nat LaCour, Secretary-Treasurer Ed
McElroy, and three dozen or so AFT
vice presidents were all elected to
two-year terms by the delegates. Vote
totals were not announced.
The Education Intelligence Agency
conducts public education research,
analysis and investigations. Director: Mike Antonucci. PO Box
580007, Elk Grove, CA 95758. Ph:
916-422-4373. Fax: 916-392-1482.
E-Mail: EducationIntel@aol.com

DOODLING SPACE

DA report continued

"A lot of Chapter Leaders thought


it was too high." (Funny, a lot
of Chapter Leaders are in Unity
and "think" whatever the Unity
leadership tells them to think. )
"Adult Ed teachers got
the teacher pay schedule." Some
information, unintelligible to me,
about the New Continuum, i.e.,
Special Ed."
Wrap up Remarks from
Weingarten before opening
the floor, cue the Unity hordes
applause: "The support we have
received has been awesome. Two
years ago, I decided I've got to do
something to make these salaries"
better, "You gave me your support,
and this is what I did." (We should
therefore know better next time
than to give her our support, I
think.)
The first person she called
upon was Bob Dehler, the New

Action representative on the


Negotiating Committee. He said,
"The results of our efforts are
apparent. We've never had a 16%
raise." (We still don't. We have
a 9% across-the-board raise and
a 6% longer day) "I have never
voted for a UFT contract in 25
years. I'll be voting for this one."
Wild applause.
The only voice of dissent
came next. Someone from an
"alternative" high school. He
asked rhetorically why the strike
authorization vote had taken
so long, and answered his own
question, "It was done for our
benefit" meaning, to impress the
membership, not the City. There
was booing and hissing from the
audience. "I stood here over two
years earlier. I urged the union
leadership not to take us to a longer
day. Another prediction: we will
see an even longer day. I'm used to

management saying we don't work


hard enough. But I don't want to
see my union saying the same thing.
Don't call this a raise."
Weingarten took this dissent
as "fighting words," and retorted,
"If anyone questions my honesty,
my integrity, I will fight back."
(The lady doth protest too much,
methinks.) Then she brandished the
specter of a strike, a threat she has
taught the membership to fear more
than the City, "If the contract goes
down, we will strike."
A M r. F r i e d m a n f r o m
"offsite services" was recognized,
and he said to Weingarten, "Thank
you for delivering the goods." And a
mere quarter hour after the floor was
open, he moved to call the question.
The Unity faithful overwhelmingly
approved the motion. Thus the form
of democracy stifled its content.
The way the vote was
counted stifled even the form of

democracy. The "no" votes, not


the "yes" votes were counted. Then
the "no" votes were subtracted from
the audience total. Therefore, the
abstentions, people out of the room,
people voting "no" who were not
seen, and retirees were all counted
as "yes" votes.
I have only one question:
how long will the membership of
this union allow these things to go
on?
Ed. Note: 1300 copies of Ed. Notes
were distributed before the meeting.
As Marian pointed out, there was no
time to analyze the contract and we
had no comment. There were 54 votes
against the contract at the DA out of a
total of about 1300. In my last voting
act as a delegate, I was one of the 54.
I outlasted Bob Dehler as I continued
a record of 30 years of voting NO on
contracts.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Who is the editor and why is he on the loose?


Norman Scott, the editor of Ed.
Notes, taught elementary school
from 1967 to 1997, 27 years at
the same school. Nineteen years
were spent teaching grades 4-6 in
self-contained classrooms and ten
years as a computer cluster teacher.
He spent the last 4 years as a Staff
Developer on the district level. His
entire career was spent in District
14 in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint
section of Brooklyn.
He was active in opposition union
groups throughout the 70s and
early 80s as a member of Another
View, a local newsletter in District
14 that reported on the political
activities of the UFT and the local
school board and the Coalition of
NYC School Workers, a citywide
coalition of groups that opposed
the Shanker led Unity Caucus. The
CSW put out a regular newsletter
and the pamphlets: The Case
Against Shanker and Democracy
& Politics in the UFT. In the late
70s the CSW joined with Teachers
Action Caucus & New Directions
to form New Action Coalition, the
predecessor of NA/UFT Caucus
and the first opposition group to
run full slates in UFT elections
(Scott once ran against Sandra
Feldman for Assistant Secretary.
She won.)
As the early stages of the testing/
standardization craze were
beginning to put crimps on the
ability of teachers to make basic
educational decisions in their
classrooms (leading to endless
friction with a principal who was
one of the earliest adopters of this
model), Scott began searching for
a marketable skill as an alternative
to teaching. Taking a sabbatical
and a follow-up year off to earn
a Masters degree in Computer
Science in 1987, he returned to

teaching just as the computer craze was


hitting the schools and found a niche as
a computer teacher. He became more
active in the union when he became a
chapter leader in the early 90s.
The principal of his school, thrilled
with his election, often referred to
him at district principals meetings as
The Chapter Leader From Hell. Scott
started a newsletter called Chapter
Notes (the precursor of Ed. Notes) that
reported everything the principal said
and did (once in a while in an unkind
manner.) One year he put out 45 issues.
Jokes were included to fill space
and produced such a great response
(people would say the laughs were
the best medicine for rough days) they
were continued in Ed. Notes. When
Scotts principal was informed in 1998
that he was leaving to take a district
level computer staff developer job her
comment was, My car was stolen
today but this makes up for it.
Demonstrating the old adage: absence
makes the heart grow fonder, the former
antagonists recently spent an evening
rehashing old times at a kareoke bar.
(She sings, he doesnt.) She is an avid
Ed. Notes reader and a proud mama for
the role she played in its birth.
Scott retired in July, 2002. Before
he retired, he applied for a District
Rep. job with the UFT. When asked
what skills he bought to the job, he
said, I have some experience doing
newsletters. He didnt get the job.
(See next edition of Ed. Notes for
the ugly details of his rejection in an
expose entitled, True Confessions:
How I applied for a union job without
telling them I wasnt in Unity Caucus.)
He now attends UFT Executive Board
meetings for the free food (thank you
Garry) and wanders aimlessly about
looking for things to do, taking frequent
afternoon naps.

Normark Productions
Education Notes uses the
services of NORMARK
PRODUCTIONS for all
layout and production (labor
donated.) For brochures,
catalogues, digital
photography, digital video,
graphic design call Mark at
516-635-5501
B.A.R.C. Shelter
Its raining cats and dogs
at the BROOKLYN ANIMAL
RESOURCE COALITION (253
Wythe Ave., Brooklyn, NY
11211.) Join the Dog Parade
and Dog Show on Sunday,
October 20, 2002. Call Tony,
Vinnie, or Debbie.
718-486-7489

Page 12

UFT Its and Bits


New HS VP leads to sighs of relief
Frank Volpicellas promotion from
Brooklyn HS district rep to the Academic
HS VP, despite the sham election at the
Sept. 9 Exec Bd. meeting (he won 75-5
over New Action James Eterno despite
the fact that the NA/PAC slate won the
majority of votes of high school teachers
in the last election) has led a number of
union observers to breathe a sigh of relief
that the ever popular Leo Casey was
passed over for the job. Casey, who had
been Randi Weingartens chapter leader
during her 10 minutes of teaching at Clara
Barton HS, is currently a UFT full time
field rep. doing research into the extent of
mouse droppings at union headquarters.
Rumor is he wont get the HS VP position
until he has finished counting all the turds
at 260 Park Ave. South.

Thanks to UFT security forces for


turning the other way as the staff of Ed.
Notes ate enormous amounts of those
fabulous Marriott cookies at the chapter
leader meeting on Sept. 10. We were
searched to see if we were smuggling
out bananas in our pants. The searcher
will remain nameless.

Who was that masked man?

Ed. Notes Sports


I was affected in a stronger way than I would
have thought by the recent death of former
Baltimore Colts quarterback John Unitas. I
couldnt get enough of all the Unitas stories
and legends on WFAN and in the newspapers.
Peoples outpouring of memories (I can see him
going back to pass in that sort of hunched way)
were based as much on his leadership skills as
on his playing ability. In the late 50s and 60s,
Johnny U. was THE MAN. The KING. Elvis
and Clark Gable combined. His passing (take
this both ways) seems to have brought many of
us back to our youth. It was sort of shocking to
find out Unitas was 69 years old, only 12 years
older than I am. What youth?
How is John Unitas relevant to education?
Theres so much talk about how strong
leadership is so important to running good
schools and school systems. When you think
that Unitas was valued for his leadership skills
in a sport that in those years had so few teams,
you realize that great leaders are rare. Yet the
school system is modeled on finding 1100
great leaders to run the schools, while leaving
teachers out of the equation. It has been proven:
they will not find enough of these people. They
refuse to consider an alternative model: give
teachers more control, let them choose their
leaders and allow leaders to emerge from that
process.
We have one last point on Unitas: If he had
lived, would he eventually have been tapped
to become Chancellor?

Ed. Notes Arts

A new microphone guy surfaced at the


Sept. 10 chapter leader meeting wearing
Books
shades and a single breasted sport
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
jacket. A rumor swept the room that he
was really crack UFT security expert Larry Ballantine Books
Dont think animals have intelligence or unique
DAdonna who has been in hiding since
personalities? Read Seabiscuit. The famous race
he didnt get the job as head of the UFTs
horse of the late 30s comes to life as a unique
grievance department. Knowledgable
personality, as does his trainer Tom Smith,
sources knew this was not true, as
his jockey Red Pollard and his owner Charles
DAdonna only wears double breasted
Howard. Seabiscuit was a special ed. horse:
suits. Besides, as we reported last year, irascible, often unresponsive, he appeared to
Larry so impressed US security agents
have potential but would respond indifferently.
with his performance in removing the sign There are many lessons for teachers on handling
difficult unmotivated students in the story of
waving terrorists (Randi Weingartens
Seabiscuit and Tom Smith. It should become
words) from the
Expedi Printing
a staple of teacher training courses. It was
DA, he has been
trainer Tom Smith, a former frontiersman, who
Education Notes received
sent to Afghanistan
understood the kind of methods to bring out the
extraordinary cooperation in
to help search for
best in his student. Tom Smith was one great
Bin Laden. With
making the difficult transition
teacher.
the latest news that
from mimeo to newsprint
Movies
due to the licensing
at EXPEDI PRINITNG, 1300
shortage, Bin Laden
The Fast Runner
Metropolitan Ave, Bklyn.
One thing the NYC school system doesnt have
was
accepted
into
the
Call Allison McLean, Sales
is a bilingual program for Inuit people (or does
Fellows program as
Manager at 718-417-0900.
it?) That might change after people see The
a math teacher, we
Fast Runner, a film in the Inuit language (with
can expect to see
subtitles) totally produced in the Arctic by local
DAdonna re-surface
filmmakers. Based on an ancient legend, the film
Central Vision Care
as he relentlessly
takes place in an indeterminate time and has the
Having trouble reading the
tracks his prey through feel of a documentary. The acting is awesomely
small type in Education Notes?
the schools.
natural and the photography is stunning. Warning:
Go to Central Vision Care at
dont see it on a cold day. The feel of total ice
538 Central Ave. in Cedarhurst
all the time will keep you from warming up for
to have your eyes cared for.
YO! PUT YOUR hours after you leave the theater. And if you are
Be prepared to handle any size
considering showing it to your class, make sure
AD HERE
type Ed. Notes throws at you.
to preview it.
UFT & CSA accepted. Call Mark
Ed. Notes editorial policy: if its not signed or attributed
or Stu at 516-374-1010.

Ed. Notes has received no remuniration for these ads.

to some source, then the editor wrote it. Unless you really
hate it. In that case assume the author was anonymous or
a gun was held to the editors head.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 13

Education Corner

To teach is not to fill a vase but to light a fire.---Michel de Montaigne


Where Ed. Notes actually deals with education, not just politics related to education. You know. Teachers and kids and all that stuff.

Using Newspapers in the


Classroom

Robotics in the Classroom

Register at Smalldog Electronics Website for Eds Up!


email newsletter on education.

It was a chilly December Saturday less than a year ago. Children from middle
schools representing almost every school district and students was a welcome change from
in New York City gathered at New York Tech in the pressures of standards and testing. Not
downtown Brooklyn for the first annual First Lego to say that having to make your robot perLeague middle school competition.
form in front of hundreds of people with
The children gingerly carried boxes con- referees in their white and black striped
taining their robots. Some teams had laptop com- shirts timing you is without pressure.
puters in case they had to make final adjustments to
This years contest will take place
the computer program they had written.
at Brooklyn Polytech on December 14th
The gym, where the competition was to take and 15th. The DOEs Office of Instrucplace, blared with music, djs, cheerleaders, jumbo tional Technology directed by Mark Gura
TV screens, and the general paraphernalia of a major is providing some support and Verizon is
sporting event. Banners for corporate sponsors such picking up the sponsorships of 75 teams in
as Verizon hung from the rafters.
NYC (the cost would ordinarily be about
The Board of Educations Office of Instruc- $600.) Check out these web sites for more
tional Technology bought 2 Robolab kits for each information::
district. The Carpenters union built 40 8x4 ft. gam- http://www.usfirst.org/
ing tables for the schools involved so they could http://www.usfirst.org/jrobtcs/flego.htm
practice over the 12 week preparation period for the http://www.pitsco-legodacta.com/
contest. Teacher/coaches had given up Saturdays for http://www.botball.org
training at Brooklyn Polytech University where they *Sample Robolab Programs: http:
were tutored by engineering students and students //www.ceeo.tufts.edu/graph ics/robolab/
from Stuyvesant HS who were preparing their own intro.htm
elaborate robots for the High School competition. *Some practical Robolab lesson plans by a
These teachers also had given up preps, their lunch- teacher for teachers
time, and countless hours before and after school.
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/robolab/
The contest involved completing 9 tasks in resources.htm
an arctic environment. The robot had to rescue sci- *Creative Projects with LEGO Mindentists threatened by a polar bear (without harming storms By Benjamin Erwin
the bear,) fight through ice flows, release and load
barrels onto the robot, and myriad other tasks. All
Ive been involved with Lego
within 2 minutes. Teams had 4 opportunities to reach robotics programs in a variety of ways since
their best time.
the late 80s. For years, I used almost all my
Among the over 35 teams present were two teacher choice money to buy Lego blocks
teams I worked with as a district level staff developer (I skipped kindergarten and never had the
in technology. Our office was able to provide the chance to play with blocks in school.) I
teacher/coaches with the logistical support they attended a number of workshops over the
needed. Teachers Eric Windley (IS 318) and Hank years including a week in Newport R.I.
Kucine (JHS 126) brought their teams with laptops, for 3 summers. At these workshops we
robots, loads of spare batteries and lots of spirit. The got to work with Fred Martin from MIT
team from JHS 126 enjoyed a visit from Chancellor who developed the prototype for the
Levy (who brought his 2 children) who interviewed Lego brick a self contained computer
them about their robot.
that allows robots to move without being
Each team had varying strategies to com- tethered to the computer.
plete the 9 assigned tasks. The IS 318 team used
I recently volunteered to assist First
the speed approach. They built a vehicle with large Lego with the upcoming contest and will
tires that moved fast, sacrificing some control. The be doing liason work helping schools with
JHS 126 team used the slow and steady approach: the registration procedure. We will also be
wide track treads that had to be timed to the split developing a G-credit course.
second. After 4 rounds of competition and 4 hours,
Last year District 14 received
both teams were in the final 12 and competing in assistance from Bob Woods, the Pitsco
one last round to determine the winner. They ended sales rep in NYC, who did a bunch of free
up tied for a 10th place.
workshops (we did buy him a beer.) Bob
At the end of the contest, a variety of tro- is very supportive and can be reached at
phies were given out, most for reasons other than 516-867-9508 email: rwoods@pitscoperformance. How team members cooperated or legodacta.com
supported each other, team spirit, school support,
etc. By 4 PM everyone was pretty worn out. But
Randy Schaeffer and Anna Martinez
whether they won a trophy or not, student, teachers
are the First Lego reps in NYC and
and officials had a day they would not soon forget.

by Dawn D'Angelillo

The most complete site about using newspapers in the


classroom was the Newspaper in Education (NIE) site.
Everything you might want or need to pursue the use of
newspapers in your classroom can be found here. While
the particular educational goals for using newspapers in the
classroom vary among teachers from different content areas
and grade levels, three general objectives are common for
most educators:
* To use the newspaper (and other media) effectively
as tools for information.
* To use the newspaper (and other media) as "realworld" text for study of subject or content area skills and
concepts.
* To use the newspaper (and other media) for creating
student media projects."
http://www.usethenews.com/
The Newspaper Association of America has links to newspaper
websites from across the U.S. (Warning,you might get stuck
reading the news!)
http://www.naa.org/
An ERIC article on using newspapers to teach ESL students can
be found here: http://www.escort.org/products/chandler1990_
using_newspapers.html
There's a newspaperman named Tom Janz in Alaska
who has traveled throughout the Kenai Peninsula advocating
the use of newspapers in education. He's compiled a list of
ideas for teachers to use: http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/uaa/
workbooks/highnewswrite.html
I found many more resources. Use Sherlock or any
search engine to find these and more.
email: Dawn@smalldog.com

The UFT Language Arts Curriculum:


Practical or just PR?

The UFT recently held a press conference to trumpet its new


Language Arts Curriculum guides, a step-by-step guide to teaching
reading and writing. With so many new teachers in the system who
have little training, creating detailed lesson plans seems like a good
idea. The reality of whether these guides will ever be used is subject
to speculation, as teachers are already overburdened with materials
and requirements.
The idea of spending $2 million to create materials that
should have been made available to teachers by the BOE has made
some UFT members uncomfortable. Our instincts are to support the
concept, with some reservations.
Some educational leaders also seemed uncomfortable. One
said that the teachers' union, which already exerts considerable power
over almost every aspect of the school system, should not be writing
curriculums. He was worried about more union encroachment into
areas of supervision. This man obviously hasnt been in a school
lately. Or he is just trumpeting the positions of many supervisors that
teachers and the union have all the power, an example of appearance
over reality.
Observers outside the system looked at the whole thing as
more UFT public relations. "The news is in the symbolism of this, not
so much in the details of the lessons they are putting forth," said one
longtime observer of the school system. "They are trying to be seen
not just as a labor group but as a professional organization trying to
enhance education." .
So the question arises: Do the UFT leaders really care if the
guide is ever used or implemented in any way? Or are they just satisfied
with the PR value? Did the project end with the press conference? Is
this form over function? PR over progress. Or just more appearance
over reality? Stay tuned!

First Lego League Middle School competition gets


under way in New York City by Norman Scott

First Lego, created by inventor Dean Kamen,


has tried to apply many of the ideas incorporated into
athletic events to the academic field while stressing
noncompetitive aspects. Having watched teams work
first-hand, the interest and commitment of teachers

are a pleasure to work with. Email:


randyschaeffer@worldnet.att.net

Fall 2002

From the Editor

Education Notes
continued from page 1

This first post retirement


issue of Ed. Notes takes us in
another direction (clearly
demonstrating that I have
way too much time on my
hands) as Ive decided to use
some of that retroactive pay to
expand operations into a tabloid
style newspaper with a wider
circulation. If all those trees it
takes to produce this paper
are going to fall in the forest
we might as well make sure
someone is their to hear the
noise.
For the next year
(or more if theres a positive
response,) we will attempt to
provide school workers with a
broad-based alternative source
of information to the Unity
Caucus controlled NY Teacher.
This change in format and
expansion in distribution also
calls for a change in content. In
reaching out more directly to
people in schools and not just
the most active union members,
considering the amount of new
personnel, there will be a need
to do a lot more background on
a number of issues. We hope
our loyal readers will bear with
us during this transition.
Naturally, the cost will
be considerably greater, but
not so much greater as to make
the project undoable. (Printing
costs for this issue were
about $900. Our subsidiary,
Normark Productions donated
the considerable costs of
production.)
Our model is based on
Substance, an independent
newspaper put out in Chicago
by George Schmidt for the
last 27 years. Substance
had a significant impact on
the overturning of the union
leadership in Chicago in the
spring of 2001 as 30,000

copies of 3 separate editions


were mailed directly to school
workers. (George kindly offered
a lot of advice when he visited
with a group of us this summer.)
The plan is to put out a
subscription based model. We
will give out Ed. Notes for free
(except to certain Unity Caucus
members.) Hopefully, people
will read at least some of it,
find it worthwhile and take out a
subscription. Or maybe throw a
few dollars our way if they see
us reading excerpts aloud in the
subway.
Significant assistance
will be required to make this
venture succeed. Distributors
will be needed in the schools
(there are no funds available
for mailing.) And we will need
people to sell the idea of a
subscription to people in the
schools. We also need people
to report or write about what is
happening in schools: the good,
the bad and the ugly (we will
provide anonymity if necessary)
experiences, policies, etc. The
more you write, the less you have
to read my drivel. If you cant do
any if these, then moral support
is OK too.
A basic subscription will
be $10 for 4 issues ( a bonus 5th
issue if we get enough money to
cover it). But well take anything
we can get. We will even make
ad space available. The total
cost for the year should come
to about $5000. Are there 500
people willing to pay $10? If there
is not enough interest to sustain
a venture like Ed. Notes then the
hammock beckons and I will truly
retire.
Heres hoping you have
a good year. In your honor, Im
extending my afternoon naps by
20 minutes.

Unity Caucus Rules, Dude


One cannot understand
the UFT without understanding
the role played by Unity Caucus,
the party that has controlled the
union since its inception over 40
years ago. Unity has a monopoly
on the Administrative committee
(the controlling body of the union,)
controls all seats on the Executive
Board but 5 and dominates the
Delegate Assembly. Unity received
75% of the votes in the last election.
Nowhere in the union structure is
there any reflection of the 25% of
the people who voted against them.
(It should also be pointed out that
less than 40,000 people voted in the
last election; 90,000 didnt vote.)

Unity Caucus and UFT


leaders have one priority: the
maintenance of themselves in power.
Many do not teach or have not taught
for a long time. They left teaching
because---well, you ask them why.
Is it because the schools are so bad?
Then what are they doing to fix
them?
In subsequent editions, Ed.
Notes will explore how the massive
UFT communications department
is used to run public relations
campaigns designed to control and
manipulate the membership. We
also will examine the tactics used
by UFT leaders: patronage, perks,
PR, political manipulation, and
pandering, We invite you add your

Page 14

About Ed. Notes continued from back page


increasingly oppressive system. The
UFT and the bureaucrats running the
school system all too often appear to be
in alignment. The union claims this is
cooperation. Many see collaboration.
You know the old joke that dogs and
their owners begin to look alike? It
may be time to apply that maxim to
UFT leaders and the managers of the
school system.
Union leaders follow 3 Ps
Our union leaders have followed the
3 P policy: Public relations, political
correctness and politics. They value
putting up facades over real problem
solving and funnel enormous resources
to the UFT PR machine, ostensibly to
influence the public, but in reality to
influence the members. Our union
leaders play the politically correct
game of making believe that all
children can learn at the same pace
and with the same resources. They
have no real answer when teachers
and schools are scapegoated for the
failure of the children. Their main
strategy is working with politicians
instead of building a militant, active
membership. They brag about all the
power COPE political contributions
has given us. Yet, as we emerge from
a 10 year period where more money
than ever was pumped into the system,
the schools have enormous problems
and most people in the schools agree

that working conditions have sunk to


their lowest level in over 40 years.
Union leaders pretend that the reason
for low morale is money (or the lack
of it) and attitudes will change because
of the raises in the new contract. We
disagree. They beg for more money
and are always happy to add jobs
(and union dues) without concern
if the money isnt used to impact on
working conditions. They especially
pay lip service to the class size issue.
A union that cared about its members
would demand every penny go into
class size reduction before one staff
developer was hired. They blame the
bureaucrats at the former Bd. of Ed.
Or they blame politicians like Pataki
for opposing the court decision calling
for more money for the schools. Then
they turn around and give Pataki the
John Dewey Award while degrading
former governor Mario Cuomo, whom
they supported against Pataki. Their
doublespeak would be right at home
in Orwells 1984.
Politicians and school bureaucrats
come and go. The one consistent
element over time has been Unity
Caucus control over the union. We
can no longer ignore the fact that
Unity Caucus and the UFT leadership
bear serious responsibility for what the
school system looks like.

The Opposition
If there are so many problems
with the leaders of the UFT, why hasnt
a potent opposition crystallized like
it did in Chicago? This is a complex
question requiring complex answers. In
future editions of Ed. Notes we hope to
provide some insight into the differences
and similarities between Chicago and
New York.
One of the major problems with
the critics of union policy is that over the
years none of the groups or individuals
have established a regular written
presence. Some put out an occasional
issue-oriented leaflet. But none have
put out literature related to the schools
on a consistent basis. Ed. Notes came
into being partly to fill this gap. We
have reported on the activities of these
groups and individuals, sometimes in a
critical manner. While establishing an
independent presence, we have tried to
work with many people in the opposition,
who have generally been supportive.
With an expanded space
and reach, we hope to provide a general
forum for these groups to reach out to the

members. Our expansion is due to a


great extent because of the support
and encouragement of all these
people.
There are some serious
differences between them (if there
werent they would all be in one
group.) Hopefully they will be able
to work their way through these
differences while being able to
maintain their individual identities.
Ed. Notes will be there to provide any
assistance they feel they need. Uniting
on the basis of just being critical of
Unity will not be enough. They will
have to stand for something more than
that.
In this edition of Ed. Notes we
have invited them to make statements.
All of them responded positively:
New Action/UFT. Progressive Action
Caucus, Teachers for Just Contract,
Progressive Labor Party on page 8
and Secretaries for Secretaries on
page 7.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

Page 15

INTERNET MUSINGS

The information highway gone amuck. Material in incredibly bad taste culled from the daily influx of email.

Two Cows and Political Sytems of Government

FEUDALISM: You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.
PURE SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them
in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you as much milk as you need.
BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM: You have two cows. The government takes them
and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken
farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken
farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations
say you should need.
FASCISM: You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of
them, and sells you the milk.
PURE COMMUNISM: You have two cows. Your neighbors help you take care of
them, and you all share the milk.
RUSSIAN COMMUNISM: You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but
the government takes all the milk.
DICTATORSHIP: You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.
SINGAPOREAN DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. The government fines you for
keeping two unlicensed farm animals in an apartment.
MILITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.
PURE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.
REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. Your neighbors pick
someone to tell you who gets the milk.
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: The government promises to give you two cows if you
vote for it. After the election, the president is impeached for speculating in cow futures.
The press dubs the affair "Cowgate".
BRITISH DEMOCRACY: You have two cows. You feed them sheeps' brains and they
go mad. The government doesn't do anything.
BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you
can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After
that it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it
requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
ANARCHY: You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to kill you and take the cows.
CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.
ENVIRONMENTALISM: You have two cows. The government bans you from milking or killing them.
FEMINISM: You have two cows. They get married and adopt a veal calf.
TOTALITARIANISM: You have two cows. The government takes them and denies
they ever existed. Milk is banned.
COUNTER CULTURE: Wow, dude, there's like... these two cows, man. You got to
have some of this milk.
SURREALISM: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
LIBERTARIANISM: You have two cows. One has actually read the constitution, believes in it, and has some really good ideas about government. The cow runs for office,
and while most people agree that the cow is the best candidate, nobody except the other
cow votes for her because they think it would be "throwing their vote away."
Ed. Notes Additions
NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL SYSTEM: You have two cows. You must produce a
lesson plan on how you plan to milk them. You cant drink the milk until a supervisor
comes and observes you milking the cows. The barn is falling down all around you.
HIGH STAKES TESTING: You have two cows. You give them a reading test. The
one that scores below the 50th percentile becomes hamburger.
UFT UNITY CAUCUS: You have two cows. You are issued directions on how to milk
them. If you follow directions correctly, you are given an extra job at the union milking
more cows. As a reward, you are allowed to visit a NYSUT alpaca farm upstate once a
year.
Win fab prizes. Make up your own cow stories and submit them to Ed. Notes.

Spell Checker Poem (Sauce unknown)


Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

ETERNAL TRUTHS

To pun is human...

A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired.


What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
A backwards poet writes inverse.
In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but broke it off.
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
Every calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted. It taint yours and it taint mine.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory that was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
Once you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Acupuncture is a jab well done.
Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat.

Terms Updated to fit today's times:


CEO: chief embezzlement officer.
CFO: corporate fraud officer.
BULL MARKET: A random market movement causing an
investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.
BEAR MARKET: A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no
allowance.
VALUE INVESTING: The art of buying low and selling lower.
P/E RATIO : The percentage of investors wetting their pants
as themarket keeps crashing.
BROKER: What my broker has made me.
STANDARD & POOR: Your life in a nutshell.
STOCK ANALYST: Idiot who just downgraded your stock.
STOCK SPLIT: When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your
assets equally between themselves.
FINANCIAL PLANNER: A guy whose phone has been
disconnected.
MARKET CORRECTION: The day after you buy stocks.
CASH FLOW: The movement your money makes as it
disappears down the toilet.
YAHOO: What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for
$240 per share.
WINDOWS 2000: What you jump out of when you're the
sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR: Past year investor who's now
locked up in a nuthouse.
PROFIT: an archaic word no longer in use........

Author unknown
Once over the hill, you pick up speed.
I love cooking with wine. Sometimes I even put it in
the food.
If it weren't for STRESS I'd have no energy at all.
Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.
Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't
have film.
I know God won't give me more than I can handle. I
just wish He didn't trust me so much.
Dogs have owners. Cats have staff.
We cannot change the direction of the wind...but we
can adjust our sails.
Some days are a total waste of makeup.

Do you believe in love at first sight ... or


should I walk by you again?
If the shoe fits......buy it in every color.
If you're too open-minded, your brains
will fall out.
Age is a very high price to pay for
maturity.
Going to church doesn't make you a
Christian any more than standing in a
garage makes you a car.
Artificial intelligence is no match for
natural stupidity.
If you must choose between two evils,
pick the one you've never tried before.

If you had
bought
$1000.00
worth of
Nortel stock
one year ago,
it would now
be worth
$49.00. With
Enron, you
would have
$16.50 of
the original
$1,000.00.
With Worldcom, you
would have
less than
$5.00 left.
If you had
bought
$1,000.00
worth of
Budweiser
(the beer, not
the stock)
one year
ago, drank
all the beer,
then turned
in the cans
for the 5 cent
deposit, you
would have
$107.00.
Based on
the above,
current
investment
advice is to
drink beer
and recycle.

Fall 2002

Education Notes

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Page 16

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The opinions expressed in ED. NOTES do not reflect those of the editor, but are the views of the last person the editor spoke

About Education Notes

Ed. Notes examines, in a critical manner, how the


UFT, a major player (some say THE MAJOR
PLAYER) in many of the decisions that affect the
schools, operates on the city, state & national level.
We shed light on the intricate dance UFT leaders
engage in with politicians, school officials and their
own membership. The leadership of the UFT, while
Ed. Notes is a journal of opinion (with some facts accumulating power in the hands of the few often
thrown in) that adopts a critical and satirical tone doesnt use this power in the best interests of the
towards the way the NYC school system is being majority of its members.
run, while seeking solutions to the problems we face.
New and different points of views are presented We look at events left uncovered or that receive
and contributions from rank and file members are slanted coverage in the UFTs house organ
welcomed in an effort to create a dialogue on how publication, The NY Teacher. We covered the
to change the bureaucratic nature of both the school events in Chicago as the longtime union leadership,
system and the UFT. We explore ideas on how run by a caucus affiliated with the UFT leaderships
real empowerment can be obtained for all school Unity Caucus, lost the election to a dissident group
in May 2001 (see page 5-6 .) One of the reasons
workers.
this occurred was the impact of Mayoral control,
Our aim is to provide information to school workers the subsequent attacks on the teacher contract and
that may not be readily available and serve as an the collaboration of the union leadership. A similar
antidote to the monopoly of the flow of information scenario may soon occur in New York City. The
NY Teacher (and AFT & NYSUT publications)
to school workers by the UFT leadership.
basically ignored events in Chicago.
Education Notes is an independent newspaper that
comments on a variety of issues related to education,
paying particular attention to the NYC public school
system. It is focused mostly on school workers and
the pivotal role the union plays (and often doesnt
play) in the educational community.

Jokes on page 15

Who is the editor of Ed. Notes and why is he on the loose? Page 12

If they had covered it, that coverage would


have been distorted because the UFT
leadership has advocated increasingly
centralized control of the schools. We
believe that policy is short sighted and
is based on short term political gains at
the expense of long-term solutions to the
problems we face. This edition of Ed.
Notes explores this issue in depth (see
pages 1,2,5,6.)
Though we have become increasingly
critical of the leadership of the UFT over
the past year and a half, Ed. Notes is not an
opposition caucus nor is there any intention
of becoming an opposition caucus. Been
there, did that in the 70s.
A number of readers (teachers, secretaries,
paras and other school workers---people
who do the grunt work of the educational
system but are often left unappreciated-- have told us Ed. Notes provides them
with a sense of empowerment, a sense
that there is a way to fight back against an
Continued on page 14

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